Today we’d like to introduce you to Godswill Ugwa.
Hi Godswill, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Dallas, TX as the eldest of 3 in a Nigerian-American family. I felt in the middle of a lot of zones growing up as a nerdy, kid that was too African and nerdy for black zones, but too black for non-black zones. But nerd culture- video games & anime especially- were safe havens for me throughout my life.
In college, I prepared to become a doctor with a double bachelor’s in biology and business administration and a master’s in healthcare administration. But I made a successful anime club, A3, and got the attention of two significant anime streaming companies, Funimation & Crunchyroll. Funimation was local in Dallas so I was able to talk with them more to the point where they called me in to interview for a job. Now it has been 10 years in the industry as of 4/20/25.
Through my time in the anime industry, I moved to SoCal to work at Viz Media. I created a podcast that has 120+ episodes at the moment called That’s Dope, where I interview close friends within the nerd culture industries. I also host nerd-themed parties through the podcast name, such as a Cowboy Bebop-themed Jazz party and a One Piece-themed yacht party. And finally I created an 18+ anime convention called Kimochii Con which gained some momentum in the 2 years that it has existed.
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?
Starting out it was pretty hard especially with family members that weren’t receptive to how I steered my life. It was pretty lonely. And Funimation was overwhelming with its workload. For awhile I had wondered if this industry could be a thing I do full time or if I’d need to go back to healthcare. There are few black people in the industry and I witnessed a lot of challenges to black people here such as online harassment or an unawareness to our culture impacting nerd culture.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
That’s Dope Entertainment is a podcast and an event-organizing group. We have over 120+ episodes in the podcast with plenty of great guests like Zelina Vega of the WWE and international anime cosplayers like Leon Chiro and Stella Chuu. On the events side, we’ve done novel nerd-themed events like a jazz party based on the anime series Cowboy Bebop or a yacht party in LA and New York based on the series, One Piece. We’ve also founded a new 18+ anime convention called Kimochii Con which gained traction for its dedication to safety and fun for guests and attendees. We’re doing some big things this year within SoCal and the nerd community here!
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I think doing a sleepover in 6th grade with some friends I’m still lucky to be friends with. I remember drinking a ton of Sunny D and playing Halo with my friends all night. Stayed up until the morning and got McGriddles.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatsdopeentertainment/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thatsdopeentertainment
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLZquu6MVYdcYLn1soEmFzw
