We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chanel Oji a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Chanel, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
My first lessons in resilience were taught to me by my mom. Throughout my childhood, whenever I had trouble overcoming something, she would always tell me, “Do your best and forget the rest.” This was her way of reassuring me that as long as I applied my best efforts to whatever I set my mind to and didn’t give up, I could achieve or overcome anything. I still carry that mantra with me today, along with the application of my Christian faith. One of my favorite scriptures is Philippians 4:12-13, which reads:
“I know what it means to lack, and I know what it means to experience overwhelming abundance. For I’m trained in the secret of overcoming all things, whether in fullness or in hunger. And I find that the strength of Christ’s explosive power infuses me to conquer every difficulty.”
-Philippians 4:12-13 TPT
I love this scripture because it reminds me that regardless of whatever trials I may face, I can overcome them with Jesus.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Hello, my name is Chanel Oji. I’m a Nigerian-American creative, blogger, and designer originally from Houston, TX. However, I currently reside in the San Francisco Bay Area. I currently manage a faith and fashion blog and an online apparel brand, IMAKA, which will relaunch later this year. These two projects are dear to me because they are an extended reflection of me as a creative. I’m proud of my blog, chaneloji.com, because it allows me to vulnerably share the challenges and victories of being a Christian, in addition to sharing biblical views on fashion. I’m also proud to have my brand, IMAKA, because it’s the stylishly modern blend of my Nigerian and Southern roots through the expression of apparel, with a message to inspire customers to know that they are beautiful.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Looking back, the following three skills were the most impactful in my journey.
The first piece of advice I would give is to organize your thoughts and ideas and set tangible short-term goals to accomplish the overall big goal. You can do this by having a designated notebook or a note file on one of your smart devices. I personally like to use both. I have a notebook where I can sketch my raw ideas before transferring them to my digital notebook, where I can create actual visuals and links/resources to execute my vision.
The next piece of advice is to consult with your peers. One thing I often do is get feedback from my close creative friends and my super stylish sister. I know that I will get the raw, unfiltered truth and opinions about a project before I move forward. It’s my version of a focus group.
The last piece of advice I would give is to run your race. Trust your instincts, trust your vision, trust your talent, and trust in God. He made us all unique for a specific reason. Don’t get caught in second-guessing yourself out of comparison to what someone else is doing; focus on your race. A practical tip that helped me is writing down on sticky notes reminders of victories, achieved goals, and even favorite quotes/scriptures to help spur me on and bring my mind to a place of gratitude and not worry.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
I believe it’s better to strive to be more well-rounded by investing efforts in improving areas where you are weak. I personally aim for excellence, especially when it comes to executing a creative vision or project. I’m also honest with myself about the level of skills I possess or lack at the time of execution. I strongly believe that to be the best in any profession or arena, you have to remain a student, always striving to learn how to do something better. For example, when I started my business, IMAKA, marketing was a struggle; I knew very little about how to market my brand and products. Instead of settling for ignorance, I decided to attend a few educational forums and researched how to improve my marketing skills for my brand.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chaneloji.com
- Instagram: @chanel_og And @imaka.shop
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