Meet the Team!

Jenna was introduced into geekdom by her stepmother, Leslie, with Star Trek: TNG and hasn’t looked back since.  She is an avid listener, as well as an avid reader, and at any given time, she can be found listening to an audiobook, musical theater, popular music, or reading, especially YA fiction. Her favorite genres in YA , include science fiction, realistic fiction, and speculative fiction.

Geeky Top Ten: Star Trek, Harry Potter, The Expanse, the MCU, Jane Austen, Kdramas, Musical Theater, TCM, Police Procedurals, and almost anything BBC.

Brunch Drink of Choice: Mint Julep

I credit my mother for my lifelong obsession with everything nerd/geek-related. Not only am I obsessed with geek culture & TV, but I love video games and board games and science and technology and grammar and all those wonderful nerd hallmarks. By the time I got married as Princess Leia it was pretty much undeniable that I had an inescapably nerdy soul, and it’s a huge part of my identity. I’m also an avid costumer, and a member of the Rebel Legion so I get to dress up as Princess Leia for official events! I’m even passing the gene on to the next generation with my 2 young padawans. My list of geeky loves could go on forever, but the sci-fi genre is my one true love.

Geek loves: Star Trek, Star Wars, The Legend of Zelda, Little Shop of Horrors, Firefly, Farscape, Xena, Community, LOTR, GoT, Ray Harryhausen, Jim Henson, Rick & Morty, Pinky & the Brain, superheroes, Disney, Fringe, The Simpsons (1-12 only!!!), Red Letter Media, Mythbusters, everything sciency, Mel Brooks, film scores, Monty Python, Lego, books (!), Avatar/Korra, Project Runway & Face Off, but the list is literally endless and I’m sure I’ve forgotten so much…

Brunch staples: Coffee & bacon

Geek husbands: Kylo Ren & Seymour Krelborn

Origin Story:
Stefanie is a marketing manager, fantasy writer, part-time dogsitter, and die-hard Comicon fan.  She loves to cosplay her favorite characters, like Wonder Woman/Elektra/Clara Oswald/Jubilee.   An avid life-long reader and fan of sci-fi, fantasy, and YA, Stefanie recently published the sci-fi book The Merry Maids on Amazon.  And every month you will find her cheering on the  superstars of the WWE or brunching with the ladies of Geek Girl Brunch Phoenix. When she’s not reading or writing, she’s probably shaking it in Zumba class.

Favorite Fandoms: Doctor Who, Star Wars, X-Men, The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Infernal Devices, WWE, Star Trek: TNG, Marvel, DC, The Fullmetal Alchemist, Coffee.

Brunch Drink: Caramel Latte

Anime Boyfriend: Edward Elric/the Fullmetal Alchemist – but I’ve got my eye on you, Gajeel/Fairy Tail!

Follow: www.latinageekgirl.com

Samantha has been a member of GGB since 2015 and an officer of the Philadelphia chapter since 2018.  Her foray into all things fandom began in the age of boybands where she was able to hone her fan skills attending concerts and amassing a wide variety of collectibles.  Then, she climbed on board the Hogwarts Express and has been “Going Back to Hogwarts” for almost 20 years now. She says, “Harry and friends helped shape me into who I am today.  I am immensely grateful that I was able to grow up in such a wonderful and loving community.”

Samantha loves cosplay and conventions, marathon board game sessions, cleaning up at trivia night, and binge-watching tons of geeky TV.  Her favorite vacation spot is The Wizarding World of Harry Potter; She is an annual passholder at Universal Orlando Resort and travels there at least twice a year.

Above all, Samantha just loves being nerdy.  Having a community of people share a love for something is one of the most powerful feelings in the world.  Geek Girl Brunch gives Samantha the opportunity to promote a space where we can celebrate our diverse fandom loves.  As an officer of GGBPhilly since 2018 and a member of the HQ Webteam since 2019, she looks forward to continuing the mission of GGB!

Geeky Top Ten: Harry Potter, Supernatural, Teen Wolf, Disney, Star Wars, Musicals, Doctor Who, Board Games, Great British Baking Show, Marvel Cinematic Universe

Brunch Drink of Choice: The house specialty cocktail or one of the craft beers on tap.

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw

Geeky Boyfriends: Dean Winchester, Stiles Stilinski, Poe Dameron

Origin Story: Jamila is a geek writer and overall fangirl, currently living in South Florida but reps The Bronx. She launched Girl Gone Geek Blog in 2010, where she writes about geek culture. She’s also a Kawaii Trap Lord and curates Straight Outta Gotham, a Tumblr blog of geeky rap lyrics shared as gifs and memes. She plans to start writing her own comics in the future and become the creepy cat lady that lives next door.

Geeky Top Ten: Doctor Who, Game of Thrones/ASoIaF, Cowboy Bebop, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Studio Ghibli, Akira, Image Comics, Portal and Shoujo/Josei Romance Manga

Brunch Drink: Bellini

Anime Boyfriend: Yutaka Gouda

Follow:

• Girl Gone Geek Blog
• Straight Outta Gotham
• JamilaRowser.com
• Twitter: @JamilaRowser
• Instagram: @JamilaRowser
• Tumblr: Lovers (B)rock

Origin Story: After graduating from FIT with a bachelor’s in Women’s Sportswear, Yissel landed an internship abroad with renowned costume designer Edna Mode. Under her tutelage, Yissel learned the all important rules to designing for superheroes: NO CAPES! Later she founded Fashion + Geekery (Now TheDesignerGeek.com) , a love letter to high fashion and the geek worlds that inspire it. It was while working in Milan that she discovered just how far the New York City institution of brunch had spread. There was something to this eggs and booze thing that was bringing people together even across the pond.  But who could she talk to there about Harry Potter…?

Brunch Drink: Mimosas. Bonus if it’s an unexpected twist on one.

Geeky Top Ten: Harry Potter, Fables, Once Upon a Time, Doctor Who, Disney, Studio Ghibli, Portal, Play Station RPGs, Card Captor Sakura, Vogue

Anime Boyfriend: Julian Star

Follow:

• TheDesignerGeek.com
• twitter: @TheDesignerGeek
• Instagram: TheDesignerGeek

Origin Story: Rachel spent her formative years on the Death Star, a rising force in the minion pool who dreamt of one day achieving her own evil lair of evil. Now she spends most of her time in Westeros rooting for the badguys at FireandLunch. When not plotting to take over the galaxy she can be found vacationing on Arrakis. (IRL she’s a blogger and cosplayer who buys an alarming amount of spandex and over analyzes her favorite shows. She loves talking cosplay shop, watching terrible action movies and lives in an apartment selected in no small part for its proximity to a Lego store.)

Geeky Top Ten: Star Wars, Dune, ASoIaF, Star Trek, Farscape, The Foreigner novels by CJ Cherryh, LOTR,  Harry Potter, Avatar: The Last Airbender and anything Miyazaki (but Nausicaa is her favorite).

Brunch Drink: Screwdrivers

Anime Boyfriend: Kyo Sohma

Follow:

• @DarthRachel
• scienceofdiscontent
• FireandLunch