This episode includes mention of sexual assault and rape. Please take care while listening.
Hello Sunshine, Hey fam Today on the bright Side, we're joined by doctor Nikola Mitchell. She's an award winning entrepreneur and founder of Girls Who Brunch Tour, a nonprofit that's inspiring and empowering young women. They're going above and beyond to make sure the next generation knows their voices are valued.
It's Susey, February eighteenth.
I'm Simone Boyce, I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from Hello Sunshine. This episode is brought to you by Lareel Paris. We have a truly inspiring guest on the show today. We're talking to doctor Nikola Mitchell. She's the founder of Girls Who Brunch Tour, which is an incredible nonprofit making a real difference in low income communities by sponsoring girls in foster care, sponsoring teen mothers and women who have survived the sex trade. Doctor Mitchell
is also an executive producer, publisher, and writer. Her life is a really powerful testament to perseverance, and she believes that by exposing girls to diverse perspectives and empowering them with different ways of thinking, they can all achieve success.
And if that weren't impressive enough.
She is a two time Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award winner. She's earned the title of Forbes Change Maker, plus recognition from several cities including Atlanta, Charleston, and Houston for the incredible work that she's doing. We are so excited to talk with her today, So let's bring.
Her in, doctor Mitchell. Welcome to the bright Side. Hey, hey, with the hay girl.
Hey, I'm gonna have to.
Call you Nikola me come on, baby.
Well you founded Girls Who Brunch to her nearly a decade ago. Yeah, Simone, and I really want to hear more about the program and the work you're doing.
So.
Girls Who Brunch is an organization that focuses on girls ages minned through seventeen e bringing girls rest from the sex trade, girls in group homes, girls of foster care, and I've put them with girls from a better circumstance. I use the format of like sororities, that they all become sisters as soon as they walk in no matter what city, what country, that's now their new sister. And as of date, we've service forty eight thousand girls worldwide.
We focus on stem training, human trafficking awareness. I'm adding on Healthy Body and Hearts initiative this year come and going forward, and I just try to like, let them have fun. I bring in DJs, celebrities, performers, Let them have fun. They're dancing the whole time and we're sublimely teaching them.
I love what you have on your Instagram, Nikola. You say this is in your bio. On Igu say I help young girls with a painful past find their purpose and superpowers to change the world. Yes, ma'am, I know that you come from a painful past too. How did you turn that into purpose?
For a long time, I was super embarrassed of everything that happened to me, and a secret that I just start telling people a few years ago that I used to hate being called pretty. I was raped the first time at church when I was fourteen. I was raped multiple times after that by people that were supposed to protect me, and they told me that the reason why this was happening to me was because I was pretty. Right, So for a long time I hated for anybody to
call me that. But after therapy forgiving myself or because I felt that I was the problem, and forgiving them. I learned that me sharing my story and me putting it out there and letting people see that I've been bruised, but I'm not broken. It has helped so many people. Right Because I'll come in, I'll make sure I'm dressed up, makeup done, I'm dancing with the girls. They'll read off this long bio everything that I've done, and then after that, I'll say that was raped the first time at church.
I've had my first daughter at fifteen, and it opens up even the women in the world. There's even speakers and whoever that was there that came up to me and start crying or gone the mic and said what they've been through. So I think it's healing and I think it's a superpower. Right, once you figure out how to turn your pain into purpose, nothing can hurt you.
You know, the work you're doing gives young women opportunity to build business development and financial literacy skills. I thought it was interesting that those were two of the ones that you highlighted. What about those skills in particular do you think makes them so crucial for young women?
A lot of times, girls, we're the forgotten ones. Right, People put us in a little circle of what we're expected to be able to do, and especially girls who are from low income and disadvantage and situations. There are sometimes a first generation people, girls who don't even have parents who can tell them, you know, how to save a dollar, how to start a business. Even myself, when I first started my business, I had nobody I could go to because I'm the actual, the first one who
started anything in this magnitude. So I felt that it was important if I can give this to the girls now right by the time they're my age, and I always tell them, you're gonna be better than me because you're getting all this great stuff. Now, by the time they're my age, they'll be rock stars. And I have so many girls who have businesses. On one of my babies a Zobe. She has a doll line and Macy's and Target Beautiful Curly Me. I have some girls who are actresses.
I have babies who are just cook chiefs. These are some amazing rock star girls, and it's beautiful when some of them started their business through girls who brunch. So I think I'm just paying it forward and doing something I think my mom wish she could have done for me and some of their parents say it to me, I didn't even know that they were good at this. I think if we just expose them to these things, they're become unstoppable.
I'm so glad that you told me about Beautiful Curly Me because I need to get a birthday from my friend's daughter.
And this is so perfect. I can't wait.
Yeah, she just started thirteen. She started with you as nine.
That is wild.
I don't even want to think about the things that I was doing at nine, because it was not creating a business. That is so impressive. I know that being teenager is just hard wherever you come from. When you think about connecting with these teenagers.
What do they need?
Comebody, just to listen to them. A lot of times they're just so angry, and because it could have been a physical abuse, it could have been mental abuse, it could be some type of bullying that's going on. But moms and parents in this society are so busy, right, they're working, they're going to school, they're doing all these things. And a lot of times girls, especially teenagers, are more bussed that to help with the house right and help with the family, help watch your sisters and brothers. A
lot of times I just sit down with them. I picked the quietest one of them, or the meaning is looking one in the room, and I just sit down with them and I asked them, hey, what's going on? How do you feel? And I'll get on their nerves a little bit, and I'm like, hey, I'm the boss. You know this is dictatorship here. Once you came through the door and not a democracy, You're going to do these things. And the meanest baby by the end of
the day is hanging on me. Girl. I have so many pictures of me carrying kids, a teenmate, you just holding on me throughout the event. And it's just because I'm just giving them some attention, the right attention and a healthy attention. And parents don't even know because I knew that's what I was lacking. I just need somebody to listen to me. So I just try to think about what did I need when I was a girl and give it to these babies.
It feels like we overcomplicate things so often it can be as simple as listening to someone and how do you think, how do you think these girls are misunderstood either by their parents, by their classmates, or by the world at large.
A lot of the girls at ten girls who branch your girls of color, And the sadness of it is that African American girls, a girl of color period are usually over sexualized and over criminalized. So their first expectation of people when they see them is that they're bad. They're not gonna listen like they're going to fight. And so if you're being told that's who you are, right, You're going to start acting out as such. I just
started this movement called Protect Black Girls. I protect all girls, but I protect Black girls first because I'm a Black girl and I'm always kicking indoors and doing things trying to save these girls. And I think if people seeing what they're the girls everyday life this, then they'll have some form of empathy. I wrote a book called What
Was I Supposed to Do? And it was in the day of a life of some of the girls, the fictional story of some of the girls who I have helped, and people cry when book club readings, They're like, this is this is so harsh. I'm like, this is this is their reality?
This is the truth.
Yeah, this is their reality. What were they supposed to do? Now? And that's just why God brought me here is to be the voice of the voicelive.
We need to take a quick break, but we'll be right back. Stay with us and we're back. You mentioned forty eight thousand girls that you felt like the ripple effects of that, you're changing generations and families, and I know we don't have the opportunity right at this moment to talk about all of the success stories. I'm wondering if there's one in particular that you can share, just to kind of exemplify what the organization truly does.
I have one. She is eighteen now. I got her when she was eleven, and her and her mother had a very tumultuous relationship. I was speaking in you, Indianapolis at a library, and her mother brought her to this event. It was a whole bunch of girls there, and she stated that she didn't want her. So we fussed at her, was like, what's wrong? You know? She was so hard
But that's all she needed again, that attention. So the next time I was in Indianapolis a couple of weeks after for an adult literary event, She's in the front row and she had by the time we came back again a month later, for girls to run. She was there and she had a gift for me, and she just attached herself to me. She calls me mom, y'all.
She even do TikTok saying I'm a real parent. And I gave her a fad and she has been through hell okay and again exposure showing her the right way of how she's supposed to care for herself, why it is important to go to school. And when she does mess up, I was like, okay, because I'm so important to you, right, I have to use me as weapon. Oh are you safe? You're good? Okay, did you change your attitude? Are you still doing the same thing? Okay? All right, bye, hang up. She'll she talks about this
to this day. She's like, oh call it. She just hang up over me, Like, okay, we'll get it together. Man, it is a privilege to talk to me. But now at eighteen, she's modeling full time. She graduated from school early. She is the epitome of my success story because she has been through hell and back and that baby is still here and I am trying to teach her how to now same thing as myself. Turn with the devil memory bad and making it good because she has survived
so many things. She is my success story. She's amazing.
You're not afraid to show them tough love. It sounds like, oh no, ma'am, she says with a smile.
It sounds like the more that they've been through, the more help you want to give them. I know a lot of organizations do the opposite because they're like, oh, this person's just too far gone.
Yeah, that was me. I was too far gone. I was too angry. I was everything. I had two kids at nineteen, I first started at fifteen. I was far gone. And my mentor didn't give up on me. So because he never gave up on me, I never gonna give up on any of these girls. Did you ever ask him why? I always did because I know I was a mess. I was Oh my goodness. He used to fuss at me, cuss at me everything right, and I'm like, why are you leave me alone? Sir? But he's seeing
something in me. He put me an oratory classes at a young age. So now I'm being paid to speak full time now right. He invested in me in so many ways I did not know was going to still unpack me at my big age. So I feel like every time one of these jokers do something, I'm like, okay, II Lord, what is the lesson I'm supposed to get out of this? And again, they just need some attention, They need somebody to hear them and then also help them get through it. On just because this happened to
you, you can't stay in it. So we got to go to therapy and we got to do all these things. We're going to get it so you could be a functional adult.
How do you talk to these girls about anger? Because you have every right to be angry over what happened to you, And I believe that anger can serve a purpose, and I believe that anger can be righteous. So how do you talk to them about that emotion?
So everybody calls me mother Teresa because I have like a soothing voice, I guess, and I'm always so nice and so quiet, and even when I'm angry, this is my tone. And I just show them a different way to display your anger. I show them that it is easy for people to tune you out if you're yelling, if you're aggressive, right, But they can't tune you out if you're matching them with the same energy, right, or even if they're if they're in a high angry situation.
Some of these parents are cussing, yelling, whatever now is the first thing you want to fight back? Right, No, you gonna mess them up if you stay calm. And I show them through myself how being calm have changed situations. And I think sometimes leading by example is the best teacher, because I show them all the time I'm angry. I'm still angry my mother. I was angry at her for a long time, but I had to learn how to
forgive her. And when you learn how to forgive people, then the anger goes away and you'll have a sense of peace. I teach them that allowing somebody to keep you angry allows them to have the power over you. So showing them that you are peaceful and that you are amazing, Like I the what's the song called He's
a fan. He's a fan. They're not like us. I go into the jails to girls who are sentence as adults and there's a video of me krip walking right, and I'm like, Okay, the people who got you here, they're a fan. They're a fan. They want you to stay here. They're watching you. So what's the best way to revenge, showing them that you are better than they
show them. When you get out of here, what you do, You're gonna get your GD you're gonna graduate, You're gonna go to college, You're gonna do all these things right because they're a fan. And so I have the girls screaming at the top of their lungs. They're a fan. They're a fan. All your hairs are fans, right, But you just have to show them a different way how to display the anger.
I think what you said about showing them a different way to fight is such a good lesson. There is a twenty twenty three Lifetime movie that is based on your life. Yes, it is called Giving Hope, The Nikola Mitchell Story. Tatiana Lee plays you in the film. How surreal was it to see this film come together? Child?
Is still surreal because I'm alive. I'm young enough to understand it, to see it, and I'm still living it. It came from Laurel Paris, Woman of Worth. They did media for us, right, and one of the outlets was Reader's Digests, And as I was telling the story, like I'm telling you guys, they stuck to the story of my mentor so they did another interview about me and my mentor, and so like any outlet, they'll take it
down and they'll refresh it. So when they refreshed it, the producer from Lifetime found it like it was brand new, and she loved the article. So she found me on social media and stop me with no icon, y'all. So if somebody reaches out to you with no icon, it's okay, just you know, check it out. And she asked me, can she make a movie about my life? And I didn't believe it. I was so in shock. I did
not believe it. So one of my literary mentors, because I'm a writer in real life, it's so funny when I have to say that, Zane, she verified that production company was Rial, and she was like no. So she walked me through everything and obtaining my entertainment lawyer everything to get the movie go to go to production.
What was the aspect of your story that you were like, man, they got to get this right.
The brunch the premises of the story is why I started Girls Wrough Branch and so we had nine scripts that I vetoed that I was like, no, I don't like this version. I don't like this version. But when we finally agreed, and I'm also the executive producer on the film, the only time thing I cared about to be in Canada when they were filming was the brunch scenes.
And that's it because I wanted when any of my girls from any country watched the movie, I wanted them to say, that's a girl blatch and so they flew my signs in that's all my signage. Everything rent was authentic girls who brunch and they recreated the feel and even the girls that they had as the extras who attended the brunch, we made them feel like it was a real girls who brunch because they didn't know who
I was at first. So when they were in their dressing room, I went back there and I was like, hey, y'all, I'm like, listen, we need to have energy. Da da da da da. I was like period baby. When I said it came out, it felt like a real brunch. Tatana was dancing, and that was one thing I cared about. After that, I can go home, So that's one thing I cared about.
It must have really been a wild experience to see your life portrayed on screen. Was there a part of the film that was particularly exciting to see.
Oh all of it was particularly exciting, but it was sad watching it. Oh wow, I really felt bad at some points for her. Tatiana did such a good job for trained me. We would be on zoone talking. We actually look alike. We saw us sound alike. We have the same family background. And seeing her become Nikola was beautiful. And even Kiera the little girl played me as a little girl. They did such an amazing job being me. So it was more sad saying it. Proud of her
that she overcame a lot of things. And I was embarrassed at first, why because I didn't know how people were going to receive it. You know a lot of times they blame you for being raped, they blame you for things happening to you. You had a baby at
a young age. I was nervous about it. There was one scene that I wasn't there for, but it was beautiful that Tatsiana called me on the phone because she did not like the way the producer that were still there was trying to the direction they wanted her to deliver it, and she didn't like the words that was that were on the paper. So she was like, if
this happened, what would you say? And we were on the phone, I'm leaving my godfather's funeral, And she rewrote it and she delivered it the way that I would have said that well, And that was the beautiful thing about that movie, that whole experience. Everybody from the sound everybody took me to the side at some point and
told me how the movie made them feel. But even meeting me in person and seeing that I'm really that person made them feel And it just made me feel comfortable to leave when it was time to go.
I'm so glad you didn't feel betrayed by the story that was told, because that happens sometimes too.
I think that's why you need to become an executive producer. I didn't know the power of it until I was put into that position, even to the point of Tatiana wearing braids for the first time in her life on TV. You know, the integrity of me and the integrity of the brunch was everybody's biggest focus, and I appreciate that experience.
You're a loreal Women of Worth alumni, YESA and Danielle and I had the chance to attend the Women of Worth Awards last year, and it was an incredibly inspiring evening. We were blown away by all of the nominees and we also got to speak to the president of Lorel Paris USA, Ali Goldstein, about the power of this program. We want to hear about your experience. How did it becoming a Woman of Worth Honore in twenty nineteen impact your work.
It was a beautiful experience when we got it, They flew us into New York, they did all these things we want to good more to America. It was just like so beautiful and Ali was there when I got it, and just everybody showed us so much love and care. And Loreel does such an amazing job sharing about our nah profits and they just always showed us so much love. And to this day they still give me products every event for girls who brunch, both sized products for these girls.
So I just always say, look at this organization and see that there's people out there that love black girls too, right, and it's just allowing them to see it as a different light, like this isn't my swag ban. Lrel did the whole sponsor my movie premiere tour that they had us on with Black Girls Rock Las Vegas and Atlanta.
They've just supported me from the beginning. And I think that love that I've gotten in a sense of family is more important than the grant that we obtained at that time, because they're still here in my life this many years later, and I just received the Karen Fonding Award and the Louveni Award, and which blew my mind when Mss Karen called my phone, and that was just another testament to me that LREL is really my family.
I belong with so many organizations and cohorts, I've never experienced what I experienced with Loreel and anything else that I've done.
Wow, it's beautiful considering that this program has been so beneficial for you, What would you say to someone who's thinking about nominating themselves or someone that they love you just.
Know when you come in because I get people all the time they ask me to nominate them, but they're not doing the work. Because this is the best of the best, right the lineup of the women of this program we're going into twenty years is the best of the best. So just know whatever you're doing is not too small, because sometimes we feel like what we're doing
is not big enough. But just know when you get in here and you're among the best of the best, that you're going to be challenged to amplify even more.
How do you live out the idea of because I'm worth it in your day to day now?
Being an abuse survivor, you always have to remind yourself that you're worth it. There are days I've wake and I feel like I'm not worthy. There's days that I wake up and I get a phone call or experience and I feel like I'm not good enough. I still suffer from anxiety and an aposter syndrome. So reminding myself that I'm worth it is the biggest thing for me
to this day. And once I remind myself and I start showing it in the way that I walk and I speak, it's always therapeutic for other people because when they hear what I've been through, but they see the joy in me because I know that I'm worth it, even when that weight is on your shoulders to try to bring you back. It is the most beautiful thing.
Absolutely, that's so well said.
What would you say resonates with you most about Lorel's Women of Worth program?
The sense of family is what resonates with me the most with this program. I have sisters on every class and just hugging off the new honorees, loving on them, but they have a question being able to answer the questions because somebody has done that for me. It is a real life sorority because everybody has your back. Everybody is rooting for you. If there's something that you may need and you they don't have access to it, one of them probably have done it and have figured it out.
They'll give you that phone number, they'll give you that contact, they'll put you on a call, and so it's just the best sense of community with the women of the program. But then on the added bonus are the people that work for Laurel and it's just still family. So I think that's what resonates with me the most.
It's so funny that it's like it's always about the people no matter what. It's never the money that accolades when it comes down to it, it's always.
About the people.
One question before you go, yes, ma'am, if some of our bright Side besties who listen to our show want to volunteer with Girls who Brunch, how can they get involved?
If you go to Girls who Brunchtour dot com. You have to add the tour. At the end you can go to connect with us. On that page, you can click on being a volunteer, how to become a speaker if you want to donate items volunteering. That's the most important role the day of people that are helping, serving the food, helping check the girls in making sure they get to class, switching them from between the different sessions.
Those roles are the most important because you have direct contact with those girls and that I think that's most important than any speaker thing like that, because that's their first sense of love when they walk in the road.
Doctor Mitchell, thank you so much for joining us on the bright side.
You really are so bright.
Thank you, Thank you guys. You guys are beautiful. This was an amazing conversation. I am honor to be here. So sweet, Hi, I just love seeing women do what they want to do.
Amazing. Thank you so much.
Doctor Nikola Mitchell is an award winning entrepreneur, executive producer and founder of Girls Who Brunch Tour, a nonprofit that's helping young girls with painful past change the world. And hey, if you know someone in your life that's deserving of Lorel Paris's Women of Work program. Nominate them at loril Paris USA dot com slash Women of Worth nominations clothes on International Women's Day, MARCHI.
That's it for today's show.
Tomorrow it's well On this Wednesday, we're breaking down everything you need to know about microplastics with scientists and leading expert in microplastics, doctor Heather Leslie.
You don't want to miss it.
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