Vickie Remoe Making Moves

While in grade school, most of the comments from her teachers on her report card noted  “very clever but too talkative” what they did not know was that Vickie was destined for greatness with her skill. Born and raised in Sierra Leone, host Vickie Remoe, who is currently in Freetown, received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Haverford College in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. She says she is in state of transition getting ready to go to New York to start graduate school at Columbia University. The Twenty something global citizen considers herself as an innovative serial entrepreneur. She is the executive producer of the Vickie Remoe Show, country director for Canoe Magazine (an African Lifestyle Magazine published in Ghana) and on Saturday’s she Co-Hosts the Morning Show on Free Radio 95:7.

What does your work entail?

To mark Sierra Leone’s 50th Independence Anniversary we have just produced a DVD collection of our past season ‘African Adventure’ and ‘Ghana Film Industry’ both are now on sale and will be available in the US in August 2011. We are in production of a 4th season of the Vickie Remoe Show (VRS) which will include content from both Sierra Leone and neighboring Liberia in hopes to bridge and heal wounds across both borders.

In 2010 the Vickie Remoe Show filmed and produced 14 shows that were broadcast on Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation TV over a period of 16 weeks. The show was recorded in 5 Countries in West Africa including: Senegal Mali Ghana Nigeria Sierra Leone

This year I was also fortunate to meet and interview acting and singing talents such as John Dumelo, Jackie Appiah, Masjid Michel, Yvonne Nelson, Yvonne Okoro, Nneka, and Mo-Cheddah

In December 2010 the Vickie Remoe Show in partnership with Airtel Sierra Leone provided video media coverage of the MTV Music Awards for Africa in Lagos, Nigeria

Are you living YOUR dream?

I am absolutely living my dream even though like most dream chasers, money is always an issue, I would rather be broke telling African stories than doing anything else.

What’s your definition of success and how has your journey been like to where you are now?

Success for me is being able to live a purpose driven life in which every day is a journey towards personal and professional growth. While success is not about happiness it should definitely be about satisfaction.

Hosting and producing my own independent TV show has been incredibly challenging in a country that up until 2years ago was primarily powered by generators. However, I felt that Sierra Leoneans after over a decade of war and strife needed to see positive media images of each other. Someone had to tell the story of post conflict Sierra Leone beyond the stereotypes of blood diamonds and child soldiers. As a people we are so much more than those images of conflict, and I try to share alternate stories of Sierra Leone and Africa on the Vickie Remoe Show and as a friend recently put it, ‘I am trying to find and showcase ‘dignity in poverty’.’

Any words of advice or role models that have inspired you or changed your life?

I come from a family of strong independent African women so I never had to look outside my own family for inspiration. My grandmother who recently passed away had all the spunk, and wisdom a woman like me needed to get by in a modern world. From advice on men, to friendship, and work she always knew what to say and how to help me find understanding.

But I must also say that when I was based in the US, I found great comfort in the works of Chinua Achebe, Sembene Ousmane, Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Wole Soyinka, Fela Kuti and other African griots whose words empowered me in times when I felt that I could not. Living in the US, Africa is so negatively portrayed that we often forget the greatness that we have inherited.

What advice would you give women so that they can go out of their comfort zones and start making moves in their lives and society?

There is great strength and power in womanhood that lies deep within each one of us waiting to be awakened. Don’t let anyone else define who you are or who you are going to be that power only lays within you. African women are naturally built to overcome. If all this abstract talk doesn’t do it for you, and you really want to get out of your comfort zone, I’d suggest going bald. It is the most liberating, experience I have ever had.

Find out more about Vickie

Watch the Vickie Remoe Show: www.vickieremoe.com orwww.youtube.com/vickieremoe

Follow on twitter: @vickieremoe

Find us on facebook: www.facebook.com/vickieremoeshow

Visit Swit Salone Blog: www.switsalone.blogspot.com