Lillian, please share your daily wellness routine with us.

I do a daily Mantra right now I am doing one to remind me to be grateful for what I have and welcoming more abundance, the old mantra were words of love to myself. Also, I avoid the news in the morning.

What are the 3 things in your life that you simply cannot live without?

My lip balm currently using The Body Shop hemp lip balm, my books, and crazy friends who I have the oddest conversations with, that leaves me laughing out loud in the middle of Tesco.

What is your favourite beauty or wellness product and why?

Hmmm… for my favourite beauty product will have to my Aesop Elemental Facial Barrier Cream, my reason why will be how protective it is for my face during winter my skin gets really dry and stressed and this product is an absolute god send plus it smells heavenly which helps with facing a dreary winter’s day.

My favourite wellness product is the humble coconut oil, I call it the swiss army knife of products. I use it as a cleanser for my face, I mix it with honey for a quick facemask, great as my emergency lip balm, I put in smoothies to ramp up on the health gains for me and it also helps to keep my hair and scalp happy.

Do you have a favourite fragrance?

If so what is it? Must be my Tom Ford Noir, I just love the deep sensual smell that just mellows out on the skin.

What are your stress management/relaxation secrets?

When I have had very stressful time, I chuck in the towel and create a homemade milk and honey bath, with a cup of organic whole milk and a tablespoon of honey, but on a day to day basis my go to stress busters are cartoons, I love Wander over yonder as it keeps me giggling.

Your brand ‘Shine out Loud’ is known for highlighting diversity and inclusion in all spheres: what motivated you to launch this innovative brand? What is the difference that you want to see?

The motivation was simple, I wanted to celebrate people of colour who are disrupting the business as usual, in terms of business owners, creatives and women in tech. I wanted to celebrate the fact that these individuals who despite the challenges in front of them were creating new paths and standing out and being that change they wanted to see. To be honest I got tired of being that person who kept complaining about not seeing positive role models of people of colour on the main stream channels and hating how we are represented on shows especially in the UK, so it was about wanting to say you know what there are amazing black men and women who are inspirational.

What is the biggest risk that you’ve ever taken that has paid off?

Well, starting my first podcast show in 2009 and that was started truthfully to get over my fear of speaking in public and that put me on this track that led to me creating this brand today. From starting that podcast in 2009, I went on to start speaking in public, locally and internationally.  It led to my book projects and discovering my own authentic voice.

Who inspires you and why?

Aside from the usual suspects of Oprah, Cathy Hughes and co, for what they have done and who they stand for. I have people closer to home that inspire me, like great-grandmother on my mother’s side who despite having limited formal education was a businesswoman in her own right, my baby sister who had sense of what she wanted that she quit college doing a course that she felt she was expected to do to chase that path. And I have some very exceptional women in my corner who inspire who inspire me on a day to day basis.

Lillian, you are passionate about the power of storytelling. with that in mind, if you were giving a ‘Ted Talk’ what would be the core message of the story that you tell?

Ahhh this is simple! My talk would be to stop playing the extra in your own life … start telling your own story.

What is the last book that you read?

Recently finished the five love languages

How important is intuition to you? Eg. Do you place a high or low emphasis on it? Do you rely on it?

Ohhhh my god every time I have rationalized away my inner voice, no good comes of it, so I don’t just rely on it I live by it.

Who are your cheerleaders?

I have been fortunate, my family, a selection of friends who are just in my corner for every version of me that I have stepped into and there are some really special friends and two in particular that catch me when I falter and remind me that it is part of the process and help re-centre me and get me off my butt.

Thank you

Denise

xx

Find out more about Lillian Ogbogoh and Shine Out Loud here