We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nahtyka Jolly. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nahtyka below.

Nahtyka, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

I’ll tell anyone: I’m a proud product of my local public library. Some of my fondest childhood memories are Saturdays spent at the Columbus Public Library, where my small life was fully immersed in someone else’s imagination while I steadily built my own through the books I read.

Library trips morphed into an at-home family book club. My sisters and I were each given our own weeknight to craft and guide conversations for the rest of the family about whatever we were reading, so I grew up knowing how it felt to read, reflect, gather my thoughts, discuss them with others, and at times, argue my point of view. Honestly, I’ve always loved the conversation of it all: sharing my thoughts, hearing from others, gaining new perspectives, challenging my own. This experience birthed the initial idea for Thickerplots.

In 2020, Thickerplots began as an Instagram page for book recommendations. While our digital home was well-received, I knew we needed to cultivate an in-person community to maximize the space’s potential. Since then, we’ve evolved into what I consider a full-service literary collective, continually finding ways to create engaging spaces and experiences that celebrate diverse stories and explore how literature shapes our understanding of our communities, our neighbors, and the world around us.

Nahtyka, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve built my entire career on sharing stories. After graduating with my Bachelor’s degree in English, I began a dual career in marketing and book publishing. Sitting in the editor’s seat at an indie publishing house gave me an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at how the publishing industry works, the resources (or lack thereof) available to books written by diverse authors, and the general lifespan of a literary work. I quickly learned that new releases require a well-rounded marketing approach to achieve a successful debut, but post-launch, extra intentionality is needed to keep the stories alive. This truth resonated even more for books written by diverse authors, which was what our publishing house specialized in.

All of my collective experiences shaped my desire to prioritize creating a literary hub with diverse voices at its core, something I wasn’t seeing much of at the time. Above all, I was adamant that I wanted us to be more than a book club—I wanted to create something that could exist beyond a single work of literature. And so far, we’ve done that and much more.

Our inaugural community programming includes our monthly book club, our annual “For the Plot Book Swap” in honor of Read Across America Day, “Reading After Hours,” our pop-up banned books installations, and “What’s Your Plot?,” our written and audio story series featuring local community narrators. Recently, we’ve started offering literary services for private and corporate partners, including diverse library curations and themed literary symposiums.

When I think about our growth over the past five years, many exciting ‘firsts’ come to mind. However, it’s always my greatest honor to hear that Thickerplots is the reason someone picked up casual reading again. A small thing to some, but a monumental thing to us. Thickerplots gets the people reading, and that remains my largest, most intimate goal.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

If I had to sum it up, these are the questions that guide the work and intentionality behind Thickerplots:

How many ways can we use diverse literature as a vehicle for building and nurturing communities?
How can we get, and keep, communities reading?
How can our programming cultivate a lasting love for literature in adults, ultimately benefiting the next generation of readers?

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

For me, the books that have the most impact are the stories that force me to think differently about life and my place in it, regardless of genre. From that lens, here’s one of my recommended reading lists for anyone looking for books that shape the way you think on very personal levels (spoiler: lots of fiction here!):

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois x Honoree Fannone Jeffers
Homegoing x Yaa Gyasi
The Sex Lives of African Women x Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah
How to Say Babylon x Safia Sinclair
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name x Audre Lorde
skin & bones x Renee Watson

If these books give you pause for random moments of reflection and self-evaluation, know that they’re doing their job.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thickerplots.com/
• Instagram: @thickerplots, @bynahtykajolly
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thickerplots
• Other: TikTok: @thickerplots