Oluchi Harrison is a multimedia
personality with a passion for
connecting industrious women from
diverse industries. She founded the BayLife Travel & Tour company, the first Nigerian all female tour company, with the sole aim of uniting women of different spheres of life, empowering, growing ,mentoring while still having fun.
With a sassy and lively personality, her experience span through a variety of professional services which are, Radio presenting (OAP), TV Presenting, Red Carpet hosting, News Anchoring, Reaction videos, Interviewing, Writing, Scripting and Production Assistance for organizations like EbonyLife Television, Flytime Televsion, First Bank of Nigeria amongst others.
Speaking with Women of Rubies, she shared her journey.
Childhood Influence
My childhood didn’t exactly prepare me for what I do now. I like to think I prepared myself. Growing up, I used to say I wanted to be a chattered Accountant, because I loved seeing my mum dress up and get out to work daily. But I was much more creatively inclined. I was great at Art (This was a Business for me in my first/second year in the university. I’m still a pencil artist today at my leisure), I loved designing and creating things, I was also a face model, I danced and sang a lot as well, I learnt how to sew in home economics and my mum bought me a sewing machine as a gift, then I started knitting sweaters & making beads in my second year in high school – I’d make beaded jewelry, bags, flower vases and the likes. I’d make some for my mum and sell some ( I started making money for myself in high school even though I didn’t need it). I was that kid that was into almost everything, but there was one thing I did effortlessly, I talked. I didn’t just talk, I talked like I was on TV! I’d take some of my textbooks and read it like I was reading the news. I remember doing this with my cousin in different accents, practicing how fluent I was on each accent (both Nigerian accents – Igbo, Yoruba & Hausa – and international accents) – this was in my first year in high school. At my second year in high school, I knew I wanted to study Mass Communication – I used to say I wanted to be a ‘Mass Communicationist’ (lol) until I learnt it was ‘Mass Communicator’. At my second year in the university – studying Mass Communication, I auditioned for my first radio job and I got it, and that was the beginning of my media career.
Inspiration behind BayLife
Honestly, I just love to see successful industrious women hang out (lol). BayLife was born out of the idea to connect the industrious women in my life. If there’s one thing that drives me, it’s seeing another women thrive! The success of another confident woman – it gives me this rush and puts a smile on my face. And I realized in the course of my life and in my line of work that I have had the privilege of meeting some really industrious women who work so hard and hardly have any time for self care.
I was also one of those women and even when I wanted to hang out, I didn’t want to be surrounded by just anybody, I wanted to be surrounded by women who had the same drive as myself, women who would inspire me, women who could understand me, women who could reason on the same level or even higher levels.
And I found out that there were quite a number of women in this same category. I thought about the magic that could come out of these women from diverse industries and my mind could not contain it. At first, it was just going to be a Girls Time Out with the industrious women I knew, who really needed a break from all the hard work to focus on self care, then it became more than just that, it became a unification of the strong force that industrious women are together, it became Magic, it became The BayLife.
On choice of career
I actually didn’t choose it, the career chose me. I was good at a lot of things at the time, but that was what I could build a career of. I was actually an OAP at a radio station when I got invited for a photoshoot at Philip Trimnell’s photography studio. I believe I mainly stood out because of my blonde hair as Philip Trimnell, who is the owner of Music Africa TV, checked out my Instagram (@theiboblondie) and figured I was in radio and then called me to audition to be the presenter for Music Africa TV and that was how I landed my first TV job. I later went on to start my own YouTube channel (The Ibo Blondie) before contracting to FlytimeTV as a presenter. Of course, in between these were other jobs that came up.
Feedback so far on the recently held Baycation event in view of the International Women’s day, impact made.
The ‘Sup With The Queens’ IWD 2020 Cruise was everything the BayLife is about and more! We had Lawyers who had other businesses, Filmmakers, Bankers, Copy/Creative writers, Business Executives, Civil Servants, Business owners / Serial Entrepreneurs, Stylists, Singers, Media Personalities, Women with NGOs supporting women, Talent managers and more!
The support from women led organizations as well as Nafisa Atiku and our speaker of the day, The Unstuck Mentor, Banke Sotomi, who is a Life & Executive Coach, was overwhelming. It was blissful to watch these industrious women come together to share ideas and opinions, support each other, learn from the amazing Life Coach and share their experiences, all while sipping on some wine having a good time.
Do you think female Media Personality are given enough room to soar?
I believe there are more females in the media as a matter of fact. What we need is more informed media personalities in general because a lot of people this days believe they do not need any training to be on air personalities – they believe it’s just about speaking and looking good.
Challenges
Professionalism is a major key and under that is a whole lot. Productions (studio & red carpet) sometimes do not come out right due to some unprofessional decisions, which may include not having a productions assistant or a runner and everything that makes for quality production.
You are the official red carpet host for First Bank event, how do you feel being a voice in such a reputable organisation?
I feel privilege to represent such a reputable organization. The FirstBank of Nigeria prides itself in making room for young professionals to soar and being a part of this goal is an honor.
Projects and other activities?
I am majorly working on The BayLife, steadily working on ways to make us better. We have been working on a project, Girl Up! which creates an avenue for industrious women to let their hair down after a month long stress and network in a relaxed atmosphere. This project was supposed to be launched this Easter but we have now postponed it due to the pandemic at hand. We have some Baycations coming up which includes: Girl Up! Cape Verde which is the highlight of the Girl Up! project, Baycation Dubai (Expo 2020) which is an amazing mix of business & pleasure and much more. The new dates of these Baycations would be announced as soon as it is possible to travel again.
What makes you a woman of rubies
I believe my desire to see women prosper in their chosen profession, working alongside their male counterparts and not in competition – this is the passion that founded the BayLife.
Advice for young women out there who want to have a voice in the media, Kindly share some success nuggets to encourage them chase their dreams?
First things first, you must have it in you! It’s important to know that you are fit for the role role you want. It’s just like asking Michael Jackson to be an engineer – he might do it, but may have not been as successful as he turned out. Now when you find that you have it in you, the next step to take is to get properly trained. Don’t just be a TV girl, be an informed journalist/broadcaster, know the job, learn everyday, and the sky will be your starting point.
Comments are closed.