Sisterhood Series: From iMessage To Lifelong Pals, Black Gyal Creatives Are Creating Bonds Through Digital Media

In the final episode of The Sisterhood Series, we shine a spotlight on the brains and beauty behind this project, Sheena Brobbey; a dynamically driven director with a heart full of purpose. Sheena’s intention for creating The Sisterhood Series was to offer “a peek into the beauty and strength of building womxn centred communities, for each other and ourselves”, celebrating the safe and nurturing relationships that fuel creativity and encourage a sense of certainty both on a personal and professional level. Working as an artistic director and writer, Sheena has first hand experience of navigating the creative industry as a Womxn of Colour and credits her fellow creative sisters as having been both emotional and mental support. This final piece brings us into Sheena’s world of sisterhood, introducing us to her 4 fellow creative soulmates and setting a reassuring example of how unconditional love, safety and accountability can offer a source of light in times that are dark.   

Naomi, Justina, Abi, Gabrielle and Sheena’s friendship was born a decade ago through interactions online and crossing paths at parties. Connecting as black women working as freelance creatives, their mutual understanding of this experience provided them all with some much-needed support within a predominantly male industry. Their sisterhood is peaceful proof that women can create positive interactions online, having built and maintained a messaging group to communicate through, offering one another collaborative advice freely. We met with Sheena and her sisters of solidarity to discuss how accountability and care can be a saving grace when navigating the working world.

Sheena, Creative Director - @sheenabrobbey

Wears, Top: Daniel Pascal Tanner, Dress: Lauren Good, Shoes: Charlie McCosker

““Sisterhood is understanding that we’re all different people, on different walks of life and still being loved for who we are regardless” - Sheena
”

Hello Ladies! Tell us how your messaging group started?

Abi: We met each other online ten years ago, (through Twitter and Blogs) and gradually bumped into each other at events and exhibitions.

Justina: We were always willing to go ‘Hey, I’ve seen you on Twitter!’ and we became more sociable. From there our friendship grew.

Abi: We now use the message group as a form of sharing information, we use it to get through really crappy situations, it’s like therapy.

Naomi: It’s a safe place to be able to express yourself completely and freely and off the cuff. 

Justina: That's what makes it special, because we have an element of humour and messing around, there's tonnes of memes and gifs, loads of shit goes down, but naturally, it will occur to us, this is crunch time, this is how we can help each other out. And then afterwards we can go back to being silly.

Abi, Graphic Designer & Curator - @loa__d

Wears Top: Daniel Pascal Tanner, Chaps: Dylan Joel, Hat & shorts: M/O

““You always need people to lift you, no matter where you are at and what you’re doing. These women do that immensely so I can only say thank you.” - Abi ”

““We help build each other up, because sometimes, not everyone is clear about how amazing they are at different things. Sometimes we just need to remind them.” - Naomi
”

Naomi, Art Director - @studiopixie

Wears, Dress: Daniel Pascal Tanner

What has this professional support provided you with?

Gabrielle - We all have our side hustles, so every now and then, we check in. How far away are you from this thing, do you need anything.

Sheena - We’ve all worked freelance in some capacity, and we all have our personal interests; we know every single project that each person has in their heart. I find we’re always ready to ask “How’s that project going, do you need help?”, and if it's not us who can offer that support, we offer someone to connect them to. 

Naomi - When you're freelancing it can be a very ‘in your own head’ experience and sometimes you need that third eye so in the group you can ask for opinions, like “Yo, which font?” and you get an instantaneous response from someone. Especially when you get cabin fever on a project, you need fresh eyes to look at it. 

Sheena - For me, I’ve been freelancing much less longer than these women, and I needed my hand held, especially during the beginning. They connected me with people, they gave me their experiences of working at certain places and I found it to be a safe place to not feel alone in my career.

““When it’s not as lucrative as you’d want it to be, when the well dries up and you’re  thinking ‘what am I going to do?!’  I’ve had these women to bring me back, they’ll be practical with it.” - Sheena ”

Gabrielle - When we need moral support, everyone in the group is everyone else’s cheerleader. Being black and being a designer in creative spaces (Justina - We’re pretty much unicorns!), we have people who understand what it’s like because they’re going through the same thing. In our industry, we can either be the only one, one of two, but it’s very rare that it would be all of us together. It’s helped me in terms of being like ‘Cool, I’m not the only one out here in these lonely ass streets’.

Gabrielle, Graphic Designer & Curator - @gsdotco

Dress: M/O, Gloves: Sophie Cull-Candy, Earring: Dominique Renee

““Being black and being a designer in creative spaces, we can either be the only one, one of two, but it’s very rave that it would be all of us together. It’s helped me in terms of being like ‘Cool, I’m not the only one out here in these lonely ass streets” - Gabrielle ”

What is it that you admire in each other's work?

Abi - The work of all these women here is invaluable, you couldn’t put a price on it, everyone has their own quirks, their own personalities, different elements that they pull through and pull out of you which is important. We’ve collaborated on projects and events, we’ve worked together in different ways over the years. These ladies were part of my own International Women’s Day event that happened last year, that specifically focused on Black Women in Design. You never see a full panel like that and it was dope.

Naomi - We’ve all got different disciplines and there’s been some really cool collaborations between us. There’s always a natural chemistry and we know each other's pros and cons, so I see it as focusing on the person rather than just their skill set. 

Justina, Graphic Designer & Illustrator - @jusanother

Wears Dress & hoodie: Ka Wa Key

““We’ve built this relationship that feels like family - it is family!” - Justina
”

What does sisterhood mean to you within this group?

Sheena – Sisterhood is understanding that we’re all different people, on different walks of life and still being loved for who we are regardless. 

Naomi: Exactly, it’s that unconditional love, and having people who can read your mood so even when you're not being of many words, silence is just as important as speaking. And definitely [with] all the laughter, we keep each other going!

Gabrielle: We hold each other accountable and provide each other with a safe support.

Justina - We’ve built this relationship that feels like family - it is family! It's been so long and there's been a lot of ups and downs. Each time, we’ve been able to pull each other up and I’m so appreciative of it. And I'm so excited for us to win.

Abi - We’re already winning! 

Follow Black Gyal Creative with Sheena @sheenabrobbey , Naomi @studiopixie , Gabrielle - @gsdotco , Justina @jusanother and Abi @a__b_i

Credits

Director: Sheena Bonsu Brobbey DOP: Julia Fiona Brown Stylist: Femi Ayo Photography: Shonay Shote MUA: Francesca Daniella Hair: Sheree Jourdan & Phebe Checks Photography assisted by @florenceakano Hair assisted by @nasa_raye Creative Assistant: Siphiwe Mnguni Creative Assistant: Ryanna Allen Edit: Shaquilla Alexander Sound: Mia Zur-Zipporah Words: Bethany Burgoyne