In a bustling city like New York, an infectious personality can be hard to find, but every so often, you meet someone like Ogechi Egonu, whose warmth shines through like the sun.
Egonu, a model who lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, has been part of multiple beauty campaigns for brands such as Urban Decay, M·A·C Costmetics and Milk Makeup. Recently, she walked the runway for Telfar, a major Black luxury brand.
“That was really fun… I don't really do runway, really, but for Telfar, I will,” she told BK Reader.
Despite obtaining 30,000 TikTok followers and amassing close to a million total likes on the platform, Egonu doesn’t consider herself a full-out content creator.
"I think I'm like a baby content creator,” said Egonu, who said she feels she has received a warmer welcome compared to her other Black counterparts that can receive harsh racism on the platform.
The same persona you see from Egonu in her videos, is just as authentic in real life. She is gleeful and inventive; and many of her videos shows off her kooky vintage finds and eclectic taste for home decor, like the 50s-style microwave she got off Facebook Marketplace that is readily seen in most of her videos. And once in a while, Egonu pops up with a comical video about her twin sister, with one racking up over a million views on TikTok.
Recently, she has been fascinated by making vegan ice cream and has been tinkering with flavors to sell them at pop-ups or to give away to friends at celebrations.
“We're doing a rose lychee. But the thing is, I feel like I got really annoyed with the rose flavor. I should have chosen a different extract thing, flavor it. But, yeah, anyway I made this cool lychee curd," she said.
The following interview has been edited for clarity:
BKR: What makes a Brooklynite?
Being a kid here. I have friends who are like “You have to go through the school system here.” And I'm like, that's actually so real. I have this friend who grew up in Bed-Stuy who was saying it's completely different now versus when they were growing up.
BKR: Do you have a favorite neighborhood to stroll through?
If we can get specific, I like to walk down Greene Avenue. My sister lives on Greene. So I'll walk down to my sister's and then we walk all the way to Fort Greene.
BKR: Do you have a favorite deli or bodega, and what's your order?
I usually do like purple Doritos (spicy sweet chili) and a coconut water. Purple Doritos are the only one that's vegan.
BKR: What is your favorite nightlife joint in Brooklyn?
It's not a club. It's more this party that happens called Gush. I can't tell if they were kidding or if they were serious. But Gush is this party that I've been going to my entire time I've been in New York. Music's good. People are nice.
BKR: Ungatekeep a Brooklyn secret for me, whether it be a place, a fact, a person, or a thing. Something that kind of feels hidden to you about Brooklyn, that you have been keeping from everyone.
I don't know. I think I'm usually the last to know when it comes to being in the know. If I could ungatekeep something? Probably my sister's house.
BKR: What's one issue that you think is pressing the residents of Brooklyn, and how do you think it should be solved?
I'm sure everybody says it, but affordable housing. It's happened to me, and it's happened to a lot of friends, where you find another apartment, or you've been living in this apartment for years, and then it gets bought out, or foreclosed on. New landlords come, they tell you, all right, you guys have so and so months to get out. It's kind of hard to find a place that's reasonable. So anyways, affordable housing, evil landlords, main problem, fix it.
