Dear 2025,

You arrived carrying both promise and pressure. I walked into this year with a vision that felt bigger than me, yet somehow deeply rooted in who I’ve always been. I didn’t know if I was ready, but I knew I couldn’t ignore the call.

This was the year I learned that building something meaningful requires more than an idea, it requires courage, clarity, and the willingness to trust yourself loudly, even before the world does. It was the year I understood that women like us, the ones carving new paths, are not just creating businesses or moments… We are reimagining entire systems.

For me, that system was bridal fashion — an industry steeped in tradition, emotion, and unspoken rules. When I launched Eleventh Room, I wasn’t simply offering an alternative. I was challenging long-held narratives about ownership, luxury, sustainability, and the financial expectations placed on women. I was building a space where modern brides could access beauty without burden, and where past brides could rediscover value in what they once wore with love.

This year taught me that disruption doesn’t always look loud. Sometimes it’s steady, intentional, grounded; just like having conversations with brides who say, “I didn’t know this was possible,” or past brides who realise that their wedding dress still has purpose. It’s in the DMs, the referrals, the fire-side chats at events, the difficult decisions no one sees, the nights spent reworking strategy, the willingness to pivot, pause, and persist.

2025 also taught me about capacity. As a founder, as a mother, as a woman. It reminded me that power is not performance; it is presence. It is allowing yourself to rest without guilt and rise without apology. It is giving yourself permission to evolve and giving your vision permission to grow with you.

I faced challenges that stretched me, doubts that humbled me, and breakthroughs that reminded me why I started. Yet through it all, something stayed constant: the belief that women deserve options. That women deserve financial freedom woven into every choice. That luxury should feel empowering, not exclusionary. And that sustainability is not a trend, rather a cultural shift we must lead.

So, dear 2025, thank you for being the year that trained me, refined me, and reminded me that legacy is built brick by brick. Thank you for showing me that influence is not measured by noise, but by impact. And thank you for revealing that the most powerful architects are the women who are unafraid to build what has never existed before.

As I step into the future, I carry this truth with me:

We are not waiting for permission to shape culture.
We are shaping it intentionally, boldly, and together.

Lots of love,

Ola Igun

Founder, Eleventh Room


Luxury That Lives On

@myeleventhroom