#Throw Back Thursday: 10 Things You May Not Know About Mo
Mo Abudu is a woman who will be remembered in the history books as a Game Changer in the Nigerian Media Industry.
In the past four years, Ebony Life TV, has become a power house, delivering quality and relevant African content and changing the negative stereotypes of war, famine and disease that Africa has suffered from in the past decades.
Mo has also broken records in Nollywood with the 2015 blockbuster Fifty and the 2016 box-office “juggernaut” The Wedding Party. Now, Fifty – The series is premiering today on Ebony Life TV, and the Wedding Party 2 is currently filming.
How did Mo get here?
Certainly not by mistake.
In an interview with TW Magazine in September 2013, Mo already had big plans for her newly launched channel, Ebony Life TV. As at then, she said that she wanted Ebony Life TV to be operating on a global scale in the next 5 years (2018). “It must sit on major distribution platforms across the world,” she said. “You turn on your TV and you get a new perspective of Africa. It must happen!”
It certainly did HAPPEN!
It is 2017 and Ebony Life TV is all Mo said it would be and more. Episodes of Ebony life TV shows can be watched globally on IOS & Android devices and even Amazon. And with movies like The Wedding Party and Fifty, which have been watched by audiences globally on platforms such as Netflix, Mo has given the world a new perspective of Africa.
Mo SAID it and she DID it.
How?
From our interview with her, we can guess that her close relationship with God, her penchant for dreaming big, her good work-ethic, her perseverance, her ability to take calculated risks, and her experience in a multitude of industries have all made Ebony Life TV a massive success.
Wanna find out more about this Media Mogul?
Here are 10 Things you may not know about Mo…
- Her oriki is Ajiwowoke which means: “As you are waking up, you will be pampered with money.”
- Her grandparents were cocoa farmers in Ondo and she understands the Ondo dialect fluently.
- She was born in England and raised there until she was seven. She moved back to Nigeria and lived with her grandmother in Ondo state, but she moved back to the UK when she was around 12 years old.
- She took note of race and racism early on in her life. She went to Ridgeway School in Tunbridge Kent, which she recalls had about only three black people enrolled at the time!
- Mo got her first job at 16, selling shoes at Dolcis UK, and she has worked ever since then.
- She studied Human Resources at the University of Westminster in London, influenced by a pre-university job as a Recruitment Consultant.
- She left a lucrative position as the Head of HR Training & Admin at Exxon Mobil to set up Vic Lawrence & Associates. Of course, many people thought she was mad. We wonder what they think now!!!
- When Mo approached MNet to air her talk show, Moments with Mo, she had no inside contacts. All she had was her courage and her God given ability to do presentations! But despite her skills, three pilots of her show were rejected by MNet. She got the attention of the South African Media Powerhouse the fourth time around.
- While Mo didn’t start out to be like Oprah, she definitely looked to Oprah for inspiration. She ordered Oprah’s 20th Anniversary DVD box set and watched every episode of the show!
- One of the reasons Mo started Ebony Life TV was to change the perceptions and misconceptions about Africa.
Bonus:
- Ebony Life TV was initially called The African Lifestyle Channel!
Wow!!
Isn’t Mo an amazing woman!!!
What are your thoughts on Mo, the Mogul, the Motivator, and the Role Model?
Let us know.
Picture Credit: Joyce Jacobs
