Lohifa Pogoson-Acker - Be Who You Are

THE ARENA - Living a Courageous Life

Lohifa Pogoson-Acker is a mother, sister, daughter, entrepreneur, social activist and in Linda’s mind, the unofficial Mayor of Hamilton, Canada.

Born in Nigeria, Lohifa came to Canada at 16, via the UK. Her parents were professionals and she’d had some opportunities to travel but she was excited about this new adventure, embracing a new country, different cultures and the opportunity to get to know people. A great joy in her life.

Her mother was a lawyer and her father a food sciences engineer. While she had chosen biopsychology and economics for her career, she also had a great love of the arts, English and storytelling. She worked at home and abroad in public health including through the Clinton Foundation to fight HIV and AIDS in mothers and their children.

But early in life, she discovered a passion for braiding and hairstyling. When she was 8-years old her mother needed her hair styled. She worked at KPMG, and she needed a professional look. Lohifa stepped up and did so well that other family and friends asked her to braid and style their hair for them. What began as a hobby became a passion. She continued to style part-time while she juggled her career and young family. She was encouraged open her own shop do it full-time. As Lohifa talked to her husband about it, he didn’t really want her to quit her steady job in at St. Joseph’s Healthcare, and he didn’t really believe she would.

Until one day in 2019, she took the rest of the day off, forever.

She began to style fulltime under LoDidThat. Since then she’s had a few celebrity clients including receiving a last minute call from supermodel Stacey McKenzie to style her for the debut season of Canada’s Drag Race as well as fellow judge, Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman. Lo has a busy calendar of client appointments and are much in demand often booked for months in advance.

But she hasn’t forgotten the people in her community.

Lo actively works to promote Hamilton businesses, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ businesses and community initiatives related to food insecurity, violence against women, racism and poverty. She is often boosting others in her Instagram feed, and taking on issues important to her.

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Lohifa’s Social Media:

Instagram is her jam: @lodidthat

Website coming soon!

And…a link to Thomas Sankara and a quote from Rumi:

“It’s your road and yours alone others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.”

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