Teenager Eunice Olumide was shopping on Sauchiehall Street when her striking look caught the eye of a model scout, launching her on the way to a glamorous career that would take her around the world.
For over 20 years as modelling royalty, she graced the covers of fashion bibles and the runways of the world’s most coveted designers.
While her multiple talents saw her carve parallel careers in film, art, music, writing and fashion design.
But as some doors swung open, others slammed shut: breaking into certain areas such as television and documentary making was hard.
And when she did make a rare appearance on the small screen – on Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 TV show to discuss a book she’d written about fashion - the colour of her skin and her experiences of racial prejudice became the topic instead.
It led to a race row and an ugly backlash.
Bruised from an experience which she hadn’t seen coming, Olumide might have been tempted to retreat into the background.
Instead, on Friday she will use her platform as Scotland’s first Black supermodel, and as a writer, filmmaker and activist, to highlight the barriers that remain – particularly in Scotland – for people seeking creative roles, often in film and television.
A key issue, she warns, is a cliquish media world dominated by ‘job blockers’ – people who hold down the same job for decades and make lazy choices over who should front programmes and comment on key issues.
As well as stifling opportunities for new talent and pushing people out of the country to seek work, adventurous new voices with diverse opinions aren’t being heard, she adds.
And in turn, that is pushing a generation of young viewers and readers towards other providers of entertainment and information, such as YouTube and TikTok.
“In Scotland, you will have the same person doing the same job for 20 or 30 years,” she says. “In other places you can’t do that, because the competition is too high.
“It’s why a lot of talent has to move away from Scotland to London and other places.”
Too often, people are selected because they are considered ‘nice’ or are well known within tight knit media circles: “Often in media spaces we live in a bubble where everyone is nice with certain types of beliefs and very often that doesn’t create opportunities for competing ideologies.
“Scotland to me is one of the most cosmopolitan and dynamic places on the planet. The top ten fashion designers of my lifetime were either born, educated or inspired by Scotland.
“But there’s something missing, some kind of disconnect.”
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She will share her insights and experiences on Friday at a conference organised by Be United, a Scottish-based charity which aims to address underrepresentation and misrepresentation of Black people within the creative industries.
It will be a highlight of The Creative Partnerships Conference, a day of networking and discussion at Glasgow University designed to encourage Black talent and develop opportunities towards Be United’s goal to support 500 Black people into and up in the creative industries over the next five years.
But while she has regularly used her voice to advocate for Black representation in the arts and media, Olumide, born in Edinburgh to Nigerian parents, shies away from being seen as its poster girl.
Instead, she prefers ‘equity’ and better opportunities for all, regardless of colour.
“The world that has been created is extremely divisive and extreme, and you’re either on this team or that one,” she says.
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“Because I grew up in Scotland with predominantly white people around me, I don’t necessarily look at things like ‘black and white’.
“In the arts and in film, there’s a lot of emphasis on equality and it’s really important,” she stresses.
“But I also think everyone is important - regardless of whether someone is black, ethnic minority, has any kind of disability, dyslexia, or other types of issues.”
Olumide says she has also encountered narrow-minded attitudes that discourage talented people from fully exploring multi-faceted careers fearing they won’t be taken seriously.
It led to her opting to keep some of her music achievements under wraps.
“I felt it was safer to hide a lot of my work because people hold it against you,” she says. “They think instead of being a maverick, that you’re a jack of all trades and a master of none.
“We tend to tell young people that it’s better to specialise in one thing than trying to do lots of things at once.
“But for me, it should be the opposite.”
After being scouted by one of the country’s most exclusive model agencies, her career rocketed and she went on to work with some of the leading designers including Gucci and Vivienne Westwood, appearing in publications like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar and earning the title ‘Scotland’s first Black supermodel'.
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She became a vocal activist across a range of social issues – some of which have sparked vile backlashes – while her artistic portfolio includes DJ-ing and sharing a stage with Grace Jones and Damian Marley, film production, an extensive music and acting career.
To add to her degree in communication and mass media, a post-grad in film studies and MA in metaphysics, she has an Honorary Doctorate from The Open University (OU) in Scotland for her work advocating for social justice, diversity, and eco-sustainability, and an MBE for services to broadcasting, the arts, and charity.
But despite her success across a range of sectors, and a string of movie credentials, she says she struggled to find broadcasting and documentary making opportunities in Scotland.
It led to her taking the view: “If you are not going to give me the opportunity then I have to do it myself.”
Her most recent documentary project, Secret Lives: The Untold Story of British Hip-Hop, shines light on the underground rap scene, the role of accents and dialects, and the cultural shifts that have shaped it.
She has also written a book based on it, and is currently writing a new film and also producing further films and documentaries.
One issue, she claims, is prejudiced attitudes which pigeon-holed her as a vocal Black woman.
“I’m not the ‘right type of person’ for television,” she says.
“There’s this stereotype of Black women as aggressive because we speak our minds and are honest. But that’s something that should be championed, not suppressed.
“I look at television or newspapers or magazines and I don’t get to hear women who have really intelligent thoughts. It seems it’s people who are famous or are ‘nice’ and it’s a case of ‘we’ll just use them’.
“People might like how they talk and they might get on well with them, but they’re not what society needs.”
Although the Black Lives Matter movement ignited by the death of George Floyd created an awakening across western society, Olumide fears a lack of proper leadership from people with decades of experience campaigning for change meant the opportunity to develop it fully was lost.
Her views, charity work and activism may make her an ideal candidate to help drive through change. However, having given so much effort already to campaigning and charity, she hints that may come further down the line.
“I think you have to be prepared psychologically for that,” she says. “Maybe in the future when I am older, people will possibly also take me more seriously and respect me more."
Instead, right now her focus is on her most satisfying achievement to date: her daughter is seven months old.
“Becoming a mother has changed my perspective in so many ways.
“It’s the most important thing I’ve ever done.”
Book a free place at the Creative Partnerships Conference 2025 and see the full programme here
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