Afripreneur
Interview With Fatima Ali, Founder and CEO At Trim & Prissy
Fatima Ali, Founder and CEO at Trim & Prissy, an Abuja-based beauty and makeup firm, is a lady passionate about seeing people look beautiful right from her teens. In this exclusive interviews with Priscilla Philips of Business Africa Online, Fatima sheds light on her company’s brand and how it is empowering Nigerians. Excerpt.
Priscilla: Tell us about yourself and your business?
Fatima: I have always loved makeup and giving my friends makeovers right from my early teens. I attended a diploma course at London school of beauty and makeup. Though, both degrees at the university were in the sciences. Also, I went to etiquette school in Switzerland where i learnt a lot about appearance and suitable makeup for every occasion. These experiences all went into a melting pot where the brand, Trim & Prissy was born.
Priscilla: What are the challenges, competition and how are you overcoming them?
Fatima: Multiple levies and taxes which in my opinion should not apply to start-ups. Particularly with regards to international shipping and logistics. Also, the beauty industry can be very fickle but once you have your market research down to a tee and you are able to carve a niche for yourself, you can become a disrupter rather than follow the traditional methods of brand building.
Priscilla: What is your business model? How are you able to break into the market?
Fatima: It’s an online business model, dependent on the proven power of social media and other traditional marketing channels. Our audience are women in the workforce who are in offices with little time or space on visiting physical stores.
It definitely has not been an easy ride. But i am thankful to have been able to carve out a niche for my luxury brand, an online destination for skin care and makeup lovers to read our blog post and shop recommendations in the confines of their offices or homes nationwide.
Priscilla: What is the future for Trim & Prissy and what steps are you taking towards achieving it?
Fatima: I want to prove that shopping online is not always a daunting experience (especially in Nigeria). Also, to show that luxury is more accessible than ever without breaking your bank balance for it. Hence, our products are affordable and very easily accessible to our budding customer base nationwide. They no longer need to shop abroad for luxury makeup skin care.
Priscilla: What advice would you give entrepreneurs looking to start a business or invest in Africa?
Fatima: Be a disrupter rather than follow the traditional methods of brand building such as brick and mortar stores. Do what you believe in, be yourself and your audience will gravitate towards you.
Priscilla: How is your business contributing to the development of Africa?
Fatima: By forging partnerships with other start-ups, we are able to promote growth and development within the entrepreneurial space which in turn creates job opportunities for the unemployed in our country.
Priscilla: What inspires you?
Fatima: I am a perfectionist. I enjoy honing my craft both in blogging and creating new products. So, really there is no limit to the potential of brand as there will always be room for growth.
Kindly visit: Trim & Prissy
Maelle CABARRUS is a hair coach and hair youtuber since 2010. She is the founder of À La Folie, a research company on textured hair, beauty and self-esteem coaching for black and mixed-race women. Maelle started researching frizzy hair extensively pretty quickly, from the moment she became a youtuber. Her goal is to always better understand textured hair and to provide women with this texture with the tools, keys and methodologies to enhance their hair, themselves and restore the bit of self-esteem.
Her motivation didn’t just come from a desire to share and make the best videos possible. It was also, and in large part, a determination on my part to have the longest, most beautiful hair possible. Kind of like a revenge on life, or a slightly childish attempt, to repair all the anger and resentment she had built up towards my hair.
“I want black women to love their hair and think they look beautiful with it. I want wigs and weaves to be for us first and foremost a means of fantasy, not a default option every other month to “take a break”. I want our hair to be “natural” for us. That wearing them is obvious and natural, that it flows naturally, without any fuss”. says Maelle CABARRUS Founder À La Folie
À La Folie have supported more than 3,500 women in our online programs and served a clientele of more than 8,000 people through our various ebooks and coaching services.
Oumy Saran Keita is a Senegalese entrepreneur with a passion for African art. In 2021, she decided to step out of her comfort zone to launch a project that was close to her heart, Kalifa design. A brand that specializes in the design of handmade art objects, with recycled materials.
Having been fortunate enough to grow up with a father who was a visual artist, she has always had a rather special relationship with art. In December 2019, tired of the cold of Paris, she decided to make her first lamp sketches, to give more warmth to the decoration of her office. A dozen sketches were made from it, carefully preserved.
3 years later, back in Senegal, she launched Kalifa Design, an eco-responsible interior design brand offering products designed mainly with recycled materials. All items are handmade and made in Senegal. The name “Kalifa”, which means heritage, symbolises his entire project. The logo features an outstretched hand towards a symbol used by the Adinkra, a West African people.
Oumy Saran Keita uses recycled materials to make papier-mâché which is the basis of all lighting fixtures and works with local artisans to create wooden plates, mirrors, storage boxes and textiles. Kalifa has allowed her to return to the things that are essential to her balance: painting, sculpture and drawing.
Lamine Ndiaye, a young entrepreneur of Senegalese origin who is passionate about fashion. A costume designer in audiovisual production, Lamine is the founder of the Yelloow brand, which specializes in the design and sale of 100% African bags. A great defender of local consumption and his goal is to promote all that Senegal has to offer in the field of art and creation. Since Lamine was a child, he has been passionate about fashion. It is therefore quite natural that he chose to undertake this field, while seeking to stand out from the others. For him, entrepreneurship is a factor of development.
Yellow is a brand that offers accessories such as backpacks, travel bags, shoes, computer bags, fanny packs, handbags etc. To successfully promote local consumption, Yellow brings out the originality and quality of its products by using very stylish, colorful and rare African raw materials such as wax, woodin, or upholstery fabrics patched with leather or suede, which makes the products chic and stylish with sustainable use.
Yellow aims to be a brand committed to showcasing African potential in all its artistic variations. The know-how of an Africa that restores itself in its dignity and honour through the creativity of the African.
