Born in Ghana and raised in London, Nicole realized early on that she had a knack for assembling IKEA furniture and nailing her woodshop class in school; that talent sparked her dream of becoming a spatial designer, which she took to Nottingham Trent University to study product design. However, as most of us have had to learn, many professions — including in the design industry — are less than welcoming to Black women. But like many Black women who have come before her, Nicole not only found a way to break into the industry but also ensure that many women are able to walk in after her. At what point in making the short [That One Day] did you realize there might be a feature in this story?Crystal Moselle: Whistleblowing is lawful and protected under the U.S. Constitution and numerous laws. It is the official policy of the United States to encourage citizens to report fraud, waste and abuse to the appropriate authorities. Numerous federal agencies have specific offices that can lawfully accept whistleblower disclosures, and have an obligation to investigate these reports. Absolutely. This is a time when women are breaking through. That wasn’t the reason I wanted to make this film, but that intrigued me. When I met [the girls], I was like, “Oh, that’s really cute and cool that these girls are trying to skateboard,” but that was me, myself, being like the guys who are actually creating the problem. It’s not like we’re like, “Oh, that girl’s probably really good,” or whatever. You just think, “Oh, that’s cute, they’re trying.” No. These women take this very seriously and they’re very good at what they do, and it’s this world that has pushed them down for so long. We were just talking about this the other day, me and the girls — a lot of older skateboard women, you know, they were the only women, and they got a lot of attention. Sometimes I think maybe they liked to be the only women. This generation of girls, they’re not mean girls. The way that I grew up, when I first came to New York City, it was like an initiation. So many girls tried to start fights with me. They were awful. When you break into the scene in New York City, it’s like that. And with these girls, they welcome [newcomers] in instantly. They’re like, “Oh, you skateboard? Come hang out with us.”Photo by Renell MedranoTV