Enioluwa Adeoluwa, popularly known as lip gloss boy/Beauty boy, is a 21-year-old beauty influencer, content creator and a skit maker. In this interview by FAITH ADEOYE, he talks about his life as a social media influencer, career, and academics among other issues. Excerpts:
You were a First Class graduate at 19, celebrity at 21. At this age, a lot of people are still trying to figure their lives out, how were you able to achieve all these?
Okay, I know the cliché is God’s grace which I accept, that God’s grace is very important. But I need people to understand the place of hard work. There is a lot of hard work that goes into being ‘successful’.
I graduated at 19 right, but there was work that went into that, I had to consciously read my books, maybe fame may not be ‘’oh, this is what I wanted’ but then there was work because I was creating contents and releasing it. So, I will say work towards your goals because that is what brings your goals into reality. Apart from just working hard, never give up on your dreams. Sometimes, I create some videos and I say to myself, ‘this thing isn’t funny and nobody is laughing; this is the end of it’ but no, some are going to be so funny and interesting to everybody while some are not going to be. Be disciplined about it and work towards what you want to achieve regardless of what anybody is saying; they are not even going to pay your bills.
When did you start doing skits and what inspired you?
My first skit video was in November 2020, I don’t think it inspired me really, I was talking about something and posted it on my Instagram story then a friend said to me “Eni, you have to post this on your page.”
I disagreed initially because this doesn’t fit into what I do. I was doing skincare and beauty a lot that time, which I still do but I reluctantly did and it blew up, I did another, it blew up, so I said to myself, this sounds like fun, maybe we should keep doing this.
I take people’s reality and my reality and say; this is something to talk about, let’s talk about it.
How challenging is it for you to juggle influencing, the skits and face your studies at the Pan-Atlantic University?
It’s one of the hardest things I had to do in my life; it takes a lot of work. The day I was shooting my 14th series of love, I was preparing for my exams but then I knew I had to be sufficient in both ways.
That’s what I was saying about hard work because you need to work consciously and be hard working at it to achieve your results. So, I am not going to say it’s easy juggling both; hard work just makes it happen.
What are you hoping to achieve with your creative content?
I hope I can inspire people and make people smile all the time. I am hoping to create more diverse content different from this particular one. I am really looking forward to other forms of contents.
What motivates you, your act and art?
What motivates my art generally are the people, I am really excited for the fact that I can create people stories and can actually relate to it.
People say there is no challenge in this business. Do you agree? What are the challenges in this skit market?
There are lots of challenges; it is a very saturated place where there is a lot of competition and you have to work consciously to stay relevant in that space.
Would you say fame has changed you in any way?
I am more conscious about what I do, places you go now but I don’t think it has changed me, I am still the fun loving, understanding person I used to be.
But I am developing, growing older day by day, I know there’s a lot of maturity that comes with age, growth and that is what happening right now.
What range of salary or income does this digital media business gets you?
It depends on how many projects you do because some months you may not get any job while other months it’s a flock.
So, there is no specific range but you can earn at least 500,000 a month
What is that ‘crazy thing’ about you that your fans don’t know?
With the way it is, I feel like there is no crazy thing about me that people do not know because I have ‘flogged’ my whole life.
There is a musical instrument I play which people don’t really know, that is the only secret I would reveal one day.
Have you ever been faced with people who think your comedy skit is boring? How do you handle such remarks?
I have heard a lot of people say ‘your skit is so boring’ and sometimes, I release a skit and I say to myself ‘this is so boring’ but a friend just says ‘Eni put it out’ and I just put it out.
People are going to hate even if it is not something to hate on but just keep doing you. That’s hard work. Think about the time nobody was seeing what you were doing, now people are seeing it and that’s what matters. There is an obvious growth from November 2020 to April 2021.
Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
I see myself being a professional in the marketing space, a professional in the beauty industry. I also understand that I will continue influencing as much as I can and try as much as possible to constantly reinvent myself.
By Francisca C.