We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ebony Ohen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ebony, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?
I hope my legacy will be one that gives dark skinned women at every age and size permission to embrace their beauty loudly and unapologetically. Right now, the modeling industry has a token few dark skinned models that are representing us beautifully and killing it. But it’s not enough. We need representation, not just in high fashion campaigns. I want to see us at Target. I want young black girls to see me in Target, and see themselves reflected in me.
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As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m a freelance model and digital creator in Texas. I got into modeling in 2015 by collaborating with creatives that I already knew from school or met through social media. From there, I built a portfolio that I was able to present when casting for different opportunities, like the When I Get Home film by Solange.
I later got into creating beauty related content when Mented Cosmetics reached out to me to join their team as a Mentfluencer June of 2019 after noticing how enthusiastic I was about their products. My genuine support of the brand caught their attention, and now I’m a Mented Mentor, creating content for them that gets featured on their social media and various email newsletters. That’s the type of representation I feel so proud to contribute to. I’ve always loved makeup, but didn’t feel prioritized in the beauty space until discovering Mented Cosmetics; a clean beauty brand with my pigment in mind. I’m so happy with the direction the beauty industry is going in. We still have a very long way to go, but I can’t deny that progress has been made.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I think my love for the craft and the spirit I bring to every set is what continues to help me build a solid reputation in my industry. One of my favorite things to hear on set or in any form or collaboration is that I’m making another person’s job easy.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I’m still building my social media presence. Honestly, there’s no set formula that I’m following. As a millennial, I’m an internet girl already because of MySpace. So I genuinely enjoy engaging online. You gon’ always catch me in the comments of SOMETHING or starting a conversation either on twitter or IG stories. I think it’s important to always show who you are, what you like/dislike, and how you think versus constantly selling something. That’s what people gravitate to.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ebonygl0hen.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/gl0hen
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ebony.ohen.3
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ebony-ohen-69568284
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/gl0hen
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/EbonyOhen
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=voV7DCydyQqN1B563-picw&utm_source=ishare
- Other: tiktok: https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdS9YoyV/
Image Credits
Ikechukwu Dike Temi Lawson Malik Edwards Kwesi Yanful Mani Olaniyan Trevon McWilliams