The SISTERHOOD by Nichol Bradford
Nichol Bradford is an extraordinary human being. If you haven’t yet heard of her, get ready, because here at Sugar Gamers, we will be speaking to her a lot! We’ve even made her an honorary member. Nichol is not only the author ofThe Sisterhood, but has had a career in gaming that has spanned over a decade. She is also an entrepreneur and currently CEO of Willow Group, a company that is using transformative technology to elevate the psychological wellbeing for the masses.
Let’s start our conversation with The Sisterhood!
The Sisterhood is a tale about a highly impressive and successful female run organization that has grand ambitions to change the world. While working toward that end, they are have to contend with enemies that seek their demise while coming up with solutions for the devastation caused by the very addictive drug, Cocanol. To do this, nine leaders of the organization must use all of their respective resources and talents to not only survive, but succeed in their objectives.
Reading The Sisterhood I was entertained, motivated, inspired, and felt renewed in my creativity toward how to accomplish my goals. But more than that- I started to really appreciate my “Sisterhood” that are part of Sugar Gamers and in my life as a whole. I couldn’t wait to tell them about the book. Beyond the amazing story, the action, the espionage, the battle of wits, and the interesting romantic developments between the characters- there are several reasons this book is compelling.
1. Women, particularly women of color get to save the world!
2. The women of The Sisterhood are not only highly intelligent, but excel in business, tech, science and engineering
3. These female characters are strong, but also human and experience a variety of emotions making them very relatable.
4. The Sisterhoods motivations are always rooted in freedom and empowerment
5. The book is effectively written with the underlying goal to give the reader a blue print for a positive life-action plan
6. The book is a fictional account of an incredible philosophy
These are just some of the reasons I had to learn more about author Nichol Bradford.
Nichol Bradford attending the Collision Conference 2015
Looking at her from across the table, I am already beaming with a sense of pride. Since Sugar Gamer’s creation six years ago, I’ve met many amazingly talented women, however, I never actually met a woman of color that has held an executive level position in the gaming industry. Hearing about the exceptional challenges of being a woman and a minority in this field, I was almost expecting to detect a cynical tone when speaking with her. Contrary to my expectation, Nichol’s eyes sparkle with enthusiasm, warmth, and passion as she tells me about every project she’s ever put her energies into. She’s an individual who’s actions come from the heart. Which is why her book The Sisterhood has in some ways changed my life.
K: Tell us about the sisterhood. What inspired you to write it?
N: The Sisterhood is the literary version of what I’m doing now. In the sense that I’m very interested in freedom. Mental freedom. “None but ourselves could free our minds” right? Freedom is a tough word to use because people bring a lot different connotations to it, but for me, it’s freedom to choose. The Sisterhood is very much about a group of women who endeavor to become mentally free and to free every woman, child, and community member. They can touch lives by providing the tools and spaces to think for yourself.
K: What experiences from your life that motivated you to turn this book from an idea to a reality?
N: I was Miss Black Houston and don’t remember what year it was, I think there were dinosaurs you know! But the reason why I was Miss Black Houston is that I was entering my fifth year of college which took me five years to complete because I was working at various jobs the whole time. I didn’t want to rely on my parents and was financially emancipated at seventeen. So, I was in a situation where I was about to start my fifth year of school, my scholarships had finished and I didn’t have any money. I was walking in the mall I worked at and a woman came up to me and she said “Hey would you like to enter a beauty pageant?” In my head I was like “Are you out of your mind”! Really, beauty pageants had never ever appealed to me EVER! But then she said there’s a scholarship. This is what completely changed my decision.
My first beauty pageant was very much like the story Stone Soup. The fable where you know the whole town puts in something and they end up making soup. This is exactly what the mall I worked at did. The salon did my hair, makeup and nails. Another store in the mall let me borrow a dress and so on and so forth. Without their help, I wouldn’t have had a chance at winning the pageant.
K: With everything you’ve done with your life, I can’t believe you had the time to add beauty pageant winner to your list!
It had never ever crossed my mind to do something like that. It was not in my D.N.A. I come from a very long line of very hard core women. But, I felt that as long as I have this tiara. I might as well make it mean something. So I started volunteering and doing workshops with girls and young women about how to be successful.
I was giving my standard workshop. And this is the one that really struck me. There were seventeen or eighteen high school seniors standing in a circle at one point in the workshop. I would talk to them, give advice, then we would do different exercises. The last exercise I had them do was take turns focusing on one girl and each person would tell this girl directly and honestly, “You’re smart. You’re beautiful and you can have anything that you want.”
It was so powerful . The low number of people who could handle that….without crying was incredible. I think no one in the group truly, truly believed these things about themselves.
It was tearful. And I knew the work wasn’t done. I had the realization that I haven’t even really helped these girls. You can’t change someone’s life in a moment. I mean you can sometimes but it takes more. I’m gone and they’re back to their lives. So I began thinking of ways if how I could have a have a LASTING impact.
The SISTERHOOD Sugar Gamers Cosplay
We will continue discussing the “Sisterhood” and how you can become a part of it! We are in love with this book and what it means for us! We were even inspired to do our own cosplay campaign which you will be seeing more of soon! In the mean time, to learn more about Nichol Bradford and The Sisterhood please visit the links below! We would love for you to join the conversation.
More about The Sisterhood:
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