INTERVIEW: I am excited people looked beyond the lip gloss to enjoy my content – Enioluwa Adeoluwa, 21-year-old Nigeria’s front-line Influencer

At 21, Enioluwa Adeoluwa fondly called ‘Beauty Boy’ is well known for charting a unique path to an influencer career. Determined to achieve his long-time dream of being popular, Eni appears on camera applying lip gloss and creating relatable content for his youthful audience.

I had a chat with Eni and he tells me how his anxiety has peaked since he has had to mix influencing and his Masters at the Pan- Atlantic university.

• You literally had to build your profile by using lip gloss. What do you think was the catch for a lot of your fans? 

I do not think lip gloss was the catch; I think the content was the catch. But I am really excited to know that people were also accepting the lip gloss and I believe that the lip gloss may have quite been interesting for a lot of people because it’s a man using a lip gloss this time and not a woman. Lip gloss is a beauty product that is attributed to the female gender but I’m really just excited that people looked beyond lip gloss and caught the content for what it was. I think content is very relatable to a lot of people and they can view themselves through some of the things that I say so I think that’s the catch for a lot of people I’d say friends or any fans.

• Do you think the social influencing space in Nigeria has peaked?

I think it’s constantly growing; I think it has become more open and accepting of various sets of people. I’m not going to compare to the international market because we still have a very long way to go but I think that the space is constantly improving, and I enjoyed the fact that young people can also be there. I think that if you constantly work on yourself to create content, people are probably going to engage with it. 

One thing I’ve learnt to do is to create content across diverse platforms and I think that’s what people enjoy, basically. I will not say it has peaked at the point it should be but I know that it’s presently growing, I know that, we’re still just hoping the algorithm suggests more Nigerians to other people across other Africa countries as well. 

• Influencers across the world are cashing out from big tech Companies like TikTok, Instagram and even Google. Do you think these brands will one day pay attention to the Nigerian market??

Influencers are cashing out from big tech companies. It’s very true, Snapchat pays creators a lot, TikTok pays creators a lot to create. We are hoping that one day this comes to Nigeria.

I know there’s a Google campaign that went on recently, I just know that more and more people are looking into Nigeria to create content knowing that although internet users in Nigeria are not a lot compared to other countries, there’s still the very big possibility of engagement in Nigeria. I know Tiktok has an operations manager in Nigeria and I also know that more  companies are constantly going to keep looking for people to come towards us as much as we keep creating contents that people find relatable and as much as the black lives matter and the black moments keep being important. I know that other content creating platforms and big tech companies are going to look into Nigeria, I mean, beyond content creation, we’ve seen Paystack and Flutterwave peak at very high extreme.  Flutterwave were involved in one billion valuation and Paystack being bought over so it just shows that it’s going to go across various industries and so I believe that one day they would pay attention to the Nigeria market.

• At what point did you decide you were going to go into Influencing? What was your first video that led to the trigger? Because there must have been a trigger 

I’m not sure there was a point where I decided I was going into influencing. I feel like when I got my first brand, which was Amber anyway, I was like right, this is it, let see how it goes. There’s a particular video that peaked ending of November and so that’s when my view started to increase and I was gaining a lot of attention and attraction, 

I don’t think there was a time that I said I was going to become an influencer. I think I’ve always wanted to be a marketer, and that was just in the heart. But when I saw the opportunity to make money, I was like why not, let’s make this money. But I set out to be a public figure which I am working towards , I’m not going to lie, I’ve really wanted to be famous, I really look forward to that part, I’m constantly working and trying to lure myself to it . 

Okay, how can I reach more people? How can I reach more audience? How can I make people who do not know me now know me and find out more about me? So I’m constantly always looking for ways to create more content that more people can find more interesting.

• At 21, a lot of people are still figuring life, especially in Nigeria but you seem to be doing pretty well, will you ever take a walk away from what you currently do ?

I think I would forever be an influencer because influencing is just beyond social creation. It is being able to influence other people to make certain life decisions. Everything is beyond social media, yeah , I don’t think I’d walk away from influencing ever in life. I just think that I’d find multiple ways to do it. 

For instance,  a business, I’d start a brand or look for other collaborations and earn more money through other means, I don’t think I’m going to walk away from it. I don’t even think like anybody would ever have life figured, I feel like we’re constantly growing, we face several challenges everyday and we are just like ,okay , yes I’m just going to overcome and do more.  I just want to know that I’m influencing other people, other young adults to know that they can do anything they want at any age. 

• How do you deal with anxiety and peer pressure? 

I feel like this is the part of my life where I’m just learning that because I’ve never been more anxious in my life than I am now. I feel like there’s a lot of attention, and sometimes I really get anxious. I went to the spa twice in a week  because I was too anxious just last week. 

I even recently just paid for an app on something about being calm where I just read daily affirmations and try to settle, and you know, when something is not working I’m just going to step away from it and that’s just one decision I’ve made. 

I miss the times content creating wasn’t necessarily a job for me with deadlines, but I know now that there’s a lot of deadlines so it just makes me anxious. Is this content going to do well? I hope this content doesn’t fail, why are people not watching this? This is not getting views, and so there’s a lot of anxieties that comes with it. But what I’m learning to do is just to live life as they come, I know I’ve been wanting apps too that can help me stay calm and all of it, but I’m just living life as they come knowing that there’s always growth. 

I’ve never been in a point in my life where I’d be like oh my God I’m so static, there’s nothing else to do, it’s not moving and so I just constantly know that there’s going to be lots to do. And I’m not sure I’ve ever been influenced by peer pressure, I just hang myself around with good people, I’m always just influenced by the good people too.

• Can you recall being sad yet you had to put on a smiling face for the camera to shoot a skit??

I cannot recall being sad and needing to put on a smiling face because I feel like the energy always flows. But I recall being tired, I recall sleeping off. There was a time, the time I did the 14 days of love, I was preparing for exams and I was writing exams and I had to come back like by 7 am coming back and creating a Fourteen days of love. That was a difficult time.  So there were times I was just tired, times I would sleep off and by 7pm I’d remember ,OMG, I didn’t create this content, I’ll still do it.  But I’m not sure there was a time where I was sad, but I’m sure there were times I was very tired and had to go ‘Guys, welcome back to my channel’.

• Has there been a time you just want to quit and face your studies at the Pan- Atlantic university (PAU)?

No, I’m really not a type of person who puts all my eggs in one basket. Although I always feel like maybe if I just face my studies squarely I’d do better, and I don’t mean better in terms of grades because I do well in terms of grades, but I feel like maybe my life would be easier, much more balanced and less stressful. But again I’m trying to avoid stress, I’m not sure there’s a time I’ve ever felt like I’m just going to quit and face my studies squarely, no I don’t even put my eggs in one basket that’s the reason I’m doing my Masters because what if influencing stops tomorrow, what do I do? And my Masters, what if my masters doesn’t work? Now I am influencing and that’s the point.

• What is one thing most people do not know about you?

I’m not sure there’s something new, if I say it people are going to know. I play musical instruments and they are going to find out in my next blog, clarinet, and maybe beyond that I’m constantly just looking for ways to ensure that everybody who comes to me feels the positive energy and love I’m trying to give out and the vibe and ensuring that they live around me happy, like just ensure that you’re happy before you step out from Eni, like you come in contact with Eni you know that the world is a better place and that’s what I’m trying to do.

• Family- friends and religion, what is the most important to you in that order and why? 

Family comes first anytime, next to friends, then religion. Family first because Yoruba people say whenever anything happens the next place to run to is family because they are always there, they’ve been there and they will be there. That’s the kind of family I grew up in. 

I grew up in a family that did not remind me of being a feminist, did not remind me of acting like a girl, did not remind me that I wasn’t normal, didn’t criticise me from using lip gloss. It was  until I stepped out of the house that I knew that ohhh, there’s this there’s that. My family has always been there, supportive, kind and I’m really grateful for my family and I’m really grateful for my friends also because they are always pushing my craft, I mean the ones who do. 

Religion is the last. Religion is a place where it could be criticising, and I mean I really don’t enjoy religion growing up now that I think about it, I’ve come to understand that my relationship with the Father and God is quite different from what someone has aligned it to be and it’s just definitely my own relationship, so beyond religion, I won’t say religion, I’d say my spirituality and my relationship with father and thank you so much for having me and I’m so grateful. 

The YouTube: 

I recently started a YouTube channel – Eni Adeoluwa in November and I run a relationship Friday.  

It is a relationship talk, someone sends a story to my DM, and we read the story. People drop their opinions in the comment section, and I will love other viewers to look out for it.