Elizabeth Elohor: Changing the Faces of the Runway

Interview Bethany Boyo, Words Destiny Fakoya

Elizabeth Elohor is a true inspiration for young women all around the world, particularly in Africa. She has gone from modelling to founding Africa's largest modelling agency and model search.

She has not only been able to create a very successful agency, she has also improved representation and diversity in the modelling industry much faster than what we’ve seen in previous decades. Some of her talents have been featured on magazine covers such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, W Mag and Dazed to name a few. Fashion giants such as Alexander McQueen, Tom Ford, Tiffany & Co, Dolce and Gabbana and more, have had the privilege of working with the talents she has spotted.

Bethany: Tell me a bit about your journey as Elizabeth Elohor?

Elizabeth: Founder of Beth Model Africa and Future Face Africa, and while I started modelling at 17, I also studied business and computing at London Guildhall University. In 2002, part time modelling was reprieve weeks after graduating and I eventually moved back to Nigeria and started selling through the boutique I opened. After speaking with a friend, I realised there was no modelling agency in Nigeria - this was a project I could work on as I knew I did not want to do modelling full time or become a famous model. I spent a lot of time researching the industry and realised my dreams of getting my models on Vogue and flying out of the country was difficult. Instead, I changed my plan for two years because nothing was happening and I became a local modelling agency in Nigeria - more practical and allowed time to study the Industry. Subsequently, this led to the idea of bringing modelling agencies to Nigeria instead in the form of a model convention, and all ten agencies invited were present to scout models for the show. The issue was securing a modelling contract for a year, but no brand wanted to associate themselves with that. Despite this setback, Elite model management sent an email inquiring about the model convention and even though I wasn’t sure about it. They suggested I become a partner for their show Early model Look in Nigeria and since Elite was the biggest model company in the world. Having discovered the famous black supermodels in the world like Naomi Campbell, Gisele and more. It was an interesting project to work on but I had to educate people on Elite as most people didn’t know about it and I worked on the show for 13 years. It gave me a huge platform in the industry and established Beth Africa Worldwide.

Bethany: Is your family entrepreneurial and what was their attitude towards your aspirations?

Elizabeth: My mum was very supportive of me as she was fashionable in her youth and encouraged me to pursue modelling.

Bethany: What other women did you look up to when you were growing up?

Elizabeth: I look up to Naomi Campbell for her perseverance especially as the last recent years have not been easy on her. Oprah Winfrey is someone I look up to for her business ethic, she has achieved a lot in life. In Africa, Mo Abudu is very hardworking and comes up with new and innovative ideas.

Bethany: Who are your mentors apart from your mother that inspired you, and do you offer mentorship?

Elizabeth: Up until last year, I would not say I have a mentor because I don’t listen to what others say. I follow my instinct and ideas due to COVID. I currently have a mentor who has helped me in many ways. In Africa, it’s rare to get a mentor that will support and guide your work and support you, especially for women. Also, I created a mentorship program that started three years ago, and I still speak to the mentees till today.

Bethany: What kept you motivated at the start of your agency to keep going knowing you’re the first of your kind in the fashion sector?

Elizabeth: I joke in the office and say I run a charity because I am motivated by the youths struggling to get into the industry. It motivates me to keep going to provide help for many of the young models I discovered at 16. I remember a young 16-year-old boy that travelled two days from Benin for the chance to pursue his career and it was a tedious journey to get there. I often apologised for the challenges he experienced but today he lives in the States as an established model. Which makes it all worth it to use my calling to help people and pushes me to keep going.

Bethany: How do you build and maintain your business relationships?

Elizabeth: It’s quite difficult dealing with people from different backgrounds worldwide. I am very easy to speak to and we’ve got a good reputation, but we’ve not had a major issue with our models. In the last 17 years, models demanded to receive money daily and expected it to be a lot easier, but we don’t work with them anymore.

Bethany: Top two challenges and how have you overcome those challenges?

Elizabeth: My major challenge is advertising agencies as modelling agencies worldwide rely on advertising agencies to book models directly. But in Africa, they call their family first and friends before the modelling agency. Nepotism is rampant amongst advertising agencies, so the industry was quite tricky in Africa when we first started getting people to sign with the agency exclusively. So, I had to work on this for 5 years but now every model working with us is signed to an exclusive contract. In Africa, we have issues with parents that chastise us for wardrobe malfunctions.

Bethany: What’s the next step for your agency?

Elizabeth: Trying to launch the London branch which was set back due to COVID-19. So everything was moved to 2022 and we’re working to better our foundation and relationship with models and, the rest can’t be revealed at the moment.

Bethany: The scope when it comes to Beth is about helper-ship so would you be able to briefly in one line what Beth represents?

Elizabeth: Changing lives!