Adebukola Ajao

Adebukola Ajao is marketing director at Destiny African Market in Randolph.
Last year, I was worried that a proposed federal law called the American Privacy Rights Act would hurt my family’s African foods shop in Randolph. I voiced my concerns to lawmakers, explaining that the bill would overregulate how we could use data and make it much harder for us to connect with the right customers and grow our business. Many other small-business owners voiced similar concerns, and fortunately, the bill...

Circle Platinum Partner and Community Leader Adebukola Ajao wears many hats. She’s the founder of marketing agency For All Things Digital and an adjunct professor of digital marketing at Northeastern University. For the last decade, Adebukola has helped small businesses build strong, strategic brands that look good and drive results.

From reimagining leadership to building better ways to live and work, these founders are changing the game—and they’re doing it with heart, clarity, and purpose.
In this feature, inspiring entrepreneurs share the powerful impact they hope to make in the world—and the tangible ways they’re already seeing that impact take shape. Whether it’s shifting culture, improving systems, or helping others lead with more intention, their work is guiding us toward a more thoughtful and equitable future.
Le...

Consistency and value builds credibility and unexpected opportunities.

This power-packed session flips the script on traditional funding wisdom, revealing why building a rock-solid brand is the secret weapon to attracting financial firepower for your small business.

Continuing the mission of driving direct commerce and opportunities for Black and Women-owned businesses, the SOKO MRKT® powered by ESSENCE® returns. Get your pockets full for days of shopping the must-have products.

Around the world, women entrepreneurs are proving that businesses can do more than just make a profit—they can transform lives and uplift communities. Such founders are harnessing their success to launch innovative programs, amplify marginalized voices, and build meaningful connections, showing us all how business can be a force for good.
We had the opportunity to speak with 31 inspiring female founders who are redefining what it means to lead with impact. From organizing fashion shows for at...

There are three key areas U.S. small business owners struggle — lack of capital, marketing and overall business operations. Coupled with significant economic, sociocultural and institutional barriers, Black entrepreneurs face even more unique challenges when creating businesses. Small business grants have proven to be a saving grace for entrepreneurs in our community looking to fund their dreams without the burden of debt.

What are Business Grants?

A business grant is a financial investment g...

For my mom, sharing food is a way of sharing love. When she emigrated from Nigeria to Massachusetts 40 years ago, she was really homesick. She longed for familiar foods. So she started preparing and selling traditional Nigerian favorites, like savory jollof rice, pounded yam, and sweet egusi soup. Soon, she had a thriving business catering to the Boston-area African/Nigerian community.
In 2020 she became deathly ill with Covid-19. After a miraculous recovery, she was even more determined to s...

Adebukola Ajao, Founder of BDY CONSULT LLC, supports small businesses with creative and cost-efficient digital media services.
Adebukola, a former freelance writer, has a passion for sharing small businesses’ inspiring stories. Her ultimate goal is to help such businesses overcome marketing challenges and maintain their role as vital contributors to the economy. Through her experience as a brand marketer, Adebukola has had the opportunity to equip companies with the necessary tools to stand o...

Sharing your knowledge for free can be scary as a service provider, but this founder has found it builds her business while supporting a more equitable world. When I started my digital marketing company, BDY Consult, seven years ago, I kept running into a problem that’s all too common for mission-driven founders. The customers who I most wanted to serve—small business owners and solopreneurs, particularly in historically underserved communities—could rare...

Bringing human life into this world, as frequent as it is, is nothing short of a miracle. For Black mothers that miracle often turns into a curse. The solutions are not simple, but what is clear is that doctors and hospitals need to listen to Black women and take their pain seriously.

Queen Latifah, the groundbreaking rapper turned actress, is a bona fide entertainment icon. She already has half “EGOT” status, with both an Emmy and a Grammy to her name, leaving just a Tony and an Oscar to complete the quartet. (She has been Oscar-nominated and won a Golden Globe, though.) Now she’s part of the AI revolution.
The celebrity has partnered with Lenovo to distribute her AI-generated image to small businesses across the U.S. and Canada, even though, she tells Fortune, “I feel th...

“The constant worry and fear of the unknown have pushed me to anticipate every possible scenario and prepare for it,” Ajao shares. “While this can sometimes be overwhelming, it has also helped me to be efficient, reliable, and always three steps ahead. Anxiety has given me a unique superpower: the ability to turn potential chaos into organized calm.”

One of the biggest unaddressed issues in the marketing industry is the knowledge gap. Marketing is advancing everyday and quicker than ever before. To keep up with the future of marketing, we must seek to be more omnichannel. This session will engage attendees by addressing where marketing is, where it’s going, and what skills are necessary to be successful.
Takeaways
At the end of this session, attendees will be able to:Learn the research-based skills deficit in the digital marketing industr...