Life & Work with Nia Scott of Durham

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nia Scott

Hi Nia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a young entrepreneur I’ve went down many alleys trying to find what fits me. From selling clothes to event planning, I had no idea that would lead me to an industry that I love which is content creating. Durham has so many hidden gems and is developing quickly with new businesses. As a small business owner myself I struggled with getting my name out there in the public. So I started using social media to create content not to just reach people in my area but even further! I created Adorn Content to initially highlight small and or new businesses in the triangle area. I even took it a step up to highlight special events happening in the area. I find myself often searching on TikTok new restaurants in Durham or things to do and if I do it I’m sure 1000 other people do so why not be a one stop shop on social media so people don’t have to get overwhelmed by the amount of things that come up when you hashtag those things. I’ve found great joy in doing this and hearing other peoples stories on how they started their business and being able to help bring clientele just puts the icing on the cake. On Fridays, Adorn Content is going to start highlighting special small businesses so you as well can hear their story and take a visit!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Some struggles I faced were trying to find my niche. With everyone getting into content, what can separate me from the other creators? What can make Adorn Content special? That’s why I added feature Friday to give those small businesses their own individual shine. People can hear their story, get inspired, and support. I think it’s most important to hear other stories because you never know who you might reach or inspire.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a 3rd grade teacher at an elementary school in Durham. I love working with the youth and playing an important role in their education journey. Initially this was my passion. I’ve been teaching for a long time now. I love that I’m teaching in this social media age because it’s easy to relate to children and even find ways to implement things within my teaching. While that is my full time job I really hope that my content creating takes off and I’m able to do content for not only myself but companies as well. Often times with businesses the last thing someone wants to deal with the upkeep of but one of the most important things is content and social media. From building and running websites and social media pages to graphic designs for marketing. I plan to turn my hobby into a full time job. I always tell my students to invest in things that find them joy. If drawing makes you happy invest in it now and by the time you’re older you’ll be able to turn that hobby into something you could possibly get paid for. My mom has always told me when I was younger, “you’ll never work a day in your life doing something that you love to do.”

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I believe life is all about taking risk. Sometimes your best outcomes come from taking a risk. In my career and personal life I’ve taken many risk. I think one of my biggest risk was transferring from Greensboro College my senior year to North Carolina Central University to basically have to start a new life and school journey over as a junior. This was a major risk I took not knowing what the outcome would be but it ended up being one of the best decisions I’ve made and has helped me in so many ways. From the people I’ve been able to network with as well as furthering my education journey NCCU plays a huge part in where I am now in life. Had I not taken that risk, there’s no telling where I would be right now. Sometimes risk can look small as well. I took a risk creating Adorn Content because there are many people and companies that create content for the city so what makes me so different? Or will people even engage? Not knowing what the outcome of Adorn Content will look like, it’s gotten me discovered by you all so there is no telling where it might lead to and for that I’m grateful and hopeful! Even if it doesn’t go any further than this I’m still happy with it and will continue to do it because it brings me great joy and peace.

As an only child, I’ve always had to find ways to entertain myself. My mom put me in cheerleading at just 5 and it became my life all the way to college. Cheerleading was my love and passion. I invested so much time and energy into it and it ended up getting me far. My first business as an entrepreneur was a youth cheerleading team called Cheer For Tots. I did this with my mom and we contracted with local daycares in the area and I taught cheerleading for the children 3-5 years old. We did this for 2 years until Covid hit. After Covid I tried to rebrand and created Cheer Proficient which became a recreational cheerleading program for children 5-13. Covid made this hard to succeed in so I went back to education and started working for DPS. During my masters program, I learned a lot about graphic designing and coding. I instantly feel in love with graphic designing. So in-love I started creating business cards, flyers, and social media pages for other entrepreneurs starting a business or having a business but needing help with those aspects. Doing this gave me the same joy I had when I was cheerleading and became very easy for me. With TikTok coming along and being a major platform for social media I started to create content videos of teacher things and being a mom. Doing these things once again brought me joy. I noticed that I often find myself hashtaging #thingstodoinDurham or #placestoeatinDurham. By doing this even though I would get some good ideas it became overwhelming with the amount of content that came up. So I had a great idea to start a content page where it’s a one stop shop for things to do and places to go to in the RDU area, Durham specifically. The name came to me instantly, Adorn Content. I picked adorn because it means to make beautiful. I believe when I’m going to places and making the content I’m making it beautiful or appealing to the audience. When small business are created their setting is intended to be beautiful or appealing to customers to visit. It went hand in hand. I plan for Adorn Content to become the page where everyone goes to for that information and it’s less overwhelming because it’s all on one page. “What will make me stand out from the others who also do content around the city?”, I asked myself. That’s when I came up with Feature Friday. Every other Friday I will feature a business in the RDU area. I will have content about the place but I will also allow the owners/managers to be able to tell their story about the business! I personally find this awesome because a lot of people might know a business but don’t know the story or history behind it and that makes it more personable. Often times businesses don’t get the chance to tell their story on their business. This also can be inspiring to others who might be interested in starting a business or even someone looking for a company to work for. Everyone has a story and it deserves to be heard. I truly enjoy creating this content and hope that it continues to grow and make others feel that same joy.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/adorn.content
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568319970827&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
Adorn content