Black Girl Nerds Creator Jamie Broadnax Gets “Verified”

“Nerds” come in all shapes and sizes, but there was a lack of representation on the web, in particular when it came to women of color. Jamie Broadnax decided to do something about that and launched Black Girl Nerds, a lifestyle blog for girls who enjoy and embrace their nerdiness.

Her site has become one of the fastest growing sites that revolves around “nerdiness” and culture. Her site has grown so much in fact, that she now has that prestigious blue checkmark nex to her name on Twitter. She has officially arrived!

We got a chance to sit and chat with the trendsetter about her site and what her future plans are.

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Your Twitter account recently became verified, what did you do to celebrate?

I did absolutely nothing (laughing). I did what I usually do, which is go to my day job, come home, answer emails, work on editorials, edit segments of the podcasts, play around in Twitter (vent or live tweet a show), which ever, I shouldn’t say vent but ummh you know, just engage with followers. And that’s it, I didn’t do anything special. Umm…I don’t know why. People ask me that question; I didn’t know that was something you had to celebrate. I was just honored to get the verification.

Your website/online community is called Black Girl Nerds, what is the story behind the name?

Story is I went on Google back in February 1^ST, 2012, typed in the term Black Girl Nerds and nothing came up. And it was at that moment that I had realized obviously that I had to do something about creating some type of content because there’s nothing on the web about women like me. So I created a site called Black Girls Nerds, just because I couldn’t find the search term on the web. And the reason I went on the web was because I noticed that nerd culture was becoming very popular and mainstream. And in the mainstream spaces I didn’t see black women and people of color in general. So that is what prompted me to type in the term Black Girl Nerds. And when nothing came up, then that is what prompted me to open up a blogger account and start a blog.

You have some high profile celebrities following you on Twitter, which do you look forward to meeting in person and why?

Idris Elba, he follows Black Girls Nerds on Twitter and I would looooove to meet him and definitely want to meet Shonda Rhimes and give her a big hug and say, thank you. Because she has been instrument in really giving BGN (Black Girl Nerds) some notoriety on social media, when you get a shout out from Shonda Rhimes, owner of Thursadays on Twitter, that’s a big deal! So I really would like to meet her. And other celebrities I would love to meet that follow me on social media would be Jesse Williams (also part of Shondaland), I would love to meet him, but I think that is for superficial reasons, he’s gorgeous, but also he is a really great advocate and I admire what he is doing. I love to meet Jordon Peele of Key & Peele they were on our Podcast, one of our contributors got a change to meet them, I did not personally so that would be cool. There is so many people that I like to meet.

I see you are expanding your brand, what type of talent are you looking to cover and work with?

Looking for all kinds of talent. I want BGN to be a space that is very diverse, you know as we are seeking diversity. Right, as black women in nerd culture, I want this space to be diverse for other black nerds. And I want to talk about all other types of topics. It’s not always going to be about comics, it’s not all going to be about Cosplay, and anima. I want to talk about things that are evolving in the tech space, things that have to do with being a bookworm, writing novels, building their own business, and other types of entrepreneur. I want to talk about all kinds of things and luckily I had some really great guest on the podcast, where we have talked about different things. And I am going to continue doing that. I really what to cover and talk to people in the tech world who are actually owners of their brands and entrepreneur who are successful, meaning they are actually making an descent income, while loving the work that they do. Pretty much for selfish reasons I like to pick their brains to see what they are doing that I am not, I like to work with those folks.

I see you have an online store where you sell T-shirts with your brand logo on it, any plans to open a retail store at a local mall or shop?

I haven’t thought about it. I am literally doing 50 thousands things right now, so it’s hard to think of business things like that. And I don’t have business mind frame. So it’s hard for me to even expand on that, but if anybody has any idea, shoot’em out.

Any plans to write a memoir, any acting jobs coming up or applying too? Starting a TV show, web-series?

It’s interesting that you bring that up, I am working on a memoir, I am and I just spoke to a literary agent today about that, so I will keep it at that, but hopefully we can get something going with writing one.

One of your besties is Shonda Rhimes, how did you two meet up? Any plans to be on her shows?

Well, I wouldn’t call her my bestie, I like to think of her as my social media bestie, but if she ever wanted to be my friend in really life. I would totally be her best friend because I have been an admirer of her work since the pilot episode of Grey’s Anatomy aired. We never meet, she met me on Twitter and that is how that whole Marie Claire piece happened, she follows the account and she is just a fan of the account. Apparently she likes what I am saying, which is ridiculous. I should use that term, but it is just crazy that someone of her stature pays attention to my tweets, because I tweet random, ridiculous, dorky, dweebie things. But somehow it appeals to her and many other people, which is awesome! I am glad people are enjoying the tweets because sometimes I have to 2^nd guess myself, if I am being a little too opinionated on Twitter. If she ever wants me to be on her shows, I am there! I will book a flight right now to L.A. and do it! Don’t have to tell me twice.

Here at The Urban Twist we have a hashtag #Whatsyourtwist, So what’s makes you Twist Worthy in your opinion? What makes you stand apart from other social media talent?

I think what makes me stand apart from other social media talent is that I engage very much and even more than others who have the amount of followers I have. For example, 70 hundred followers, 5 thousand or even less followers and they are suppose to be considered social media personalities or even just celebrities. And you don’t see them engaging with their fan base, as much, but I do! And I am not a celebrity and I am not trying to put myself into that category, but I just enjoy interacting with people on social media. So every morning I say Good morning on Twitter. It’s something I have been doing for the past 3 years now. Sometimes I say Good Night when I go to bed, which I don’t do too much anymore, but I always say Good Morning. I always look at what’s trending for the day and talk about what’s happening. So there is always some kind of news filtering down the Twitter pipeline and I talk about those issues. I am just very engaged with my audience. I know I have said that times already, but at the end of the day that is what makes me unique. Some people on Twitter just like to use social media as a microphone to speak about their opinions and what their perspectives are, but they don’t put their headphones on to receive and listen to what other Twitter users have to say to absorb their thoughts, their prescriptive, and that is what I think makes a me very unique. Because I listen to my followers, I engage with them, if they have a question I answer it. If I see someone on my Twitter timeline talking about something, I will jump into the conversation.

Will you be attending or covering any award shows?

No, at least none to my knowledge. The only thing that I am covering is the upcoming Comic Cons circuit by way of press. That includes New York Comic Con, San Diego Comic Con, Dragon Comic Con, and Tidewater Comic Con.