Black Business Week 2026

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KEYNOTE: In Conversation with Olamide Olowe: The journey from college co-founder to one of Sephora's biggest brands

13 Oct 2026
Theater 1
What does it take to become the youngest Black woman to raise $10 million in venture funding? And then keep going: raising millions more, building a sector leading brand, investing in community, and handing other entrepreneurs the playbook you used. Olamide Olowe is a serial entrepreneur obsessed with her customers, driven to challenge industry standards, and fluent in the grassroots marketing and cultural storytelling that turns a brand into a staple. In this conversation, she shares the early lessons from co-founding SheaGIRL while still in college, why every rejection from investors eventually led somewhere better, and what it means to bet on a market you know has demand, even when others can't see it yet. She'll also get into scaling Topicals into one of Sephora's biggest brands, and the insight now shaping the relaunch of Bread.
Moderator
Opeyemi Sofoluke, Co-Author, Twice As Hard & Head of Inclusive Experience, EMEA - Adobe
Olamide Olowe, Founder & CEO - TOPICALS