Meet Trailblazer Tolani Eweje

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tolani Eweje.

Tolani, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started on YouTube back in college recording and posting videos about hair, makeup and giving engineering advice to students like me. I kept creating content through the end of college and after graduating, but I slowly became more active/consistent on Instagram. Over the years, I became what many call an ‘influencer’, working with brands such as Estee Lauder, Bobbi Brown, Bare Minerals, Palmers, Almay, La Mer, Carols Daughter, etc. I still work full time as a petroleum engineer and have been juggling both my ‘influencer’ job and engineering job for the past three years.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There have definitely been some challenges along the way. In my situation, it can be challenging at times juggling my engineering career and my influencer/blogger career. Sometimes, I have deliverables due or photo shoots and events in other cities that I need to make on the weekends (last year, I traveled twice sometimes three times a month for booked events such as photo shoots, campaign tours, festivals, etc.). Good time management is probably the key skill that has helped me keep up. I am that kind of person that always has a to-do list, a planner, a constantly updated calendar and several notebooks. My advice to young women who are just starting their journey is to work hard, put in the hours, be organized and stay committed and CONSISTENT in whatever you are pursuing.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
So, I always say by day I am a full-time petroleum engineer and work for a major oil company here in Houston, and by night/weekends, I am a content creator/influencer. On the engineering side specifically, in the past six years, I have worked as a production engineer, reservoir engineer and now as an advisor. I also work with our HR group as a university recruiter and diversity ambassador on the recruiting team. On the content creator/influencer side, I work with several brands as an ambassador and create content for various campaigns within the beauty and lifestyle niche.

So much of the media coverage is focused on the challenges facing women today, but what about the opportunities? Do you feel there are any opportunities that women are particularly well positioned for?
I don’t know if you noticed but women are absolutely killing it in the blogger/influencer space! There is so much opportunity in this space in several categories- beauty, home decor, travel, lifestyle, DIY, tech, and so much more. On the engineering side of things, however, opportunities are definitely there but we just need MORE women in this space. One of my favorite parts of my engineering job is that I have had the opportunity to work with our HR group to recruit for the past four years, I am actually a diversity ambassador on one of my recruiting teams were my goal is to encourage diverse students (women & minorities) to pursue engineering as well as make sure we are hiring a diverse pool of talent.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/tolaniav
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/tolaniav
• Twitter: www.twitter,com/tolaniav
• Other: www.tolaniav.com (coming soon)

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