MICROBIOLOGIST, SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER AND NOW SUPER MODEL, it can only be said that JESSE CHUKWUEBA OKOLI is growing to become one of the stand out personalities around the world in years to come. Following his successes and growing media attention, he shares his story from being a lab technician to becoming an influencer on the African continent and beyond.
Born from a family of six of which he has two brothers and a sister. On the other hand, having studied Microbiology at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Nigeria, Jesse started his career as a lab technician before becoming a professional model, something he has always dreamt of doing from a very young age. The great leap forward in his carrier happened when he moved to South Africa. Since then, he has gone on to work with top brands such as Clicks South Africa, Intel Worlwide, Vodafone, Southern Comfort Germany and South Africa and many more, whilst having been well travelled around the world especially in Africa and Europe.
Despite, being successful at a very young age, Jesse has always set his eyes on the bigger prize in the long run. But, he has a somewhat different moderus operandi from what many young people think is the way to success, on the contrary, he believes in taking one day at a time. He shared with Miziziyangu, “I have given myself aspirations in the past and achieved them in a short, so I love a bit of surprises in the progress I make in my life, but all I can say it there will be a lot of glorious things in the next ten years”.
Jesse remains committed to growth despite his past glory and has over the years continued to look out for every opportunity to better himself. Other than being a microbiologist, he went to study retail management. It remains a fact that his commitment and dedication has exposed to him to many opportunities, but he settled on working with an Italian Luxury brand as Assistant Manager.
Notwithstanding the pressure and the many things, he has to do, one would expect Jesse to have a very busy morning every day, but he chooses to start of his day more relaxed before it actually gets busy. He shares that on his normal day, “I start of my day with prayer in the morning, listen to good motivational music that gets me going for the day, I love to cook and look after my surrounding”.
To get the best of a career that requires a lot of time and personal appearance, self-love is very important. “Honestly, I am that type of person that believes in myself regardless of the opinion of others, so I know I have what it takes to become a model so I sent my application, and there it goes working for my own good”. Arguably, Jesse remains one of the most hard-working and dedicated models on the continent attracting attention from all over the world. However, he has in some instances painfully turned down invitations from possible clients because he understands self-care is of the essence in the industry, but at the same he avoids being stressed out because he wants to remain in good shape to be able to serve his clients effectively.
“My message to the African child with dreams is keep on dreaming, it is not going to be easy your dreams are valid, even when it is hard for you to get where you want to be. People will tell you, you are not good enough, people will tell you, your dreams are not valid but never stop believing in yourself. The only thing that matters is that you believe in yourself that you can do anything, then you are one step closer to achieving your goal. Never stop believing in yourself, even when people don’t celebrate you, celebrate yourself…. Be your own champion…”.
