Today we’d like to introduce you to Nikki Woods.
Nikki, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have been in Radio and TV for 20 plus years.
I have worked in St Louis, Boston, Chicago at ESPN in Connecticut, and eventually transitioned my way down to Dallas. So I’ve done everything from being a news anchor to a sports reporter. I have been a morning show co-host and most recently, the executive producer for the Tom Joyner Morning Show, before I resigned to grow my own company.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road.
Radio and TV functions more like the entertainment business. Like most professions, being in a male-dominated industry, it’s always challenging.
The other challenges are, you are judged solely on who you are and how people perceive you. So it’s not like I can complete a task and people can see if the task was good or not, it’s whether or not I’m good. So that has been very hard to deal with because people either like you or they don’t, and sometimes when they don’t like you it can be extremely challenging.
The other piece of it is, you just really struggle when you’re part of the public eye, you really struggle to find that balance. As a mother, as a wife, you try to maintain some sort of normality. But when your job is who you are and people know and recognize you it becomes difficult. Also, just the fact that media is a 24/7 business, even more so now with the emergence of social media, you kind of are never ‘off’ so to speak. So that was one of the main reasons that I transitioned because I just wanted more balance in my life.
It has not been an easy road. But, fortunately, I have a very strong sense of who I am thanks to my parents, and I’ve been quite successful at it.
Please tell us about Nikki Woods Media.
Nikki Woods Media was formed to help people navigate this whole online space – social media, building your own brand and creating your authority.
It started about nine years ago.
Everybody wants to be the GoTo expert. They just don’t necessarily know how to get that done.
And now, you really have to rise to a level above that and become the authority – leading the conversation as opposed to just participating in the conversation is an expert. That’s what my company does and it’s what I love.
Because of my background in Radio and TV and being on the other side, it really gives me an understanding of what the media wants, what the media looks for, and how you can position yourself in order to meet that. That’s what sets me apart. That’s what I’m known for.
I mean, luckily, I’ve been my own brand for, 20 plus years, so I really have a good instinct for how other people can do the same thing.
What I’m most proud of is the passion that I still have for the business and the love that I have for people and their stories. Sometimes it can be almost a detriment too because I get so invested in other people’s success. But, I don’t think that I would be who I am or as successful as I have been if that wasn’t the case.
So, I love people, love their stories, and love helping them communicate that to help them establish their authority.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite memory was meeting Maya Angelou.
It’s funny because it was a full-circle moment. I grew up in St Louis. I met Maya Angelou when I was either 12 or 13 and my English class took a trip to Washington University to hear her speak. We went up and we were able to introduce ourselves to her because we had won some writing contest. I introduced myself, told her a little about me and she looked at me, smiled gently and said, “You know, you look like you’re going to grow into a woman that has a lot to say.”
So it’s just kind of funny, years later, obviously, it was in my career and I got a chance to interview her. I practically cried through the whole thing because I felt that she had such an impact on me really accepting that I was going to grow into a woman that had something to say. Of course, she didn’t remember it but, at the end of the interview, she was said, “At least I’m glad to see I was right.”
So that probably one of my favorite memories from childhood.
Pricing:
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Contact Info:
- Website: www.nikkiwoodsmedia.com
- Email: info@nikkiwoodsmedia.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/nikkiwoods
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/thenikkiwoods
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/nikkiwoods
- Other: www.damngoodpressrelease.com
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