Today we’d like to introduce you to Oluwatobi Gbile.
Hi Oluwatobi, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
It’s simple — I want to inspire the youth through pop culture.
How am I getting there?
I’m an entertainment-obsessed storyteller who combines her individuality with her experience in the fashion, TV, and music industries. I’m currently based in Los Angeles as the Senior Campaign Manager – Fashion & Lifestyle at one of the biggest media companies in the world and Creative Director for rising multi-hyphenate artist TGBEAM.
I was granted the amazing opportunity of kickstarting my public speaking career after being a 2022 TEDxSanDiego speaker, utilizing my own story — the ups, downs, and arounds of it to benefit other people who look and feel like me, connecting with diverse audiences who can learn from my mistakes as they venture on a brigther future in the industry.
Additionally, I am a published teen fiction novelist of the “The Stunnerz”, co-host of the pop culture podcast The Weekly Baecay, and the editor behind Girl With Purple Gucci’s.
Stay close to see what I add to my story next.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. The main struggles I faced (and still do) are work-life balance, putting my health first, and putting my confidence in my purpose rather than my accomplishments. Work will go on whether or not I’m here — in fact, if either of us were to leave this earth tomorrow, our jobs would be posted almost immediately after we left. It’s important to me to foster a practice of work-life balance to ensure I show up for work my best and am able to show up for myself and those I love in my personal life. You truly cannot have one without the other. On that same line, I learned the hard way through my Type 1 Diabetes and celiac disease diagnosis that my health is the most important thing. If I’m not healthy, I can’t accomplish anything from my day-to-day tasks to my big milestones/goals. Lastly, as a person of faith, it’s really important for me to be rooted in God’s long-term plan for my life rather than fleeting accomplishments and praise. I’ve learned the hard way that we aren’t perfect, so therefore, people are going to disappoint me, same way I can disappoint others. If my worth is rooted in how others react to what I accomplish, I will never be fulfilled, so it’s a long-term goal of mine to be rooted in my purpose first and foremost.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m an entertainment-based storyteller who is currently a global senior campaign manager at one of the world’s biggest media companies. I’m known for my work on the luxury and entertainment partnerships there, as well as my work on the collaborations team at Adidas in the past. Outside of my 9-5, I take my storytelling everywhere from the TEDx stage, to college campuses, to podcasts as a public speaker whose mission is to inspire the diverse youth through pop culture. I do so by shining a light on my own experience as a black woman in entertainment, and stories in pop culture that can teach us a lot about ourselves and what we can do to improve our generations. A recent accomplishment that I am very proud of is my TEDx SanDiego talk that dropped in October of last year — not because of the prestigious nature of it, but for the fact that I allowed myself to sit in the discomfort of being unbearingly vulnerable about the worst time of my life in front of the world stage. I have never connected with people more than I have since that moment, and will forever be thankful for how it has empowered me to be my truest self – scars and all.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
My biggest advice is to be yourself, as corny as it sounds. Your individuality is the one thing that people can’t take away from you, so recognize your strengths and play up to them, know your weaknesses but utilize them for your gain. I wish I knew earlier that I would be accepted for being myself, as perfection doesn’t exist, and no one can relate to it. Being yourself is the most relatable you can be.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tobigbile.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/princesstobig/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobigbile/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1gXbKsOFc0&t=1s
- Other: https://www.ted.com/talks/tobi_gbile_does_strength_need_a_rebrand
Image Credits
Jasmine Durhal Xavier Bailey Malina Dougangmala/Wisconsin School of Business
