#5QuestionsWith Empress Titilope Oladiti

Starting a business, defining success and life as an Irish-Nigerian

The empress’ new clothes

Titilope Oladiti is a 23 years old Muslim woman born in Nigeria and raised in Ireland. She currently works in Audit with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and is also studying for her Chartered Accounting qualification. I suppose that’s where the typical ends.

She recently launched her first collection of ‘Empress’ — a clothing brand with a modest twist to contemporary fashion. Now that’s not typical and definitely warranted featuring her on the first edition of Afrodubs’ #5QuestionWith.


Afrodus: What is your “why” — behind starting this venture?

Titi: Four years ago, I made a personal decision to start wearing the ‘Hijab’ — that’s the Muslim head covering. Living in a non-Muslim country made this transition challenging enough. This was however further compounded by the fact that I couldn’t easily walk into a clothing store or go to my favourite online stores and find a dress or a top that conforms to my new dressing requirements.

Too many times, I have spotted what I would consider a must-have dress, only to see it is backless, or it has a slit. As you can probably imagine, for me this immediately means, the dress has gone from a must-have to a can-not-have. I usually resorted to taking my clothing to the tailor after purchasing it to sew in lining or layer the outfit to make it suitable. If I so happened to find a suitable dress or skirt, It was often more expensive.

Being someone that has always enjoyed using fashion as a medium to express myself, I found this quite frustrating. Over time, I realised I wasn’t the only one facing the same issue. Even more surprisingly, it wasn’t just Muslim ladies that were expressing this frustration. It became evident through my experience, encounters and research that there is a gap in the fashion Industry.

Empress was the perfect way to combine my love for Business, Entrepreneurship and Fashion.

High-end fashion brands such as Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry and DKNY have attempted to address this gap within the past 2 years by launching a Ramadan collection.

There are 3 main problems with this:

  • The prices are outrageous and the everyday lady, like myself, can’t afford them.
  • The target market the collections are aimed at, also excludes most people and appeal only to the ‘Wealthy Muslim’.
  • The styles are not versatile. For example, they consist mainly of Abayas* and one does often need to buy an outfits beyond Ramadan.

The idea to create an affordable, fashionable modest clothing brand was born out of the frustration I and many women face. Empress was the perfect way to combine my love for Business, Entrepreneurship and Fashion.


Afrodubs: Any moments of doubt and what got you through?

Titi: I doubted myself a lot before I finally took the plunge. The fear of failure was what mainly kept me back. I’ve always been terrified of failure. Despite the fears I had, I kept researching and brainstorming about starting an online clothing business. I had a draft email in which I collated all the information I found. This way, whenever an idea popped into my head or I came across a useful link or information, I just typed it into this draft email.

I would rather say ‘oops’ than ‘what if’.

I definitely can’t say this fear of failure is gone now that I’ve launched Empress, but I have certainly learnt that ‘It’ is always better than the idea of it. Essentially what that means is I would rather say ‘oops’ than ‘what if’. Attending various entrepreneurship events helped. By listening to various people’s entrepreneurial journeys, it gave me the push I badly needed.

I’m also extremely blessed to have supportive parents and friends I could always turn to whenever doubts crept in. Most importantly, Prayer got me through those moments of doubt.


Afrodubs: What is success to you?

Titi: Success to me is working to the best of your potential to achieve your goals. When I was younger, my definition of success was much different. I thought success meant always being the best at whatever you do. But slowly, I came to the realisation that I may not necessarily be the best at everything I do, but that does not make me unsuccessful.

Success to me is working to the best of your potential to achieve your goals.

Understanding this has encouraged me to attempt things I may not be great at, and I always learnt something or meet someone valuable along the way. As long as I can truly say to myself that I have put in a 100% and worked to the best of my ability, I am content regardless of the outcome. This does not negate the fact that I can keep trying till I get better at it.

To be successful, I believe you need 3 things: Surrounding yourself with ambitious, motivated and focused people; be resilient; and always learn from yours and other people’s mistakes


Afrodubs: What’s been your life experience as an African living in Dublin.

Titi: Living in Dublin as an African has been great overall. Having a Nigerian accent with a twang of Irish accent is one that always have people confused. I have had people tell me numerous times they ‘Can’t place my accent’. I can’t either! Sometimes it’s more Nigerian than Irish, and sometimes it’s the other way around.

I personally have found Irish people in general to be very welcoming (A trait of Irish people I have come to really appreciate the more I travel to other countries). This makes it easier to engage in conversations at work or with friends about my culture and Nigeria.

Although, Ireland is becoming more and more multicultural, I believe there is still more scope for diversity.


There you have it for the first edition of #5QuestionsWith on Afrodubs. I hope this inspires you to make progress on that idea, project, or business venture and you’re definitely better off with an ‘oops’ than a ‘what-if’.

Until next time, do check out Empress on their website, and connect with them on social media — Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Want us to feature you or someone you know on #5QuestionsWith? Don’t hesitate to reach out. One last thing! Please share this as you never know who’d needs it.

Thanks to Ahmed Adeyanju. 

🗣️ afro_dubs.

Written by

Africa meets Ireland in Dublin #culture #people #travel #music #food

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