Tags
Africa Style Daily, Applause Africa, Dynamic Africa, Essence, Heritage 1960, Is This Africa, Mimi Plange, Radio Afro, Trafrica
“Sounds so smart, like you graduated college
All of them b***** I’m better than
But I never mention everything I dabble in”
***(Drake ft Niki Minaj “Im so Proud of You”)***
“I might be too strung out on compliments
Overdose on confidence
Drinking every night because we drink to my accomplishments”
*Drake (Headlines)
I might get a little narcistic here, but I do believe it’s important to give yourself some credit,where it’s due. In 2011, I achieved so much that I thought I’d share.None of the things I accomplished would be possible without the higher beings, My mentors, friends, #teamrideordie, facebook friends ,tweethearts and more.Here goes..
FASHION
I already mentioned this before, but I spotted myself on BellaNaija in September after the Nigerian Entertainment Awards and I was so happy! It’s the number one website for Nigerian fashion and entertainment so I was super happy to be there.
I also appeared on Essence Street Style as I mentioned. Shoutout to Hannah for that.
SCHOOL
I was the Public Relations Officer of the African Student Association at my University SUNY ALBANY)from fall 2009-Spring 2011 and ASA was a huge part of my life. I was elated when the ASA won the best Cultural Group at the Presidents Awards early last year.We were nominated for about 7 other awards which we didn’t win, but it was great that we were recognized.In 2010, I along with the former ASA President Godfred Asa Ntow were featured on our schools website for the “Clothing for Congo” clothing drive we organized with Third World Impact (former President Nicole Slater is also in the 2nd picture) and it was for Save the Congolese Children(Mr John Muamba who is the founder of STCC is also in the 2nd picture) .I was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award which I did not win, but being nominated was an honor in itself.
I love writing for the online site Africa Style Daily, but I’ve always longed to see my work in print outside of the college newspaper I wrote for a few years ago. In 2011 ,my articles appeared in Routes Magazine which is based in UK where I did an African Film Review. I also wrote an article on my mentor and boss Enyinne for Applause Magazine‘s ’30 Intriguing Africans’ feature. I was particularly proud of that achievement because I was asked by the owner of the mag Debo to write it because he believed I would write a compelling story as I know Enyinne personally. I look forward to doing more print in 2012 and I am already currently working on some articles for several print magazines.
BLOG INTERVIEWS
In 2011, I was featured on 3 sites. One is trafrican which was created by Jonathan Agboola who is on #teamApplauseAfrica. He published it on October 24 in honor of my country’s independence day.I answered various questions such as why Nigerians seem to be the only ones dominating specific industries, who I look up to and more. Please check it out here.
I was also featured on my friend Zanele’s blog Is This Africa late last year. She asked me questions like “What would you do if you could address African leaders at the African Union”. Check out my responses here.
Dynamic Africa is a blog I read every single day, so when they asked if any Zambians had stories to share, I submited the online journal I did for Africa Style Daily on my summer 2010 trip to Zambia.It was published on Dynamic Africa!(* cant find that link so posted link from ASD)
RADIO AFRO
Radio AFRO Australia is a weekly African music show that is based in Perth, Australia but is accessible all over the world online at www.radiofremantle.com. It’s owned by Israel Hobson or Dj Iz who reps for Ghana and Australia .He’s also the resident DJ and delivers the hottest afrobeats. Tumaini or Miss Tee Zed hosts the show alongside Iz and reps for Zambia. Mukuka Mayuka also reps for Zambia and she does the “Great Debate” and talks about Diasporan Issues via her site.Last summer, Iz had facebooked me and asked if I would become the fourth member of #teamRadioAFRO and I agreed. The rest is history and since July, I’ve been delivering the #Haute #African #Events occuring globally in my post as Afro -Entertainment Guru. Tune into the show this Thursday (tomorrow) and you won’t be disappointed!
This Video shows a typical day at the Radio AFRO studio. That’s Iz and Miss Tee Zed interviewing Zambian artist CRISIS.
INTERNSHIPS
For New York Fashion Week in February 2011, I had the honor of interning for one of my favorite African luxury designers Mimi Plange. I had attended Mimi’s previous show at NYFW for September 2010 and was blown away by her collection. I happened to be on freefashioninternships.com (which is an awesome site to search for fashion internships in USA and I highly recommend it) when I saw a posting for a PR intern to assist with social media and other stuff. So I went in to the interview with Ibrahim whose the Marketing Manager and he hired me on the spot! I interned during NYFW and got to meet Ugo Mozie whose an amazing stylist. He was with Dawn Richards whose music I love. I was too shy to take a pic with her. Even Andre Leon was there and I almost died! That was like going to fashion heaven. I was too shy to even breathe in his direction. But all in all ,it was a great internship. Mimi and Ibrahim are amazing and I see them at lots of events and Mimi says I can come and intern whenever I want (yay).
My second internship was with Heritage 1960 which I am still doing. I met Enyinne through Ibrahim from Mimi Plange (small world isnt it in fashion?) and I came onboard. I love working with Enyinne and look foward to helping her launch H1960′s retail arm in a few days. Through her I’ve met Helen Jennings of Arise, Lola Ogunnaike of CNN, Ger Duany who has grown to be a great friend and big brother to me and was on CNN just last week! One of my proudest moments at H1960 is when my article on 8 Music Sites to Discover African Music was shared over 100 times on facebook.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST..
I got the chance to speak at a United Nations meeting on Third Culture Kids organized by the Christian Mission in Manhattan. I shared my experience about growing up in different countries and cultures and it was amazing. Thanks to Karen for that and Marie for recommending me.
I cant wait to see what 2012 has in store for me and I would encourage everyone to share their 2011 accomplishments in the comments as well.
Remember that its never to late to ..
DO SOMETHING GREAT
** Never underestimate your potential or discount your ability. Most achievements are based on perseverance.Believe in yourself.
ENJOY YOUR SUCCESS
**To often ,once we achieve a goal,we take it for granted.It’s part of the journey.It’s important to give ourselves some credit.Otherwise we lose our sense of purpose.Enjoying the victories gives is strength to continue and sweet memories to inspire us”
