Meet Ngozika Okeke

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ngozika Okeke. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ngozika below.

Hi Ngozika, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?
I’ve learned to look at the fact that Im the only one in the room by viewing it as a plus. From grad school to the board room prior to my fashion design career I was often the ‘only one’, but because of that I knew that I had a particular perspective to give whether it was for the fact that I was the youngest, the only woman or the only African American; either way, I used these differences a strength and used it to my advantage to gain a competitive edge.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Im a fashion designer and an adjunct professor. I’ve always gravitated towards both areas and for a long time I felt like I had to choose between the two. Somewhere along the way I figured that it was okay to embrace both as long as I could handle things.

What I find exciting about my careers is that I can be both creative and a student of life. Designing for the past 15 years gives me a unique opportunity to express my creativity while exploring my entrepreneurial endeavors. With academia, I feel that it’s exciting because I can continue to learn in a formal setting and also provide the knowledge I’ve gained as a businessperson to up-and-coming entrepreneurs which is pretty cool.

Im currently working on a holiday collection for my brand, Ngozika Okeke Clothing and I’ll be creating a new collection for Spring 2024 both of which Im excited to present.

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?
The three qualities that were most impactful in my journey have been:

-the ability to pivot: because as entrepreneurs sometimes its not in your best interest to have a really narrow focus so your great opportunities could be just outside of what your original business idea was

-breaking things down in small chunks: as a creative, its very easy to be overwhelmed by all of the things you want to create and the ideas on how to expand your creative ideas, but its best to break those things down and set daily, weekly and monthly goals. Things turn out to be much more manageable that way.

– the knowledge of knowing that you can never learn too much. Being a student of life opens you up to a world of possibilities if you dont close yourself off by thinking you’re ‘too old’ to learn something new or that you’re already an expert in your field so there’s nothing more for you to learn.

For new people that are new in their journeys Id recommend that they keep these three things in mind because it could save you a lot of time an effort when moving forward with your passions.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
As an independent designer Im ALWAYS looking for other creatives to collaborate with. Photographers, set designers, stylists, models, social media experts, graphic designers etc are always welcome to reach out if they’d like to collab and expand their portfolios.

You can reach out via the brand IG which is @NgozikaOkeke or visit the website (www.NgozikaOkeke.com) and send a quick message via the ‘contact’ tab.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Yoshawn Smith (@Sartorial.LosAngeles)

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