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By Christy Anyanwu
Tewa Onasanya is a mindset stylist who helps individuals unlock their full potential and achieve their personal and professional goals. She is the publisher of Exquisite Magazine and she has written several books, including “Rule Your Mind,” which focuses on mindset shifts and personal growth. In this interview with Sunday Sun, she went down memory lane to talk about herself.
Tell us a bit about yourself self and personal experience as a publisher of Exquisite magazine.
I am an entrepreneur and a mindset stylist. As an entrepreneur, I am the founder of Exquisite Magazine, a fashion, beauty and lifestyle magazine that inspires confidence and style in women. I am also the founder of the prestigious ELOY Awards Foundation.
My experience as a publisher has been and still is a very interesting journey. Been in the publishing world for 18 years, going through the ups and downs of running a business and being an entrepreneur in Nigeria. I would say it’s been a great learning experience for me and I’m glad I’m on this journey.
What are some of the other things that occupy your time?
Apart from my time with my family and friends, I am a cervical cancer prevention advocate, an author and also a mindset stylist. As a mindset stylist, I help people transform their lives by renewing their minds using the law of attraction. So I’m a mind coach although I prefer to use the word stylist.
Personally, I love doing things that puts me in a relaxed mode.
Tell us about your role models, people you admire in the society…
I admire my parents, I am inspired by how they raised my sisters and I to be women who strongly believe in themselves with the “never give up” spirit.
In the society, I admire a few people, but I’ll mention Ibukun Awosika, how she turned her company into the success it is today and her drive to throw the ladder down to support other women. I admire and I am inspired by Tony Elumelu for his drive to support entrepreneurship in Africa and I believe he is not gender-biased, as long as the job gets done, it doesn’t matter if you are a woman or man.
I also admire Mark Zuckerberg. It’s phenomenal how the whole world is fixated on one person’s idea. Still find it unbelievable when we all lost access to Instagram and Facebook for a day and a lot of people didn’t know what else to do. I find this to be “powerful”.
I do admire and I am inspired by people who stand up for what they believe in and make things happen regardless of what people say, how scary it might seem or what challenges they face. I am one of those people actually, so, yes I also admire myself and I am inspired by the things I’ve done that I once thought were impossible.
What are some of the principles that guide what you do?
I’ll list some of them but there are quite a few. A ‘no’ doesn’t mean my idea is bad or impossible; it just means I am either speaking to the wrong person or I need to articulate the value properly. So, I take the lesson, learn and do better. Quitting is not an option. There is always a way, if I really want something. I just continue to be persistent and dedicated to what I believe in because my vision is God’s words for me and it is valid. Find the good in everything. I intentionally do this every moment. I look for something good in a situation and if I can’t at that moment, I distract myself with better feelings and thoughts. When I feel good, I attract more life experiences to feel good about.
I believe people treat you the way they see themselves and it’s usually nothing to do with you and sometimes it’s because of the way you see yourself. So, I try not to over think it and be nicer to yourself and others. They might be going through stuff they can’t talk about and don’t take how they treat you personally. Instead, adjust the way you also see yourself. I always choose to respond with love and see the brighter side of everything. Call me a dreamer but hey. I have my limits though.
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What lessons has life taught you?
Hmmm, I am still learning. Some of the lessons I’ve learned over time is that you have to be bold to get whatever you want in life and life will meet you how you meet life. You have to choose to think thoughts that empower and uplift you, not thoughts that limit you and make you feel inadequate. You have to approach life with positive expectations.
Yes, things will not always go the way we want them to, but persistence and being consistent will eventually get you there.
Consistency is key and people will always remember how you make them feel.
Tell us about your childhood and growing up. What were some defining moments that shaped your personality?
My childhood and growing up was fun and interesting. I’m the first of seven girls, and thankfully, my parents made sure we all grew up to be confident with that great belief in our own abilities. Defining moments or a defining conversation would be my mum always ringing it into our ears that being educated is our property, and no one in this world can take it away from us. She always told us this, and it kept me desiring to develop myself and learn more. I feel so blessed to have been brought up in a way that encouraged personal development, and my parents are liberal enough to let us make our choices even though they guided us.
What role did your upbringing play in shaping your love for fashion and entrepreneurship?
Well, I suppose my love for fashion was probably shaped by my parents because, my dad always wanted us to be properly dressed in our little dresses, our hairstyles done nicely. And my love for shoes definitely from both my mum and dad as they had lots of shoes when I was going up and we always used to sun dry them at weekends so the heat won’t ruin the leather. In terms of entrepreneurship, both my parents are business owners, although they started off in their jobs and then eventually started their own businesses. They showed me firsthand the power of being consistent, determined and kind to others.
Before Eloy Awards became your main focus, you built a solid career as the publisher of Exquisite magazine and cervical cancer advocate, What inspired the shift?
Exquisite Magazine is still our big focus although it has evolved into the ELOY Awards Foundation. In fact we just celebrated 22 years of Exquisite Magazine this month, September 2025. We are that empowerment, wellness and lifestyle magazine for the unlimited confident woman. We still raise awareness for cervical cancer prevention every year and offer free screening. The ELOYs came from Exquisite and yes, it has become the biggest and most consistent Awards for women in Nigeria. This is our 17th year and we have successfully built it into that brand that celebrates women of excellence in different fields via the awards and sustains women empowerment via the conference and business showers. What inspired the evolution (not shift) is the fact that we identify that women are doing exceptionally well in different fields and they need to be celebrated and shown to the world so that other women can be inspired by them. When one woman wins, it shows the world that it can be done, and it’s like a silent permission slip that the next woman can do it too.
You studied Pharmacology in the university. Have you ever worked with the certificate? And how has the course assisted you in your present endeavour?
Oh yes, I did work for almost 10 years with my degree. I was a clinical data manager in quite a number of pharmaceutical companies in England, Germany and the Netherlands before I started Exquisite Magazine. And, it’s not all completely wasted; there are transferable skills I learned at university that still help me today. I strongly believe that no knowledge is ever lost. There are some foundational trainings that cut across all spheres of life.
You were born in England, and had part of your education abroad though you’re now based in Nigeria. Many Nigerians have Japa to England. What’s your perception about this?
My perception of this is that even though there are real realities for different people and yes some might prefer to “japa.” There are opportunities in Nigeria and Nigeria does need help. If everyone leaves, who is going to build Nigeria for the generation to come? Yes there are challenges, and I say there are challenges everywhere in the world and people are free to choose which they can handle and work with to live the fulfilled life they desire.
You just ended one of your yearly events. Tell us more about it
Yes, we just ended the Wellness and Style Live Experience by Exquisite Magazine which is an event to support people who are intentional about their wellbeing. It went really well and we are glad to be able to encourage people to take care of themselves as we cannot pour from an empty cup. We hear of people passing out and dying daily and it all goes to show that we all work so hard and neglect the body and mind that is sustaining us. We are now working on our next event which is the 17th Global ELOYs with the International Trade and Empowerment Mission. This will be held in November.
