FORMAL BIO
Ms. Uduak is a fashion model turned fashion and entertainment lawyer, media consultant and speaker with a proven track record of helping creatives and entrepreneurs avoid costly mistakes so they can increase growth and profitability in their businesses and get back to living fearless, powerful, and impactful lives.
Ms. Uduak also brings over two decades hands on fashion and entertainment industry experience which runs deep and diverse encompassing the disciplines of media (publishing and journalism), fashion, modeling, music, branding, public relations, sponsorships, fundraising and digital marketing.
She is also a journalist and recognized thought leader, and trailblazer for her work on Africa’s emerging global fashion and entertainment markets, and the niche practice of fashion law in the United States; and has authored a combined total of over 11,000 articles, some of which have been syndicated globally, including in Yahoo News! USA Today, MSNBC and in several prestigious legal journals and magazines.
Ms. Uduak is also a legal commentator who has provided legal insight and analysis on the intersection of pop culture and the law for diverse local and international media outlets including Al Jazeera, Fox 40 News, Huffington Post, Metro FM SA, and New York’s 99.5FM WBAI.
She is also a routinely invited speaker who has spoken at numerous organizations including the Fashion Law Institute, Wharton School of Business, SXSW Inc., Levi’s, PechaKucha and the National Association of Women Business Owners.
An Adjunct Professor who currently teaches Social Media Law and Ethics and Social Media Data Analytics at the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco, in 2019, she crafted, inaugurated, and taught the first-ever Fashion Law course at California State University, Sacramento.
For her work in the field of law, and the fashion and entertainment industry, she has earned numerous nominations and recognitions including an award from the American University Washington College of Law for her “legal impact in the field of intellectual property in Africa.”
MY WHY
I was born in the United States but raised as a child in Nigeria, West Africa. While I have fond memories of my childhood in Nigeria, I also believed that it was a crime to be born or raised as a girl in that society. Truthfully, boys had all the fun and superpowers while girls were and continue to be marginalized, their voices stifled and violent acts committed against their persons.
If I had any doubts about the marginalization of girls and women, my personal experience where I was assaulted, as a child, cemented the deal. I buried the trauma and later channeled that energy towards advocacy work and a career as a lawyer, journalist and writer, which permitted me to lend my voice to the voiceless and to unequivocally refuse to be silenced where my views or positions varied from the majority. However, it was not until certain life events in my 20s triggered the traumatic experience forcing me to unwillingly deal with overwhelming fear, shame, guilt, stigma, and the reality that excellence in my career goals/achievements had no bearing on my wounded soul. Through what became a decade-long journey of finding and healing self, I discovered that it was only in embracing the fear that I could fully step into my greatness and live my best life.
My goal through the services I offer is to help people thrive monetarily in their businesses/careers AND be empowered intra personally to live fearless, powerful, and authentic lives.
~Ms. Uduak