I was 10 years old when I discovered her image and inspiring words inside the pages of Seventeen magazine (part of a brilliant Nike ad campaign tailored towards young girls like me) – or it may have been YM (that’s how big the print campaign she was a part of was). Plus, I can’t be so sure now because I ripped out the page that she was on so that I could hang it up on my bedroom wall. It stayed up there for awhile until I stuffed her on the cover of my clear binder in high school.

FINALLY- 10 year old me- was seeing a girl who looked like her! Inside one of them glossy Seventeen magazines (this was rare back then). And this one was playing basketball—a sport I had just started to fall in love with. To top it all off, she had a brother, too (I have two)—whom she admired and who inspired her to play. I remember showing the ad to my brothers, "Man, she looks Pinay, you think she is?" (Chinyere is actually Chinese-African American).

There she was – there, I thought I was --- in both image and poetry. She was who I envisioned myself to be. I remember being moved to tears when I saw it for the first time. It still chokes me up-- I'm not gonna lie.

Her story was mine and mine was hers-- I was completely sold. I felt validated. I felt seen. This ad wasn’t trying to sell me something, it didn’t have me questioning myself, my appearance, my abilities, it didn’t give me any of those stupid pointers on how to impress a boy--it made me feel like a BADASS at 10 years old.

Imagine. Just one ad.

Apart from this ad, there weren't many Filipino / Asian figures represented in the media in the 90's (not much can be said of today). Even then, god, I took ownership of them all: figure skaters Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan, the gymnast Amy Chow, the Yellow Power Ranger-- even the journalism god, Lisa Ling. There were just a handful of them, but it mattered. It STILL matters.....(saving this sentiment for a future blog post, btw).

--But back to Che--

If not for Social Media, I'm not sure how companies would be able to tap into their audiences now. Influencers, bloggers, "public figures" dominate the landscape-- with their own individual stories that they share on the daily. Parallel to today's advertising, this Nike ad campaign from 20+ years ago, presented Chinyere's story, although she wasn't a big name athlete (like the influencers of today). She was a girl from Brooklyn, with a passion--letting her game speak for itself. I remember getting some weird looks from classmates because I was showcasing a random girl on my binder, but I didn't care. It spoke to me.

And Nike's been taking my money ever since haha.

Bravo, Nike. With this ad, 20+ years ago, they were exhibiting their own unique way of story-telling and of engagement. Of empowerment. And they still do (see recent ads: Equality & Believe In More). I didn’t know it then, but I was being exposed to my life’s work.

And thank you, Chinyere. For being you.

Never would I have imagined that we would ever be friends --we were introduced only after one of her coworkers found one of my tweets... (A YEAR AGO--see below):

Here’s the ad, by the way—

It is an absolute honor to start this "Girl Champs" blog series with the one that started it all for me!

Echoing my sentiments, Chinyere's mentee, Samantha, says: "Chinyere is really funny and cool and overall good vibes... she is a great listener and I really appreciate her perspective. Mainly, she's taught me that age doesn't matter and life is not a ticking clock. You can achieve great things at any point as along as you're willing to work for it. And to also be sure you are passionate about whatever you decide to do in life-- because, ultimately, that passion is what will drive you towards success."

[Awesome tidbit: her late father, the legendary, revolutionary Teddy Vann, co-wrote my favorite Luther Vandross song, the Grammy award winning "Power of Love / Love Power."] I know she got a kick out of me fangirling when I found out.

---

Since she has inspired my journey, I thought I'd share her story.

This is Chinyere, in her own words-- (continued)... PART 2

Update from July 2019:

We met for the first time on Independence Day weekend in NY, NY for lunch (hopefully we’ll hoop it up next time we meet!)! Image below:

girl champs

girl champs: chinyere vann