Njideka Akabogu
Bozoma Saint John is a lesson in being your best self, unapologetically, at all times. And this is just one of the many reasons we’re crazy in love with this badass Marketing Executive.
From Pepsi to Apple Music to Uber, and now Endeavour, 42-year-old Bozoma has managed to leave a generous trail of Black Girl Magic everywhere she’s been, and below, we highlight 6 key factors that make her our everyday girl crush.
First, can we talk about her unforgettable stint at Pepsi? Bozoma’s tenure as head of the Music and Entertainment Marketing at PepsiCo saw the global brand take on a new approach to marketing by means of partnering with music festivals and events to help raise brand visibility and cool-ness if you may. During her time at Pepsi, she spearheaded multi-million dollars endorsement deals with superstars like Nicki Minaj, Eminem and Kanye West. It was also Bozoma who reportedly got Beyonce to do the Halftime show at the Superbowl in 2013.
She brought life to Apple! A little while after she joined Beats Music, the company was acquired by Apple and Bozoma went on to become the head of global consumer marketing for Apple Music and iTunes. Her sass and energetic presentation at the otherwise boring Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in 2016 continues to make the news with Buzzfeed describing her as the coolest person to ever grace the stage at an Apple keynote.
…And a good dose of black girl magic to Uber! At a time when Uber was hitting all the wrong notes in the public eye, hiring Bozoma as Chief Brand Officer was the company’s attempt at cleaning up its image. At Uber, the Ghanaian-American recorded a number of successes, one of them being initiating the company’s investment in the Girls Who Code organisation in a bid to support young girls who have an interest in tech. Boz did her best, but sometimes, there’s only so much one person can do. As she told model Ashley Graham at the SXSW earlier this year, “When I got to Uber I was honest in my desire to go and change essentially what I thought was a challenging environment, especially for women and for people of color. What I discovered was a lot of people who had a desire to do better, honestly, but couldn’t get out of their own way. At some point it became too overwhelming for me. It became a good lesson for all of us: You don’t need to be the savior, you can save yourself too.”
She’s a super mommy! Her relationship with her daughter Lael is absolutely beautiful and the video below is proof.
She rides for her girls! Bozoma doesn’t joke with her girl tribe. Whether she’s throwing her BFF, Luvvie Ajayi a bachelorette party or whisking her mum and daughter away on vacation, Boz knows never misses an opportunity to bond with her best girls.
She isn’t afraid to admit a failure. Once upon a time, Boz felt that her love for fashion and a great personal style was all she needed to make a career in fashion; hence, she took a job as an executive at a fashion label. But boy was she wrong. According to her, “That was a bad career decision. It was a very noble effort, but I didn’t last. I wasn’t used to the pace of fashion, I didn’t know the business of fashion, and I thought I could just jump in there and do it and I failed miserably. I was out within a year.”
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