Black Women in Sports - Arike Ogunbowale Interview - video Dailymotion

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00:00What's going on, Essence Black women and sports fam?

00:03It's your girl, Sheree Nicole, and I'm

00:04hanging out here in Arlington, Texas,

00:06on behalf of Essence's partnership with AT&T Dreaming Black.

00:09I'm getting to have an incredible time and conversation

00:12with one of the most prolific guards in the WNBA.

00:14I'm talking about Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings.

00:18We'll talk her on the court achievements as well.

00:20I'm a little nervous, because I might not make any baskets,

00:22but we shall see.

00:23And you will as well.

00:25We're going to jump right in, Arike.

00:26All right, man.

00:28So, Arike, before I get up in your business,

00:30just a little bit, I want to talk fashion with you.

00:33Your tunnel fits go hard.

00:36I'm a big fan, even right now.

00:38It's a simple look, but you just put it together so well.

00:41So for you, what would you say is the evolution of your fashion?

00:46Evolution.

00:47I mean, I get it from my mom.

00:48She loved dressing us like my brothers, myself.

00:51And as I got older, I would wear her clothes.

00:53Now she wants to wear my clothes, which is funny,

00:56but I control what I want to wear.

00:58And you don't have to worry about anybody, really.

01:00I just wear what I feel.

01:01Well, I'm also excited because you have some life changes as well.

01:03You just proposed to your now fiance.

01:05For you, first of all, what is something that this relationship has opened your eyes to about

01:11yourself that you didn't realize before you got in this relationship?

01:15Oh, that's a deep question.

01:17Um, honestly, I don't know.

01:20I just, it's just peaceful.

01:22Like, obviously I have a lot going on being a pro athlete and, you know, it's kind of hard to have to juggle a lot of different stuff.

01:28So you just want somebody that makes your life easier when you're not on the court as easy as it can be.

01:33And I've just gotten a lot of peace with that, which I love.

01:36We know that connecting changes everything.

01:37Yeah.

01:38For me, connecting with Coach Carol Owens changed everything for me when I played.

01:42Yeah.

01:43She was my head coach and she was your head assistant coach.

01:45What was one of the biggest things you learned from CO?

01:48Um, I think from CO, really from all the coaches, because they kind of had that same personality,

01:53but from CO is, like, you don't have to be yelling, you don't have to be angry to get your point across.

01:58And, uh, just, they care about us so much as people, like, before anything.

02:03And I think that's what drew me to them, like, as a coach and staff.

02:05Let me try a little runner.

02:10There it is.

02:11Wow!

02:12So I'm going to go back now to your family roots.

02:15You know, father in the military, mother softball player, brother football player, NFL.

02:22There's a lot of family ties to sports.

02:25And here you are now, a WNBA star yourself.

02:27What was it like growing up in a household that was also that had one side discipline

02:31and also you had the sports side as well?

02:33Yeah, well, I think number one was definitely discipline, especially my dad being Nigerian.

02:37They know a lot about discipline.

02:39So we got that for sure.

02:40But, uh, the main thing was just discipline, not like, you know, we're going to work hard

02:44to be a pro athlete.

02:45No, we're just going to work hard to be the best you can be every year and work as hard

02:49as you can, not worry about anything else.

02:51And you'll get to where you need to be if you work hard.

02:52Yeah.

02:53You mentioned greatness.

02:54I want, I want to move to greater possibility for a minute because you did

02:56play soccer.

02:57What was the point where you said I see greater possibility for myself in basketball

03:01versus soccer?

03:03Yeah.

03:03Well, growing up, I was, I love soccer more than basketball.

03:06Like I said, my dad's Nigerian.

03:07So that's their first sport.

03:08And me and my brother both played soccer.

03:10So yeah, I had to make a decision.

03:11And it was really what I started loving more when I was younger.

03:14I love soccer more.

03:14And then as I got older, I started loving basketball more.

03:17So I think I just made that decision.

03:18Like, all right, I'm gonna stick with basketball, trust, confidence.

03:21Leadership is a word that comes to mind for me.

03:23What do you think makes you a great leader?

03:25Because in my opinion, you certainly are.

03:26Yeah, a lot of it is by action.

03:29I mean, I had to grow into like the vocal part, like being in college.

03:32My coaches will always tell me like, you have to be more vocal.

03:34I know you do your action, but you have to be more vocal.

03:36But now I have better IQ.

03:38So I'm able to talk about it more.

03:39But initially, it was just about leading by action.

03:42I do want to ask just about the mental toughness piece to this game.

03:46You know, being a woman, being an athlete, being a black woman, all these things encompassed.

03:50How do you overcome challenges?

03:53And how do you dial in mentally, whether it be on the court or off the court?

03:57Yeah, I think my biggest thing is like your circle and, you know, what you stand for and

04:02just like your foundation.

04:03And for me, it's God, you know, my faith, my family.

04:06And if I'm making them proud, I know I'm doing the right thing.

04:09And, you know, no matter what's going on outside the world, like when I have those two things,

04:12like I'm good.

04:14It's not really a lot that changes with me.

04:15You know, I have my people.

04:16Like I said, I have God.

04:17I pray all the time.

04:18So just knowing like who you are, your foundation, I think that makes everything easier.

04:25Well, it got a little easier for my shots to fall.

04:29And Arike, of course, showed me some razzle dazzle as well.

04:35So Arike, we have played basketball.

04:36Also, we've talked about the connectivity that lies within your career, your family roots and on.

04:42We've talked about inspiration.

04:43We've talked about dreaming big.

04:45We've talked about greater possibility.

04:47We have covered the entire gamut.

04:48And part of the reason why we've been able to do that is because AT&T Dreaming Black has been

04:53so gracious to allow us to even hang out here.

04:55And also with that said, you know, it's a platform that celebrates black progress,

04:59black excellence.

05:00And from content creation, entrepreneurship, it's inspiring the next generation to know

05:04that success can be as big as you dream.

05:07So for you, what does dreaming black look like for you or even feel like for you?

05:12Just like you said, it doesn't have to look a certain way.

05:15Whatever, you know, makes me happy and I feel like it's successful, that's a success.

05:19And you got to celebrate small successes, too.

05:22You don't have to, you know, base it off of what you see, you know, online or what you see on TV.

05:27Like, if you feel like you're proud of what you've done and you're proud of how far you've come,

05:31that's a success.

05:31So just celebrating your wins in life.

05:33And for Arike, her success certainly extends beyond the basketball court and comes in the form of service.

05:39Actually, just last week, I went and talked to some youth that live in a shelter and just,

05:44they're going off to college.

05:45But just, you know, people who just need some inspiration be there.

05:48I partnered with this company like an investor and they invest in female businesses that are

05:53starting up.

05:54And so we need to support each other in every way we can.

05:56And I'm just trying to be that person.

05:58So Arike, keeping that in mind, okay, I have something special for you.

06:02I like special announcements.

06:04And this one's kind of fun.

06:05So AT&T Dreaming Black is going to donate $20,000 in your name to help you as you continue

06:12to help young ladies out there.

06:14I think that's pretty dope.

06:15Yeah, I mean, that's amazing.

06:16Like, just partnering with a company that cares so much about, you know, you as an athlete,

06:21but your causes and what you're doing, you know, to help the world and having them back in with that.

06:26And then $20,000 is a lot of money.

06:27Like, so, you know, I'm super thankful, super blessed.

06:30Appreciate you AT&T, but that's dope.

06:31Arike, I appreciate you so much, sis.

06:33This has been an incredible time, an incredible conversation,

06:36and you are such an inspiration.

06:38Thank you for inspiring me and a lot of other young women out there to dream big,

06:41to go after whatever we desire to do.

06:44And I wish you all the best.

06:45I'm a big fan and I'll continue to be that.

06:46Appreciate you.

Black Women in Sports - Arike Ogunbowale Interview

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