Hailing from Indianapolis, Indiana, Ellisa Oyewo is a graduate of Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago with a B.A. in Fashion Marketing/Management. With years of editorial experience, including a highly-coveted internship with Seventeen Magazine, Ellisa calls Brooklyn home and finds writing inspiration in many of the borough’s cafes and coffee shops. Determined to leave her mark in the digital world one article at a time, Ellisa has contributed to The Swank Report Magazine, Love My Hair Magazine and has held the position of Fashion Editor of Coco & Crème online magazine. Ellisa currently is the Co Founder of CORE Magazine.
CORE is an online magazine that develops awareness of self-understanding and worth for females ages 12-18 years. CORE Magazine reaches females through different subject matters: finance, relationships, fashion, health/beauty, and current topics. CORE Magazine creates an opportunity to discuss and express daily concerns females encounter.
Social Media Manger to dope brands and has also contributed to sites as Vibe Vixen, Clutch Mag, and In Her Shoes. Bounced between Chicago to Brooklyn back to Chi City and BACK to Brooklyn! Randomly freestyles throughout the day. They call her “Freestyle E.” She writes all the time and dance is a passion that pours out of her randomly.
Eden Oyewo is a 28 year old that represents Nigeria and Indianapolis, IN; with a love for encouraging young ladies to achieve their goals.
Eden is Co-Founder of CORE Magazine. Creating Opportunity to Reach Empowerment (CORE) is a movement to develop a strong and positive foundation for females ages 12 to 18. Allowing females to understand and maintain a healthy level of self-worth through an online magazine and on-campus development.
Hannah Spivey: Why did you choose to move into the direction of starting a magazine for young girls?
Eden:Creating Opportunity to Reach Empowerment -C.O.R.E Magazine develops awareness of self- understanding and worth for females ages 13-21 years. We came up with the concept of C.O.R.E just seeing the lack of positive outlets for your women in the crucial time in their lives. The new concept of cyber bullying was developing heavily in society on top of the day to day encounters at school. There was a need and C.O.R.E definitely was developed to fix it.
Ellisa: It was important to gear C.O.R.E Mag towards teen females because we wanted to create a fly, fun and positive outlet for them. In this day & age it’s difficult to find inspirational teens reaching for their dreams in mainstream media, especially when it comes to young women of color. We wanted an outlet where they would come and not feel judged but empowered.
Hannah Spivey: What is the Core mission and value of C.O.R.E magazine and what are you main focuses for the magazine?
Eden & Ellisa: The C.O.R.E Mission is to develop a strong and positive foundation for females ages 13 to 21. Allowing females to understand and maintain a healthy level of self-worth through an online magazine and on-campus development. The main focus of the magazine is to be teens writing to teens. The magazine is created to be an open source that teens can relate, release, and develop themselves.
Hannah Spivey: What makes C.O.R.E. stand out from all the other youth magazines?
Eden: C.O.R.E was created because there was a lack of teen/youth magazines, especially for teens of color. There were no relatable online magazines which teens of color could understand/ see a reflection of themselves.
Ellisa: It stands out because it’s a combination of entertainment & empowerment. Not only do we keep it trendy & current but we always include a positive message in our articles & programs. We don’t sugarcoat topics but allow it to be a platform where they can speak their minds with real life topics.
Hannah Spivey: What has been your greatest achievements for C.O.R.E magazine?
Eden: We have so many greatest achievements so far by seeing the face of the young ladies we touch each day. But I will have to say in my opinion creating and working with our after school program in Nashville TN. This program was develop to have a hand on relationship with the middle school teens and take the topics discussed in the magazine and develops activities and sessions for the girls. It is always awesome to see the growth of the ladies from semester to semester.
Ellisa: Our greatest achievements have been our on-site programs & having teen contributors. At the end of the day that’s our purpose to connect & uplift teen females so when we work & inspire girls directly, that’s the greatest achievement we can have.
Hannah Spivey: What do you hope to achieve for C.O.R.E Magazine?
Eden:We want C.O.R.E Magazine to be the start of the movement of living a positive everyday life. We want teen girls to understand that being unique, having self-worth, being creative, and strong is a regular way of living.
Ellisa: We want C.O.R.E to continue to grow into a worldwide movement! We eventually want to tour to different countries hosting workshops, conferences, & events all motvating teen girls to be the best they can be & create their own destiny.
Hannah Spivey: I love the positivity that C.O.R.E Magazine brings to the table because it’s an inspirational tool that uplifts everyone regardless of their social, professional, or economical background. Tell us what that means so much to you and how much impact does it have on your readers?
Eden: Definitely! We want C.O.R.E to be a hard publication and want to develop more programs and internships to assist teens to get exposure to different fields at a young age.
Ellisa: Thank you! That’s one key point we truly wanted to do when we developed CORE. No matter your background or family status we wanted to reach girls and have them take away a message they could apply in their lives. Hopefully, it impacts our readers to understand they are not the only one going through issues and that life is so much bigger than their daily lives
Hannah Spivey: Should we expect to see C.O.R.E become more than just a virtual magazine?
Eden & Ellisa: Yes! We’re planning to head to print!
Hannah Spivey: What is it like running a magazine? Do you find it challenging? If so, what have the challenges been like and how do you manage to run your magazine successfully the way you do?
Eden: Running a magazine is definitely challenging just like anything else in life. We overcome each challenge one by one. The biggest challenge right now is learning the dynamics of working with family. Since we are sisters that live together and run a business together, sometimes it is difficult to separate the two. This is something we have been learning.
Ellisa: To be honest, it never feels like work. Not to say we don’t have ups & downs but working with teens, dealing with pop culture and motivating others are all areas we enjoy! The biggest challenge is feeling as if you never have enough time during the day to complete all the tasks you want. We come up with new & fun ideas to execute but it’s added to a long list of other things we need to accomplish as well. But we keep pushing on!
Hannah Spivey: What kind of values do you live by that helps you get through the day – whether it’s business or personal.
Eden:Hard work, determination, and humbleness. We were definitely raised on hard work and determination and saw it executed through our parents. Working hard for something and seeing the results at the end leaves a good feeling in your spirit. And we were always taught to be humble in every step of our lives.
Ellisa: I’m very big on having the magazine reflect our lifestyle. So if we are promoting positivity,health & personal growth, we work just as hard in our personal lives to better ourselves daily. It’s not about being perfect or making the right decisions all the time but learning how to grow from your past that you can apply to your future.
Hannah Spivey: Is C.O.R.E Magazine your primary focus right now?
Eden: C.O.R.E Magazine is our primary focus but we still maintain our 9-5s. This does get tricky but we always make time for our passion
Ellisa: Yes! Especially in the next coming year we’re making major changes focus to give even more time & energy to the growth of C.O.R.E
Hannah Spivey: Have you ever met anyone who said they’re huge fan of your magazine? If so, what has the experience been like for you?
Eden &Ellisa: We have! And it’s extremely humbling because it’s a passion & vision that we were given. To be able to share that with others is simply amazing!
Hannah Spivey: How can people connect with you and receive updates regarding your magazine?
Ellisa: Definitely head to C.O.R.E Mag and sign up for our email list where we send out updates on events, giveaways & much more! We’re also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Tumblr, so check us out!