NIKKI CLARKE – ON THE CHALLENGES OF BEING DIFFERENT, THE IMPORTANCE OF TAKING RISKS, AND VALUE OF CREATING YOUR OWN OPPORTUNITIES

Nikki Clarke is the Founder & Host of the Nikki Clarke Show and the past President of the Ontario Black History Society. She went from being a stay at home mom to discovering her joy for teaching, and then becoming a TV show host, and launching her own network. She created space for herself in a world that she felt was not quite ready for her.

This Jamaican born lady who immigrated to Montreal at a very young age is very passionate about making and leaving a positive impact in the world. She initially gave up on her professional dreams when she met her future husband at University. When the marriage did not work out she picked up and moved to the Great Toronto Area where as a single mother she hustled to make ends meet. She has been able to shift her focus based on opportunities that present themselves at what appears to be the exact perfect time. NikKi has received quite a few awards for her work in the community and excellence in teaching.

This woman believes her job is never done and that there is always more to do. She is a hard worker, and risk taker. She believes it is important to do what you love and she is extremely passionate about what she doing.

In this episode, Nikki and I discuss the following:

• The value, impact and reward of loving what you do
• Not being afraid to take risks, being glad you tried, and giving yourself credit
• Importance of self care and not being so hard on yourself
• Challenges of being different and what is was like to experience hatred and racism at an early age
• Importance of understanding your cultural background and how it can impact your self confidence and self esteem
• Types of non-verbal racism
• Impact of seeing positive black female role models to inspire younger girls that they can also achieve their dreams
• Importance of identifying your natural skill set and recognizing the value in what you have to offer
• The challenges of choosing a profession that is not considered acceptable by your culture and/or family
• Taking a risk and accepting the consequences of your actions
• Importance of part time jobs, having an education and trying new professions
• Losing your mojo, figuring out a new path and being open to opportunities
• Choosing to pursue your passion as a career
• Creating your own show and network to get your content out there
• Being open to showing people who you really are
• Not taking no for an answer and creating new doors to overcome challenges
• Learning from different models that are available, tweaking it and making it your own
• Importance of seeing your dream become reality in order to really make it happen
• What it feels like to have an impact on a community that has been impacted by a tragedy
• Importance of making sure you are adding value to your audience
• What it feels like to meet someone who has had such an impact on your life and perspective
• Recognizing and accepting an opportunity when it presents itself and saying yes in the moment
• Importance and reward for stepping outside of your comfort zone
• Challenges of being a woman working in TV and dealing with an old school mentality
• Finding your inspiration or source of guidance
• Importance of discipline, focus, being gracious and loving people
• Value of having friends that push you to be better and help you learn about yourself
• Giving up on negativity

I enjoyed this conversation with Nikki and I hope you do too!

If you would like more information on Nikki you can visit:

• Website – nikkiclarkenetwork.com
• Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/nikki.clarke.31
• Twitter – https://twitter.com/nikkiclarkendp
• Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/nikkiclarke31/