The Girl Bosses of UNT Series Shines Light on Elizabeth Osondu
Have you ever stumbled upon Elizabeth Osondu's Youtube channel?
If so, then you must know how inspirational and stunning she is. I get excited every single time I get a notification that she has posted a new video. I literally stop what I'm doing to see what the video is about. Every video she posts leaves you feeling inspired, empowered, and ready to slay any piece of clothing you have. If you never watched any of Elizabeth's videos. You are truly missing out. I knew I had to feature her because she not only inspires me but she is literally killing the game. I reached out to her for an interview and she gladly accept it. We met up at our apartment's clubhouse and had one interesting chat. We discussed things like her youtube channel, how she balances her life, and her future career goals. I will have her interview questions down below with her answers.
Elizabeth's Interview
Q: Tell me about yourself?
A: I am a fourth year graduating senior at University of North Texas. I am Nigerian-American. I'm a lover of all things fashion, food, and culture. I would describe myself as very inspiring, alturistic, optimistic, and adventurous. I just like trying new things.
Q: What are you currently studying?
A: Integrative studies with a focus in business, biology, and biochemistry.
Q: What are your career goals?
A: I want to ultimately own my own business. A long the way I want to work in corporate America either in financial advising, business marketing, or human capital consulting.
Q: What made you start a Youtube channel?
A: Back to the about me about trying new things. I've always had an interest in doing something in that area but I never had the time. I used to run track at UNT for three consecutive years and that took up a lot of time where I wasn't able to do it. And I've not seen too many student collegiate athletes who have a Youtube channel. And so, I was like this is my senior year, so why not. Growing up I wanted to be a doctor. And I realized that it wasn't a lifestyle that I wanted. And just as far, as being on call and waiting 12 years after undergrad to jump into my career field. I'm someone that likes the now but also to build. I'm not trying to wait that long. Although, I'm very capable and have all the credits for it. I've already study and did practice MCATs and stuff but that's not where my heart is. Thats when I started doing my career finding and self searching in the summer. I was like " ok, If I'm going to change my major and I'm going to be very optimistic about everything, why not also start a Youtube channel because now I have time to figure who I want to be". So I started my channel ultimately to find myself but to make my channel an outlet for people to find their purpose. I wanted them to use my channel to channel in their purpose as well. I wanted to show people through the name ,Elizabethan Era , that you don't have to conform into what current society thinks. But if you were to look into your roots and your culture then you will find something that is more so vintage that you could bring back to life. Another reason I started my Youtube channel is because I liked the idea of inspiring and empowering others. And so, just kind of that whole women empowerment but not necessarily just for woman but for men as well. Self Love. So, that was a lot of the reasons why I started mine. I wanted to make sure mine was very unique and not similar to someone elses. When you log into someone else channel you know what to expect but when you log into mine besides the lookbooks i've been doing, you won't necessarily know what to expect.
Q: What do you want your subscribers to get from your channel?
A: Besides inspiration and stuff, I would want them to feel a sense of empowerment. I would want them to feel a sense of pride in who they are authentically and not what they are perceiving themselves to be. Everyone puts up their own facade, it's kinda like your elevator pitch or who you want to present yourself to be, but that's not who you really are. I want them to feel like being different is okay.
Q: How do you balance school, dating, friends, family, and having a youtube channel?
A: I don't know. I really don't know. I get that question quite often. And, I don't know the answer because it's difficult. My transition was that throughout high school I've always been a busy body. I was like captain of this team, president of this club, and in this honor society. I don't like to join things just to be a member. I like to be on the executive council or to have a leadership position. That's just something that has been innate in me. And so, coming to college it wasn't any different. I just kind of told myself "this is who you are, especially since you want to be an orthopedic surgeon, you're going to have to learn how to balance all of that". I have a big planner that I make use of. I track everything on my phone, and my phone blows up all the time. I like to prioritize and section things of. For example, If I want to upload a video once a week on my Youtube channel, I have to give myself time to edit and present that video. As far as my school work, I just make sure i'm very attentive to it. This semester I purposely chose to be in online classes, since this is my last semester in college. Typically, I would be in 15 -16 hours and doing a lot. So, really sectioning my time and then leaning on my support system. I realized that you can't do it alone and its easier if you have a support system. I come from a big family and they really help me as far as structure. I'm the fifth of six kids. I just watch from their mistakes and whatever they say works I kind of try that to see which one works for me. Lastly, as far as the dating life, It's very convient that him and I go to the same school and live in the same apartment complex. I am a big believer that when it comes to dating that I need consistency and I need convienance because I've done the whole long distance, like talking to someone from a different school. And it never really works out mainly given the fact that there not there. I thought that I liked that because they won't distract me and i only FaceTime and talk to them when I need them but I realized that I need a friend thats very close in proximity to me. We are able to balance it without it being overbearing or feeling like it's too difficult. I would say everything is just moving in the right path. It's not difficult dating him.
Q: Has being a person of color limited your opportunities?
A: For me, personally, I would say no because of my mindset and the identity my parents have instilled in me. Growing up, everybody in my neighborhoods and school were white. I'm like the token black kid and only black kid kind of thing. Whole family, the only black kid in each class kind of thing. We were surrounded by a lot of white people to where you had to assimilate. it's not like you came to college, and its a culture shock. But at the same time, we grew up around a large Nigerian population. It was like the best of both worlds. I'm around a lot of Nigerians but i'm also around a lot of white people. I know my roots and i have pride in my culture but I know how to present myself where I know I will be accepted. Given those type of cultural backgrounds, I feel like thats what shaped me into the person I am now. Now that I'm in college, due to my experiences In high school, middle school, and elementary, I have placed myself in a position to where those opportunities would not be quenched due to my color. I'm very aware that other people have that issue but me and my siblings have never necessarily faced that. We've always kind of been able to relate to them. Once you are able to figure what other cultures are like you can assimilate into their culture but not to the point where you lose yourself. Just to the point to where you're accepted. Once you're accepted, that's when you display your culture and they will be more accepting towards it. Rather then, you displaying it kind of harshly and all at once. Then they are confused. Just kind of learning that type of method as i grew up. I was able to actually be blessed with a lot of opportunities and i feel like my color didn't have a hinderance on it.
Q: Do you have any advice for people who are wanting to create their own youtube channel?
A: Yeah! My advice is to just do it. Start now. Just put your camera/ phone on a stand and press record. Honestly, majority of my videos are made using my phone. Granted, I have the 7+. I worked really hard to get a new phone. Before this, I had the iPhone 5s, and I felt like I couldn't do anything with it. Once I got the iPhone 7+, I didn't feel like i needed anything else. I like to put out the best quality possible but at the same time you shouldn't waste your money on merchandise or equipment when you have the access to that in other ways. For example, UNT they have a factory in the library where you can rent out a camera, tripod, lighting, and a green screen. They are resources to where you can make this possible without putting a dent in your wallet. Some people will get all this stuff and then they will get discouraged or find out thats not what they want to do. They spend $1,000 of dollars on equipment when they could've just used their phone. And once they grew their channel and realized this is what they truly wanted to do. They could set themselves a goal and know that they're not going to purchase this until they reach a certain point in their youtube career or feel like they're deserving of it. I would say my best advice for anyone who wants to start is to just start and don't really worry about what other people are saying or doing. It was really hard for me to put out my first video. I showed it to 5 different people and they all had different opinions about it. They all had constructive criticisms like " you're not doing this enough" or you're not showing enough of your personality". And its like, understand that this is my first video and I'm not going to be comfortable on camera. And that's okay to feel camera shy because you're going to be camera shy for a little bit unless you're just this outgoing person thats so vibrant and ready. If you're ready for it, cool, do it. It took me a long time to finally say I'm going to record it. It took me a long time to actually start editing and then it took me a long time to post it. Once you post it, that moment of ohmygosh. It's so elivating. It's like " okay, its out there and if people like it or don't, it's whatever". I already put it out there so there is no way to turn back. The idea of Youtube is to be consistent and try not to be hard on yourself. Just put the video out. You will see progression as your channel grows. You will see yourself get better and your subscribers will see your authentic and more relatable.
Q: Do you have any upcoming events?
A: I'm trying to get more consistent with my Youtube channel. It's really hard. I have been coming out with one new video every week. I haven't been specific on the date but the last two videos have been published on a Wednesday. I would say tune in Wednesdays. I would say check out my thrifting series. I went thrifting for one video, did a look book on the second video, and the last video will be a haul of all the stuff I bought and talking about the prices, what i wore with it, and how i would dress it up. I will also be giving out tips on thrifting. I wanted the last one to be more interactive. The other two were more visuals. In march, I will be coming out with a lot more content. Look out for March 8th.
End of Interview
I was so happy and estatic that I was able to get an interview with Elizabeth. I will definitely be turning on my post notifications to make sure I'm staying up to date on the Elizabethan Era. I don't want to miss out on her latest fashion advice or look books. If you need tips on styling or thrifting or just need some inspiration you definitely should subscribe to her youtube channel. I will have all her social media handles linked down below as well as her Youtube channel. You won't want to miss out on the things she has planned for March.
Elizabeth's Social Media
https://twitter.com/LizzyNO_McGuire
https://www.instagram.com/lizzy_osondu/
Youtube