Fashion influencer, Sophia Ogbueje explains brand influencing, modeling

The world is changing fast and so is everything that surrounds it. Since the advent of social media, life, the way we work and play has never been the same. For fashion and lifestyle influencer Sophia Chinwe Ogbueje there was no such thing as a brand influencer when she started out. She started her life as a model until the advent of Instagram changed the game.

“Brand influencing and modeling have only intersected in this era of Instagram social media. One can argue that after the popularity of Instagram modeling via picture posting, brand influencing came to be. Brand influencers are usually Instagram models that have gathered sufficient or actionable social media clout. However, this is not what brand influencing means to me. I consider brand influencing to be lifestyle; From when I open my eyes in the morning till when I close them back at night.

Explaining further she sheds more light on what influencing means to her.

“My most amazing memories occur when I see my influence in others. This is why brand influencing is important to me. I do not just want to influence young girls with my fashion and lifestyle, I want to positively influence them. I want to see the positivity of my influence. I don’t want people to see me as perfect, I want them to see me as someone that made it work so they can finally believe that they, too, can do better,” she said.

She narrated how she put her skill to good effect to help her sister jump-start her brand which she has come to describe as her best brand.

Dian Made is my favorite fashion brand. This on Instagram is a fashion brand that happens to be close to my heart. It’s creative director is my sister, so it was more than just brand influencing for me. I helped her shape the brand and breathed life into it when I modeled her first ever collection which kicked off the success of her brand.,” she recalled.

Ogbueje grew up in the quiet town of Festac, Lagos State. In the community she came in close contact with the nitty gritty of fashion and style.

“I guess this helped shape my fashion taste, it made me have a keen eye for not just fashionable products but also products that last and can be reworn and mixed and matched. The culture I grew up around greatly influenced my perception of life and it helped to fine tune my fashion taste,” she recalled.

Describing her person, Ogbueje says she’s a different person at different times, saying she loves to enjoy life to the fullest.

“In business I prefer to be a leader than to be a boss. I will be the first person to carry out the given order so that the underlines can see and follow suit. I feel responsible for the people that answer to me and I value them as well as my respect so I endeavour to always be worthy of the respect that I command. 

“In private, I am almost anti-social, keeping to myself and not wanting to share my private life with the public. 

At play, I am the happiest. This is the time when I kick-back, relax, let my hair down and release the compiled stress. I love to be the life of the party and the party loves to have me.”