Get up close and personal with Dallas Wings' guard Arike Ogunbowale.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00What's going on, Essence Black women and sports fam?
00:03It's your girl, Sheree Nicole, and I'm hanging out here in Arlington, Texas,
00:06on behalf of Essence's partnership with AT&T Dreaming Black.
00:09I'm getting to have an incredible time and conversation
00:12with one of the most prolific guards in the WNBA.
00:15I'm talking about Enrique Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings.
00:18We'll talk her on-the-court achievements as well.
00:20I'm a little nervous because I might not make any baskets,
00:22but we shall see, and you will as well.
00:25We're going to jump right in, Enrique.
00:28So Enrique, before I get up in your business, just a little bit,
00:31I want to talk fashion with you.
00:33Your tunnel fits go hard. I'm a big fan.
00:37Even right now. It's a simple look, but you just put it together so well.
00:41So for you, what would you say is the evolution of your fashion?
00:45Evolution. I mean, I get it from my mom.
00:48She loved dressing us like my brothers, myself.
00:51And as I got older, I would wear her clothes.
00:53Now she wants to wear my clothes, which is funny.
00:56But I control what I want to wear.
00:58You don't have to worry about anybody, really.
01:00I just wear what I feel.
01:01Well, I'm also excited because you have some life changes as well.
01:04You just proposed to your now fiance.
01:06For you, first of all, what is something that this relationship has opened your eyes to about yourself
01:12that you didn't realize before you got in this relationship?
01:16That's a deep question.
01:19Honestly, I don't know. I just it's just peaceful.
01:22Obviously, I have a lot going on being a pro athlete,
01:25and it's kind of hard to have to juggle a lot of different stuff.
01:29So you just want somebody that makes your life easier when you're not on the court,
01:32as easy as it can be.
01:34And I've just gotten a lot of peace with that, which I love.
01:36We know that connecting changes everything.
01:38For me, connecting with Coach Carol Owens changed everything for me when I played.
01:43She was my head coach, and she was your head assistant coach.
01:45What was one of the biggest things you learned from CO?
01:49I think from CO, really from all the coaches because they kind of had that same personality,
01:53but from CO is like you don't have to be yelling.
01:56You don't have to be angry to get your point across.
01:58And just they cared about us so much as people, like before anything.
02:03And I think that's what drew me to them, like as a coach and staff.
02:06Let me try a little runner.
02:11There it is.
02:13So I'm going to go back now to your family roots.
02:15You know, father in the military, mother softball player, brother football player, NFL.
02:22There's a lot of family ties to sports.
02:25And here you are now, a WNBA star yourself.
02:27What was it like growing up in a household that had one side discipline and also you had the sports side as well?
02:33Yeah, well, I think number one was definitely discipline, especially my dad being Nigerian.
02:37They know a lot about discipline.
02:39So we got that for sure.
02:41But the main thing was just discipline, not like, you know, we're going to work hard to be a pro athlete.
02:45No, we're just going to work hard to be the best you can be every year and work as hard as you can.
02:50Not worry about anything else. And you'll get to where you need to be if you work hard.
02:53Yeah. You mentioned greatness. I want to move to greater possibility for a minute because you did play soccer.
02:57What was the point where you said I see greater possibility for myself in basketball versus soccer?
03:03Yeah, well, growing up, I was I love soccer more than basketball.
03:06Like I said, my dad's Nigerian, so that's their first sport.
03:09Me and my brother both play soccer. So I had to make a decision.
03:12And it was really what I started loving more when I was younger. I love soccer more.
03:15And then as I got older, I started loving basketball more. So I think I just made that decision.
03:19Like, all right, I'm gonna stick with basketball. Trust, confidence, leadership is the word that comes to mind for me.
03:24What do you think makes you a great leader? Because in my opinion, you certainly are.
03:27Yeah. A lot of it is by action. I mean, I had to grow into like the vocal part, like being in college.
03:33My coaches will always tell me, like, you have to be more vocal. I know you do your action, but you have to be more vocal.
03:37But now I have better IQ, so I'm able to talk about it more. But initially, it was just about leading by action.
03:42I do want to ask just about the the mental toughness piece to this game.
03:46You know, being a woman, being an athlete, being a black woman, all these things encompassed.
03:50How do you overcome challenges and how do you dial in mentally, whether it be on the court or off the court?
03:57Yeah, I think my biggest thing is like your circle and, you know, what you stand for and just like your foundation.
04:03And for me, it's God, you know, my faith, my family. And if I'm making them proud, I know I'm doing the right thing.
04:09And, you know, no matter what's going on outside the world, like when I have those two things, like I'm good.
04:13It's not really a lot that changes with me. You know, I have my people. Like I said, I have God. I pray all the time.
04:18So just knowing like who you are, your foundation, I think that makes everything easier.
04:24Well, it got a little easier for my shots to fall.
04:29And Enrique, of course, showed me some razzle dazzle as well.
04:35So Enrique, we have played basketball. Also, we've talked about the connectivity that lies within your career, your family roots and on.
04:42We've talked about inspiration. We've talked about dreaming big. We've talked about greater possibility.
04:47We have covered the entire gamut. And part of the reason why we've been able to do that is because AT&T Dreaming Black has been so gracious to allow us to even hang out here.
04:55And also with that said, you know, it's a platform that celebrates black progress, black excellence.
05:00And from content creation, entrepreneurship, it's inspired the next generation to know that success can be as big as you dream.
05:06So for you, what is Dreaming Black look like for you or even feel like for you?
05:12Just like you said, it doesn't have to look a certain way. Whatever, you know, makes me happy and I feel like it's successful.
05:18That's a success. And you got to celebrate small successes, too.
05:22You don't have to, you know, base it off of what you see, you know, online or what you see on TV.
05:27Like if you feel like you're proud of what you've done and you're proud of how far you've come, that's a success.
05:32So just celebrating your wins in life.
05:34And for Enrique, her success certainly extends beyond the basketball court and comes in the form of service.
05:40Actually, just last week, I went and talked to some youth that live in a shelter and just they're going off to college.
05:45But just, you know, people who just need some inspiration be there.
05:48I partnered with this company, like an investor, and they invest in female businesses that are starting up.
05:54So we need to support each other in every way we can. And I'm just trying to be that person.
05:58So Enrique, keeping that in mind, OK, I have something special for you.
06:02I like I like special announcements. This was kind of fun.
06:05So AT&T Dreaming Black is going to donate $20,000 in your name.
06:10Oh, wow. To help you as you continue to help young ladies out there.
06:14I think that's pretty dope. Yeah, I mean, that's amazing.
06:16Like just partnering with a company that cares so much about, you know, you as an athlete,
06:21but your causes and what you're doing, you know, to help the world and having them back me with that.
06:26And then 20K is a lot of money. Like so, you know, I'm super thankful, super blessed.
06:30Appreciate you AT&T, but that's dope.
06:32Enrique, I appreciate you so much. This has been an incredible time, an incredible conversation.
06:37And you are such an inspiration. Thank you for inspiring me and a lot of other young women out there to dream big,
06:41to go after whatever we desire to do. And I wish you all the best.
06:45I'm a big fan and I'll continue to be there. Appreciate you.