Tara Fela-Durotoye
Tara Fela-Durotoye is a beauty entrepreneur who pioneered the professional make up industry in Nigeria in the late 90’s. She is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of House of Tara International, a prestigious make-up brand, which has risen to a pinnacle in the makeup and beauty industry.
Tara Fela-Durotoye started her entrepreneurial journey at age 20 while she was still an undergraduate after attending a vocational skill training at Charles Fox where she learnt how to be a makeup artist.
With hardwork and focus, House of Tara International has grown to become a company with different streams of beauty activities including The Make-up Studio, The Make-up Academy, and the Tara product line which comprises product lines and makeup kits.
House of Tara International has been on a fast-paced growth with branches in Senegal, Benin, Ghana and more countries. House of Tara International specializes in the distribution, retail, and channel management of cosmetics.
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Tara is considered a major force in the Nigerian female entrepreneurship community having created an impact business that has empowered tens of thousands of beauty entrepreneurs through the “Tara Beauty Entrepreneur” initiative. She continues to be a thought leader and major influencer through several classroom and online courses that focus on sharing her 20+ year experience with other budding entrepreneurs.
Under her leadership, House of Tara emerged one of jobberman’s best 100 companies to work for in Nigeria 2017 and continues to be considered the number one indigenous makeup brand for Nigerian women.
Tara completed a bachelor’s degree in Law from Lagos State University. She is also an alumnus of the Lagos Business School Chief Executive Programme, INSEAD Abu Dhabi, Yale University, The Stanford SEED Transformation Programme, and the Harvard Kennedy School having completed the Global Leadership and Public Policy in the 21st century.
Tara serves on several boards including the Bridge International Academies, So Fresh Neighborhood and African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative (AWEC) New York. She is an associate member of Women in Management and Business (WIMBIZ) and a member of the France/Nigeria Investment club which was incorporated in 2018 by the French President Emmanuel Macron.
Tara Fela Durotoye has been awarded lots of awards and recognitions including the Creative Business Award of the Year, Success Digest in 2008, Best Innovative Idea by Nigerian Event Awards in 2011, Forbes List: 20 Young Power Women in Africa in 2013, the award of excellence for Social Impact and Job Creation 2019, a National Recognition by the Vice President of Nigeria, the Most Outstanding Business Woman of the Year 2018 by the African Economy Builders Awards Abidjan, the African Makeup Icon by Ghana Makeup Awards as well as the Leadership Award for Entrepreneurship by Harvard Business School Association of Nigeria in 2018, and the most recent in 2019 the award of excellence for Social Impact and Job Creation, a National Recognition by the Vice President of Nigeria.
Tara enjoys gardening and loves experiencing new cultures and meeting new people.