Nichole Shirell has been writing her whole life, but she didn’t start publicly sharing her work until 2015. As soon as she took the first step of posting her work on Facebook, doors began to open for the talented poet. The Odyssey Online reached out just a few months later, and asked her to bring her talents to their website. In addition to giving her a larger platform to share her work, The Odyssey staff provided key insights to writing technique, social media promotion, and free editing services. This allowed Nichole to work on her craft, which transformed from short devotional style writings to weekly poetry excerpts.
A little over a year later, another opportunity to grow presented itself to Shirell. This time she was asked to be a part of an anthology titled “Unraveling the Layers: Memoirs of a Wounded Soul”. Nichole had three featured poems in the collection, and worked with the anthology author to publish her first book shortly after.
After this first taste of book releases, Nichole learned how to publish for herself. Since then she’s published two books for her nephew and eight for herself, with one more on the way. Self-publishing has created incredible life opportunities for Nichole, but she’s not being selfish with these opportunities.
Her belief in an advocate-style approach to both writing and work led her to create Nichole Shirell Enterprises (NSE) in 2018, which provides publishing services and more to youth, victims of domestic violence, and individuals in prison. She believes one of the biggest sins a person can commit is silencing the voices of others, and has made it her mission to uplift those who need their messages heard. NSE also provides youth scholarships and helps DV victims escape their abusive situations. Please feel free to reach out to Nichole for more information.
In addition to her work as a publisher and writer, Nichole has begun thriving in the social media scene - and was able to leave her corporate job to pursue these endeavors full-time. She now runs Visionaries Agency Empire, LLC and is an influencer on BIGO Live. BIGO is also how Shirell’s new album “Amplification” came into fruition. Nichole was asked to contribute to create a BLM-focused album to help raise awareness towards our nation’s racial injustices following the murder of George Floyd. She had never recorded poetry over beats before, but was ready to make an album that would change perspectives and hit the ground running.
The inspiration for “Amplification” came from wanting to use rhythmic sounds to draw listeners in, then inspire them to dwell upon the conditions of our country. Helping people find compassion and common ground so that we can create true progress. “Whatever door you have closed - re-open your minds so that you can have compassion and place yourself in the shoes of the mother, the father, or the victim.” said Nichole on her mission. This applies to BLM, but she intends to create similar albums to raise awareness for other societal issues including abuse and violence.
After performing the newly created songs live online on August 8th, the next step was premiering the videos and album to her eagerly awaiting fan base. The first single, “No Voice”, provides a sharp yet biting critique at the standards we’ve accepted as a society. “Love and Happiness”, a favorite amongst Shirell’s inner circle which premiered this week, provides similar thought-inducing lyrics over a catchy background.
“You can move to the beat of it because it makes you want to dance some, but the message is something that people need to listen to.” Nichole says about her second single, and we’re thankful for Birmingham poets like herself that understand the power by their words and embrace their ability to influence a nation for good. And her message to those struggling to find their voice like she once experienced herself?
“Continue to create. Continue to perfect your craft. Continue to move forward even if it may be new territory, and especially because it’s new territory. Newness is the father, the founder, of creativity. Don’t be afraid to step out on new plans, new thoughts that you have of what you want to do next. Just do it. Continue to support each other and don’t be afraid to stand up for what you think is right. Continue to share your voice however you share that. Whether it’s through rap, singing, poetry, art, comedy. Continue to be great.”
