“Love Island USA” Season 7 had social media abuzz this summer time. Past the drama, messy love triangles, and acquainted shows of ignorance, one islander has continued to face out lengthy after the season wrapped: Olandria Carthen.
Whether or not you understand her as one half of “Nicolandria,” Ola, the Bama Barbie, or just the beautiful dark-skinned girl who stole the present, chances are high you’ve seen Carthen someplace in your timeline. As considered one of solely two Black ladies within the authentic solid of this season of “Love Island USA,” audiences– particularly Black ladies– had been instantly drawn to her grace, heat, and easy Southern allure.
“Once I was on that present, I knew I used to be representing extra than simply myself,” Carthen mirrored on a latest look on the Go, Off Sis podcast. “I’m representing Black ladies as a complete. So, occurring there and realizing my self-worth, my worth, and self-acceptance actually helped me navigate this area. Figuring out I’ve a lot help from my group, or simply from all ladies, means the world to me.”
On high of being a fan favourite, the 27-year-old Decatur, Alabama native is a proud graduate of Tuskegee College, the place she earned her diploma in logistics, supplies, and provide chain administration in 2022. Now, she’s utilizing her rising platform to focus on the facility of schooling and the lifelong influence of her HBCU expertise.
Carthen described her time on campus in a livestream with HBCUBuzz saying:
“Actually one of the best 5 years of my life, actually. And lots of people will ask, like, ‘Properly, why would you select to go to an HBCU?’ I’m like, ‘I’ve the remainder of my life to be a minority.’ I needed to see the way it felt to be the bulk once I stroll round and get up and everyone appears to be like like me.”
Carthen usually credit Tuskegee for shaping her confidence and skill to stay calm beneath stress. That basis has carried her via not simply the highs of her actuality TV fame, but in addition the lows, from obsessive fandoms to refined microaggressions and outright racism from each on-line customers and a few of her former castmates. When requested by ExtraTV how she maintains her composure amid a lot social media noise, Carthen stated her restraint comes from expertise.
“Truthfully, even once I was youthful, I all the time had far more to lose than those who I used to be sort of [getting] into it with. I had scholarships. I had awards, and I’ve all these items. So, I couldn’t actually act out the best way I needed to as a result of I had far more to lose than [they did],” she mirrored. “So, it sort of began at an early age. Truthfully, I’m so grateful for it as a result of now it makes it method simpler to be poised in these moments that I actually wish to say one thing.”
That degree of poise is uncommon, and it’s a part of what makes Carthen’s post-Love Island journey so distinct. Fairly than dashing into content material creation or day by day influencer routines, she took her time, selecting intention over impulse. Overwhelmed by the preliminary flood of consideration, she opted for a slower, extra strategic path ahead.
“I believe I took a special route. I didn’t actually delve into the entire content-creating facet. Not saying that it’s dangerous, however like I’m simply that’s simply not me,” she stated. “I sort of needed to be a bit totally different, do extra talking engagements, speak about uplifting schooling, HBCUs, breaking out into the style business, like looking for totally different lanes. I didn’t wish to be caught in a single field.”
That mindset has paid off. From partnerships with manufacturers like Microsoft, NYX Cosmetics, Aveeno, Vaseline, and Sweetgreen to her New York Style Week runway debut with Sergio Hudson, Carthen is steadily carving her personal lane, one outlined by grace, intention, and authenticity.
Her journey is proof that you simply don’t have to evolve to shine. As her star continues to rise, Olandria Carthen stands as a dwelling instance of why she is, in truth, “larger than this system.”
