Florence Adepoju

Florence Adepoju’s journey as an entrepreneur is truly inspiring. Growing up, her plan was always to be a pharmacist, and at the time saw this as the only clear career path available if she wanted to work in STEM. However, Flow’s passions also lay within the beauty industry and she was desperate combine the two.

Her lightbulb moment struck when watching a video of cosmetic science students at the London College of Fashion formulating foundations, and she knew she had found her calling. She soon secured her place to study a BSc (Hons) in Cosmetic Science.

As part of her dissertation, Flow had to put together a hypothetical business plan and social media campaign, and once graduated, her provisional plan turned into reality. Flow applied for a business grant from the University, and used this to set up her very own a lab in her parents’ garden shed in Essex. By 22 years old, Flow had single handily created one of the most innovative beauty brands in the modern era, setting up leading cult beauty brand MDMflow.

“I read somewhere that Henry Ford built his first car in a shed, so I figured if he could build a car in a shed, I could make lipsticks in a shed”

Her first product was a range bold lipsticks, inspired by the glamour associated with hip-hop music and street culture. Her first sale came after stocking just 6 lipsticks in her friend’s local independent clothing shop. Now MDMFlow can be found at Boots.com, Harvey Nichols and Nasty Gal.

Now, Flow is on a mission to address the lack of women in science and to promote STEM careers to school girls across the UK. She was recently selected as a UN Mentor for International Day of the Girl Child. As well as increasing the numbers of women in STEM careers, she is extremely passionate about promoting diversity in the beauty industry.