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Our True Beauty series features the most influential and stylish women in Texas. We take a peek inside their closets, their minds, and their hearts to find out what makes them truly passionate. Today’s feature, Christian Reed-Ogba, is precisely the type of woman we are aiming to highlight. She has a fierce sense of self, she’s a dynamic business woman, and she knows how to command a room with a style that speaks for itself. Her PR and marketing firm, BethanyEast, is one of the top in San Antonio, and she has the invaluable support of her husband, Uchennaya, as co-owner. I first met Christian and Uche during a business accelerator course, but they are always the life of the party at any major event in San Antonio. You’ll probably notice one of Christian’s professional yet stylish ensembles first, but you’ll appreciate her instant likeability even more once you get to know her. Keeping reading to find out more about this powerful woman:
Haute in Texas: Hi Christian, thanks for talking with us! If you could have one fashion icon’s wardrobe, who would you choose?
Christian Reed-Ogba: Tracee Ellis-Ross. I love her chill, chic and still glam looks. And when I found that she styles herself for everything she does I fell deeper in love with her closet. She often mixes thrifted pieces with high end labels, and has absolutely no fear, which I see in myself.
HIT: What’s one item you’d love to add to your closet that you don’t have yet?
CRO: I have been hunting for years for my ideal leather jacket. There was one camel colored leather trench that I found, let a friend borrow it and never got it back. But right now, I am looking for a leather jacket that can transition from day wear to evening to errands on the weekend. I’m a curvy girl, from my arms to my shoulders to my…assets, so I am looking for something that isn’t gaping and big, but still slims me out and accentuates my edginess AND my curves.
HIT: What does it take to be stylish in San Antonio?
CRO: Well, I’m from Detroit, where style is either in your face or…well, there’s no other option. You either come dressed to impressed or you don’t go. In San Antonio, and this took me a while to learn, being stylish is a formula. You have to be comfortable, ready to beat the heat. Being trendy is not really as important as being consistently chic in San Antonio. I find that I wear a lot more flats (which I secretly hate), and my jacket collection basically goes unused for a good part of the year. Instead I focus on two item ensembles, dresses and cute functional bags – and of course killer shades.
HIT: How do you express your style in the business world?
CRO: Because I am in international business and corporate PR my wardrobe helps me to get noticed, so I keep a polished look – always well pressed is my motto. That being said, I rock fashion for the business world daily.
I love wearing colorful suits – mixing separates and prints is my all-time favorite thing. Nothing beats a good jacket, and I have a few vests that I am contemplating putting in rotation for the summer. Dresses, dresses and more dresses. I learned through my meetings the better I dress the better I command the room. For example, a few weeks ago a potential client was trying to jog his memory about who I was to his executive assistant. She let me know that as he was trying to remember he used the term “the young lady with all the jackets and shoes, you know, the sharp one!”, and immediately three folks replied back, “You mean Christian!” That delighted me so – honestly he could have used any amount of words to describe me. Small victories.
HIT: What’s one fashion trend you wish would make a comeback?
CRO: Well chambray is already back – I used to rock chambray and jeans in elementary school, and the kids use to pick on me because I wasn’t wearing the big names of the era. But I just had a connection with a good chambray page-boy shirt. Now I have an uncountable number of denim on denim on denim. But if you really want an answer, knit suits. I love knit business suits, don’t judge me when you see me wearing this multicolored herringbone patterned Dana Buchman knit suit.
HIT: How often do you define your professional goals? Can you share any of your current goals with us?
CRO: As often as I can – it seems as soon as I check off something on my goals chart, I immediately re-strategize, reorganize and launch a new goal. My professional goals are often very public because I own a public relations firm, so I am always launching capital campaigns, planning events and/or spreading the word and my network is very involved in that. Right now I am doing a lot of work for a number of City of San Antonio departments which range from creating community events, activating new initiatives for small businesses and introducing development options to international entities.
At the same time, within my firm, we hold a few internal brands like the Good People Mixer. Currently it is my goal to introduce Master Classes that will be taught by past “Good People”- and will be an entrepreneurial learning experience – as well as San Antonio’s largest and most diverse entrepreneurs mixer by 2017.
HIT: How does working in PR affect your sense of self?
CRO: There’s good and bad to being in PR and then owning a firm. On the one side I am a publicist so I am extremely social and I love attending events and increasing my network. On the other side I am a business owner, with multiple corporate clients and international projects, so I have to be very professional and strategic in everything that I do. I also have a very different cultural upbringing from many of the women and men that I work with here in San Antonio so my sense of self is often very cordial, mixed with a little humor and still very deliberate.
I love PR – I love being able to connect initiatives and brands with their intended audiences, and when you are a bridge you have to be strong, and able to withstand what the elements throw at you. My sense of self often takes a ton of factors into consideration before I contemplate about how I should react or problem solve.
HIT: If you could give one piece of advice to your teenage self, what would it be?
CRO: Pick your afro mama. I had the cutest, and biggest afro in high school, but it was always lopsided because …. cell phones and wind weren’t my favorite friends. Looking back at the pictures I wonder why my friends didn’t remind me to pick it out more.
HIT: Finally, an Haute in Texas tradition, pancakes or waffles?
CRO: Waffles…with fried chicken AND bacon.
Thank you Christian, for sharing your gorgeous self with us! For more information about her and BethanyEast PR, visit their website here.
XO,
A
