In her two decades as a media personality and entrepreneur, Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi has explored multiple creative paths. From radio to fashion and podcasting. Now, she is entering a new phase, documenting the untold stories shaping the fashion industry. She tells Vanessa Obioha about the journey
Sometime last year, media personality and fashion entrepreneur Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi found herself at a loss over what her next chapter should be. It was unfamiliar territory for someone who had always had a firm grasp of her life’s trajectory. More so as the first child in her family, from the royal Olagbegi home of Owo, Ondo State, and a natural planner others often look up to.
At the age of 14, she had completed secondary school. While most spent four years at university, she completed her degree in Communications at Oakland University, Rochester, in three. After serving at the Nigerian Television Authority during her NYSC, she joined Cool FM in 2005, co-hosting Good Morning Nigeria before anchoring the midday show. She would later become the youngest female Programme Director at Naija FM and also serve as deputy programme director at Beat FM.
In December 2021, she dropped her headphones, a decision that surprised many of her fans. But for Olateru-Olagbegi, radio had become too comfortable. She needed a new challenge.
By then, she had discovered podcasting, which was still in its infancy. Encouraged by listeners who enjoyed their on-air chemistry, she and Tolu ‘Toolz’ Oniru created Off Air, a space for unfiltered conversations.
Although the idea came early, it took nearly a decade to assemble the right team. They eventually launched in 2019.
It was a first for the duo as most podcasts then were mostly audio-based. Off Air adopted both visual and audio formats, distributing on YouTube. Although they drew many viewers from Nigeria and within the diaspora, they had no sponsor and production was costly.
“We wrote proposals countless times to many brands. But for some reason, they didn’t see the vision, and they didn’t buy into it,” she said during a recent chat.
At one point, shortly after returning from a hiatus in 2021, the duo planned a special episode on motherhood, having just become mothers themselves. They approached multiple brands for sponsorship but received little interest.
“We even had a popular actress who I’m friends with, who was a brand ambassador for one of these brands, to hand me over to someone so that our proposals would not be lost in the air. She handed me over to people who dribbled us left, right and centre.
“What we were looking for was just N2 million sponsorship for that particular episode and it didn’t make sense to me. We did our episode anyway but it was quite interesting to observe.”
Till date, she still receives positive feedback from that episode.
“I went to a Mother’s Day brunch recently, and a lady still mentioned that episode to me. She said to me: ‘I’ve watched that episode, and I’m telling you it prepared me for when I was going to be a mom, because there were many things that we were not told.’”
Help came when MultiChoice Nigeria approached them in 2022 to bring the show on their Africa Magic platform. By then, they had done 100 episodes. It was a big relief for the hosts as the burden of production costs was taken away. However, the feeling was not the same for their audience who felt accessibility would be limited. On YouTube, anyone from anywhere in the world could access the show but on MultiChoice channels, it was only available in Africa. Also, there were no repeat airings.
“As much as the audience was upset, this is not a hobby, and I guess that’s what people always forget,” she said. “Creators are not creating just because it’s fun, it’s also a business. At some point, if you’re not making money from it, it starts to take a toll.”
The show has since returned to YouTube and is now in its ninth season, though rebuilding its digital audience after a two-year break felt like “starting from scratch.”
But there’s a lesson for her.
“For anyone who’s building anything, do not be afraid to start from scratch.”
Along the line, Olateru-Olagbegi dabbled in other creative and entrepreneurial pursuits. She launched a fashion shoe label, Gbemisoke Shoes (they also make bags); acted, co-founded an entertainment start-up, TNC, served as Vice President of Marketing at travel company Wakanow, and even walked the runway.
Despite these achievements, she felt the need for something more, particularly in an increasingly uncertain economic climate. When clarity did not come immediately, panic set in.
“I’m the sort of person who panics first when things don’t go as planned,” she admitted. “It was very terrifying for me, because I’ve always been a planner. I’m the family planner, I’m the one that says we’re going to do this, we’re going to do that. Let’s organise. Even in my friend group, I’m sort of the person who’s like, oh, we are going somewhere. We’re doing this.
“For me to one day get up and realise I don’t know that person who’s always been sure of herself was scary. For the first time in my life, I was unsure of what direction to go coupled with all the stuff that was happening in the country.”
After the initial meltdown, she began to look inward. What were her interests? What brings her joy? What was she good at? She knew she had to start something
“We’re in this space now where it’s not just enough for you to do your job. So whether you are a media personality or an actress, or whatever it is you’re doing, you have to create content which is so annoying,” she said jokingly.
“Do you understand? Pre-Instagram, TikTok, you could just get up, do your job, and that was enough. But now your social media presence is very important. In some cases, before you’re hired for a job, they will look at your social media. If you don’t have a strong social media presence, you’re not going to get that job. We’re in this day and age where content is king”
She figured out she loves fashion, loves to tell stories and has friends who are designers. She decided to come up with a form of storytelling that would see her walk into stores and try on a few clothes. The response was strong, and soon, brands began reaching out.
“I have to develop a rate card because I didn’t know where this was going to lead,” she said.
By the end of 2025, she had created content with about 50 designers. The beauty of her strategy was that it was a mix of all fashion tiers. So whether you love high, mid or low fashion, there was something for everyone.
In doing this, Olateru-Olagbegi discovered a gap. There were a lot of stories behind these designers that were not out there. Too often, fashion stories focus on the aesthetics and do not capture all the people involved in the ecosystem.
“People see your outfits, either as a creator or a model and they just like it. But where’s the story, where’s the journey? We don’t know their struggles. We don’t know how they started. A lot of people want to get into the fashion business but have no clue how to start or where to start. Some see others as successful but don’t know how they achieve that or even brands that were shut down.”
That realisation led to ‘Fashion Roundtable,’ a long-form interview series spotlighting voices across the fashion ecosystem. The first episode premiered on March 19 on YouTube, with a 13-episode debut season featuring designers, stylists, and industry insiders.
Among the stories are designer Kiing Davids’ abandoned attempt at women’s shoes, Zephans & Co’s remarkable sale of 35,000 outfits in a year, and Bawsty’s sold-out pop-up event, which drew 600 registrations in under two hours.
An interesting group of people featured are stylists who she described as image architects and whose roles are evolving rapidly. For the season, she spoke to two stylists including Swazzi, the stylist for many Nigerian celebrities including Flavour.
With this new venture, Olateru-Olagbegi begins a new chapter but beyond that, expanding the lens through which fashion stories are told. Where this exciting journey leads remains open-ended, but that uncertainty no longer unsettles her.
“I hope I don’t run out of people to interview,” she said, laughing.
Leave a comment