#WCW: Arit Okpo

Here on IBG’s Woman Crush Wednesday feature, we are intentional about celebrating women who are making a difference in their different fields of endeavour. If you’ve ever watched The Crunch on Ebony Life TV, then our #WCW would be a familiar face.

Meet Arit Okpo

Arit Okpo is a Content Producer, On Air Personality, Voice Over Person and Multi-contextual Writer. Over the last 10 years, she has worked in a range of private organizations with skill specializations ranging from education to entertainment administration and management.

Arit has written for several publications and writes prose, opinion pieces and discussions on current affairs. She has also functioned as facilitator and moderator for a number of TV shows, public functions and events.

Arit currently produces EL Reports, the flagship daily news show for Africa’s First Global Black Entertainment Network, EbonyLife TV.  EbonyLife TV has a viewership reach across Africa, and EL Reports has quickly gained a reputation for its positive approach to African current affairs. She is also the Channel’s Senior Correspondent to the Nigerian Presidential Villa and shares snippets of activities and events at the State House.

Arit is passionately dedicated to retelling the African narrative from a progressive, powerful and positive angle and reflects this in her work both on and off screen.

“My biggest success is…  getting to a point in life where I know that no matter what comes, I can handle and surmount it.”

IBG: Why do you do what you do? 

AO: One day I woke up and decided that I wanted my life to be an act of worship; that decision totally changed the way I approach life. For me, my daily experiences and actions go beyond the regular, I try to be conscious of how I can be God’s hands, eyes, mouth and feet in my daily encounters with people. So I try, in my words, my interactions, and everything else to be Christ on earth

IBG: What motivates you?

AO: Being better than before. I’m one of those people who cannot be challenged by other people but if there’s something I couldn’t do before that I can do today, that gives me a boost. I’m constantly self-auditing, looking for better ways to do the things I do. I am also motivated by the idea of being my best, most authentic self, so when I do something, I ask myself “Did you do that because you should, or because it’s who you are?”. Growth motivates me

 IBG: How do you define success? 

AO: Hmmm…success for me would be…hmmm…how do I put it? Well, I would consider myself successful if I can point to the ways my life is impacting and affecting others, if I can say that I am growing in my work and as a person, if I can do the things for my loved ones that I desire to do, and if I can afford the things and life that I dream of.

IBG: What keeps you grounded? 

AO: Ah…I am grounded by the fact that God has me. And because He has me, all things will work for my good. In the hard times I learn to look up and tell Him “I don’t understand what is happening, but I trust that You have got me, and You will not let me fall”. I’m also grounded by the knowledge that, no matter what I achieve, there will always be another mountain. So when I get caught up in the highs, I remind myself that there is more to my journey than this moment

IBG: What has been your biggest (career) challenge and how did you surmount it?

AO: My biggest career challenges so far were creating and then transitioning my show. I hadn’t been in structured production when I came to work for EbonyLife TV. I got in and was told “You’re launching a show in 3 months, good luck”. I nearly ran mad! But every day was a learning experience and when our first episode went on air, I was so proud and happy. Second time was when my boss felt that we needed a shift in the show’s direction. It took months for us to decide on a look and feel and all the while I had to come to grips with the fact that this show I had nurtured for 2 years was changing yet again. Creatively and emotionally, it was a challenge.

IBG: What do you consider to be your biggest success so far?

AO: My biggest success is personal. It is getting to a point in life where I know that no matter what comes, I can handle and surmount it. It is an unshakeable belief that there is nothing I cannot do. It is knowing deep within me that I have a God who is closer than my very breath and that with Him, I truly have no limits

IBG: If you could go back in time, what piece of advice would you give your 16 year old self?

AO: I would tell her “You are enough”. I spent so many years trying to make myself acceptable to people, and it made me someone very dependent on external validation. It took some pretty deep lows to realise that everything I was looking for was already present within me. So I would say to that beautiful, worried, anxious teenager “My darling, you are enough.”