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Coach Dora Mendez
Welcome back, Amazing Leaders, to another powerful episode of Building Leadership Community Podcast. I'm your host, Coach Dora Mendez, and today's conversation is one you absolutely cannot miss. We're sitting down with a leader who has helped countless voices rise above the noise, a strategist who believes that in these uncertain times, your voice is exactly what the world needs, and a visionary who has made it.
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Coach Dora Mendez
Her mission to position top speakers for maximum impact so they can lead and shape the future. Our guest today is a personal brand strategist, founder and CEO Nikki Groom. By the end of this conversation, you will walk away with clarity on your signature message. The courage to claim your expertise unapologetically, and a powerful reminder that your voice has the power to make a difference.
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Coach Dora Mendez
This episode is your boost to rise boldly, authentically, and with the conviction that your message matters. So settle in, take a breath and get ready.
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Intro-Outro
Hello and welcome to Building Leadership Community Podcast. I'm your host, Dora Mendez. I am the founder and CEO of Coach Dora LLC. Our guests will be entrepreneurs, small business owners, and community leaders that drive social impact. It can be lonely at the top, but it doesn't have to be.
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Coach Dora Mendez
It means so much to us that you join us week after week for these conversations. It can be lonely at the top, but it doesn't have to be. That is why we started this podcast. If you are new to the building leadership community, we are so glad you're here. Please don't forget to like, share and subscribe so you never miss an episode!
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Coach Dora Mendez
Say hi in the comments! We have some great resources to share with you today. If you are thinking about starting your own podcast, check out our mini course, The Entrepreneurs Podcast Blueprint. I've partnered with my husband and co-producer Dylan Rogers to create five easy to follow video modules, along with a workbook that you can download and follow along at your own pace, and you get a very handy AI prompt sheet that will make getting your episode out there into the world a breeze.
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Coach Dora Mendez
The link is in the description. Also, this video includes affiliate links if you purchase through them, it helps us to keep bringing you amazing, inspiring content. Now let me tell you about our incredible guest today. Nikki Groom is the CEO and founder of Raised Voices, a personal brand strategy firm positioning top speakers for maximum impact so they can lead and shape the future through a powerful positioning process.
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Coach Dora Mendez
She shines a light on the signature idea speakers can call their own, puts words to their expertise, and develops a digital strategy that makes them impossible to forget. She has helped countless individuals find their voices. I met Nikki through a connection with Talkadot, which is a platform to help speakers get their voices heard. And so, without any further ado, let's bring Nikki out onto the stage.
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Coach Dora Mendez
Hi, Nikki. Hi.
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Nikki Groom
I love the applause. That was great.
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Coach Dora Mendez
You deserved it. You deserve all the applause. How are you.
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Nikki Groom
Today? I'll take it. I'm good. Thank you. It's so good to reconnect with you. And, we had such a great conversation last time. I'm excited for where today. Will lead us.
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Coach Dora Mendez
Yes, I am. Well, you know, I'm really proud that we have this, platform. Because you're all about raising voices. We're all about building community. And I think it's a it's a great alignment of our missions. We both want to change the world in our own way, using our expertise. And I'd love for you to share your leadership story with our listeners and our viewers.
00;04;41;25 - 00;05;06;27
Nikki Groom
Yeah, I totally agree. We're in the business of building platforms, and you can't do that without community. So I, I really feel that sense of alignment as well. You know, it's so interesting whenever I'm asked to share my personal leadership story, there's all this, this kind of a degree of trepidation because it's not always comfortable to do in the work that I do with other people, is I help them to figure out what story do I need to tell about myself and my expertise and my experience.
00;05;06;27 - 00;05;24;08
Nikki Groom
And yet, when it comes to do it myself, it's like, this feels so awkward. And that's why so much of my work is about going deep with folks and really helping to reflect back to them what makes them so great. It's just hard to do sometimes for yourself. I guess like if I try, if I go to the.
00;05;24;08 - 00;05;32;24
Coach Dora Mendez
Show just talking to me, I'm just a girl. Yeah. Yeah, I can do that too. Well, I,
00;05;32;27 - 00;05;55;16
Nikki Groom
You know, and I didn't really connect to this part of my story for many years because, you know how so many things we go through, so many things, or we grow through so many things, and we don't necessarily see the significance. But the town that I grew up in was, in the middle of England, this sort of gritty, working class town that certainly during the 80s and 90s was going through a lot of industrial decline and high unemployment.
00;05;55;16 - 00;06;23;27
Nikki Groom
And, you know, just general economic uncertainty. And so I feel like especially at that time, people kind of lost sight of hope to, to a large degree and began to maybe lower their expectations. And so that was the environment I grew up in. And yeah, I was lucky at home, even after my dad lost his job, that it had for years at the gas board.
00;06;23;29 - 00;06;45;05
Nikki Groom
My parents had this phrase that for whatever reason, they would just say to us again and again and again. And that phrase was, you never know what's going to happen tomorrow. And so I'm so grateful that they said that to me because it stuck with me. And I think that that phrase really does emphasize the fact that whatever happens, we have to hold onto hope.
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Nikki Groom
And so much of that defines my work today. I no longer live in England. 17 years ago, I, followed my marketing career and did an entire company transfer to a company here in Rhode Island and worked as a marketing director here for many years. Got my green card, decided to start my own business, didn't know what I was doing, but flew by the seat of my pants.
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Nikki Groom
And that was so many years ago. Now I like I'd like to think I have a much better sense of what I'm doing. But but it has just been this real trial by fire in terms of putting myself into situations, whether it be moving to a different country where I didn't know anyone or anything, or starting my own business when I didn't know, I just kind of had to figure things out as I went along that I think has continued to instill in me the sense of tenacity and and grit.
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Nikki Groom
And this crazy as it may be, but, desire to never give up no matter what it takes. And so I'm. I'm stubborn. I'm, I'm determined, I'm committed. And so much of that now plays through into the work that I get to do for my clients, because I want to see them succeed. I want to use all of my strengths and skills to help uplift them and their voices, and make sure that they're getting the, the reach that they deserve.
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Nikki Groom
So that's it in a nutshell, but I'm sure you have more questions for me.
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Coach Dora Mendez
So that's wonderful. And I love that you included your immigration part of your immigration story. And when you mention grit and tenacity, that's sort of really just a reflection of, how much immigrants contribute to this country and, what you're doing to just bring that and, you know, bring that spirit, that entrepreneurial spirit and work ethic to what you do.
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Coach Dora Mendez
And so I love this. You know, you mentioned it briefly about the alignment with the community. So I'd love to hear from you. What community means to you? What does it mean to you?
00;09;00;17 - 00;09;27;19
Nikki Groom
Yeah, I think I've always enjoyed community. You know, it's just one of those things. And maybe that comes from, again, I don't mean to therapize myself, but growing up and in school, I kind of never quite belonged to one group or another. I was kind of just this, this chameleon between groups and, and yet when I find someone I really connect to, I've always been the kind of person where I'm like, you know, here I am, and I'll be really an authentic.
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Nikki Groom
And I love to connect with other people from that place. And so, especially when I started my business, Rhode Island is such a tiny little state. And I thought, gosh, I don't know if there are many other folks like me who are starting businesses, particularly online businesses, or with that online focus. You know, this is going back all the way to around 2012.
00;09;47;06 - 00;10;00;03
Nikki Groom
But I made it my mission to find other people like me. So thanks to social media, I was able to connect with people and I would send them messages and much as we did, you know, we connected through a LinkedIn message, I think in the first instance potentially or
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Coach Dora Mendez
Yeah, that's how it was, like.
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Nikki Groom
It.
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Coach Dora Mendez
Was when you, one of your clients talk to that hadn't mentioned how they had raved about you. And I reached out on LinkedIn and said, hey, you know, you got yeah, you know, this really kind shout out and I'd love to connect and learn more about you. And when we spoke, I just knew I had to have you on the show.
00;10;23;26 - 00;10;44;12
Coach Dora Mendez
I don't think we've had, you know, someone who works with public speakers like you do on the show. So I don't want to stray. I would love to get back and hear what community means to you. Before we go off on on the tangent, but yeah, I'd love to hear more about that because we did connect.
00;10;44;12 - 00;10;47;26
Coach Dora Mendez
That's how we connected through social. Through social media.
00;10;47;28 - 00;11;08;03
Nikki Groom
Yeah. By the way, give me a tangent and I'll, I'll run with it. I love my tangent. That's that. Yeah. I think, you know, and that's that is a whole another tangent. Just the power of social media. Like I do still really enjoy it for connecting with people that I may not have connected with otherwise. So, I would just, would reach out to people and I would organize coffee dates.
00;11;08;03 - 00;11;23;26
Nikki Groom
And then there are still, friends that I made, acquaintances, parts of my network. And we've never like you and I have never met in person, but it doesn't matter. And I think that there's just so much power and strength that can be found in saying, hey, this is kind of what I'm going through where I'm at.
00;11;23;26 - 00;11;41;28
Nikki Groom
And, how about you? And just finding those kind of connecting pieces of our stories so that exactly as you say at the top of this show, you know, that you're not doing it alone because it does. Especially, you know, I work from home alone and all of our team is remote, and sometimes it can be a little bit quiet.
00;11;41;28 - 00;12;03;07
Nikki Groom
And so just reminding yourself that other people are out there going through a lot of the same stuff or maybe have found a way through. And so it has been, I don't think that I could have done it without community. I feel like it's been that integral to my journey and continues to be and in fact, in some of those, you know, anyone who's an entrepreneur knows this, you know, that's that's kind of how it goes.
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Coach Dora Mendez
Yeah. So for our listeners.
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Nikki Groom
I always do.
00;12;06;20 - 00;12;12;29
Coach Dora Mendez
Is a little like dive and swimming. It's sort of the feast and famine.
00;12;13;01 - 00;12;29;20
Nikki Groom
The feast and famine. And in those valleys especially, it's like, gosh, I'm on the right track. Am I doing the right thing? And the and lots of questions can crowd in. And I feel like, especially in those moments, to remind ourselves there are people that we can reach out to and, you know, and and it goes both ways.
00;12;29;20 - 00;12;51;16
Nikki Groom
So I think community for me has been indispensable. And it and it shifts and changes, you know, over the years I've found my, my home or a sense of belonging in different groups, be it online or in person. And sometimes those groups go away and new communities come to be. Right now, I'm really enjoying being a member of the National Speakers Association and really getting to know folks there.
00;12;51;18 - 00;13;07;08
Nikki Groom
Talkadot has a phenomenal community. Speaking of community. So yeah, it's been it's I wouldn't have been able to to get where I it maybe I would have done, but it would have been a lot harder. I'd, I'd be absolutely miserable if I didn't have the community that I do around me.
00;13;07;08 - 00;13;42;28
Coach Dora Mendez
So so that's how. So I want to share a little just add a little bit more about community. We'll put the links to the organizations that you mentioned, and I'll put my I have my affiliate link to talk about, which is one of your clients who are anyway we how we connected. And so the public something I don't talk about a lot on the podcast is the public speaking part of my business is really and, you know, I'm taking advantage of your brand strategist expertise to share with our audience and viewers.
00;13;42;28 - 00;14;16;04
Coach Dora Mendez
So the public speaking part of my business is the smallest piece, but it is my biggest lead funnel. I, I go out there, I, I do a, you know, you know, a panel fireside chat a keynote or workshop facilitator, workshop. And, I don't make a lot of money for doing that, but there's always 1 or 2 people in the audience who like what I have to say, and then connect with me after work and then hire me.
00;14;16;07 - 00;14;47;11
Coach Dora Mendez
For, you know, coach, like, leadership development, HR consultant. And so public speaking has been my biggest lead funnel. And plus I enjoy doing it. I really I enjoy engaging with people, talking with people, sharing what I know. I love watching people, you know, get that moment when we're working together. And, you know, I teach to a lot of some people who follow the podcast know that I also teach at a I'm an adjunct professor at a local.
00;14;47;14 - 00;15;26;09
Coach Dora Mendez
So it's like the educator in me. I just really love the engagement. And so I'd love to for you to sort of share a little bit about your philosophy. I mean, clearly raised voices. I would love to hear a little bit more about your, your leadership philosophy and how, ultimately you landed on raised voices as your, you know, company name and, or, you know, I love for I think people would really like to hear learn about how that came about you.
00;15;26;15 - 00;15;56;07
Nikki Groom
And I think so much of my story, if I look back, is connected to this idea of, I don't know what's ahead necessarily. Or maybe I can't see everything in minute detail, but I'm just going to take the next logical step. And so when I think about my kind of leadership philosophy and how I came to be doing the work that I'm doing today, I loved what you shared about using speaking as that kind of inroad to the rest of your work and everything else that you do and offer, and I, I love that I'm such a big proponent of that as well.
00;15;56;07 - 00;16;16;23
Nikki Groom
In fact, with my marketing background, that kind of fueled my work with speakers in the first instance, and I haven't only worked with speakers, I've worked with authors and thought leaders and experts. And I just think that, you know, speaking can be great. And if you can make an entire career just out of speaking wonderful. But most of the time I find that the folks that I work with have this kind of whole ecosystem.
00;16;17;00 - 00;16;37;27
Nikki Groom
And so getting out there, being heard for your expertise, being seen, just does wonders in terms of helping people to, helping people to connect to you and connect to your work, feel like they kind of know you and they trust you. And then the relationship that you have with them after the fact is, is so much easier and there's so much less friction.
00;16;37;27 - 00;16;54;15
Nikki Groom
So I think it's a wonderful way in, and I guess that does tie directly to my leadership philosophy in terms of speaking especially, is that I, I really do believe and I think you said this at the beginning as part of my bio, but I really do believe that all of us have the power to affect change.
00;16;54;22 - 00;17;15;05
Nikki Groom
And oftentimes it doesn't feel like that. And, you know, it feels you know, it can be easy to lose sight of hope again, kind of going back to that theme. But, I really believe that it's in all of us. And so the idea behind raised voices is, is really making sure that the right voices are getting heard and that, the right messages are getting out there.
00;17;15;05 - 00;17;34;10
Nikki Groom
And, people are being perceived as the experts that they are from day one in my business, I've worked with so many different folks who have a really great message or have a really great mission and vision for change, but they couldn't necessarily articulate that in a way that other people could take and run with, or in a way that other people could get on board with.
00;17;34;10 - 00;17;53;20
Nikki Groom
And so, so much of my work is that that intersection, how do we take all of who you are and everything that you bring to the table, and then think about your audience and what they're struggling with and what they're feeling, and how can you speak to that in a way that makes them feel seen and heard and understood, and in a way that allows you to be perceived as the expert that you are?
00;17;53;22 - 00;18;07;20
Nikki Groom
So that's kind of the the balancing act that I'm always doing in terms of making sure that your messaging, your positioning is really on point. And then when we build the platform to support all of that, it just kind of brings it to life in a really powerful way.
00;18;07;22 - 00;18;31;15
Coach Dora Mendez
So I and I've seen the platforms that you build, you know, like we'd talk about in the past. So I can I'm a testament to you know, the reach that you have. I mean, you really have like an incredible reach. And so and I'm happy that our audience and viewers get a chance to, to get some insight into that and into what you do.
00;18;31;18 - 00;18;41;23
Coach Dora Mendez
What advice would you give to, leaders? Maybe something you would have told your younger self back in, you know, blue collar England?
00;18;41;25 - 00;19;18;23
Nikki Groom
Yeah, yeah. You know, it's it's so interesting. And so, so I had the, absolute honor and pleasure of working with Arel Moodie, who's the founder of Talkadot, on his positioning and messaging. And so that was brought to life and in partnership with some of the talented folks. And, yeah, you know, I think Errol is a great example of, of really allowing kind of giving someone permission or, enabling them, empowering them to give themselves permission to be fully seen because when I look and you can still see an old website, if you go into, the website Wayback Machine, I don't know if you've ever googled that or used
00;19;18;23 - 00;19;47;05
Nikki Groom
that, but it's really eye opening. It's like, oh, wow, this is their own website. But a real proudly show shared his older websites when he promoted his new website because he wanted people to see the journey. And I think one of the things his old website just didn't do for him is that it didn't really answer the question, why you and I think that that's there are there are three questions that I think we always need to be answering when we're thinking about our positioning and our messaging and, and how we're putting ourselves out there from a marketing perspective.
00;19;47;05 - 00;20;16;29
Nikki Groom
And that is why are you, why me and why us? And so I think oftentimes what folks can do is almost over-index on talking about their audience and forget to mention, I got some qualifications or I've been through some stuff. And so that's what we're able to do with Arel He had these really powerful stories of, you know, things that his dad had told him way back in the day, things that he shares, and one of his Ted talks that just wasn't coming to the surface.
00;20;17;01 - 00;20;44;12
Nikki Groom
And it's interesting that you ask me, how does this kind of align with what I might have told my younger self? Honestly, I, I think my younger self was with me at all times. Maybe. Maybe that's the case for all of us. And I think whenever we're feeling some kind of way about things, it's like, oh, that's the part of me that, you know, someone once told me I'd never be able to do this thing or I would never qualify for that.
00;20;44;12 - 00;21;01;17
Nikki Groom
I remember when I was 15, I was told that I couldn't have a career as a journalist because I was too quiet and too shy. And then I went on and I did a whole bunch of stuff in the journalism field. So I think there's always these little voices or these little experiences that pop back up and it's like our body remembers.
00;21;01;19 - 00;21;17;21
Nikki Groom
And I think it's our responsibility in those moments to, to kind of get, get present and to send some love to that part of ourselves and let them know, hey, I've got you with so much farther ahead than you know. And what are you worried about? Let's figure it out together and make sure we have a plan of action.
00;21;17;21 - 00;21;34;18
Nikki Groom
So I would love to say, you know, I never doubt myself. I don't, but, you know, she's with me always. And it's okay. You know, I talk about, Big Nicky and little Nicky, and, like, Little Nicky is just a part of me who just needs that little bit of extra reassurance. And I'm happy to give it to her.
00;21;34;20 - 00;21;51;09
Nikki Groom
And in the meantime, what's always astounding to me is that there's also Big Nicky, who somehow knows, without a shadow of a doubt, what I'm capable of. And so when it comes to really figuring out what do I need to do next? Like that's the voice that I try and tune into. But both voices are always there, you know?
00;21;51;09 - 00;21;52;10
Nikki Groom
It's just how it goes.
00;21;52;10 - 00;22;22;16
Coach Dora Mendez
I love that, I love that you said to to I love to uplift. I love those three questions. You, us. Yeah, I think that's great. And then I love this big like Nicky, Little Nicky. And what I, I love is it's always with with us. And I just, I just, I kind of had an epiphany listening to you talk that when I was younger, I was fearless.
00;22;22;18 - 00;22;53;03
Coach Dora Mendez
Right. And then I got older, and then that's when, like, I got fear. I was so fearless, you know, I used to dive off of diving 23ft in the air and just jump into the water, and now I would I would never do that now, you know, partly because of, you know, my middle aged body, but, I just I just love that whole sometimes where it's not what we would tell our younger self, but what our younger self would tell us.
00;22;53;05 - 00;23;15;22
Coach Dora Mendez
You know, and like my younger self was so fearless and would take so much risk. And I have sort of learned to be more risk averse. And then I just, I feel like my younger self would tell me now to take more risks and not to be so afraid.
00;23;15;25 - 00;23;26;22
Nikki Groom
Yeah, I love that. It's like every version of ourselves and every era has something to teach the other versions of ourselves, and we're always evolving like that, right? Yeah.
00;23;26;24 - 00;24;00;06
Coach Dora Mendez
But I love this big Nicky, Little Nicky. But, So. Yeah. So we're coming. We're winding down. You know, I, you know, I appreciate you opening up. I know that that was, you know, you're used to helping other people do that. And so I appreciate so much that you opened up here. And, what would you like to, you know, share with our audience and listeners about you, your business, what would you like to, share?
00;24;00;08 - 00;24;20;28
Nikki Groom
Yeah, I, I meant what I said earlier in terms of I love social media connections. If you're on social media, be at LinkedIn or Instagram. Very easy to find as Nicky Groom pretty much everywhere. Please send me a note and say hi. Send me an email through our website. Raised hyphen voices.com. Hyphen is the actual hyphen versus actually typing it out.
00;24;21;01 - 00;24;42;03
Nikki Groom
And just make the connection. And even if there's nothing specific but you just want to say, hey, I love the episode, or if you have a specific question, I'm more than open to, having a having an email, chat, or conversation I do have for those that would find it useful to speak a roadmap, which I kind of just pile, and all the things that I learn about the speaker industry in terms of, best practices.
00;24;42;03 - 00;25;02;20
Nikki Groom
So I'm happy to share that with any folks that reach out as well. But otherwise I would just say, yeah, let's let's stay connected. And, yeah, I'd love to learn about you and see what you're up to in the world. And, as much as Dora and I, connection came out of a simple LinkedIn message, that's often how the best relationships start.
00;25;02;20 - 00;25;05;29
Nikki Groom
So please don't hesitate to reach out. And, I'd love to hear from you.
00;25;06;05 - 00;25;41;09
Coach Dora Mendez
So thank you. Nikki. I'm so thrilled. And, over the moon that you allowed us to showcase, your business, your leadership philosophy, and, Yeah. So I want to thank all our listeners and viewers. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe right there. If you're watching on YouTube. And say hi in the comments, we will have all of the links that, Nikki and I, Nikki Groom.
00;25;41;11 - 00;25;51;25
Coach Dora Mendez
Mentioned in this episode for you to handle. So, Nikki, can you, hold on there while we roll our closing credits?
00;25;51;28 - 00;25;54;07
Nikki Groom
Absolutely.
00;25;54;10 - 00;26;23;20
Coach Dora Mendez
You've been listening to Building Leadership Community. Watch on YouTube @CoachDoraM. Listen, wherever you get your podcasts, follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube @CoachDoraM. Visit me on the web at CoachDoraMendez.com. Hosted by me, Dora Mendez. Produced by Dora Mendez and Dylan Rogers. Graphics, editing, and sound mixing by Dylan Rogers.
