From Jersey to Utah: One Woman's Journey Through PR, Politics, and Purpose

How do you brew a successful career in communications while creating meaningful community impact? For Nikki Walker, founder and CEO of NWPR & Consulting, the answer lies in patience, authenticity, and taking up space unapologetically.

Having spent 25 years in public relations and communications, Walker brings a unique perspective on how the industry has transformed. "Ten years ago it was really about the magazines on the newsstands," she explains. "Now it is about the quick hit and how quickly you can get on someone's Instagram feed." This rapid evolution demands new metrics, strategies, and an understanding that the turnaround time is, in her words, "insane."

Walker's career path exemplifies the value of circling back to your strengths. After running a PR agency for a decade, working in global brand awareness for a multi-billion dollar company, and diving into tech industry community engagement and DEI, she recently relaunched her PR firm. Alongside this professional renaissance, she's returned to school for her communications degree at Western Governors University—proving it's never too late to formalize the expertise you've developed through experience.

The most compelling thread throughout our conversation is Walker's passionate belief in mentorship. "My mentor once told me that it takes time to brew coffee. If you want a good cup of coffee, you got to brew it. You can't have instant coffee," she shares. This philosophy extends beyond professional development into how she approaches board service with organizations like the State Workforce Development Board, Utah Foster Care, the Children's Center, and the Utah Black Chamber of Commerce.

When discussing workplace trends, Walker highlights the growing importance of apprenticeships, especially in tech. She also emphasizes that companies must now tell their emotional stories authentically: "It is not enough to be good. You also have to do no harm." This principle guided her during her run for state Senate—a challenging experience that taught her valuable lessons about community, representation, and maintaining self-worth.

Walker leaves us with a powerful call to action for women leaders: "Take up space everywhere you go so that the little girl can see you taking up space and know that it's appropriate and normal." By normalizing female leadership through visibility and mentorship, we create pathways for the next generation to follow.

Ready to make your impact? Start where you have the most influence, find your passion, and join with others working toward the same goals. As Walker reminds us, meaningful change doesn't require moving mountains all at once—sometimes it's just one rock at a time.

www.wliut.com
@utwomenleaders

Transcript

Welcome to Elevate with Nikki Walker

Speaker 1 0:05

Welcome to Elevate . Every community needs champions with vision and grit . Today , we engage with those who are creating value wherever they go in the state . We're excited to be with you again telling stories of success in our community and we are so excited to welcome one of our new board members , nikki Walker , who is the founder and CEO of Nikki Walker Public Relations Company . Yes , yes , thank you for coming .

Speaker 2 0:36

Thanks for having me .

Speaker 1 0:38

I'm so excited . We got several new board members recently and you're all such powerhouses . I was like please come on the podcast . I'd love to share your story .

Speaker 2 0:49

Yeah , I was looking at the list of board members and I was going how did I get at this table ? Oh , I'm so grateful to be here . Yes , yes .

Speaker 1 0:57

We're excited to have you . So I would love we always just start off with , like tell us a little bit about yourself . Sure Along with a personal fact .

Speaker 2 1:06

Okay .

Speaker 1 1:07

So something fun about you we might not know .

Speaker 2 1:09

Something fun about me , I might not know . Okay , well , let's do the who I am first yes .

Speaker 2 1:13

Okay , so I'm Nikki Walker . I have been in public relations and communications for the past 25 years and I'm a New Jersey native , so Jersey girl . I've been in Utah for eight years now , came here as the director of global brand awareness for a multi-billion dollar company , stayed with them for a few years and then went into the tech industry where , um , I found my place in community engagement and DEI and just here in June I decided it was time for a relaunch of myself and my brand , and so I went back to my roots of running a PR agency , which I've done in the past . Yeah , ran a PR agency for a decade , and so now here I am , kind of circling back around , and I relaunched NWPR and consulting just in the summer that just passed .

Speaker 1 2:07

I love it . I always love to hear when women are like yeah , I've got something that I can do , that I'm really good at , and , from everything I've seen , you are really good at what you do . Thank you what it's interesting that you did it before and then you're coming back to it . It's interesting that you did it before and then you're coming back to it , and I feel like so many things are in flux . Yeah , how do you feel like communications and public relations has changed ?

Speaker 2 2:31

Oh , so very much Ten years ago . I mean , there was social media , but it was not at the level that it is now . We weren't looking at social media metrics to determine reach or to determine return on investment . But now you have to , with the growth of influencers , with the growth of podcasts , which reach so many people . We're looking at metrics differently now and we're looking at our media mix differently now . Ten years ago it was really about the magazines that are on the newsstands Right

Nikki's PR Journey and Return to Roots

Speaker 2 3:09

. Now it is about the quick hit and how quickly you can get on so-and-so's . You know Instagram feed .

Speaker 1 3:19

The turnaround time is insane .

Speaker 2 3:21

Oh , my , I tell you . I just yeah , I'm going to leave it at that .

Speaker 1 3:25

The turnaround time is insane . If you know , you know . If you know , you know .

Speaker 2 3:29

Right ? So yeah , lots of changes in how the story is crafted , how the story is then sent out into the world and what we're looking for on the back end . So a lot , a lot of changes , and it's been great just kind of being elbow deep in it and figuring out these new strategies and tactics and I've paired that here's . Here's something about me . I just returned to school for my bachelor's degree . You did , I did , so I'm fully enrolled .

Speaker 2 4:01

Thank you so much . Wow , I'm with Western Governors University , love them . It is the most phenomenal educational experience I've had to date .

Speaker 1 4:11

Yeah , is it . They're online right .

Speaker 2 4:15

They're online . Okay , they're online .

Speaker 1 4:17

And is it a communications degree ?

Speaker 2 4:18

It is a communications degree You're like , can I just take ?

Speaker 1 4:21

the test and like take out a lot of this .

Speaker 2 4:23

Yeah , You're like just take the test and like exactly . So , yeah , so , running through that program and learning lots of things you know learning is a lifetime assignment Absolutely , and I had forgotten how much I loved to learn . But I'm really excited to be back at WGU and and just moving through that program .

Speaker 1 4:45

And good for you . Like . We found that many of the leaders well , I found that many of the leaders that I admire are continuous learners . You know some people just reach a title or reach a place and they stop learning . But there's still so much like we just talked about , like with social media right . Changes your whole communication perspective and what you do and how you do it . It's been interesting even on this podcast we have listeners outside the United States and our mission is just Utah , so it's been really interesting to see it even gain traction among women around the world .

Speaker 2 5:19

Yeah , well , when you're talking about women in leadership and you have such a such a unique place as Utah , I think people are interested in the stories to really understand how women are thriving here , because the news doesn't tell us that right , the studies say we're 50 out of 50 in .

Speaker 1 5:39

You know women's equity and all of these things , and almost everything .

Speaker 2 5:49

But when you're here , when you have boots on the ground , when you're seeing the impact of these women , you really understand that it is one individual who can make a ripple effect for an impact , and so I think this podcast gives people the insight to that .

Speaker 1 6:02

I love that you said that Last year was our 10th year anniversary , and that's one of the reasons we started this podcast is because , while we definitely have room to grow and we have metrics that say we are the worst , there also are so many really amazing leaders in the state doing amazing work , and so we wanted to showcase that intersection there between gender diversity , what's happening in the workplace , you know , what are some good trends , what are some things that maybe we want to leave behind , all those kinds of things , right . So I appreciate that you brought that up . So , talking about WLI , I think it would be interesting for our audience to know what your connection to WLI is . What is your feeling about gender diversity in the workspace , of course , you know those kind of things .

Speaker 2 6:45

Yeah , well , I was first introduced to WLI when I moved here eight years ago . Okay , the company that I was working for was part of the Elevator Challenge .

Speaker 1 6:57

Oh yes .

Speaker 2 6:57

Perfect , and so got to see that happen and people get their medals . I'll never forget that it was such a great day at the Hale Center Theater . It was huge and it showed me almost immediately that there was something here for me as a woman who was aiming to be in further leadership .

Speaker 1 7:19

I love that yeah .

Speaker 2 7:21

So WLI has always , like I said , it's left an impact from that moment . And then a couple years ago I decided to run for office , and so Pat Jones's name is just synonymous with women who want to run for office , who are getting in the service of politics , who are really trying to figure out their way , and so people kept kept sending me her way , kept sending me her way , and we didn't connect at that time , but we travel in the same circles and I just admire her so much and the work that is being done . So I was honored when I was asked to come on board .

Speaker 1 8:03

So glad . Thank you for sharing that .

Speaker 2 8:05

Yes .

Speaker 1 8:07

Okay , I'm going to put a pin in that because I want to know more about the political run .

Speaker 2 8:11

Oh , absolutely .

Speaker 1 8:12

Yeah , talking about it right .

Speaker 2 8:14

Yeah , all right .

Speaker 1 8:19

What are some initiatives that would be important ? We're kind of . You know we've talked about WLI , pat retiring . You know the landscape has changed over a decade . Just like with communications , the landscape's changed . What are some things you would like to see moving forward , whether WLI initiatives or just in the general , like embracing gender diversity and diversity in general for businesses and organizations ?

Speaker 2 8:44

I think what's really important right now and I just had this conversation is bridging the generational gaps

The Evolution of Communications and PR

Speaker 2 8:52

. There's so much information being lost because there aren't enough mentors , mentoring . I think we need more mentors to pass down the wisdom that they have .

Speaker 1 9:08

Interesting . Is that anecdotal ? Is that some research on that ? No , I don't .

Speaker 2 9:13

It's anecdotal . It's anecdotal and it's what I'm seeing in the young people that I'm mentoring , who have come to me from other mentors . They are my mentor once told me that it takes time to brew coffee . Right , if you want a good cup of coffee , you got to brew it . You can't have instant coffee , and I think , in this instant gratification sort of world that we live in , even when young people are being mentored , they are trying to rush the process . They're trying to rush the process because they want to be the person that they are looking up to , but it doesn't work that way .

Speaker 2 9:51

It doesn't work that way and , as the mentor , we need to be really specific and really we need to be really serious about letting them know that there's a time Like this is a timeline .

Speaker 1 10:10

This is a timeline , it's not just a bunch of tasks .

Speaker 2 10:12

It's not a bunch of tasks , it's not a quantum leap . You have to put in the work and mentors have the ability to say if you go to the left , this tragedy might happen , if you go to the right .

Speaker 1 10:24

you know which is so valuable , valuable , so valuable . It saves so much time , it saves so much heartache and energy and and ideas .

Speaker 2 10:35

You know what I mean . It protects . Using the wisdom of your mentor helps you to protect your intellectual property . It helps you to protect your intellectual property , it helps you to protect your emotional wellbeing and it helps you to grow as a professional . And I think that , um , I just think that people need to embrace that mentor mentee relationship and those generational gaps will start to close .

Speaker 1 11:00

That is fascinating . I mean in theory . I've thought about mentorship that way , but that idea of like , yes , you can have instant coffee , but it's not . It's not going to be the same , all right .

Speaker 2 11:12

It's going to be the same .

Speaker 1 11:13

And also the mentorship . While it can be tasks right , we have a political mentoring it's like where do you open up your bank account ? Like you know , it can be tasked . I love this idea of the information and the knowledge that is going to be lost if we really don't pair up and be intentional about capturing that experience . And because there are things that that people have taken me aside and said just so you know this , this and this happened , and next time maybe you should do this , this and this , which is invaluable because sometimes you don't know till you know .

Speaker 2 11:50

That's right , that's right .

Speaker 1 11:51

Yeah , really interesting . And along with that , they've talked about this being the largest wealth transfer Right , as those who are older , who have all that wealth and that institutional knowledge are leaving . Those who are older , who have all that wealth and that institutional knowledge are leaving . It's interesting because , most of the time , people who have a lot to give in regards to that they don't always have the time .

Speaker 2 12:15

That's right .

Speaker 1 12:16

Isn't that the ironic thing ?

Speaker 2 12:17

That's right .

Speaker 1 12:22

Yeah , but I've really loved watching mentors step up when we've asked them because it makes a difference .

Speaker 2 12:25

It makes a huge difference .

Speaker 1 12:25

Yeah , um , do you want to share this one of your mentors ?

Speaker 2 12:29

Um sure . So one of my um , my oldest mentor is a gentleman named Angelo Ellerby . Okay , angelo Ellerby , angelo Ellerby , um , he was and is he's still around . He just wrote a bestselling book , so he's on a book tour right now . But when I decided that I wanted to be a publicist , I didn't know anything about PR . I just knew what they did . I didn't know how to do it . So I looked him up in New York City and went to his office and knocked on his door no appointments and said Mr Ellerbee , would you teach me how to be a publicist ?

Speaker 1 13:09

Oh , it's awesome .

Speaker 2 13:11

And first he told me we don't dress like that . In my office I had on jeans and he said we don't wear dungarees here . This is how long ago it was . He said dungarees , we don't wear dungarees here . So I came back the next day in a business suit and he had put a desk in his office . He said he had been so impressed by my chutzpah that he couldn't pass the opportunity to bring me in . And so for 18 months he mentored me and turned me into the best publicist that I know . Wow , it's cool .

Speaker 1 13:44

And .

Speaker 2 13:44

I've had the opportunity over the past you know , 20 , 25 years to continue to follow his career and , you know , drop in on him once in a while . But just having the knowledge that he gave me yeah , just watching him work .

Speaker 2 14:00

Just watching him work . It's a joy . It's joy and it's such joy to see him in his new space now , just growing and being this author and really turning his mentorship into a platform now with this book . So I'm happy for other people who will get to learn from him through his writing , because he changed my life .

Speaker 1 14:22

Wow , yeah , way to know what you want , amen , and way know what you want Amen and way to go for it . We often , as homework , give to women what do you want and who do you need to ask in order to get it Right , because sometimes we know what we want , but we don't know who to ask . So I love that , and I love that he pulled up a desk . Pulled up a desk .

Speaker 2 14:51

Because I'm sure that made you feel really valuable . Oh my gosh , I got this . Imagine this . I'm like 20 , maybe 21 years old , wow , and his office was on 7th Avenue in New York City , floor to ceiling windows , overlooking Fashion Avenue . Oh , I was living my best life . Yeah , I'm so glad we talked about that .

Speaker 1 15:01

That's amazing . I'm so glad we talked about that . That's amazing , that's so cool . Okay , that pivots us right into nonprofit boards . Yes , okay , boards are a huge discussion . They always seem to come up when we talk about leadership , but it's kind of like this moving target between like boards are really important and how do you actually get on a board ?

Speaker 2 15:24

That gap seems to be a space that Hard to figure out sometimes .

Speaker 1 15:26

Yeah , it is hard to figure out . Okay , let's just read some of this , because you are on the State Workforce Development

The Power of Mentorship Across Generations

Speaker 1 15:32

Board , utah Foster Care , the Children's Center , the Road Home , the Utah Black Chamber of Commerce and Women who Succeed , so you've got quite a lot of board experience .

Speaker 2 15:42

Quite a lot so .

Speaker 1 15:44

I would love like how did that happen ? What was your first board ? What's the magic sauce there .

Speaker 2 15:50

Yeah , so my first board was the Children's Center . It's the longest . I've served longest with them and I worked with them . I think we did a sponsorship for their annual gala and I went to the gala and I was overwhelmed , overwhelmed with the good work that they do . Mental health awareness has been something that's always been one of my platforms . I talk about it widely , I have personal experience there , wrote a book about it , and this organization is about mental health for children , very young children , ages zero to four , zero to three , where we don't even think that these children need care and attention .

Speaker 2 16:35

But so much happens in those pivotal years , and so I was drawn to the board for personal reasons and the then board chair reached out to me and asked if I would sit on the board on behalf of the company . So originally I was sitting on the board on behalf of the company , and then that transitioned after a couple of years and now I sit on the board as an individual citizen . Nice , and so being able to help guide the direction of organizations that have such impact in the community is , um is a privilege . It's a privilege , and I'm so grateful that people have seen the value in my perspectives and my uh insight to bring to the table . And so that is how I , I I loved the board service , and then other people started asking me to sit on board and , um , I've turned down a lot .

Speaker 1 17:35

I was going to say at some point you're like ah , I can't yeah .

Speaker 2 17:37

Oh yeah , we're , we're , we're done now , we're done now . And there are a couple of others that you didn't name off that I'm that , I'm that , I'm on as well . Um , so it is . It could be it can be a heavy lift , but to see the changes that are being made , to see the , to see , you know , the movements that are happening with the Utah Black Chamber of Commerce , what they have been able to do is incredible Just increasing people's opportunity to be a part of the Utah's economic ecosystem in such a major way . So I love all the boards that I sit on and I encourage people to find the thing that you are passionate about and then find the board that matches and go on there and you know , and put yourself out there . There is a government website that lists board seats that are open , board positions that need to be filled . We need to be there . The community needs to be represented on these boards , because these boards are taking care of the community .

Speaker 1 18:45

Yeah , and I loved how you said your participation on a board is kind of the bird's eye view of changes that are happening in the community . How to make that happen . You know , collaborations at work , what are some ? Because all boards are different , all boards work differently , right . What are some things tangible things you've learned from your board work ?

Speaker 2 19:14

board work . Oh , tangible . You know what is an incredible tangible thing I've learned is that networking ? Never fails Networking you can't get away from it , you just never fail . What ?

Speaker 1 19:21

do we do for our introvert friends who are like no , absolutely not ?

Speaker 2 19:25

Wow , introvert friends , come to the other side . Come to the other side , come be with us , be yourself an extrovert friend activity . It really is a one-on-one activity . And so , even when you're networking your way through life , because we do it , we do it , whether we realize it or not . We just need to be intentional about it so that our networking can get us to the next level .

Speaker 1 20:03

Yeah , Great , I love that . Okay , and I do think sometimes networking has a bad connotation , but it's really just talking with people . It's really talking . Everybody likes to talk .

Speaker 2 20:13

It's talking with people and filling in the gaps right . The more you talk to people , the more you understand what they need and , as humans , our job is to help fulfill the needs of other humans . That's what we're here for . That's what we're here for .

Speaker 1 20:27

So the brain works on that all the time .

Speaker 2 20:29

Yes , so the more you talk , the more you network , the more you learn who needs what and how you can be the conduit to put those things together .

Speaker 1 20:44

I love it . So smart . Ok , I love that . So when we talked about the State Workforce Development Board , the next question I want to ask you talks about workplace trends in general . So first of all , I'd love for you to talk if there's any trends that you see from your time on the board there , and then also what's happening in companies . What's the flux ? How are they telling their stories with , like , remote work , hybrid work ? Mental health , all the things that companies are going through .

Speaker 2 21:08

One of the incredible trends that I've seen is in apprenticeships .

Speaker 1 21:13

Okay .

Speaker 2 21:13

So here in Utah there's an apprenticeship program through the State Workforce Development Board . Okay , and I , you know , I've been in conversation with people who have been through the programs , I have watched how the program is laid out and set up and what's interesting is there are now an array of opportunities for you to grow as a person , as an entrepreneur , as a business owner , as an employee , all of these things . And so college is not always the right direction for everyone , right , and so having this opportunity to see and to have an organization that can put you in an apprenticeship space where you can make money while you learn , you earn while you learn and then you leave with this amazing certificate that will feed your family for the rest of your life .

Speaker 1 22:10

Okay so , and I'm sure this is just my ignorance , but when we , when you say apprenticeships , I think of trades , trades , yeah , absolutely yeah .

Speaker 2 22:19

Trades , and what we're trying to trying to work on in the community in general is getting apprenticeships done with tech as well . Yes , so that is the huge . I think that is the trend that we're looking at taking apprenticeship programming and applying it to tech , so that , again , tech is another industry , that you don't need to go to college to be in tech and to make these big dollars and to create these lifestyles that you want . You just need the training . So I think that's the chance .

Speaker 1 22:51

You just need the training , you just need the chance . You just need the chance .

Speaker 2 22:54

I think that we're going to see a lot more tech apprenticeship sort of programming come up .

Speaker 1 23:00

Do you think that that is specific , like Tech Moms does a great job with that or Coding Camps right , really specific ? Do you think apprenticeships for , like general tech skills ?

Speaker 2 23:13

I think that companies are going to be more specific . I think companies are going to be more specific and say this is what we need in our organization and this is how we can build capacity for it yeah , Because , think about it , when you're a company and you bring somebody in and you train them , you have loyalty , there's brand loyalty there , right , and so those are the people that you want in your organization .

Speaker 1 23:36

So , to be able to give them the education , to teach them how you do the thing , you don't have to un-teach , you don't have to disable the things that somebody else they're like no , that's not how we do it here Exactly , you get to teach them how to do the thing the way it's supposed to be done .

Speaker 2 23:53

So I can see companies really coming to a space where they find financially it makes more sense to bring the people in to train them and keep them . Yeah , yeah .

Speaker 1 24:10

I think , as you

Board Service and Creating Community Impact

Speaker 1 24:11

, as you mentioned , that one of the HR trends I've seen is just upskilling . Yeah , keep the people who you love and they love you , and just upskill them . Yes , yeah , and especially with AI , right , nobody really knows what AI is going to do or how it's going to do . I don't . I'm not a person who really believes in living in fear , so I'm like what are the possibilities ?

Speaker 1 24:34

right instead of like oh , I don't want that , but I think that's going to affect a lot of things too , and that's I'd rather have people re-skill , then let them go exactly , because they don't know exactly and and we have all of the information at our fingertips to do that , and companies would do well to pull that information together in a manner that makes it easy for employees to upskill . So with brands , how do you see companies positioning themselves now ? That might be different than before .

Speaker 2 25:11

I think , now more than ever , companies have to tell their emotional story , like why they are doing the thing that they are doing and how they are not harming people by doing it .

Speaker 1 25:29

It's a great phrase .

Speaker 2 25:30

Eight years ago , when I came to Utah , one of the trends and I mean and it continues to be a trend that millennials and others are looking to see the heart of the company . What does your diversity policy look like ? What is your mission , what is your vision ? That has just intensified , and it is not enough to be good . You also have to do no harm , and so I think that people have to start telling their stories that way . They have to start telling the stories about how they're digging in to whether it's technology or industry . How are you making this better for you being here ?

Speaker 1 26:16

Yeah , because a lot of times I it's not just about money . Sometimes it is right , there's a season we all need money , but I've seen what you've seen in that people really want purpose as well . Yes , and companies that know how to tell their story really well um , both know how to tell their story really well , but they tell it easily because that's who they are exactly .

Speaker 2 26:41

It's not forced , it's not fabricated . The publicist did not write you a one sheet right because it can look really good .

Speaker 1 26:48

And then somebody stands up and you're like oh , something is not aligned there .

Speaker 2 26:53

Yes , that's right yeah .

Speaker 1 26:55

And you brought up the Elevate Her Challenge . I think that that is one of the reasons why we continue to do the Elevate Her Challenge is to help people , conversation by conversation , align and really put their money and time in the principles that they believe in . That's right , because sometimes they believe in stuff , but when you call their attention to like , well , what about this , this and this , they're like , oh , we haven't done anything on that or that's a big deal , and you're like , yes , that is absolutely and you could be doing some harm to several people .

Speaker 1 27:28

Yeah , yeah , I'm glad you brought that up . Anything else , do you think the Utah companies are different than other companies as far as that ?

Speaker 2 27:36

I think Utah . Well , we know that Utah is the most charitable state in the country . We do the most volunteer hours .

Speaker 1 27:45

Yes , we do have some great things about it .

Speaker 2 27:47

We've got some great things going on in Utah . Yes , we do have some great things about it . Group of people from whom they have to choose . Yeah , they live in that reality that Utahns live in , the reality that you need to be good to each other , and so companies have to stand 10 toes down on their values .

Speaker 1 28:14

I love that . I love that , okay , um , let's see , I wanted to talk just a little bit too . Before we got on air , we talked a little bit about mental health and companies and embracing that . So let's talk about that a little bit . Some companies , you know they're like yeah , we have a program , go to a therapist . Some companies are a little more holistic . You know like there's a full gamut . What are some things you've seen with companies that you've done yourself that have been really been helpful ?

Speaker 2 28:45

I'll tell you , exploring the HR department resources is so important . There are often just so many resources that we don't know exist because they're not internally promoting them , they're not suggesting them because they're just there .

Speaker 1 29:05

They're just kind of there right and separate from your work , right yeah ?

Speaker 2 29:10

So I think that it's important for HR departments to expose the things that they have available for their employees . I think that is the fastest route to mental health at work is taking advantage of the things that already exist , whether that is an app that helps you be mindful , or that is three free sessions with a trained therapist , yeah , or it is I don't know a massage on Tuesday . Whatever your program is please , please please .

Speaker 2 29:44

But whatever your mindfulness , wellness , health , well at work sort of program is , it really is our individual responsibility to know what is going on in our world . So I I think it's a two pronged approach . It is the companies advertising and promoting this because it is for their benefit . It is for the company's benefit to have healthy and well employees . So a campaign on how to be healthy and well and then for individuals to really just kind of dig in and see what's there and what fits .

Speaker 1 30:23

Yeah , I love , of course , that you took communication perspective on it , because most companies think , oh , we need communication external .

Speaker 2 30:32

Right .

Speaker 1 30:32

But that internal it's huge . It is huge especially in valuing your employees upskilling , like we talked about , making sure that they're OK , catching things before they become a big deal , right . Yeah , it's such a retention piece that really companies could save money if they just treated their employees better that's a fact and make sure they're taking care of them .

Speaker 2 30:56

Yeah , we talk about that all the time with , like supervisors having to know your team

Apprenticeships and Workplace Trends

Speaker 2 31:01

If you know your team , you can intervene . Supervisors having to know your team if you know your team , you can intervene . If sally is not performing at sally's level for two weeks now , then it's time to have a one-on-one with sally to see what is going on yeah but if you're not connected to your , to your team , in that way , and you'll meet them once a year .

Speaker 1 31:22

They're not going going to open up . Well , most people wouldn't open up . Or the other thing we found is exit interviews . I'm so glad that that's a thing that maybe is going out of the past , because I don't want to know that you're leaving in an exit interview .

Speaker 2 31:36

Right .

Speaker 1 31:38

That should be caught before . So I'm a big believer in both qualitative right the story and quantitative , the numbers . So if they are down , let's not just assume that it's because they're not doing well . Let's ask the question and get some meat on those bones , yeah , To see if there's something that we can do to help or something that you know . Maybe they just need some motivation , or maybe it was a really hard client or you never know there's so many , so many things that could have happened , so many things .

Speaker 1 32:06

Yeah , yeah , okay , I love it . All right . So we've talked about creating impact and driving change and we have been through quite a ride , we'll say , with the state legislative session and the national executive orders what would you say to people who want to create impact but find hurdles ?

Speaker 2 32:29

I would say if you want to create impact , do it in the place where you have the most influence . So people often have this idea of what impact looks like and how big it has to be in order to be impactful , and often that is an overblown idea .

Speaker 1 32:49

I love that yeah .

Speaker 2 32:51

So I say to people who want to make an impact find that thing that motivates and moves you .

Speaker 1 32:58

Okay , I usually say one or two things because many people like to do 12 , 15 .

Speaker 2 33:04

Yeah , one thing . Do one thing at a time . I think one thing at a time . Find the one thing , join with others who are also concerned about that one thing and figure out how you can make an individual contribution to moving that thing forward . And you know , whether that is sitting on a board or doing a food drive or donating to a charity all of these things make impact . Yeah Right , you have to decide who you are and how you want to use that to make an impact , and that'll put you on a path to continuous impact .

Speaker 1 33:49

I love that and as you were talking , I thought you know what you have to give . Maybe it's time , maybe it's talent , maybe it is connections right Opening doors . Last year , a really simple thing that I did was donated to women's campaigns . Right , we run 400 women through our political development and there were just so many amazing women and it wasn't a ton , but it mattered and it went with a personal note of just thank you so much for what you're doing right .

Speaker 2 34:20

Yes .

Speaker 1 34:21

Yeah , I love that A piece of like defining impact Cause you're right , sometimes it's like oh , I got to move this whole mountain Right .

Speaker 2 34:28

How am I going to do that ?

Speaker 1 34:30

Right . One one rock at a time .

Speaker 2 34:32

One rock at a time and it really ripples . It really does those women who received that with those notes that changed their day . Running for office is one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life very thankless and very thankless , um , very cold most times .

Speaker 2 34:55

Um well , for me it was . I will say that in my , in my , um , in my experience it was a very cold , calculated and kind of scary . So when I would get donations to my campaigns with a note , it would literally change my day . I'd be like , oh , this is why I'm doing this , oh , this makes it matters . Impact , yeah , and impact was me , so yeah an impact with me .

Speaker 1 35:27

So , yeah , the other thing , um , that we that I've started telling people I've been practicing for a while is , uh , if it's your joy list or a gratitude book or a brag book or whatever it is those moments of impact when you've made an impact . It's good to go back and read those , because not every day is impactful that's right .

Speaker 2 35:41

Not every year is impactful . That's right .

Speaker 1 35:43

Not every year is impactful , so it's kind of nice to have those just to remember the totality of who you are and what you're going after , oh , 100% . Yeah , okay , so you touched on it . Let's touch on your , your campaign . You want to tell us sure about it .

Speaker 2 35:58

So I ran for state Senate in Lehigh and had you ever run for anything before ? I had never run for anything before . Ok , you just jumped in . I just jumped in my . Originally I wanted to run for representative seat , but my senator had stepped down and left an open seat . So 13 people , including me a baker's dozen jumped in this special race . Yes , and it was , I don't know , nine or ten weeks long , and it was the longest nine or ten weeks of my life , and you know .

Speaker 1 36:42

I was .

Speaker 2 36:44

I live in Lehigh in Utah County . I am a single unmarried black , non-lds woman . It was an uphill battle . It was an uphill battle and I learned a lot . I learned a lot about my community . I learned good and bad things .

Speaker 2 37:05

Yeah , I bet I learned a lot . I learned a lot about my community . I learned good and bad things . Yeah , I bet , um , I learned a lot about myself and I learned a lot about um , making sure that others didn't determine my self-worth . Grown , grown-up women have been successful in all of the things , but when I tell you the I , there was a um , there was a . What is what do you call it ? Oh , my goodness , I can't think of what it's called , but there was a , a campaign against me .

Speaker 2 37:37

Basically an opponent an opponent ran a campaign against me . Um and it was , it was pretty and it was pretty harsh right . So to be a successful adult woman who usually travels in positivity there's like angels around me all the time I got a good vibe .

Speaker 2 38:03

I got a good tribe and then to have all of this darkness kind of fall on .

Creating Impact and Political Experiences

Speaker 2 38:09

It's really hard to dig yourself out of if you don't have the proper support system around you and if you don't believe you gotta be in it for a real reason . You have to believe in your why and I believed in my why and I pushed through . Heidi Baldury ended up winning that seat and I'm so grateful . She is the woman for the job and she ran an incredible race . So it was a wonderful experience . It was hard , it was not easy and I am teetering on whether I would do it again .

Speaker 2 38:48

But I've got the question . I've got a couple of years , though , and I think you know when you think about running for office , you're representing the people , and so I think for me , to be quite honest , I would need to move to run again so that I could represent people who wanted to be represented by me , and that was a hard truth for me too because I say that's hard because I was just like . I'm Nikki Walker . I'm a great person , I'm an incredible human , I'm a successful business person , I'm a communicator .

Speaker 1 39:21

I have all I got to and they were like you don't .

Speaker 2 39:25

You don't represent me , I don't want you representing me , and I was crushed .

Speaker 2 39:31

I was crushed , but I understood it in the long term and really have had some time to to decompress from it and separate all of the pieces and look at the growth that it created for me . So one of the things that I at the growth that it created for me . So one of the things that I appreciated the most about running for office was the community coming to me thanking me for , for offering my voice to that race the , the people , my opponents also . Um , there was this yeah , there was a really good space of um , of we're glad to see you here Now . They knew I wasn't going to win , but they were glad to see me there and I was glad to be there .

Speaker 1 40:10

That's something that is not what it should be , but that's something it is .

Speaker 2 40:14

It's a step in the right direction to see women , to see people of color to see people from just different backgrounds getting in races and having the conversations about what's important . You know it takes a special person to do it , so shout out to all of the women who have run and are running and are considering . Bless you .

Speaker 1 40:42

And are towing that line .

Speaker 2 40:43

Thank you , yes , well , and are considering Bless you and are towing that line and thank you , yes , well , and thank you .

Speaker 1 40:48

Just as talking about alignment and branding and how you tell your story , that your alignment from going on and knocking on the door and having the chutzpah to throwing your hat in the ring for a nine-week race yes , seems like a very similar person to me and sometimes it's good that you don't know . Yeah , you're getting into .

Speaker 2 41:11

Oh , if I knew . Yeah , if I knew , then what I know ? Now it never would have happened . So I'm glad . I'm glad I went in with a level of willful ignorance . It powered me through .

Speaker 1 41:23

It powered me through . That's fair . Well , thank you so much for throwing your hat in the ring .

Speaker 2 41:27

My pleasure .

Speaker 1 41:28

And thank you for being honest about you know we talk about people who win and then they go on and we talk about what they do . But it's just as valuable to talk about losing or not . I don't think it's losing , because everyone gains valuable experience . But , like , what happens when it doesn't work out , do you do it again ? Do you shift to something else ? Do you ? You know , all those kinds of conversations , I think , are really important too for women .

Speaker 2 41:54

Yes .

Speaker 1 41:55

Because the hurdles can be high . Yeah .

Speaker 2 41:57

No , and the hurt could be intense when it doesn't go your way .

Speaker 1 42:02

Yes , and especially when it's about identity instead of what you can bring to the conversation . Yeah , yep , I hear that . Okay , well , fascinating . I'm so excited , I'm so excited to have you around to talk to you more as we close out for this intersection of the modern workplace and women . What , what haven't we covered that you really hope people would understand or know ? Maybe , from that like mentor perspective of like hey , this is a landmine , or just what would you say ?

Speaker 2 42:34

I don't know that we're coming into a space where people are realizing the qualitative impact of women in spaces and we really need to continue to amplify the voices of leaders in the space because it inspires the next generation and we cannot allow whatever is happening in the next , you know , decade to affect young women in a negative way . We have to speak even louder because voices are being silenced right now and we have to let these young people know . Know that the amplification is still here , the megaphone still exists , there's still a place for you . So I say

Taking Up Space and Empowering Others

Speaker 2 43:36

to women in the workplace you know , be loud , be big , be , you know , take up space , take up space everywhere you go so that the little girl can see you taking up space and know that it's appropriate and know that it is normal . Normalize being at the table . Bring somebody with you , bring a mentee with you . Bring somebody with you , bring a mentee with you . Talk to them about who they can be , who they will be and who you're going to help them to be .

Speaker 1 44:11

So , so powerful , Like that does have me to tears , right . I have a daughter who the whole reason I got into leadership politics is because we would drive by the state capitol and she's like what's that ? I want to work there .

Speaker 2 44:21

Wow .

Speaker 1 44:30

And I was like I need to do my work so that you know that you can . That's right , right . It's like that little girl statue with the glass ceiling shattered . Yeah . So they know what it looks like to take up space , to have a loud voice , to work through any of the hurdles and come out on the other side like okay , yes , yeah , so powerful , nikki . Thank you for sharing .

Speaker 2 44:47

You're welcome , thanks for being with us . Thank you for having me .