Lord knows I love social media.
I do.
Which is so strange considering I've been on it just over a year.
For real.
Ask anyone who knows me.
I used to roll my eyes at questions like, "Are you on Facebook?" or assumptions that one could just "hit me up" on Twitter.
I'd respond with quips like, "Nah, I like to make my friends work for my affection," and "I'm a girl who likes almost everything done the old way...tv, phone calls..."
My favorite one liner was: "Facebook ain't nothin' but the government and high school revisited."
Yeah. My friends were like "ain't nobody got time for that." So I was out of touch with a lot of people for a long time.
It's something I still struggle with to an extent. The accessibility/technology thing. I just added WhatsApp like last week.
Anyway, it all changed when I opened The English Schoolhouse a couple of summers ago. It started out just with a FB page for the school, then I got a personal account so I could stalk my friends and make them hit the like button for my school, then it was OMGGG I haven't seen Suzi in ages and OMGGG her kids are so adorable! And I've been hooked ever since.
What's most interesting now, given that I was so against it, is what an integral part social media has played in the expansion of my businesses and the direction and success of my projects. I met my illustrator, Phil, on Twitter. We had this incredible successful Kickstarter campaign for The Ghanaian Goldilocks and boom, here we are a year and five books later crankin' these incredible, gorgeous projects out like non-stop. It's stupendous and all the fun. This morning I fell in love with another artist's work and got all of these ideas for how I would love to collaborate, so I reached out to him on FB. We'll see what happens...
But one of my favorite "I met 'em on the internet streets" stories is that of how I came to know Clifford Owusu.
I dunno if it was this video...
or this one...
that I saw first in my FB feed, but I was hooked from the first one.
They're hilarious!
I found myself going to watch them when I needed a good laugh, which is all the time.
And after a few times of clicking on the next suggested YouTube video, I came across this...
Spot on.
Clifford is Ghanaian-American.
I saw him act and knew I wanted him to be in The Ghanaian Goldilocks film.
So I did what I've learned is all you have to do when you really want something...
Just ask.
Cliff is kind and supportive by nature. He said yes right away, and I became so fond of his personality that I wrote him into the forthcoming follow-up books to The Ghanaian Goldilocks. He's Kofi's stepdad, Kwame.
Short of it all is we're now rockin' steady on a few cool projects coming soon. I was gonna just post his vids and Phil's spectacular promo image...
but hey! We've got the internet, and social media! And the possibility of connecting with anyone, anywhere in just a sec.
So I thought a quick interview with Mr. Clifford Owusu would be fun...
Went a lil' something like this on messenger early this morning for me/late last night for him:
Me: Whatchu doin?
Cliff: In my pjs
Me: So can I ask you a few lightweight ?s... i don't even have anything prepared.
Cliff: sure
Me: there are tons of videos on youtube..what do you think makes yours so popular?
Cliff: i try doing things ppl can relate to
clean and fun
Me: which of your videos is your favorite?
Cliff: All of them are my babies. Some grow faster than others but love them all.
Me: a lot of people are surprised to find out you work in HR. three parts to this ? ... what did you wanna be when you were a kid? what do you want to be now? and what other jobs do you think you'd enjoy if you didn't have the HR/entertainer gigs?
Cliff: i wanted to be an entertainer growing up. i'm living my dream now...each day gets better. i pray it gets greater and greater. i honestly don't know what else i could be doing besides entertaining but with my day job...i could see myself doing anything else. HR is just what i did to have something to fall on.
Me: so many of the videos that go viral are peppered with profanity and what parents might find inappropriate for young viewers. what encourages you to keep your video content clean?
Cliff: I believe in well dressed entertainment. Which includes the way I dress, speak and present myself. I post material that everyone can watch. I'm big on kids being able to watch my videos without any issues from parents. Profanity doesn't make things funnier. A real funny and entertaining person can showcase their talent without being dirty.
Me: (didn't actually say this to him but i'm puttin' it here)... I loved the video you posted on your page the other day of the three kids dancing along with you and they knew exactly when you were going to say something and what you were going to say. Adorable...and much more interesting and interactive than a cartoon.
Me: what have been some of the unexpected opportunities you've gotten from just putting yourself out there?
Cliff: everything is unexpected. talking to you now is unexpected. having you wanting me to be a part of your projects is a blessing. Each day gets better.
Me: having you say yes is a blessing!
you also do events, right?
Cliff: yep
got one tomorrow
Me: would you ever consider children's birthday parties? i could just see it...DANCE PARTY!
Cliff: yep, i do it all
Me: my imagination's already running...what would a party for kids that you hosted look like??? kora player! drums! you may just have inspired the next book!
think that's all, cliff. thank uuuuuuuuu!
Cliff: you're the bessssssst
Me. so are you
Do yourself a favor and check out & subscribe to Clifford Owusu's YouTube channel and hit him up on his site, www.cliffowusu.com if you've got great ideas for how he could light up your life...
and keep a look out for our upcoming projects in the coming months!
I do.
Which is so strange considering I've been on it just over a year.
For real.
Ask anyone who knows me.
I used to roll my eyes at questions like, "Are you on Facebook?" or assumptions that one could just "hit me up" on Twitter.
I'd respond with quips like, "Nah, I like to make my friends work for my affection," and "I'm a girl who likes almost everything done the old way...tv, phone calls..."
My favorite one liner was: "Facebook ain't nothin' but the government and high school revisited."
Yeah. My friends were like "ain't nobody got time for that." So I was out of touch with a lot of people for a long time.
It's something I still struggle with to an extent. The accessibility/technology thing. I just added WhatsApp like last week.
Anyway, it all changed when I opened The English Schoolhouse a couple of summers ago. It started out just with a FB page for the school, then I got a personal account so I could stalk my friends and make them hit the like button for my school, then it was OMGGG I haven't seen Suzi in ages and OMGGG her kids are so adorable! And I've been hooked ever since.
What's most interesting now, given that I was so against it, is what an integral part social media has played in the expansion of my businesses and the direction and success of my projects. I met my illustrator, Phil, on Twitter. We had this incredible successful Kickstarter campaign for The Ghanaian Goldilocks and boom, here we are a year and five books later crankin' these incredible, gorgeous projects out like non-stop. It's stupendous and all the fun. This morning I fell in love with another artist's work and got all of these ideas for how I would love to collaborate, so I reached out to him on FB. We'll see what happens...
But one of my favorite "I met 'em on the internet streets" stories is that of how I came to know Clifford Owusu.
I dunno if it was this video...
or this one...
that I saw first in my FB feed, but I was hooked from the first one.
They're hilarious!
I found myself going to watch them when I needed a good laugh, which is all the time.
And after a few times of clicking on the next suggested YouTube video, I came across this...
Spot on.
Clifford is Ghanaian-American.
I saw him act and knew I wanted him to be in The Ghanaian Goldilocks film.
So I did what I've learned is all you have to do when you really want something...
Just ask.
Cliff is kind and supportive by nature. He said yes right away, and I became so fond of his personality that I wrote him into the forthcoming follow-up books to The Ghanaian Goldilocks. He's Kofi's stepdad, Kwame.
Short of it all is we're now rockin' steady on a few cool projects coming soon. I was gonna just post his vids and Phil's spectacular promo image...
 |
| I mean, this is just perfection. Perfection. Shout out to Phil over at Howell Edward Creative |
but hey! We've got the internet, and social media! And the possibility of connecting with anyone, anywhere in just a sec.
So I thought a quick interview with Mr. Clifford Owusu would be fun...
Went a lil' something like this on messenger early this morning for me/late last night for him:
Me: Whatchu doin?
Cliff: In my pjs
Me: So can I ask you a few lightweight ?s... i don't even have anything prepared.
Cliff: sure
Me: there are tons of videos on youtube..what do you think makes yours so popular?
Cliff: i try doing things ppl can relate to
clean and fun
Me: which of your videos is your favorite?
Cliff: All of them are my babies. Some grow faster than others but love them all.
Me: a lot of people are surprised to find out you work in HR. three parts to this ? ... what did you wanna be when you were a kid? what do you want to be now? and what other jobs do you think you'd enjoy if you didn't have the HR/entertainer gigs?
Cliff: i wanted to be an entertainer growing up. i'm living my dream now...each day gets better. i pray it gets greater and greater. i honestly don't know what else i could be doing besides entertaining but with my day job...i could see myself doing anything else. HR is just what i did to have something to fall on.
Me: so many of the videos that go viral are peppered with profanity and what parents might find inappropriate for young viewers. what encourages you to keep your video content clean?
Cliff: I believe in well dressed entertainment. Which includes the way I dress, speak and present myself. I post material that everyone can watch. I'm big on kids being able to watch my videos without any issues from parents. Profanity doesn't make things funnier. A real funny and entertaining person can showcase their talent without being dirty.
Me: (didn't actually say this to him but i'm puttin' it here)... I loved the video you posted on your page the other day of the three kids dancing along with you and they knew exactly when you were going to say something and what you were going to say. Adorable...and much more interesting and interactive than a cartoon.
Me: what have been some of the unexpected opportunities you've gotten from just putting yourself out there?
Cliff: everything is unexpected. talking to you now is unexpected. having you wanting me to be a part of your projects is a blessing. Each day gets better.
Me: having you say yes is a blessing!
you also do events, right?
Cliff: yep
got one tomorrow
Me: would you ever consider children's birthday parties? i could just see it...DANCE PARTY!
Cliff: yep, i do it all
Me: my imagination's already running...what would a party for kids that you hosted look like??? kora player! drums! you may just have inspired the next book!
think that's all, cliff. thank uuuuuuuuu!
Cliff: you're the bessssssst
Me. so are you
Do yourself a favor and check out & subscribe to Clifford Owusu's YouTube channel and hit him up on his site, www.cliffowusu.com if you've got great ideas for how he could light up your life...
and keep a look out for our upcoming projects in the coming months!
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