What We Can Learn from Failure with Ami Colé Founder, Diarrha N’Diaye

Aspire with Emma Grede

E13 Media

Entrepreneurship, Business, Society & Culture

4.6 • 874 Ratings

🗓️ 9 September 2025

⏱️ 99 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What does it really take to build a brand from scratch — and what happens when you have to close the doors? In this candid conversation, Emma sits down with Diarrha N’Diaye, founder of the beloved beauty brand Ami Colé, to talk about the highs of launching a cult-favorite company and the heartbreak of shutting it down. Diarrha shares the behind-the-scenes realities of raising capital, entering major retailers, and navigating the pressure that comes with being one of the few Black women to raise over a million dollars in venture funding. She also opens up about resilience, community, motherhood, and why failure can be the most powerful teacher of all. If you’re an entrepreneur, a dreamer, or simply someone figuring out how to redefine success, this episode will leave you inspired — and a little braver. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	We always see the success, but rarely we see what happens when things don't work out.
0:16.1	Jara and Jai was on a high with her beauty brand Ami Kole, a first-time founder with over 80 industry awards,
0:22.8	a spot on Oprah's favourite things list and famous fans like Haley Bieber and Martha Stewart.
0:27.7	Then after launching in 500 Sephora doors, she announced that Ami Colet would close for good.
0:33.6	It takes an exceptional founder to say, I was wrong. Today, Jara goes there, so you won't repeat her mistakes.
0:40.6	What does it mean when you finally know why things went awry, but it's too late?
0:45.0	It's a conversation you won't want to miss.
1:00.6	Jara, Jarrah, I'm so excited to have you here today.
1:02.7	I am beyond thrilled.
1:07.2	Well, that's a good place to start because we are going to dig into it, darling.
1:11.2	We're going to talk about, I guess, the less beautiful side of the beauty business,
1:16.9	right? I love that. Yeah, I've been thinking about it a lot over, you know, the weekend and, you know, you and I have been speaking a little bit since you made the decision to actually close
1:22.7	your brand, Ami Colet. And this month, September, you're going to shut the doors to the business that you've
1:28.4	spent the last few years building. Yeah. And I guess that that is really, really something that
1:36.5	has taken an emotional toll on you. Absolutely. There's so many layers to it. And I know we're
1:42.2	going to get into all the layers. We're going to get into all the layers. All the, all the tea. I mean, listen, you and I've been speaking because when you decided that you actually were going to close the doors, I think you called me. You reached out and you were like, help me. Listen, and I always want to help. And thank you for that for opening your door. Like, Emma, you are about it.
2:02.5	You know, you stand by your word.
2:04.4	You take mentorship very, very personal.
2:07.0	And I think you understand on this side how important it is.
2:10.2	So I really do appreciate you answering the call.
2:12.0	You know, it's interesting because I think most people think about mentorship when everything's going right.
2:17.4	And it's really important
	...

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