Meet Nicolette Victoria of Cycle Breaker Success in Preston Hollow/North Dallas

Nicolette, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was staring at my own mug shot on my cell phone. One of my friends texted it to me because he thought it was “funny.” But, when I saw myself staring at the camera, I didn’t recognize the woman I saw. Smeared mascara. Messy hair. It was just not a good look.

You’re probably wondering how an ambitious go-getting woman ended up zooming in on her own mug shot.

When I was 18, I moved into my first apartment. It was very… ahhh “low rent.” Break-ins were so common that it wasn’t even a surprise when it happened.

My front door was hollow cardboard. I was terrified. Most nights, I locked myself in my bathroom and slept on the floor with a knife next to me.

But, I was used to being in fear. As a child, I also spent many nights locked in the bathroom with my mom and younger sister, hiding from my alcoholic, abusive father.

My mother was also abusive, and her emotional abuse led me to believe that I would never be capable of anything.

So yeah, fear, that was my life. I didn’t know that there was any other option.

I coped with this the only way I knew how:

Unhealthy relationships with food and exercise.

Smoking cigarettes.

Getting blackout drunk five nights/week.

Cutting.

And boys. LOTS of boys.

I did basically anything I could to numb myself from the awful feeling of being trapped.

I started college and took a job as an RA for extra cash. During my annual review, my supervisor told me that I was “A leader … just not quite sure that [I] was a positive one.”

That was my wakeup call. I went to Barnes & Noble that day and bought my first three leadership books, and I was freakin’ HOOKED!

I wanted to know everything about these people!!

I’d come home from the bar at like 2:30 in the morning with my beef nachos & watch Bloomberg Game Changers.

I even founded No Longer Silenced Movement to provide resources for teen and young adult survivors of child abuse.

But on the inside, I didn’t feel like I could ever be anything beyond that fearful little girl.

I decided to take a gap year between my undergrad & graduate degrees. During that time, I worked at a tanning salon, did door-to-door sales for a lawn service company, worked in management for an apartment complex in which I lived, and worked for a real estate company.

I was living in a friend’s second bedroom, sleeping on a $50 air mattress, and had like five outfits to my name.

I remember walking into a charity event. The room was full of beautiful, successful women who ran these incredible businesses, had impactful careers, and were truly making a positive difference in their communities. I felt like I could never truly fit in and be a part of their group.

I was too unsophisticated.

I grew up too poor.

These were a handful of the lies I allowed myself to believe.

I mean… I was working towards who I thought I wanted to become. If you looked at me, you wouldn’t know I had all of these internal struggles.

Despite those beef nachos, I looked good, and even though I didn’t feel like I fit in, I had a fantastic social life and was building a killer resume.

Yet, I didn’t fully believe in myself. I was going for it, but I was never going to get it because I didn’t believe I was worthy or capable of becoming the person I wanted to be. I was still allowing myself to remain trapped by my identity.

Enter those not-so-healthy coping mechanisms again.

​So… the mugshot.

No charges were filed.

Did y’ all think I really got into a brawl?!

Buuuttt… I still had a mugshot.

And that is how I ended up staring at that horrible picture on my phone, asking myself, “How did I get here? How did I get this low?!”

I knew that wasn’t who I wanted to be. That was the moment, looking down at my own mug shot when I knew this was not the version of myself that I am supposed to become. This was not who God put me on this Earth to be. I knew I was meant for so much more than this.

This was my big aha moment when I finally started envisioning what my dream life would be like and thinking about who I wanted to be.

I knew I wanted to be successful, so I asked myself,

“What does the most successful version of myself look like?”

Then, I started surrounding myself with those things.

I would drive around wealthy neighborhoods. I thought. “If ALL of these people in, like, just one city block can do it, I can do it, too. I can be successful.”

I started writing down and envisioning exactly what I wanted, and now, I can say that I’m living my best life.

I manifested my dream condo, which I own, in 30 days

I’m still philanthropically helping abuse survivors, with 10% of Cycle Breaker Success profits donated to the cause.

My research was published in a peer-reviewed journal.

I have my dream dog, Tino, and we love to go for walks in his hot-pink stroller.

I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, graduating Summa Cum Laude, and my Master’s Degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, graduating with a 4.0.

So, while I’ll never be done manifesting my own life, today, I help ambitious women live purpose-driven lives, experience the freedom of having it all, and achieve success on their terms.

Has it been a smooth road?
Absolutely not. SO many ups and downs. So much uncertainty and anxiety which was, at times, debilitating. The struggles that were most crucial to overcome in order to become the woman I know I’m meant to be were psychological and related to fear and self-image. Identifying, busting through, and replacing those limiting beliefs in all areas of my life was crucial for becoming successful on my terms.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Cycle Breaker Success story. Tell us more about the business.
I’m an Industrial-Organizational Psychologist by trade and run Cycle Breaker Success, which provides success strategy & consultation for ambitious women who want to live purpose-driven lives, experience the freedom of having it all, and achieve success on their terms.

I’m known for combining like spiritual “woo woo” principles of success with psychological methodologies to make them more tangible.

I’m most proud of the women who complete and implement our training! Seeing them own their magic and freakin’ WIN gives me so much life!! I am also nearly equally as proud of our contribution to charitable organizations that help abuse survivors. I truly believe that we rise by helping others rise.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
What I hope to see, and what I teach is a focus on healing trauma. We can do alllllll the things, but if we don’t deal with the sh*tstorms going on in our heads and hearts, we will be hindered from reaching our full potential. I would love to see a greater focus on feeling emotions in a healthy manner rather than promoting toxic positivity, which is pretending to be 100% happy/only feel “positive” emotions all the time. We have to allow ourselves to feel so that we can process, heal, and rise.