Today, we’d like to introduce you to Ari Nabena. Ari was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Chioma Ikoku.
Ari, thank you so much for joining us today. We’d love for you to bring our readers up to speed – can you introduce yourself and share your story?
Hi, my name is Ari. I am a dynamic individual who wears many hats with ease. As a fashion blogger and influencer, I have an eye for style and a passion for sharing my fashion knowledge with others. I’m also a mother, Jesus follower and a full time tech girl that loves to use my social media for engaging and inspiring other women and girls to be all that they want to be. There’s no such thing as too much in my world. I love putting my mind to a project and conquering it.
I moved to the US as a 16 year old and quickly figured out that I could become anything I wanted, whenever I wanted and that there was no limit to my expression. I started with a passion for children, working my way up the childcare ladder and managing a home daycare. Then took the challenge and furthered my education focusing on science and research.
It was during my college years that I started my blog, Aritreschic.com, and also started working in the beauty industry. My blog was an outlet for all my creative energy during the rigorous school days and nights working on research. Every free moment I had, I delved more into my blog. Mu\y blog used focus on Red carpet looks before the days of instagram and trace the labels and stylist by devouring fashion magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazar. I also used the blog to post affordable options of the expensive celebrity outfits.
Nowadays, those experiences have morphed into Digital creation, influencing and sharing my passion of making crafts with my hands and my glue gun. As a mom, celebrating holidays and finding deals while shopping has become a new found outlet to enjoy the things i love and also share them with my daughter.
My social media focuses on spreading positivity, creativity, and empowering people to use all their talents, I am dedicated to being a true asset to any person, project or community I am a part of.
Let’s talk about your work and career – what else should we know?
Sincerely, being a multifaceted person, there’s no way to give a simple path for my career. I’m a believer in knowing that God always uses every thing, job and experience you have to serve as a beacon for others to see His glory while he builds you into the unique individual he crated. I think the minimum wage job you did in high school at a fast food restaurant has an impact 30 years later to how you act as a CEO of a company in a high-rise building. I don’t take any experience for granted. Currently, I’m breaking into tech working as a salesforce administrator and eventually growing into a more advanced salesforce consultant. Switching from healthcare to tech has been challenging but it has also been rewarding. In healthcare, you simply choose a clinical path, for example nursing, laboratory science or radiology, then there are institutions that create a course, evaluations and certifications. You just have to follow the plan already set. With tech its not so straightforward. Especially, since I switched after college. Its more self paced and self customized which is both exciting and difficult. But I can do hard things and so can you. My first foray was during the pandemic, I wanted to further my education and I wasn’t sure whether to continue with the healthcare track or do a complete switch to the tech track. I had interest but I always thought it was too hard and I was too old to start over. I spent more time pursuing shadowing work, and volunteer work to go back to school as Physicians assistant or Nurse Practitioner. As destiny would have it, I listened to an NPR program that featured a 54 year old nurse who made the switch to tech and was now working from home. Even though I still wasn’t completely sold on the switch, I now had proof there was a way and I could also do it. I started by signing up for Googles Data analytics course which made me realize that I can take a home course, study and do something new in the field of technology. A million YouTube searches later and research on the job, work life balance and skills needed to fulfill the demands of the job, I decided to take my Healthcare administration skills to Salesforce administration. And as they say the rest is history.
Chioma Ikoku and Casa Diem Life have been great to us and I know you’ve got a great relationship with them as well. Maybe you can tell our audience a bit about Chioma Ikoku and Casa Diem Life and your experience with them.
I met Chioma in while we were in college and even then she always had an eye for pulling beautiful things together in a memorable way. From using her creative energy to build a fashion brand, to managing a real estate business and an interior decorating business, Chioma has a distinct way at looking at you and using your fashion sense, interests and vision to bring to life a space that is uniquely you. You can always tell when Chioma has worked on a project because there’s a fingerprint that is unique and tells a story.
In consulting with Chioma in my rebranding for my blog, I needed to leave my old college identity but didn’t know how to transition. She was a great guide in reformulating my core tenets to fit my current life experience. Her passion to get the best and clearest vision helped guide me in my social media strategy, my influencing and my blogging. She was able to help me with inspiration for the pieces in my home and decorated different spaces which still feel like home but can be easily used for recording videos or content for brands without having to go to a studio. Because I was in the throws of motherhood and simultaneously working on a career change, having Chioma as a guide to help me prioritize what I needed to work on with my brand made it easier to handle.
Also, she was an inspiration for me, because she handled motherhood, her passion projects, her businesses and a full time career as well. It let me know that I can also do the same. She was able to scout the location and shoot my brand relaunch, record content projects for household brands like Groupon and Olay and consulted with me and my team on my blog relaunch. She is a powerful voice in the area of designing and branding. Her ability to hone in on the authenticity of each person or project is second to none.
Website: aritreschic.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aritreschic
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aritreschic
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/aritreschic
Image Credits:
Image Credit: Casa Diem by Chioma Ikoku
