“Knowing your worth is POWER, YOUR POWER! Being a L’Oréal Paris Woman of Worth means I can continue to display my power globally, by helping one girl at a time own her story.”
– NI’COLA MITCHELL, FOUNDER OF GIRLS WHO BRUNCH
L’Oreal Paris 2019 Women of Worth Ni’cola Mitchell, Founder of Girls Who Brunch Tour, is a Best-Selling Author who made the Forbes List as a Change Maker in 2019 and Black Enterprise 2015 as one of the 5-Follow Worthy Bloggers to Watch. She entered the literary scene with one main objective: To Stimulate Your Mind, One Word at a Time. Through her independent publishing company NCM Publishing, Ni’cola published numerous titles that have been featured on various best-selling lists throughout the country. Much of her work revolves around complex relationship issues and Mitchell’s compulsive desire to see women overcome challenges. Ni’cola is the CEO of NCM Books, founder of From the Pen of Ni’cola blog, and Co-Owner of Strategic Connections Plus a start-up business consulting firm that facilitates the growth of small businesses. She has penned 16 novels, published 125 titles, and has helped over 900 authors and independent publishers publish their books successfully.
As a victim of domestic violence, Ni’cola Mitchell understood first-hand how at-risk youth are significantly less likely to successfully transition into adulthood due to a lack of resources and opportunity. Her own past led her to create Girls Who Brunch, a non-profit that combats this cultural epidemic by addressing low-income communities and sponsoring girls in foster care, as well as sex trade victims and teen mothers. Through mentorship and panel facilitation, Girls Who Brunch teaches different ways of thinking that ultimately enables at-risk girls to succeed and flourish.
I’m Loving Me Project is happy that Ni’cola Mitchell shared the ins and outs of being successful in business and her passion for making a difference.
Q: Tell us about your business
A: The purpose of Girls Who Brunch Tour, a 501c3 is to cultivate, inspire, and empower at-risk girls between the ages of 9-17 years old. Today, girls are very impressionable. This demographic of girls is being exposed to bullying, human trafficking, self-esteem issues, and underestimation of self-worth. Through Girls Who Brunch, we provide vital tools needed through literacy, education, life skills, and health & wellness to help girls become leaders and difference makers in their communities.
Girls Who Brunch combines fun performances, raffles and music with challenging workshops that focus on education, STEM, health, sexual trafficking awareness, bullying and empowerment topics. Girls Who Brunch also hosts a Masterclass that specializes in training participants in on business development and financial literacy. Since founding the non-profit four years ago, through our program we have has positively impacted and equipped over 7900 girls nationwide to become the leaders of tomorrow. We also have reading and feeding programs and holiday assistance.
Girls Who Brunch Tour has also received Proclamations from the Mayor’s Office of Charleston, SC, the Mayor’s Office of Houston, TX, a proclamation from District C of Houston, TX, and the Congressional Office of Houston, TX, a Proclamation from Governor Nathan Deal of the state of Georgia whom declared May 26 as Girls Who Brunch Day, and NOW a Proclamation from the Mayor’s office of Indianapolis declaring July 13th Girls Who Brunch Day.
Q: Why did you decide to take the LEAP to become an entrepreneur?
A: I never knew that I was ever going to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to be a CEO of a hospital. I wrote a book because I was in a bad relationship and I wrote about it. Who would have known that all these beautiful things would have transpired since then? That book was the initial leap of faith for me. I wanted the book to succeed, so I grinded and worked hard to become a national best-selling author. This allowed me to have a voice that people wanted to listen to and share my story which in turn birthed Girls Who Brunch Tour.
I was going so hard as a writer, publisher, and blogger that I didn’t have an opportunity to add on philanthropy to my palette. It took the death of my son, (whom I delivered at 7 and a half months pregnant as a stillborn) and the death of my mother two weeks later to make me sit down, regroup, and start Girls Who Brunch Tour. Their deaths represented to me that life was too short, and I may not have another opportunity to do this again.
In turn, I guess pain has been my motivating factor to start a new endeavor. Instead of wallowing in my sadness and despair, I turned my pain into purpose.
Q: What’s the best part about being your own boss? The worst?
A: The best part about being your own boss is having complete control of how I want my brand to be. I can control the narrative and have the ability to be very creative when creating my brand. The worst part is keeping myself accountable. You have to be very strict and focused when working for yourself. You have to work even when you do not want too.
Q: What have been some of your challenges and successes in business?
A: I have a non-profit and a for-profit business. The challenges have been ensuring that I am committing to the same amount of time management to each organization. I have obtained a lot of success in both organizations. I have received several national awards from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and L’Oreal Paris Women of Worth, I have been featured in major publications such as The Huffington Post, Readers Digest, and Black Enterprise. I love what I do in both regards, so every time that I am able to assist other women and or girls to grow is always a success for me.
Q: What do you love about working in your city?
A: I love working in Atlanta, because there is so much opportunity here. There are so many like-mined people that don’t mind sharing information and services.
Q: What are 3 skills every entrepreneur should have?
A: Time management skills
Flexibility
Accountability
Visit https://www.girlswhobrunchtour.com/ for event dates and cities nearest to you!
