00:00What's going on, Essence Black women in sports fam?
00:03It's your girl, Cherie Nicole, and I'm
00:04hanging out here in Arlington, Texas,
00:06on behalf of Essence's partnership
00:08with 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 Enrique 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, and you will as well.
00:25We're going to jump right in, Enrique, all right?
00:28So, Enrique, 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?
00:46Whew, evolution.
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.
00:54Now she wants to wear my clothes, which is funny,
00:56but I control what I want to wear.
00:58You 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.
01:04You just proposed to your now fiance.
01:05For you, first of all, what is something that this relationship
01:10has opened your eyes to about yourself that you didn't realize
01:13before you got in this relationship?
01:16Oh, that's a deep question.
01:19Honestly, 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,
01:25it'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,
01:32as easy as it can be.
01:33And I've just gotten a lot of peace with that, which I love.
01:35We know that connecting changes everything.
01:37Yeah.
01:38For me, connecting with Coach Carol Owens changed everything for me when I played.
01:42Yeah.
01:42She was my head coach, and she was your head assistant coach.
01:45What was one of the biggest things you learned from CEO?
01:48Um, I think from CEO, really from all the coaches,
01:51because they kind of had that same personality.
01:53But from CEO is, like, you don't have to be yelling,
01:56you don't have to be angry to get your point across.
01:58And 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.
02:11Oh!
02:13So I'm going to go back now to your family roots.
02:15You know, father in the military, mother softball player,
02:20brother football player, NFL.
02:22There's a lot of family ties to sports.
02:25And here you are now, WNBA star yourself.
02:27What was it like growing up in a household that was also,
02:30that had one side discipline and also you had the sports side as well?
02:34Yeah.
02:34Well, I think number one was definitely discipline,
02:36especially my dad being Nigerian.
02:37They know a lot about discipline.
02:39So we got that for sure.
02:40But the main thing was just discipline, not like, you know,
02:43we're going to work hard to be a pro athlete.
02:45No, we're just going to work hard to be the best you can be every year
02:48and work as hard as 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 to move to greater possibility for a minute because you did play soccer.
02:57What was the point where you said,
02:58I see greater possibility for myself in basketball versus soccer?
03:02Yeah, well, growing up, I was I love soccer more than basketball.
03:06Like I said, my dad's Nigerian, so that's their first sport.
03:08And me and my brother both played soccer.
03:10So 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.
03:15And 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.
03:27Yeah, 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, so 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 the mental toughness piece to this game.
03:46You know, being a woman, being an athlete, being a black woman,
03:49all these things encompassed.
03:50How do you overcome challenges and how do you dial in mentally,
03:55whether it be on the court or off the court?
03:56Yeah, I think my biggest thing is like your circle and, you know,
04:01what you stand for and just 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,
04:11like when I have those two things, like I'm good.
04:14It's not really a lot that changes for 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,
04:21I think that makes everything easier.
04:23Well, 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.
04:37Also, we've talked about the connectivity that lies within your career,
04:40from your family roots and on.
04:42We've talked about inspiration.
04:44We'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
04:52has been so 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 and entrepreneurship,
05:02it's inspired the next generation to know that 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.
05:14Whatever, 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
05:38and 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
05:54starting up.
05:54So 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.
06:00Okay, I have something special for you.
06:02I like special announcements.
06:04This one's kind of fun.
06:05So AT&T Dreaming Black is going to donate $20,000 in your name.
06:10Oh, wow.
06:11To help you as you continue to help young ladies out there.
06:14Yeah.
06:14I think that's pretty dope.
06:15Yeah.
06:15I mean, that's amazing.
06:16Like just partnering with a company that cares so much about,
06:19you know, you as an athlete, but your causes and what you're doing,
06:23you know, to help the world and having them backing with that.
06:26And then 20K 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.
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