I sacrificed medical school to be sex therapist – Deborah Ajayi, MD, Omoshola Place

Everybody has their childhood fantasies and most often than not, life offers other choices, which often take by hook or by crook. For one of Nigeria’s most popular and prosperous body and sex therapist, Deborah Erioluwapo Ajayi, the Chief Executive Officer of Omoshola’s Place, her passion overtook her fantasy.

Her fantasy was to be a medical doctor but her passion which was fueled by entrepreneurial flame burned through to the surface. So, rather than being a doctor, she’s a sex therapist and an entrepreneur of note. She recounts her story in a recent interview.

“While growing up whenever I was asked what I wanted to be in future, I would always say a medical doctor. But later I got a strong conviction that entrepreneurship is a better path for me. I actually strived to be a doctor and in 2016/2017 I got admitted into Bingham University where I was studying Medical Physiology, but schooling there was quite expensive hence I dropped as the school and its environs couldn’t encourage my career.

“I was paying over a million naira per session. I felt it was too expensive. I had a savings of 700,000 in 2018 and decided to invest it in my business rather than waste my time in school.

“I said to myself my first outlet will be in Maitama, Abuja. I went round and saw a place for 4,500,000 yearly (extreme) but I wanted it. I spoke to the management and pleaded for them to allow me pay monthly. I drove from Abuja to Jos where the landlord was based to explain myself and my vision. He saw me as a kid and encouraged me by accepting my terms (This was the push I needed). After paying 500,000 I had less than 200,000 left and I needed to fit the salon.

“I went to the popular Wuse market in Abuja and took equipment on credit and promised to pay back and due date, I knew I was going beyond my boundaries but this is what I wanted. I was a debtor for months, I sold my first car (Honda accord 2002) to pay salaries and settle debts. The first few months were horrible as my income in a month was 15,000 or less and I needed to pay four staff 30,000 each. I had enough reason to give up, but no, I didn’t,” she said.

That was the birth of Omoshola’s Empire which houses other concerns like HBG Beauty Salon and Cloud 11 Beauty Salon, among others.

The Omoshola’s Place Chief Executive Officer sells aphrodisiacs with a touch of spiritualism. She also owns a farm in Karu area of the Federal Capital Territory where she rears livestock. She owns a body enhancement spa in Maitama area of Abuja as well as a salon and body spa in Dubai known as HBG Beauty Lounge at the Dubai Investment Park. And recently she launched the biggest African salon and spa in Dubai (Jumeirah).

Deborah Erioluwapo Ajayi was born on July 11, 1996. She’s a native of Ijero local government area of Ekiti State but raised in Ojota, Lagos State.

She attended Victory Home School, Lagos where she finished her primary education. At 9 years of age, she left for Abuja to join her dad and attended Junior Secondary School, Apo and concluded secondary education at the Government Girls Science Secondary School, Kuje, Abuja.

She also attended several high institutions in Nigeria but never finished until she relocated to Dubai where she’s currently a part-time student in IMT Business School, Dubai, UAE.

She shuttles between Abuja and Dubai to run her empire of businesses.