Grace Babalola knows a thing or two about data. A data scientist working in artificial intelligence, university lecturer and PhD graduate, she has built a career around research, technology, education and solving complicated problems. But there has always been another side to Grace. The woman who loves fashion. Storytelling. Television. Travel. Creativity. Performing. Eventually, she stopped asking those two sides of herself to choose between each other.
And when Grace decided to test what might happen if she gave her creative ambitions a genuine opportunity, she did it in true scientist fashion.
She treated iPOP! like an experiment.
The result? Grace arrived as an emerging actress, model and voice-over talent—and left as the Best Fashion Print – Division 1 Female award winner.
“I’d say the experiment produced some interesting results!”
When Science Meets Storytelling
Grace’s interest in entertainment ultimately comes down to one thing: connection. She has always been fascinated by the power of storytelling and the ability of an actor, model, performer or voice-over artist to make someone they’ve never met feel something.
“One person on a screen, stage, photograph, or even behind a microphone can make someone they’ve never met laugh, cry, think, or see the world differently.”
In many ways, it isn’t entirely removed from the professional life she had already built. As a university lecturer and data scientist, Grace communicates for a living. She teaches, presents, explains complex ideas and finds ways of connecting with people. Eventually, she began wondering what would happen if she took that ability into a completely different arena. Acting, modeling, commercials and voice-over quickly went from interests to genuine professional ambitions.
Turning “What If?” Into “Why Not?”
Grace admits that one of the biggest reasons she attended iPOP! was that she became tired of asking herself the same question.
- What if?
- What if she actually tried?
- What if she auditioned?
- What if she walked into the room?
- What if someone within the entertainment industry saw something in her that she hadn’t yet discovered herself?
“There are moments in life when you can keep analyzing the possibilities—and trust me, as a data scientist, I can analyze anything—or you can actually collect the data!”
So she did. Grace came to iPOP! ready to learn, audition, receive professional feedback and discover whether this new ambition had somewhere to go. She wasn’t expecting an award.
An Unexpected Win
Grace describes the biggest part of her iPOP! experience as transformation. Surrounded by other performers who had also chosen to take a chance on themselves, she auditioned, learned from industry professionals, met people from different backgrounds and repeatedly pushed herself outside her comfort zone. Then came awards night.
“When they announced that I had won Best Fashion Print – Division 1 Female, there was this little moment where my brain went, ‘Wait…did they just say my category?’“
They had. For someone taking her first significant steps into entertainment, the recognition meant far more than simply taking home a trophy.
“I went to iPOP! wanting experience and hoping to learn. I certainly wasn’t expecting to leave with an award.”
What she brought home, she says, was something even more valuable: permission to take this side of herself seriously.
Give Her a Brilliant, Complicated Woman
Grace already knows the kinds of characters she wants to play.
“Give me a brilliant, complicated woman.”
A scientist. Physician. Professor. Detective. Technology executive. Intelligence analyst. She is drawn to accomplished women who are intelligent and capable but still allowed to be funny, vulnerable, flawed, emotional and complicated. And then there’s science fiction. Grace absolutely wants it on her résumé. Her ideal character?
“An AI scientist who discovers something she wasn’t supposed to discover and suddenly has to save the world while still trying to make her morning meeting.”
It’s not difficult to imagine why the role appeals to her. If Hollywood called tomorrow, Grace says she’d choose a smart science-fiction thriller filled with technology, mystery, adventure, humor, international locations and unexpected twists.
“Give me technology behaving badly, a mystery nobody can explain, international locations, a few plot twists, and one very determined scientist who realizes that her PhD absolutely did not prepare her for this situation.”
Kerry Washington and the Power of Authenticity
One actress Grace would particularly love to meet is Kerry Washington. She admires Washington’s ability to make emotion feel truthful rather than performed, as well as the longevity and resilience of her career. Grace would particularly like to ask her about protecting authenticity in an industry where performers are constantly confronted with opinions about who they should be.
“And then I’d probably ask for a picture because…come on. It’s Kerry Washington!”
Becoming a Beginner Again
One of Grace’s proudest achievements remains completing her PhD. The experience taught her perseverance through uncertainty, exhaustion, self-doubt and the inevitable setbacks that come with pursuing something challenging. Most importantly, it taught her that you don’t need to see the entire road before taking the next step.
That lesson has become particularly valuable now. After years of expertise in academia and technology, Grace has deliberately put herself in the unfamiliar position of becoming a beginner again. And she’s enjoying it.
“I think we’re allowed to evolve.”
She rejects the idea that everyone has to discover one single calling and remain within it forever. There’s room for reinvention. There’s room for multiple ambitions. And in Grace’s case, there’s room for algorithms and auditions.
“My scientific side is curious about why things work. My creative side is curious about how things feel. They’re both Grace.”
Go Before You Feel Ready
Grace’s philosophy can be summed up in five words: “Go before you feel ready.”
She once believed confidence had to arrive before action. Now, she believes it’s often the opposite. Prepare. Learn. Take the opportunity seriously. Then walk through the door.
“Action often comes first and confidence catches up.”
Her advice to anyone afraid of pursuing something new follows the same philosophy.
”Being afraid doesn’t mean don’t go.”
Train. Ask questions. Do the work.
“And then go scared.”
Building the Next Chapter
Grace isn’t looking at entertainment as a temporary adventure. Over the next year, she plans to continue training, develop strong acting and voice-over materials, audition consistently, seek the right representation and begin booking professional work across television, film, commercials, voice-over and print. Of course, she’d love the magical phone call telling her she booked the role. But she’s thinking beyond one job.
“I’m interested in building a career, not chasing one moment.”
She also hopes that as her entertainment profile grows, she can use her platform to continue advocating for education and greater understanding of responsible technology, particularly encouraging people who may not see themselves represented in certain spaces to remain curious and keep pursuing opportunities.
There Is Room for Both
Perhaps the most compelling part of Grace Babalola’s story is that she isn’t abandoning one successful life in search of another. She’s expanding it.
“I don’t want my story to be, ‘Grace left science for entertainment.’ That’s not my story.”
Her story is about refusing to believe that intelligence and creativity, academia and entertainment, technology and fashion somehow belong in separate lives.
”Grace decided there was room for both.”**
It’s a message that extends far beyond acting or modeling. You can earn the PhD and walk into the audition.
You can understand algorithms and love fashion. You can become accomplished in one world and still give yourself permission to become a beginner in another. And sometimes, when you finally stop wondering what might happen and run the experiment instead, you discover something unexpected. For Grace Babalola, the early data looks extremely promising.
Grace Babalola can be found on Instagram @ducchhess, TikTok and LinkedIn.
