She left Oil & Gas at 40 With No Business Experience to build a Billion-Naira Empire

What does it actually take to build a business that lasts 25 years in Nigeria — through recessions, exchange rate crashes, COVID, counterfeit competitors, and a rapidly changing economy? Mrs. Temilola Adepetun has the answer, and it is not what most people expect.This episode of Founders Connect is one of the most layered and honest conversations about what entrepreneurship really looks like over the long term. Temilola breaks down exactly how she validated a business idea in her head before there was internet, how she dragged inventory through the streets of New York in winter with stiff hands and no nails left just to keep the business stocked, and how she survived two major competitors rising up to take her market — not by going to war with them, but by refusing to compromise on quality until her customers came back to her on their own.She talks about the real cost of growing too fast, the discipline of growing organically, and why staying focused on your lane in the early years is one of the most underrated business decisions a founder can make. She walks through what it took to go from being the sole operator of a seasonal business to building a head office, hiring a COO thirteen years in, doubling revenue within two years of that hire, and then using that momentum to attract private equity. She explains what due diligence actually looked like for a brick-and-mortar business and why the most powerful thing she ever did was bank every single naira she made and keep audited records from day one.She also shares her mental model for leaving corporate life, the Yoruba philosophy that shaped her decision to take the leap, how she read the market before anyone else saw it, and the specific mindset shift that helped her see a seasonal business not as a limitation but as a puzzle to solve. And she opens up about succession planning, the deliberate decision to pass operational control to a younger leader whose values aligned with hers, and why she believes that letting other people in — truly in — is the most important thing a founder can do to make their business outlast them.If you have ever wondered whether it is too late to start, whether a simple idea can become something serious, whether a non-tech business can scale, attract capital, and compete globally, this episode is the answer. Do not miss it.Timestamps:00:00 - Intro02:21 - Walking the Runway at Lagos Fashion Week at 6506:06 - What It Really Takes to Run a Business for 25 Years09:14 - The Solution-Oriented Mindset That Saved the Business11:23 - Was It Risky to Start a Business at 40 With a Family?20:52 - On Mistakes: The Estate That Fought Back & Lessons in Cutting Losses24:05 - Recruitment Errors, Internal Fraud & Trusting the Wrong People25:42 - Balancing a Business, Travel & Three Sons28:45 - Parenting Lessons for Female Founders: What Actually Works33:57 - On Integrity: Why Honesty Is a Business Strategy, Not Just a Value37:27 - Staying Relevant Through Recessions, COVID & Changing Technology41:52 - From Bootstrapping to Private Equity: How the Deal Happened42:56 - The Four Divisions Most People Don't Know About44:28 - UNICEF, Humanitarian Aid & the Year That Made Her First Billion50:05 - How COVID Lockdown Became Their Most Productive Period55:19 - Succession Planning1:00:13 - Two Life Lessons She Learned the Hard Way1:01:37 - What She Loves (and What Surprised Her) About Getting Older1:08:42 - One Word to Describe Her Life Journey1:10:00 - Final Thoughts: On Faith, Conviction & Minimizing Regret1:15:30 - Closing: On Legacy, Succession & What the Business Is Really ForFollow Founders Connect for more conversations with the builders, operators, and entrepreneurs shaping the African business landscape.