Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Odemi Pessu. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Odemi , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I recently took the biggest risk I’ve ever taken in my adult life– I left a six figure marketing job that I prayed long and hard for to focus on my writing and my art full-time. I left this job because it was forcing me to turn my back on my purpose, and that is to freely spread love and light through my art and literature. I have always been driven by this intense longing to pour into the lives of young African women, so they can feel like they have the resources and the power to cultivate the life of their dreams.

When I published my first book in the summer of 2021, I took a full-time job immediately after because I was still harboring the limiting belief that being a full-time artist would not be financially feasible. This caused me to treat my life-purpose like a side gig when it is what fuels my dedication to living a life of love, impact, and adventure. I can’t say that it hasn’t been scary–leaving my job in the onslaught of a recession, and deciding to relocate from California to Georgia to be closer to my family as I navigate this transition. But it has been so fulfilling to see what has happened in my life since taking that leap. Thankfully I’ve had the pleasure of working with an executive leadership coach during these last 6 months, and her guidance has been indispensable in helping me fine-tune my entrepreneurial endeavors while giving my all to my art. In the last couple of months I’ve had a live singing gig (my first since college) at a wedding with a band, I’ve secured even more opportunities to share my voice with the world, I’ve begun writing music again, and I’ve been meeting a beautiful community of other artists who are welcoming me in with open arms. My social life is once again alive, and I feel so inspired by the new connections I’ve been making with the world around me. Fear was the only thing holding me back.

For the first time in my life, I feel only accountable to myself and the dreams that God has placed within my heart. I don’t feel the weight of societal pressures as heavily, because I know that this is MY life and I am to use my talents and gifts for the greater good even if that means facing momentary judgement or discomfort. My inner child is beaming with joy, because I’m finally making her proud. And now I know that’s all that matters.

Odemi , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Odemi Pessu, and I am a Nigerian-American multidisciplinary artist and the author of Force of Nature. my debut book available for purchase on my website, www.odemipessu.com, as well as on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I was inspired to write this book because African women globally are subjugated to societal expectations that force us to hide our feelings and complexities and look to external factors for strength when God’s power already lives within us. We are often told we are too much and too little all at the same time. But, like forces of nature, we cannot be confined to societal definitions of who we should be and what we should feel.

I’ve been a writer my entire life, and really began to hone my craft during my undergraduate studies at Brown University. While studying International Relations & Political Economy I found myself exploring anthropology, sociology, gender studies, and visual art from a lens that fused curiosity, social critique, and activism. I knew I wanted to create a career where I could further those interests in a way that could make a difference. It was during my master’s program at Brown that I was first approached to begin the process of writing a book. I was so convinced that I had numerous untouched boxes to still tick off that I didn’t really take the offer seriously at first. But, after my consultancy at the World Bank ended at the start of the pandemic I was left with very slim options in the public sector. So I decided to silence fear and let passion lead. I spent the entire pandemic writing my dream book, a work of narrative and lyrical poetry inspired by writers like Nikki Giovanni, Gabriel Okara, Wole Soyinka, and Chimamanda Adichie. I was overjoyed to read Pablo Neruda, T.S. Eliot, and e.e. cummings during this time because their work also influenced how I chose to tell my story. Musicians like Fela Kuti, Stevie Wonder and Lauryn Hill have been some of my biggest inspirations in merging my writing and singing with my dedication to socio-political transformation. There is truly a sweet spot where art and activism unite authentically and seamlessly. I am finding out what that looks like for me.

Now, as I am working on my first collection of songs and in the early stage of developing select poems into original short films, I am engaging with my creativity in a completely new way. I do think my favorite aspect of being an artist is that there is always something new to learn, always a new skill to cultivate that will make your craft bolder and brighter. I’m proud of how far I’ve come and to be so young. I know that I have so much to be grateful for, and there is an intense humanitarian streak that fuels my work. The average Ijaw or Itsekiri girl living in the Niger Delta does not have access to maternal healthcare, education, and socioeconomic mobility like I do here in America. While I can’t single handedly change policies overseas, I can use my art and literature to inspire discourse and action that will. And that is what I plan on doing for as long as I can, it’s the north star that reminds me that the sacrifices are worth it. Seeing my young nieces light up when they tell their friends about their aunt’s book that was dedicated to them, it just makes it all worth it.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think society severely undervalues the power and importance of art. Art in all forms has been instrumental to liberation movements over a span of centuries in various regions of the world. But now, artists are often forced to fit into boxes that fuel capitalism and rigid understandings of productivity, value, and labor. I think society should let artists create from a place of passion and skill, and to fairly compensate us as we do. I can’t name how many times people have seen the value of my work and creativity but expected to use it or have it for free. We don’t do that to lawyers or doctors, so why do we do it to artists and creative professionals? Art is not always for content’s sake and the way society places virality and popularity on a pedestal often keeps artists with great potential from sharing their work– because they are afraid it can’t compete in the volatile attention economy. But I believe that art isn’t about the competition or notion of being better than someone else. It is about love, patience, expression, fulfillment, evolution. Art drives cultures forward– where would we be without literature, music, film, spoken word? We should be investing in art programs for youth, the government should be subsidizing after school programs that offer creative courses to young people of promise. The economist in me would say that this matters for the sake of labor diversification, but the artist in me would say that this matters because we are not all meant to be the same. Boxes are arbitrary, and I think once we stop forcing artists to fit into them, we will see a bit more balance in the ways we view work and play. And government leaders may be pleasantly surprised at the power art has to heal and embolden broken communities to move forward and grow together.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

There is so much happening in my mind at any given time, and sometimes I think it can be easy to feel paralyzed from the sense of being overwhelmed by all the possible ideas I can bring to life. There is this underlying pressure of knowing that life is finite, and I think that feeds into any career. But uniquely with art, there is the pressure of having your legacy tied to what you create, so you really want it to be your absolute best all the time. But you also need to maintain freedom and inspiration in order to create, so it’s a tough balancing act in such a stoic and productivity obsessed Western society. I have learned to catch that pest of perfectionism and channel it into imperfect action that has the opportunity to improve– this is pretty opposite from what I encountered in corporate America. So it has been interesting to reprogram my mind to find beauty in my faults and to alchemize them into a great book or a great performance, or however I choose to express myself. It is a work in progress though so I do have to prioritize my spiritual and emotional health a bit more, because I channel so much of that energy into my work. Whereas most people clock in and clock out– I don’t think you can really do that as a writer or an artist. And I can’t necessarily say that I would ever want to, even if the creative process can be deeply excruciating at times.

I think it can be hard to relate to non-creatives who have no creative outlet or passion, because my art really does feel like food to me. It feeds me on my darkest days and it helps me feel so deeply connected to God and all that is. It can be a bit intense to convey at times, as my pensive nature can be mistaken as aloofness or indecisiveness. But ultimately, the wheels in my mind are always spinning and processing the world around me so that in my quiet time I can pour it into something beautiful to share with the world. The last thing I would add is the constant state of vulnerability, because that is essential to create art that is honest and art that actually touches people. It makes me so happy when people tell me how my words have encouraged them or made them believe in themselves again, but I also have to remind myself that a life of service through art means that I have to take care of myself first and foremost. I have to live my life fully and not just behind a book, or tip tapping away on my keyboard or locked into a song I’m writing. That’s all great, but it really is necessary to be around other artists and visionaries, because that’s how you stay the course when your internal creative juices are running low. Community is essential in general, but especially for artists. That’s how you fall in love with life– and it’s really what keeps the creativity flowing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.odemipessu.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/odemipessu
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/odemipessu/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDgFb8QCzIqRBNnpBOTpgLg
• Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alaerelifestyle

Image Credits
My Afro portrait was taken by my friend Justin Ragolia. All other photos were taken by me, Odemi Pessu.