The Real Woman Behind 'Molly's Game' Is Helping Other Women Succeed In Huge Ways

When Molly Bloom was drowning in debt and arrested for hosting illegal gambling events in 2013, she was probably too busy facing the possibility of spending a decade behind bars to even fantasize about her life becoming a major motion picture. Not even she could have guessed where the real Molly Bloom is now. Fast forward to 2017 — Molly's Game is earning rave reviews and Oscar buzz, and Bloom has found herself in the spotlight once again. Only this time there are no court appearances involved, just red carpet walks and praise for the film based on her life.

Bloom's turbulent history made the perfect material for Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut, Molly's Game. An Olympic-level skier whose plans for law school were derailed when she fell into the world of the exclusive poker games of Los Angeles, Bloom's life became prime movie material when she got involved in the Russian mob (via said poker games) and found herself in the FBI's crosshairs in 2011. In 2013, she was arrested and charged as a part of a huge operation that took down over 30 people. Bloom eventually pleaded guilty to lesser charges in 2014, and a few months later, released her memoir Molly's Game: The True Story of the 26-Year-Old Woman Behind the Most Exclusive, High-Stakes Underground Poker Game in the World.

The release of the book Molly's Game was a game-changer for Bloom, who at the time was living with her mother in Colorado and working to recover from losing all of her assets to her legal troubles. She was very involved in the selling of the book in Hollywood, and said she insisted on getting it to Sorkin. "I was really going to all the agencies and meeting with everyone, asking, 'Who can introduce me to Sorkin?'" Bloom revealed in an interview with Vulture. After meeting with the writer-director and striking a deal, she worked with him as he crafted the script. "I worked pretty closely with Aaron and his team for around six months all day, every day and then homework assignments," Bloom told The Hollywood Reporter. "But I stepped away when they started filming."

It's safe to say that the publishing of her memoir and its subsequent adaptation into a major motion picture has helped Bloom turn her life around. Right now, Bloom is busy promoting the movie, but when she's not immersed in Hollywood, the former poker entrepreneur has been hard at work on herself. After working with Sorkin, Bloom took some time to herself to reflect and figure out her next move. "I did a little soul searching to explore where I had gone wrong, why I made the decisions I did, how my definitions of success and ambition were off," she told the BBC.

In the past few years, Bloom has released a memoir, worked on a major Hollywood picture, and completed 200 hours of court-mandated community service. Now, she told the BBC, she wants to do something "purposeful." For now, this "purposeful" next step isn't exactly clear. Bloom told Vulture that, even with a hit movie on her hands, she doesn't see a future in Hollywood. "I think my gift lies in being a startup entrepreneur and creating environments and experiences. But this time around, I'm certain it has to have meaning," she said. The meaning, it turns out, is to help other women succeed in business. "I've seen what power women have in unification, and I would love to create co-working spaces and networks for female entrepreneurs," she said.

Bloom doesn't have any verified accounts on Twitter or Facebook, but what appears to be her actual account — @ImMollyBloom — is promoting an upcoming "club for ambitious women with the grit and drive to make their mark." The website featured in her Twitter bio features a place where women can sign up via e-mail, but there isn't any more information given on what the club will do or the nature of membership. Whatever shape this club takes and whatever Bloom ends up doing next, you can bet that, just like her poker empire, it will be a force to be reckoned with.