Meet the Team
Nikkya Hargrove
Owner
I wholly believe in the power of words and their ability to change lives from how we feel to how we go through the world.
I believe in the power of community. My grandparents (both sets too!) believed in and worked for the betterment of their communities. My maternal grandparents opened their own business, a convenience store, in a poor community in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My paternal grandmother founded her own nonprofit, helping low-income residents of her hometown in Bellport, New York, buy homes because she loved her community and believed in the power of homeownership.
Like them, I love and believe in the people of Stratford. I believe in the power of our community too. I am grateful for the opportunity to build our only independent bookstore and for our community for all in it. I’ve spent over 20 years working in the nonprofit sector from Stamford to Bridgeport to New York City because what I believe is that hope can carry us, and when we have hope, we can accomplish anything.
I am an author. My first book called Mama: A Black, Queer Woman’s Journey to Motherhood is slated for the 2024 winter pub list by Algonquin Books. And I am brewing my next one.
This is my invitation to you, as the owner of Obodo Serendipity Books, to come inside the store (when we open) and stay awhile.
Let the books fill you with hope and knowledge, and with a commitment to know more so you can do more. Stories are powerful. I hope you will be a part of ours!
About Natasha
Favorite book: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
It was the first book I read in high school that helped me discover my love for reading. Books have taught me how a new journey is waiting for me each time I open a new book!
Last read that changed me: It was definitely Tabitha Brown’s Feeding The Soul. The book was eye-opening. From the way we live to the way we find joy - it definitely inspired me. Such a good read.
Social justice I am most passionate about: Gender and Racial Inequality in Healthcare. I have personal experience as a Black woman. Often our health and concerns are dismissed. Not being heard is unacceptable, and everyone deserves to be treated equally, irrespective of race, gender, or economic status.
Natasha Phillips
Events & Marketing Manager
Meet my Family
We love our community and the people in it. Stratford is our home, and it is the place my wife and I decided, over 10 years ago, to raise our family in. We stay because of the people here.
We are an Afro Lankan (African American + Sri Lankan) household. Three kids, one curious dog (Lucky RIP), and a very old home - we love our community. You’ll see my family, in the store, and around town.
They probably won’t be working on a Saturday, but they sure will share their recent favorite read with you.