Jessica Pilgrim has long been known as part of the family behind Sahoma Lanes. Now, the Sapulpa native is stepping into a more public role of her own—sharing a message shaped by family, faith, nursing and personal loss.
Pilgrim’s grandfather, Guy Bolin, built Sahoma Lanes in 1960, and the bowling center has remained family-owned and operated ever since. She began working there at 13 as a party hostess, motivated, she joked, by a desire to earn enough money to buy her own Dr Pepper.
Although Pilgrim later pursued a career in nursing, the bowling alley was never far from her life. She became more heavily involved again following the unexpected death of her father, Clay Pollard, in 2021.
Clay and Pilgrim’s mother Tammie Pollard had planned to purchase Sahoma Lanes from her uncle. After his death, Pilgrim said her mother decided the family would move forward with the plan.
“She was like, ‘This was our plan. We’re going to do it anyway. Will you help me?’” Pilgrim recalled.
Pilgrim now helps lead the business behind the scenes, handling hiring, employee training and marketing. Her husband has also left his previous full-time job to work at Sahoma Lanes, continuing the bowling center’s tradition as a family operation.
“It just wouldn’t fit who we are to stop because of something tragic,” Pilgrim said. “Tragedy builds legacy.”
That idea has become central to Pilgrim’s growing personal platform.
Her father died just 11 days before the birth of her son, sending Pilgrim into a battle with grief and postpartum depression. Encouraged by her therapist, she began journaling about the experience. Those entries eventually became her first book, “Beauty from Ashes: A Burn Nurse’s Story Through Tragedy.”
Pilgrim is now working on a second book focused on women’s empowerment. She has also launched the “Uncontainable with Jessica Pilgrim” podcast and created Wildfire Women, a community intended to encourage women facing grief, addiction and other struggles.
Her work as a burn ICU nurse has deeply influenced that message. Pilgrim said her patients are rarely asking for more money or possessions when their lives are in jeopardy. They ask for more time.
“I love it because I get to walk alongside them and I get to encourage them,” she said. “I feel like I get to be the hands and feet of Jesus.”
Pilgrim hopes her own story can encourage others to keep moving through pain and make the most of the lives they have.
“When somebody talks about my legacy,” she said, “I want them to talk about how I lived, no matter what.”
Watch the full interview with Jessica Pilgrim on The Timeloop: