Why Real Housewives of Potomac's Dr. Wendy Osefo Is "Black Girl Magic Personified"

In The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 5 trailer, Candiace Dillard described new RHOP cast member Dr. Wendy Osefo as Black Girl Magic personified. "She could read a book, honey, and she could read you down," Candiace said of the Nigerian-born Johns Hopkins University professor and political analyst. Even Wendy's official Bravo bio describes the Maryland native as a Renaissance woman with a strong personality who "knows how to hold her own and speak her mind when it comes to standing up to the other ladies."

These characterizations are all part of what Wendy described to MadameNoire as her commitment to living life authentically. "Whether it be as a commentator or a professor, one of the things I pride myself on is being completely honest,” she explained. So when Bravo approached her to join RHOP, Wendy added, "I said to myself, 'I'm not hiding anything so this will just show the world what I really am.' That being said, you only live once so I YOLO'd."

Wendy first learned the value of hard work through her single immigrant mother who put herself through college, per Bravo. As far as her own education, Wendy holds degrees from Temple University, Johns Hopkins University, and Rutgers University, where she becoming the first Black woman to earn a PhD in Public Affairs/Community Development.

At home, Wendy has her husband of nine years, attorney and fellow Nigerian Edward Osefo, whom she first met as a teenager and had a friendship with before they started dating after college. The couple also shares three children: Karter, 7, Kruz, 5, and Kamrynn, who recently celebrated her first birthday.

In addition to her current job teaching in the fields of urban education and politics, as well as appearing on TV as a political commentator, Wendy is also the founder and CEO of the 1954 Equity Project, which provides tools, mentorship, and resources to underrepresented minorities to help them thrive in higher education. She also previously served as the Director of Family and Community Engagement for President Barack Obama's anti-poverty initiative.

"It is a lot to juggle all of that stuff," she told MadameNoire. "I did not jump at it at all. I prayed about it. I asked all of my loved ones. The truth of the matter is I have so much going on. I work in what is considered a relatively serious field."

Now that she's added Housewife to her impressive resume, Wendy seems well equipped to handle whatever drama comes her way on RHOP this season.