Ebere’s Story

Ebere’s business journey started in 1999 after she lost her corporate job while seven months pregnant with her first child. Being tenacious and not giving up easily, she quickly adapted and launched a female clothing retail store for women in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria. Due to her limited knowledge of business management, the retail business failed after six months. Then Ebere attended a business accelerator Bootcamp and relaunched the same company, which generated six figures within six months. In 2008, Ebere remembered her childhood dream of owning a restaurant inspired by an internship program in a food service company called UAC Foods.

Her restaurant business became prosperous from the very first month. It expanded into two branches and seven sales locations within three years, serving over 1,400 average customers daily plus a large catering operation, serving at least 1,000 customers per week. While building her 3rd restaurant location and launching a large bakery operation, her husband was transferred to work in the Netherlands. So Ebere gave up her successful business to move to the Netherlands with her family in 2013.

Being a restaurant owner in Nigeria, she felt lost in her new country until she heard that voice saying, “teach what you know”. 

She started teaching cooking workshops and entrepreneurship education, and from there, she launched Ataro Foods, packaging spice blends and sauces.

Ebere is driven to help others and make a difference by sharing her knowledge and mentoring others to show up with their gifts – countering social injustice and breaking through glass ceilings. This led her to launch the Rise & Lead Women – first as a women empowerment event brand and later as a Foundation and education platform. Her pleasing personality, charisma and ability to relate with people of all backgrounds landed her corporate partnership with major Fortune 500 companies, including UPS, Kraft Heinz Continental, Mastercard Europe, Amazon and many others. She supports several companies through the Rise & Lead Institute, developing women’s leadership programs, DEI strategies and DEI Concierge services. In 2023, she created the Iconic Leaders Club to connect women executives and provide a leadership education ecosystem based on insights she gained from her interviews with senior executives and CEOs.

Her love for entrepreneurship and sharing her knowledge drove her to launch EbyMedia, her boutique event management and marketing firm, to replicate her strategies to grow her business brands for other small and community-focused organisations. Through EbyMedia, Ebere provides services to other organisations such as Business strategy, online courses, full-service event and content management, small business marketing, and business development consulting. Her problem-solving and organisational skills and her creative mindset help her create and manage best-in-class events such as Rise & Lead Summit and client events, including the United Nations, Organisation of African First Ladies (OAFLAD), Saipem Consulting, I lead Conference and several others.

Ebere has been described as an inspirational leader and role model by men and women alike, a ‘big-picture thinker’ undaunted by the complexities of a project. She gets things done and achieves results in creating new businesses, managing elaborate and high-level events, or leading impactful initiatives. Her content is consumed and followed by over 15,000 leaders and professionals across various outreach channels (email, social media, blog).

Ebere is sending the ladder down to support other women entrepreneurs to reach new levels of business success. She created the Founders Table by Rise & Lead, providing resources and fostering connections for underrepresented founders and innovative entrepreneurs.

Her professionalism, positive can-do attitude with an element of fearlessness and proven ability to work under pressure means that she consistently achieves results. Ebere dislikes being told that something is impossible unless it has been tried. 

Her philanthropic work includes the BIEL Foundation working to prevent human trafficking and empower at-risk victims of trafficking in Nigeria.

Her favourite food is Jollof rice with Ataro Hot Sauce.

To invite Mrs Akadiri to speak and inspire your team or to be a part of your upcoming conference or podcast, visit HERE (form)