Young and In Charge: Mahogany Obodozie

Our interview for today promises to be very interesting, there is no way we can bring you anything less after being away for so long, LOL. On a more serious note, we are sorry for the absence, work has kept us busy.
When I heard the name Mahogany, I remembered the radio personality that worked at Cool FM and I knew I had to interview her, even if it was just find out what the story behind her name is. I was in for a nice little surprise when I sat with her for a chat and realised there was more to her than just the 'radio thing'. Her story promises to be both fun and inspirational, the highlight of her interview for me has to be, standing up to her dad in order to follow her dream. Hopefully her story would inspire other Nigerian youth who are living their parents' dream, to stand up and follow their. Meet Our Young Person of the week Mahogany Obodozie.

Tell us a little about yourself?

I'm just a strong young woman passionate about myself, my famly and the media.

Your name, Mahogany, is not your typical Nigerian name, is it your stage name, is there a story to it?

Lol, stage name? who would need a stage name with a given name like Mahogany?? There is no real story to it, despite what people think. My dad is a retired ambassador, and he did a term in the United states before he met my mom. and thats where I believe he came across and fell in love with the name. I was named after the characteristics of the tree rather than the tree its self, it means love, beauty, strength, persistence, domination and riches. I'm gonna give my daughter the name too. *smiles*

What was growing up like?

Growing up was privileged when I was much younger. That is because the family got to move with my dad whenever he was posted somewhere. apart from being privileged, it was an adventure, I've lived in seven different countries including Nigeria. Growing up exposed me to a lot of racism and segregation in the foreign schools because I was black, so I guess thats what fueled my imagination, as I used to play alot by myself, or imagine I was somewhere else. The segregation continued into High School and I just withdrew into my own world. I didn't start to express my self until I got to the University

Tell us a little about your educational background?

Wow. I've been to way too many schools, because of the constant moving around. But my last schools were Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja, St Mary's DSG, Pretoria, University of Pretoria, South Africa and Covenant University, Ogun. I'm a graduate of Mass communication.

You went from reading Law to reading Mass Communication, what changed your mind about Law?

I was studying Law at the University of Pretoria. I started out with Industrial Sociology and Labour Studies and was to go on to study for an LLM. To be honest, I was never ever sold on Law, but you know how Nigerian parents can be, they would lay out careers for their kid, you just have to be bold enough to say “no”. So after my BA in Industrial Sociology and Labour Studies, I left South Africa because my Dad would not send me to school to study anything media related. I moved in with my mom, and she paid for me to study Mass Communication at Covenant university, which I appreciate with all my heart. It helped me understand the different aspects of media and decided exactly what area I wanted to be involved in. I also gained a little experience, it was during my IT period in covenant university that my 3yr old love relationship with Cool FM started.

You are a bundle of talent, from hosting a radio show on Cool FM, to modelling, to acting, to producing, are there other hidden talents that we do not know about?

Yes! I am a bundle of talents. I feel anyone that was born with the creative bug is multi talented. My talent started out in acting school plays. then I went onto drawing and painting. I was pretty good too. I came in second in an Abuja wide competition for Primary and High School kids when I was nine. The kid that beat me was in Jss3, so *shrugs* he can have it. I'm also into documentary Photography and film making. I partner up with some free lance agents here in abuja. writing is second nature to me. I have my own style of writing, its very light and fluffy, except when it comes to my monologues and poetry, they are more along the lines of dark and deep art. I was an active part of a dance group called refections for about 5yrs. I do hiphop, salsa and contemporary. I don't have time for rehersals anymore, I am not very active *smiles* I think I'm blessed when it comes to talent.

That’s a lot, most people would take it to mean you have issues committing to one of them, why do you do all these, what drives you to do all of these?

What drives me?? I love them all. They are all my mistresses but being a director is 'wife'!! Thats my goal, thats my dream. I dabble in radio, modeling and acting because I’m good at it and it helps know  more and have a grounded experience in each. But when I start directing, modeling would definitely stop, but I would still do some radio and acting. Any other creative thing would be for my own relaxation i.e drawing and painting

Due to the society we find ourselves, people seem to conclude that people in the entertainment circles have loose moral, what is your take this notion?

Well, it is true, just like there are people with loose morals in all industries. So I’m not bothered when people talk. But the key is not to do anything immoral, no matter how hard the industry gets, you have to be morally upright. I mean the truth or scandal would always come out and taint your image… so why do it in the first place. I’m blessed to come from a strong Christian family, my mom warns me everyday, to not get caught up with immoral things and make sure my attitude and character glorifies God. if you’ve met my Moma, girl you better listen *giggles*, I’m not up for shaming my family. So it all depends on each persons personal take on life. If you are loose in the entertainment industry, you be loose anywhere else, it is not restricted to the industry

What has the experience with each of them been like, they must be a lot of fun.

Oh my gosh. its been so much fun. But I must say i had the most fun working at Cool FM. They would forever be my family, i made a lot of connections there, and grew tremulously. Modeling is super fun. a bit tedious if it is a live show, the photoshoots are great though. Acting, film work and documentary work is incredibly tasking and stressful, but it is what I call enjoyable stress because I enjoy the work. Plus when the project is complete, and you see the final product, you has this sense of pride and everything was all worth it.

There is bound to be favorite, which of them is your favorite?

I can't pick! Its like asking a parent to pick one out of all his/her kids, but if I absolutely have to, I would totally pick Directing, its my first real love and would be my last.

Who or what inspired you to go into each of them?

I always wanted to go into radio. but when i came to Nigeria in 2007, I fell in love with Cool FM, and I promised myself that I would work there some day. In 2009 I started my IT there and worked there for the next 3yrs. As for modelling, I got into it when was in South Africa, my friends used to push me to try it out, but I was way to shy. When i came to Nigeria, I had already grown in my confidence, and gave it a shot. As for acting i’ve been doing that since I was four. As for directing… this might be silly, but when I was living ing in South Africa (I was there for 8years), I got inspired from their adverts. South African Adverts can give you goosebumps, the adverts are so good that they even have an award show for their adverts called “The Vuka Awards”. I wasnt sure what I wanted to do was called directing, but I knew I wanted to create masterpieces on screen, and cause people to have goosebumps. I have to give a lot of credit to my very close friends, they know themselves, they encourage  my talent and push me to do more every day. Tom Saater is my mentor. My little sister though, has to be my greatest fan.

What is your typical day like?

My typical day; I have a 9-5 job working with the FCTA, I'm serving, so the work load is not too much. I have a couple of meetings about up coming projects. When I am not having meetings, I'm hanging with my friends at the cinema (foreign movies give me inspiration), or fooling around with the camera. I usually write when im highly emotional (so girlie, I know). But my day is hard to explain, because different things go on everyday, its unpredictable always. I absolutely hate monotony. if you wanna put me in hell, put me on a routine.

What do you love most about what you do?

The freedom to express yourself. That has to be the number one thing. and also the traveling is always fun. I guess it part of the occupational hazard of being a diplomats daughter. But I love the traveling part. I'm a sucker for power, so with being into film and ultimately directing you have the power to create and invoke emotion. As for my other fields, I just love being free to express myself.

It must be tedious following all you dreams. How do you keep up, how do you meet your set goal for each of your dreams? What difficulties do you encounter?

In this industry no matter what you are doing, you have to start with an agent, because the agent would act as your parent in the industry, they would look out for you, they would protect you. People get duped or used alot especially when they do not have a management team or an agent.

Another thing I had to learn hard and fast, is that things don't always happen according to your time. I set time goals for myself, and it was killing me that i couldn't meet up. You can't live like that it would discourage you. In this industry you just to have work hard, pray and keep positive, and take it one step at a time. and when you blow, my gosh, you would even believe it! It would happen so fast it would make your head spin. I'm about to blow *giggles* I can feel it, everything I've been doing since has been child's play.



Have you ever felt like giving up on any of your dreams?

Oh never! Because it's what keeps me ticking. If i’m not in media or entertainment what am I gonna be doing with myself??? Thats what scares me, I was born for this, I have no option but to keep on keeping on.

You have achieved a lot for someone so young, everyone is itching to know how old you are?

*laughs* how old am I? I'm old enough. I do not think I have achieved half as much as I should have by now. I only started venturing into this business professionally in 2010 basically. if I had started early maybe. But I'm just old enough, lets leave it at that *smiles*

Asides work what do you do for fun?

Movies! Movies!! Movies!!! If not that, I just like hanging with my friends at their yard. I'm a very chilled and relaxed person. Besides the things I would like to do, they don't have them very much in this country. I'm an adventures person, so, I would really love to go deep sea diving, bungy jumping and such. Weird right? Go hard or go home.

Where do you see yourself, five years from now?

Married with a kid. plus owning my own production company with an impressive CV of films (documentary or entertainment) I have acted in or directed. and I hope to have my own charity for abused women and children by then.

How do you intend to bring about change in Nigeria with what you do?

Everyone knows that the media is the most important medium of change or influence in the world. i was built for greatness, God knew what he was doing when he gave me “the bug”. There are alot of things that Nigerian’s are not aware of because of traditions or our myopic way of thinking, I aim to give a voice to people without voices, and hold the ears of people who never really wanted to listen in the first place.

Advice to young people out there that wish to follow in your footsteps? 

You have to pray first and foremost. Second, go to school, it doest have to be formal school, go to school or workshops concerning what you want to do, networking is also very important. And lastly always be positive, if your negative you would either pshyc yourself out and you would fail, or you would make your passion a hustle. Stay positive and stay moving forward.

Time for some pictures.

Mahogany the Model

Mahogany the Photographer and Director

A documentary by Mahogany, Tom Saater and Kassim Brimah, for sights savers a UK based NGO. Click here to watch the video.

You can follow Mahogany's work on:
Facebook: Mahogany Obodozie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Miz_Mahogany
Instagram: Miz_Mahogany
Keek: Miz_Mahogany