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From Togo to Texas: Elomé Akpagnonite on African Royalty, Pageant Secrets, and Building a Legacy Through Film
By Bolanle Media | The Roselyn Omaka Show
There are contestants. And then there are women who walk into a room carrying an entire kingdom behind them.
Elomé Akpagnonite is the latter.
The Togo-born, North America-raised model, actress, and Miss Grand Texas 2026 contestant sat down with Bolanle Media CEO and host Roselyn Omaka on The Roselyn Omaka Show for one of the most compelling conversations to come out of Houston’s creative community this year. What started as a pageant interview turned into something much bigger — a story about royal lineage, cultural identity, the hidden cost of belonging to two worlds, and one woman’s decision to use art and film to make sure her people are never again invisible.
Who Is Elomé Akpagnonite? The Togolese-American Model Making Houston Take Notice
Elomé Akpagnonite was born in Togo, West Africa. At six years old, her parents made the decision that millions of African families have made — they left. They wanted more for their children. They moved to North America and built a life there.
For the next eighteen years, Elomé grew up fully immersed in North American life. She went to school there. She graduated university there. She built her confidence, her career, and her identity there.
And then she went home.
That first visit back to Togo — after nearly two decades away — changed everything.
“I saw everything,” she told Roselyn. “The beautiful and the sad. It woke something inside of me.”
What she saw was the gap. The same gap that millions of first-generation immigrants carry quietly inside them — the distance between the world that gave them opportunity and the world that gave them their name. She saw children who wanted to learn but could not access education. She saw communities full of potential that lacked resources. She saw her own reflection in a country she barely knew but could never stop belonging to.
That tension — of being too African for America and too American for Africa — is not unique to Elomé. It is the defining experience of the African diaspora. But what makes Elomé different is what she decided to do with it.
She decided to build a bridge.
A Lineage of Kings: Her Connection to the Last King of Benin
Before the pageant. Before Houston. Before North America. There is a name.
Elomé’s name carries the weight of centuries. Her bloodline, she explains, traces back to the last king of Benin — a lineage of emperors and empresses that shaped the history of West Africa.
One of the king’s sons was given a specific role. He was the protector — the one who would go to war and return with food and resources for the people. His name, given to honor that role, roughly translates to the guardian of the house. The best fruit on the tree of dates. The one worth waiting for.
One day he went out and did not come back. His brothers could have taken the crown. They had every right to. But they refused. They knew his worth. They went out and found him. They brought him home. And they crowned him.
That is the lineage Elomé carries into every room she enters.
“I come from a lineage of kings and queens, of emperors and empresses,” she said on The Roselyn Omaka Show. “And I am a bridge.”
At a time when the world is finally beginning to reckon with the depth and sophistication of African royal history — when museums are returning looted Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, when films are finally telling the stories of African warrior kingdoms — Elomé’s lineage is not a footnote. It is a headline.
What Really Happens Behind the Scenes at a Beauty Pageant
If you have ever wondered what a beauty pageant actually looks like behind the curtain, Elomé did not hold back.
She arrived at Miss Grand Texas 2026 with three days to prepare. From the moment contestants checked into the hotel, there was no downtime. A choreographer walked in and told the women exactly what was at stake — and that anyone not ready would show it on stage. Practice sessions ran until midnight. Call times were at six in the morning. The schedule was so tight that contestants often went hours without eating, rushing between photo shoots, sponsor visits, media appearances, and rehearsals with barely enough time to change outfits.
“We couldn’t even leave the hotel,” Elomé recalled. “We just had to be focused.”
And then there was the midnight room raid.
The night before the pageant, after rehearsals ended around midnight, contestants were told to go to their rooms — but not to sleep. They waited. Thirty-five minutes later, there was a knock on the door. The camera crew walked in unannounced and filmed everything. The state of the room. The organization. The reactions of the women inside. Judges were rating it all.
“We did not have time to organize during the day because it was too much going on,” Elomé said. “But they were looking at everything.”
Points were awarded for punctuality, attitude, social media activity, poise, and presentation — not just what happened on stage. The former Miss Grand Texas herself reminded contestants throughout the weekend: the judges are always watching.
For anyone considering the pageant world, Elomé offers advice she wishes someone had given her:
Know what you are entering. Pageantry is not about how beautiful you think you are. It is about fitting the standard the pageant has set. If you are someone who needs to do things your own way, modeling may be a better path. But if you are punctual, coachable, and mentally tough — pageantry will sharpen you in ways nothing else can.
Pack tape for your feet. Pack numbing spray. And cut back on food before the competition, because there will not be time to eat.
Most importantly — have the mindset of a winner. Not the outcome. The mindset.
Being Too African for America and Too American for Africa: The First-Generation Experience
There is a specific kind of loneliness that first-generation immigrants carry. It does not have a clean name in English, but every person who has lived it recognizes it instantly.
You grow up in a country that is not the one your parents came from. You absorb its culture, its language, its rhythms, its expectations. You become fluent in a world your parents navigated as outsiders. And then one day you go back to the country that made your name — and you do not fully belong there either.
Elomé describes this experience with a clarity that only comes from having lived it deeply.
“My whole life I had been so protected and sheltered. I had so many opportunities. But it was the complete opposite for most of the people I met back home.”
That contrast — between her North American life and the reality she witnessed in Togo — did not produce guilt in her. It produced purpose.
She began asking herself what she could actually do. Not what she should do in theory. What she, specifically, with the resources and the platform she had built, could do right now.
The answer she arrived at was the same answer she brought to the Miss Grand Texas stage, the same answer she is building toward through every film and modeling project she takes on.
Export the resources. Export the education. Tell the stories that have been hidden. Use art to show the world what it has been missing.
Why She Chose Film to Represent African Excellence
Elomé is a model and an actress. But she is building toward something larger than a career.
Her vision is to use film — short films, visual storytelling, collaborations with videographers and production teams — to represent what is actually happening in African countries. Not the single, flattened narrative that Western media has historically offered. The full picture. The beautiful and the complicated. The royal and the struggling. The ancient and the ambitious.
“I want to represent it through my art and raise awareness,” she told Roselyn. “Show what is going on and show it to the world so people can understand better the things that have been hidden.”
She pointed to something she had seen on Instagram — a content creator who filmed a young boy peering through a school fence, wanting to learn but unable to afford it. The post circulated widely, donations were verified and sent directly to the school, and the boy got in. That, she said, is the kind of impact she is reaching toward. Stories that do not just entertain. Stories that move people toward action.
She is already thinking about collaborations. About nonprofit partnerships. About the kind of creative infrastructure that would let her tell these stories at scale.
Roselyn, whose entire career at Bolanle Media has been built around exactly this kind of amplification — using media to platform voices that the mainstream has overlooked — saw it immediately. The vision aligned. The work is already beginning.
The Dress, the Designer, and the Moment the Crowd Went Silent
For the pageant’s evening gown competition, Elomé wore a dress designed by Houston’s own Danny Win.
She had seen his work up close at Houston Fashion Week. She had walked in one of his shows. She had watched the way he approached a project — the focus, the attention to detail, the way every element of a photo shoot became a full cinematic moment in his hands.
When she walked out onto the Miss Grand Texas stage in Danny Win’s design, Roselyn — who was in the audience — watched what happened to the room.
“It was just like — African goddess,” Roselyn told her. “The crowd was just stunned.”
For Elomé, the moment felt like a movie. She was told by the judges to keep it graceful, to hold back. She did — just barely. But the dress carried the rest.
It was more than a fashion choice. It was a statement. A Togo-born woman, carrying a Benin royal lineage, wearing the work of a Houston-based African designer, walking a Texas pageant stage. Every element of that image is a story about African excellence showing up and being impossible to ignore.
Advice for Any Woman Who Wants to Enter a Pageant
Elomé’s guidance for women considering the pageant world is practical, honest, and hard-won.
Know what pageantry actually is before you enter. Research the specific competition — its culture, its criteria, its expectations. Understand that judges are evaluating far more than appearance. Attitude, punctuality, social media presence, and how you treat the other contestants all count.
Prepare your body for the physical demands. You will be in heels for the entire competition. Tape your feet. Bring numbing spray. Do not underestimate how important it is to eat something before events, because there will be stretches when food is not available.
Build your mental toughness before you walk in. The competition will test your ability to adapt, stay positive under pressure, get through exhaustion without complaint, and support the women around you — even when you are competing against them.
And perhaps most importantly — show up confident. Not the performance of confidence. The real thing. The kind that comes from knowing your story, knowing your worth, and being willing to be seen.
How the Sisterhood Surprised Her Most
Of all the things Elomé expected from the Miss Grand Texas competition, the depth of the bonds she formed with the other contestants was not one of them.
The narrative around pageants often centers on rivalry. On competition for a crown. On women who see each other as obstacles.
What Elomé experienced was the opposite.
“We never left anybody out,” she said. “We were always talking to each other, checking in, helping each other with our dresses, with our content.”
The women — who came from across Texas, some as far as Austin — are still in a group chat. Still sending each other invitations. Still showing up for each other.
That surprised her. And it moved her.
In a world that tends to pit women against each other, especially women competing for the same title, what she found was something closer to a team. And that, she said, was one of the best parts.
What Is Next for Elomé Akpagnonite
Elomé is not done with pageantry — but she is clear about what she wants next.
She wants to compete in a pageant that more fully represents her community. One where African and African-diaspora women are not the exception but the center. If that pageant does not yet exist in the form she envisions, she will build it.
She is continuing to develop her modeling and acting career with a specific focus on projects that represent African excellence — stories told with honesty, with beauty, and with the full complexity that her people deserve.
She is open to directing. To nonprofit partnerships. To any creative collaboration that moves the bridge-building forward.
For filmmakers, producers, photographers, and brands who want to work with Elomé, the best way to reach her is through her Instagram, where her website and email are linked in the bio.
Watch the Full Episode on Bolanle Media YouTube
The full conversation between Elomé Akpagnonite, Roselyn Omaka, and Chris Gone Crazy is available now on the Bolanle Media YouTube channel.
This is the kind of episode you watch once and think about for days. A woman who carries a kingdom in her name, who went home after eighteen years and let what she saw change her, who walked a Texas pageant stage in a Houston designer’s gown and stopped the room — and who is only just getting started.
Watch it. Share it. And follow Bolanle Media so you never miss a conversation like this one.
Explore more episodes from The Roselyn Omaka Show on Bolanle Media.
Are you a filmmaker, creative, or brand interested in working with Bolanle Media? Connect with us here.
By Bolanle Media | The Roselyn Omaka Show
You have probably said it before. “Pay attention.” “Just try harder.” “Why don’t you remember anything I taught you?”
And your child — or maybe the child you once were — looked back at you with that blank stare. Not defiant. Not lazy. Just… gone.
What if that was never a focus problem? What if it was never about ability at all?
Educator and emotional intelligence strategist Selina Joy Jackson has spent her career answering that exact question. In a candid, wide-ranging conversation on The Roselyn Omaka Show, Jackson sat down with host and Bolanle Media CEO Roselyn Omaka and co-host Chris Gone Crazy — the Houston-based content creator with over 5 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube — to break down what is really happening inside the minds of kids who struggle, and what parents, teachers, and communities can actually do about it. What she shared changes everything about the way we think about learning, behavior, and the kids we keep calling problems.
Memory Is Mood Related — And Nobody Told You That
Here is the science that should be taught in every teacher training program but isn’t.
Your brain stores memories attached to the emotional state you were in when you learned them. That means if a child sits in a classroom feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or emotionally unsafe — they can learn the material in that moment, but to recall it later, their brain has to return to that same emotional state.
Who wants to go back there?
This is why your child remembers nothing from the class they dreaded. This is why you can recall every detail of a vacation but blank on what you studied the night before a test you were terrified of. It is not intelligence. It is neuroscience.
The fix, according to Jackson, is simple and radical at the same time: feel good first. Not after the lesson. Not as a reward for good behavior. First. Before anything else is introduced.
The Hidden Block Nobody Is Talking About
Jackson calls it the “hidden block” — and once you see it, you cannot unsee it.
When a child is stressed, scared, or emotionally dysregulated, their brain shifts into survival mode. The prefrontal cortex — the part responsible for focus, reasoning, and learning — essentially goes offline. The brain is too busy managing perceived threat to take in new information.
From the outside, this looks like:
- Refusing to try
- Zoning out in class
- Acting out or shutting down
- “Not caring” about school
But none of that is attitude. It is biology.
Jackson developed a four-step framework to address it directly:
Recognize — identify that a hidden block is present
Regulate — help the child (or adult) return to a calm state
Repattern — build new emotional habits and responses
Return to Learning — now the brain is actually ready
This framework is the backbone of her book Break the Hidden Block and her EMOMASTERS® program, which gives kids and parents practical tools to move through each step.
The Need to Control Is a Survival Response — Not a Personality Trait
One of the most powerful moments in Jackson’s conversation on The Roselyn Omaka Show came when she broke down what the psychological need for control actually is.
Micromanagement. Overthinking. Anxiety when outcomes are uncertain. Needing to know every detail before you can relax.
Most people think that is just who they are. Jackson says it is what their nervous system learned.
When the subconscious mind treats control as a need — something without which it cannot survive — it triggers the same stress response as a physical threat. The anxiety is not about the situation. It is about a deeply held belief that says: without control, I am not safe.
The shift is not about letting go of your ability to direct outcomes. It is about releasing the desperation. Drop the need. Keep the power. Those are two very different operating modes.
What the School System Is Still Getting Wrong
Jackson does not mince words on this one.
Schools are designed to deliver information. They are not designed — at least not yet — to first ensure that the people receiving that information are in a state where they can actually absorb it. A child who walks into a classroom carrying last night’s argument, this morning’s hunger, or a month of feeling invisible is not a learning-ready brain. They are a survival-mode brain in a chair.
Telling that child to focus is like telling someone with a broken leg to run.
The research backs this up. Studies consistently show that emotional dysregulation is one of the strongest predictors of academic struggle — stronger, in many cases, than cognitive ability. Kids who cannot regulate their emotions cannot access their own intelligence.
Jackson’s tools are designed to bridge that gap — for classrooms, for homes, and for the kids who have been written off as problems when they were really just overwhelmed. You can explore her full programs and workshops here.
Tools You Can Use Right Now
Jackson has built an entire resource library around this work. Here is where to start:
Break the Hidden Block — her foundational book on the science of emotional blocks and how to dismantle them. Start here.
EMOMASTERS® Unstoppable Me Program — a practical toolkit for parents and educators to use with kids, helping them recognize and regulate their emotions before those emotions take over.
Brain-Ready Classroom Library — built specifically for educators who want to create learning environments where kids can actually receive what is being taught.
Math Magic Library — Jackson’s work connecting emotional readiness to academic subjects, including math, which is one of the highest-anxiety subjects for struggling students.
Feel Good First Course — the starting point for anyone new to her work. Brain-based, practical, and accessible for parents, teachers, and students alike.
Connect With Selina Joy Jackson
Follow her work and stay connected across her platforms:
- Website: selinajoyjackson.com
- Instagram: @selina_joy_jackson
- YouTube: Selina Joy Jackson
- LinkedIn: Selina Joy Jackson, MA
- Book a call or speaking inquiry: Contact Selina
The Line That Stays With You
Toward the end of her conversation on The Roselyn Omaka Show, Jackson said something that quieted the room.
“You’re not alone and you’re not broken.”
It comes from her own story. From the foster care homes. From the classrooms where she sat feeling invisible. From a kid who the system had plenty of explanations for but no real solutions.
She became the solution.
And now she is handing those tools to every parent, teacher, and child who needs them — which, if we are being honest, is most of us.
Watch the full episode of The Roselyn Omaka Show with Selina Joy Jackson on the Bolanle Media YouTube channel. Link in bio.
Follow Bolanle Media for conversations that make you see the world differently.
If you are still approaching independent film like it’s 2015, you are going to get crushed. The landscape that once rewarded a scrappy feature and a couple of festival laurels has become a crowded, algorithm‑driven marketplace where attention is the rarest currency. Recent industry analysis on “inflection points” for 2026 all say the same thing: the business model for independent film has changed, whether you like it or not.
1. You’re Competing With Everything
Your film is no longer just competing with other indie features. It is fighting for attention against TikTok clips, prestige series, and endless back catalog on every streaming platform. That means “pretty good” is invisible. You either have a sharp, specific audience and a clean logline, or you disappear into the scroll.
2. Festivals Are Not a Distribution Plan
A festival premiere and a few Q&As can help with credibility, but they are not a business strategy. Without a parallel plan—email list, community building, partnerships, and a clear path to paid viewers—you come home with a laurel and no deal. Even festival‑aligned organizations now frame their “don’t miss indies” coverage as part of a broader visibility and audience strategy, not a finish line.
3. The Middle Is Collapsing
Industry voices are blunt about it: micro‑budget genre films and clearly branded auteur work still find lanes, but the soft, mid‑budget drama with no hook is almost impossible to monetize. If your film cannot be pitched in one or two sentences to a specific audience, it will struggle regardless of how “good” it is.
4. You Are a Small Business, Not a Starving Artist
The indie filmmakers who will survive 2026 are treating their careers like businesses. Guides focused on creating a “film business turnaround” talk about lifetime value, repeat customers, multiple revenue streams, and audience retention—not just finishing one feature. Your filmography is a product line, not a lottery ticket.
5. SAG Is a Competitive Advantage
SAG actors and union rules are not your enemy; they are a way to level up. SAGindie and SAG‑AFTRA low‑budget agreements exist to help genuine independents hire professional talent and present themselves as serious, compliant productions. Understanding those tools gives you access to stronger cast, better reputations, and more credible pitches.
6. Streaming Is Not a Golden Ticket
Streaming is no longer the dream “one deal solves everything” outcome. The deals are leaner, the competition is brutal, and many filmmakers now make more by going direct‑to‑fan through TVOD, memberships, or niche platforms than by chasing a low‑MG all‑rights license. You need to know why you want a streamer—brand value, audience reach, or pure revenue—and plan accordingly.
7. Format Matters Less Than Relationship
Audiences care more about access than whether your project is a feature, series, or hybrid. If you give them a reason to show up repeatedly, they will follow you across formats. If you do not, a 90‑minute feature is just one more piece of content in an endless feed.elliotgrove.
8. Marketing Starts at Concept
Marketing is not something you “figure out later.” The most effective 2026 indies build their hook at the idea stage—title, poster, and logline are treated as core creative decisions, not afterthoughts. If you cannot imagine the trailer, one‑sheet, and social teaser while you are still outlining, that is a red flag.
9. Community Is Your Real Safety Net
Filmmakers who plug into networks, reading lists, and producer education hubs are adapting the fastest. They are not reinventing the wheel alone; they are leveraging shared knowledge, updated contracts, and peer feedback to make smarter decisions project by project.
10. Accepting Reality Is Your Edge
Here is the real brutal truth: if you can accept all of this, you gain an edge. Most of the field is still clinging to old myths about discovery, “overnight” success, and festival miracles. If you are willing to treat your indie career as a living, evolving business—grounded in current data and audience behavior—2026 might be the moment where “truly independent” stops meaning powerless and starts meaning in control.
SAG-AFTRA’s new rules on digital replicas are being framed as a major win for performers. But while actors gained stronger rights around consent and compensation, the bigger fight over AI training data is still far from settled.
May 20, 2026 · 3 min read
The headline win
In Hollywood, the latest SAG-AFTRA agreements are being described as “historic” because they finally force studios to be more explicit about how artificial intelligence can be used in connection with a performer’s work. Actors now have stronger protections around consent, compensation, and transparency when producers want to create a “digital replica” of their face, body, or voice.
That is not a small shift. For years, performers feared being scanned once and reused indefinitely, sometimes under vague contract language they had little power to negotiate. These new guardrails move AI out of the fine print and into the center of the conversation.
Where the loophole is
The problem is that most of these protections are built around the use of digital replicas, not the broader issue of training data. In other words, a contract may now be clearer about when a studio can create an AI version of you, while still saying much less about whether your performance can be analyzed, stored, and used to teach AI systems how to generate human-like acting in the future.
That distinction matters. A performer can be protected from one obvious form of replacement while still contributing to the system that may eventually replace them. The AI may not legally “be” you without permission, but it can still learn from you.
Why performers are worried
What actors bring to the screen is not just a face or a voice. It is timing, micro-expressions, emotional instinct, and a set of creative choices developed over years of work. Those are exactly the kinds of patterns modern AI systems are designed to absorb when they are trained on large collections of audio and visual material.
That is why many performers see the current moment as both a win and a warning. Yes, the industry has finally acknowledged that digital cloning needs boundaries. But until contracts and laws deal directly with AI training data, the protections remain incomplete.
What happens next
The legal system is still catching up. Existing copyright rules were not built for a world where a machine can study style, likeness, and performance at scale without copying a single clip in a way that is easy to challenge. Some new laws are beginning to address deepfakes, publicity rights, and consent-based standards, but the framework is still uneven.
For now, the burden remains on performers to read every AI clause carefully, question any language involving scans or reuse, and push for specific limits on how their work can be used beyond the immediate project. The contracts may have moved the line, but they have not ended the fight.
The real issue is no longer just whether AI can copy you. It is whether it can study you long enough to build something that competes with you.
In that sense, this is the contradiction at the center of the AI era in entertainment: actors may have won important new protections, but their faces, voices, and performances are still helping train the machine.
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