Life & Work with Nikki Soulsby of Durham

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nikki Soulsby

Hi Nikki, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
You’ve probably heard that the key to success is good grades and hard work. Yeah… I did that – it didn’t work.

I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Economics, got a job as an analyst, and worked my tail off. When that wasn’t enough, I worked even harder and added a couple of side hustles. That didn’t work either. By 2017, I had everything I never wanted – debt, a crappy job, a nightmare boss, chronic migraines, toxic relationships, and severe depression.

During a rager of a self-pity party, where I was recounting my failures and predicting all the ways I’d mess it up in the future, a question popped into my head. “How do you know?” How did I know I couldn’t get a better job? How did I know I couldn’t get out of debt? How did I know I couldn’t write a book? How did I know that I’d never get married? How did I know that I couldn’t change?

And the thing was, I didn’t know. There was no hard evidence stating whether or not I could do anything. It was completely uncertain – there was a chance. So, I turned myself into a guinea pig and started running experiments. I’d pick a problem, research the heck out of it, and try different tactics until something gave me a good result. Then I’d double down and see if I couldn’t get even better results.

Over the next 18 months here’s what happened: I paid off all of the debt, got a new job, tripled my income, stabilized my depression, dropped 20 pounds, and started having a lot of fun. I’d figured out how to figure things out – which changed everything.

Today, I’m a published author, executive MBA, TEDx presenter, corporate strategist, and certified executive coach/corporate trainer. I help other people figure things out for a living. I’ve helped individuals improve their performance at work or in creative endeavors, advance their careers, and design their futures. I’ve also helped organizations revamp their learning and development programs, create culture shifts, engage employees, retain talent, and crush special projects.

I don’t have all the answers, but I know how to help you find them, and it’s an honor to be a part of your success story.

Alright, 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?
Every achievement has its own set of challenges. Some are little hiccups you can hurdle in stride; others knock you on your ass and have you using all the four-letter words you know and some you don’t. No matter how good my original plan is, or how many contingency plans I build in, there’s always an element of the unexpected that demands recalibration. Change isn’t usually fun, but it has made the work better.

Most of my biggest victories came right after the hardest blows. A few examples:
* My boss tried to fire me for doing my job too well (I was making him look bad). Two weeks later I got a double promotion on another team and a 40% pay bump.
* My first TEDx talk got canceled a week before I was supposed to give it. About a year later, I was two weeks away from a different TEDx event when the organizers made me pick a new topic. I rewrote that speech three times in those two weeks. Full disclosure, I didn’t love the new topic and rewrote the whole thing again less than 24 hours before I presented. That speech got 7,000 views on YouTube in the first 5 days.
* Publishers rejected my book because my audience wasn’t big enough. Translation – my email subscriber list and social media following were too small to guarantee them sales. So, I hired three professional editors, a graphic designer, and a typesetter and made it the best possible book I could. It didn’t hit the New York Times Best Seller list, but it did kick-start my speaking and consulting career.
* I almost died giving birth to my son – and now I get to be Mama to the best boy in the world (that’s fact not opinion).

Success is formulaic. Once you know how it works you can apply the formula to anything and get better results. Seven years of experience has taught me how to minimize surprises/setbacks/failures – not how to avoid them altogether.

When things get hard, I remember the words of Jim Rohn, “Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better.”

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a Transformational Coach and Creative Strategist who empowers individuals and organizations to navigate challenges and achieve their goals. By leveraging divergent thinking, science-backed research, and creativity, I design innovative solutions, dismantle limiting beliefs, and deliver mind-blowing results.

I specialize in essential skill development: confidence, productivity, organization, communication, design, leadership, organization, stress management, influence, public speaking, and, of course, problem-solving. Using these transferable skills as a foundation, I enable individuals and teams to break through their barriers to create exceptional results without burnout.

I’m the author of “Lies I Told Myself, and Other Truths”, an all-access look into my journey from failure to fabulous. In it, I expose 20 of my biggest limiting beliefs and the practical steps that helped me get out of my funk. It’s basically my brain in book form – vulnerable, humorous, practical, and to the point. The changes weren’t dramatic, but my results were. Since I’d already done a decade of research on what works, I figured it was my duty to make everything I’d learned easily accessible to everyone with similar challenges.

People hire me because I’m both artist and engineer – innovative and practical. My superpower may be organization, but the thing people keep coming back for is my brain. I’d love to put it to good use to help you design your next amazing achievement.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
When I was five years old, my mom bought me a Lisa Frank stationery set from Walmart for my first day of Kindergarten. For those familiar with this artist’s work – it was the purple kittens on a fluorescent rainbow background. I couldn’t wait to use the colorful pencils and paper to write down important things. For at least a week, I carried the little plastic pouch everywhere and slept with it under my pillow.

I was so excited to start school, and that never stopped. I still get butterflies when the air gets the first chill and the school supplies go on sale.

I attribute my addiction to stationery and my love for education to my mom and that silly Lisa Frank set.

Pricing:

• Pricing based on scope of work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nikkisoulsby.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikkisoulsbyauthor
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikkisoulsbyauthor
• Other: https://nikkisoulsby.substack.com/