We had the good fortune of connecting with Nostalgic Black Girl and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nostalgic Black Girl, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
Greetings to everyone at Voyage ATL, and all its fellow readers!

First and foremost, before I begin, I would just like to say thank you for granting me this amazing opportunity to share a little bit more about myself and be a feature in your “Shoutout Atlanta” section. I am sincerely grateful.

My name is Kayana Brown, but you can call me “Kay” for short. I am a social media extraordinaire, and digital marketing specialist, who has created a successful online brand and persona for myself. In the social media sphere, I go by the alias, “Nostalgic Black Girl” since I am indeed a black woman who is incredibly nostalgic for various media. As Nostalgic Black Girl, I am an award-winning cosplayer and nostalgia-niched content creator whose tagline and mission is, “Bringing your childhood back to you, one post at a time!” Essentially, the characters that I cosplay, and the media I produce, are centralized around nostalgic characters, iconic throwbacks, and memorable fandoms that several people can recall and relate to. However, the most fantastic part of my somewhat unconventional career path is that I am able to make a portion of my living from simply doing a quirky hobby of mine that I love and am passionate about.

The creation of Nostalgic Black Girl came from a place of lack. Specifically, there needed to be more people like me in the spaces and places I enjoyed the most. This unfortunate truth broke my heart and almost made me question if I even belonged in the said spaces and places I inhabited. As someone who self-identifies as a “black nerd”, there frankly was little to no substantial representation of people such as me in the overall nerd or nerd-adjacent communities. Unfortunately, stereotypes have created this misconception which suggests that it is taboo, and almost anti-black for black people to actively participate in nerd culture as it relates to cartoons, conventions, comics, animation, anime, manga, fandoms, and things of that nature. Thus creating a toxic stigma toward the melanated individuals who actually decide to participate, especially if those said individuals are women.

Therefore, as cliche, as it may sound, I took it upon myself to become the change I wished to see in the world. I figured it would be ridiculous of me to recognize a gap in our society, and not at least try to fill it. Thus, Nostalgic Black Girl was born! Using my ultra-creative powers, I have dedicated my life to fighting the forces of stigma. (And, if you get that last reference, you are OFFICIALLY my BEST FRIEND! No further questions…) But in all seriousness, I aim to create a community for underrepresented nerds such as myself. Whether you are black or white, boy or girl, or anywhere in between, I want my platform to be a safe nerdy space where you are celebrated, accepted, appreciated, and seen (and I know that sounds SO CORNY, but call me a cob because that’s what we do here!).

Moreover, Nostalgic Black Girl, albeit nerdy, is not simply for the individual seeking to geek out over their favorite childhood franchise (although that is completely okay, and appreciated), she is also for the nostalgia-fueled intellectual that wishes to have quirky, candid, and knowledgable conversations that celebrate, appreciate, analyze, and somewhat revitalize their favorite nostalgic characters, iconic throwbacks, and memorable fandoms.

That’s my origin story, and I’m sticking to it!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The wonderful world of cosplay is a bountiful, diverse, and dynamic space full of many different kinds of creatives. However, my craft, in particular, is unlike that of my peers. Nostalgic Black Girl, as the name suggests, is primarily a nostalgic cosplayer, that fundamentally focuses on portraying characters (ideally those that are animated) that are inherently nostalgic in nature, and typically do not attribute to a current fandom or franchise. I proudly consider myself a certified closet cosplayer, meaning that most of the clothing I utilize for my cosplays is not from an official costume, but rather is assembled from seemingly regular pieces I find in my closet. However in true Nostalgic Black Girl fashion, I simply cannot be basic and leave it at that, I just have to take it a step further! Therefore, wherever my closet is lacking, my craftiness steps in to bring the full vision together. I am a Pinterest-prowling, crafty, and creative glue gun girly by nature. So, I have no problem finessing, a few glue sticks, some felt, and perhaps a few sheets of adhesive foam that takes a somewhat basic Disney Bound (look it up, if you don’t know…it’s more interesting than you make think), and transforms it into an undeniably spot-on cosplay.
Moving forward, as it relates to my Youtube Channel, that is the place where my aforementioned nostalgia-fueled and intellectual conversations take place. Similarly to what I said in the previous prompt, the thing that sets me apart in the Youtube sphere is that I am one of the very few that occupy my particular demographic in the realm of nostalgia-niched content.

Therefore, if you’re anything like me, and at least one of the things listed here piques your interest, I’m not saying you have to check me out, but perhaps, you may benefit from doing so.


The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to my Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, for without Him, I am nothing. Secondly, I would like to dedicate this shoutout, to my family, friends, supporters, and overall support system that I am so incredibly blessed to have because they really have shaped me into the nostalgic, cosplaying, and knowledgeable young woman that I am today, and for that, I am eternally grateful. And finally, I gotta give a special shoutout to my bestie, The Black Simone, for making this Voyage opportunity possible for me.

Website: https://beacons.ai/nostalgicblackgirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nostalgicblackgirl/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nostalgicblackgirl

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nostalgicblackgirl

Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nostalgicblackgirl

Image Credits
All pictures included are pictures of myself, taken solely by myself.

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