BOLD MADE

This got my attention last year when King5 ran this story. Now following up on the success of her game (link), because of the new success of her son’s new game, Taco Vs Burrito, which they recently featured as well.

Besides being a local “awesome woman,” it seems the right time to introduce my followers to her. With the world seemingly spinning out of control, this is another example of keeping the faith and hope alive, and to change the culture of diminishing women’s roles by empowering them instead. Such a simple act but with huge opportunities to change the dialogs. It’s what this blog is about, empowering women.

https://www.king5.com/article/features/seattle-woman-flips-the-script-on-classic-old-maid-card-game/281-b7876a3c-5846-4f24-9ce4-92e485911a8e

SEATTLE — Leslie Pierson admits she started this project with one goal: to make the “Old Maid” card game go away.
“It was one of those games whenever anyone suggested playing, it would drive me crazy. The whole goal is- don’t end up with the older lady deemed too old to marry. I can’t believe we’re still playing this,” Pierson said. “That’s not a message you want to give a child that the worst thing that can happen is to be an older lady without children.”

Bold Made is a new and improved twist on the classic card game Old Maid. The game isn’t about getting stuck with a card. It’s about winning by collecting a team of bold women past and present. Each woman in the deck has made important contributions to her society and to the world at large. The game is fun, of course, but also a powerful way to help kids find fantastic female role models.

Bold Made features 40 amazing women in 10 different categories including artists, activists, astronauts, musicians, inventors, photographers, writers, scientists, and world leaders. The hardest part of the whole project has been selecting which bold women to include.

Then one, day her son Alex, gave her some great advice: Stop complaining and just make it better. Together, they created “Bold Made.” It plays similarly to Old Maid, except the goal is to end up with bold women.

Featured females include Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, former NASA astronaut Mae Jemsion and activist Helen Keller, to name a few.  Pierson said it’s rewarding to watch people play the game.

“It’s so heartwarming to watch children put down a Malala card and say ‘Malala.’  You just realize that awareness of bold women seeping in in a beautiful way. It’s a great opportunity to have a dialogue with your kid,” suggested Pierson. 

Pierson used a Kickstarter campaign to raise the money and in just 30 days raised more nearly $180,000.

“It was surprising. We launched before the pandemic. We didn’t know what would happen.”

Pierson has some experience with being bold. In 2015, her invention “Good Hangups” won the NBC Today Show’s Next Big Thing award. The following year, she won a deal on the television show Shark Tank.

It wasn’t long after that, her son Alex expressed his creative spirit by creating the popular game Taco vs. Burrito. Last year on Amazon alone, it generated a million dollars in sale and this month it’s hit the number one spot on Amazon’s list of most popular games.

Pierson says she was always crafty, but admitted to doubting herself. She says having her son Alex motivated her to start taking chances. ” Fear of failure starts to seep in as you get older. We need to show our kids how to risk and fail and get back up. Not just show them the best of things,” said Pierson.

“We want our girls to grow up feeling they can do anything. But we also want our boys to know that too and know that women can do anything and to be their champion in the board room when they are making their bold statements.”

Go boldly! Go Loudly. But keep going!