Obianuju Anyaogu can remember times in her life when she chose to turn obstacles into stepping stones rather than allowing them to become setbacks.
When she was in college at Slippery Rock University, she overcame deep depression and suicidal thoughts.
She’s raising her son, Nehemiah Chidrebere Anyaogu, 10, as a single mother.
And she opened her New Kensington salon, Naturally Be-YOU-tiful Holistic Salon, just before the covid-19 pandemic hit.
“It’s choosing to win. I say that intentionally — choosing to win — instead of giving up,” said Anyaogu, 36, of New Kensington. “It doesn’t mean I didn’t feel these things, it means I made intentional decisions to move forward — in spite of.”
Now, she’s teaching others to love themselves through a children’s book she published last month called “I’m Awesome! Positive Affirmation Book for Children.”
Brightly illustrated and filled with affirmations of positivity, kindness and gratitude, the book is available on Amazon. It costs $9.99 on Kindle and $14.99 in paperback.
“I’m so happy to uplift people on a large scale, and ultimately, that’s the goal for my life,” Anyaogu said.
She hopes the book helps children build self-esteem, resilience and a healthy mindset.
“We all really are awesome in our own way,” she said. “We are really valuable. I hope that people read this book and can connect with the greatness inside of them and can live out their greatness.”
Anyaogu’s book is a long time coming for her, she said. In 2015, when Nehemiah was 1, she would recite affirmations to him daily and write them down.
“I thought, ‘That would be a really cool book,’” she said.
It was important for Anyaogu to provide these affirmations to her young son so he would grow up having a positive relationship with himself, therefore having a positive relationship with others and having a better attitude when dealing with life’s challenges.
“What I really encourage my son — and anyone who’s reading this book — is to say it daily,” she said.
The book is dedicated to Nehemiah, a fifth grader at New Kensington-Arnold School District’s Roy A. Hunt Elementary School.
“I’m really intentional about developing the mind, subconscious programming and how that affects their lives,” she said.
Friend Zaire Bracey of Forest Hills said “I’m Awesome!” is more than a book.
“It’s an early invitation for kids to take control of their inner narrative,” Bracey said. “I think it is an indisputable truth that we become the stories we tell ourselves — and it begins when we are children.
“Affirmations aren’t optional. We’re always affirming something, whether we realize it or not. … I plan to pass that down to my son and ensure that he recognizes the power of that truth with this book.”
The youngest of five children, Anyaogu was born and raised in New York City. Her family moved to New Kensington in 2004. She graduated from Valley High School in 2006 and attended Slippery Rock, where she graduated with a degree in business management in 2010.
She spent some time in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore before returning to New Kensington in 2016.
She started doing hair and that took off. She opened her salon, at 976 Fourth Ave., in April 2019. It serves as a community hub, she said.
“It’s been a beautiful uphill journey,” she said. “I really appreciate things regardless of the climate. I’m really grateful to have taken this path.”
Bracey said that since he met Anyaogu in 2023 at the gym, Webb’s World of Fitness in Penn Hills, Anyaogu has made it her mission to learn new things to help people in her community.
Bracey said Anyaogu proves that entrepreneurship and motherhood are not mutually exclusive.
“She advocates strongly for Black women and gives them a space to unveil both traumas and untapped potential that they otherwise would not have seen,” Bracey said. “(She) has such a unique high-demand niche service — something both essential and rare, which makes it incredibly valuable, especially in the Black community.”
Anyaogu plans another book, “When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Chocolate Cake.” That would serve as a lifestyle or self-help book for adults, she said.
“There’s a saying that goes, ‘Self love is the best love.’ ” she said. “It really is.”