This week, we have Stephanie Oguine as our featured blogger. Stephanie Oguine is a singer and songwriter who writes from her journey. Stephanie is Nigerian-American and was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts as a housemate of Kelly Fasset, the leader of Unite Boston. The opportunity to live in the community house the Fassets were establishing resonated deeply with Stephanie, who values diversity, inclusion, and unity and has been involved in several initiatives with similar visions. 

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Stephanie felt called to use her voice from a young age. She was always supported in developing her musical gifts, but due to cultural background influences she was also encouraged to balance her musical passions with what is considered a more secure and practical career path. However, Stephanie’s call to follow her God-dreams in music remained undeniably strong. In October 2019, she took a leap of faith and quit her corporate job to focus on music full-time. By this time, Stephanie had over two albums worth of unreleased songs. These songs represent her journey, her prayers, her experiences, and her learnings over the past decade. Stephanie knew that these songs were not just for her. They helped her through some of her hardest seasons, and they could help others too. 

The week Stephanie quit her job, she connected with an award-winning producer in Boston named Dave Brophy, who helped her record her first single “Restore Me.” Stephanie originally wrote “Restore Me” in early 2015 after a doctor’s appointment. On the way home, she drove under a freeway sign to a street called “Liberty Canyon Road.” The word “liberty” stuck out to her strongly. It represented what she wanted to see in her life. “Restore Me” was Stephanie’s prayer and heart-cry for her life to be healed, as well as her body. Watch the new music video for “Restore Me” below.

“Restore Me is a song that represents telling God how you feel and where you’re at in a raw and honest way, and then asking for help, asking for healing, and being open to everything changing. Being open to being transformed completely. Being open to a new life,” says Stephanie. Through the “Restore Me” music video, Stephanie wanted to portray a character on a journey, determined to go after their dream. It features beautiful imagery of the sun, a bridge, and a hill, which represent a journey toward a healed, restored, and new life. 

The music video was directed by Stephanie, filmed by Stephanie’s significant-other Adam Peng and partially self-filmed, as well as honestly critiqued by Stephanie’s housemates, including baby Abigail Fasset, before being released. Though Stephanie has been a singer all of her life, throwing herself full force into being a recording artist was new territory. Releasing “Restore Me” has been a process of learning, boldness, and faith. With the help of her diverse community from Los Angeles, to Boston, to Lagos, she is watching her dream of finally sharing her music come to life. 

“Restore Me” is the beginning of a collection of songs Stephanie will be releasing, which she calls the “Glory Journey” collection. Already, Stephanie has seen how “Restore Me” has resonated with people of different cultures, backgrounds, and practices, around the human desire for healing and restoration. Stephanie believes her music resonates with the vision of UniteBoston because it’s all about bringing people together on this journey of becoming who we really are and fulfilling the God-dream every human has inside. “We are all on this journey and we are all in process until we are perfected. This journey unites us,” says Stephanie. 

To stay connected with Stephanie and be informed about her upcoming music releases, you can find her at stephanieoguine.com or on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @stephanieoguine. Subscribe to her YouTube Channel and follow her on Spotify for more to come.