#BEYOUROWN MEETS NIKKI GROOM

Nikki Groom is a business and brand strategist who launched her first business—in copywriting—with no experience and bootstrapped her way to a 6-figure income and a reputation as one of the best in her field.

Learning on the fly through trial and error and facing challenges head-on was something she picked up in her first corporate job as the Marketing Manager of the UK subsidiary of a global company. At 22 years old, and with no marketing background, she made it her job to learn everything she could as fast as she could, ultimately moving to the US in 2009 to head up the marketing for the company’s North American subsidiary, before leaving to start her own business in 2013.

As a self-taught entrepreneur, she learned quickly, constantly iterating her business as she moved from copywriting to consulting to coaching—doubling her rates and booking out for months at a time in the process. Today, she runs mastermind groups and offers free training for purpose-oriented small business owners who want to amplify their impact and their income by owning their purpose and their power so that they can finally make the money they deserve.

Nikki is the host of the Movement Makers podcast, which features in-depth conversations and unfiltered stories from business leaders and entrepreneurs who are making a difference on the planet, and founder of The 100 Stories Worth Telling Project, which seeks to amplify the voices of women entrepreneurs all over the world. She is passionate about the power of storytelling as a way for thought leaders to humanise their businesses, build relationships with the people they most want to serve, and inspire readers into action. She is also a firm believer that all businesses should lead with empathy. 

Welcome Nikki, thank you for coming on board with us, can you introduce yourself to us?

Thank you so much for having me! I’m Nikki Groom, a business and brand strategist for entrepreneurs who want to amplify their impact and their income. When we work together, I help you to not only build a business that is profitable and sustainable, but that also allows you to uncover your purpose and align it with the core mission of your business.

My favourite part about the work that I do is that I get to hold the space for so many incredible women to tap into the truth of who they are as I reflect back to them the possibilities for their businesses and lives. It’s powerful work because we find ways to turn their challenges into opportunities and celebrate their victories as they build a life that is both impactful and meaningful.

Can you talk us through the path you have pathed to where you are now as a business and brand strategist?

I’d be happy to! I often describe my small business journey as an evolution, because I haven’t always known what the right next step was for me to take, but somehow it always revealed itself to me at just the right time. For example, when I left my high-paid corporate job to start my business full time, I quickly booked out for months at a time and became overwhelmed fast. It took a mentor (Lewis Howes) to suggest I double my rates. It was one of the scarier things I’ve done, but it worked and my clients didn’t completely dry up.

I definitely suffer from something I call the five-year itch! I spent five years in the UK as a marketing manager, five years in the States as a marketing director, and then five years heading up my copywriting agency. Toward the end of that time, I began to feel unfulfilled. I knew I needed a change but I didn’t know what that looked like yet. After considering a full-time job and throwing that idea out the window, I decided to make some changes.

I developed a meditation practice, started saying “no” to the wrong clients, and began saying “yes” to some new opportunities. Within three months, I’d launched a new client’s book to #1 on Amazon in six short weeks and within four months I’d earned more than five figures in four weeks for the first time ever. I kept following that trajectory to see where it’d lead, doing some executive story coaching through various clients, offering marketing consulting, and finally launching my own small business mastermind.

Now that I’m finally offering business coaching, it feels like coming home to myself. People have doubled their rates and their income in the Movement Makers Mastermind. They’ve created online programs that they’ve been wanting to create for years. Participants get a ton out of it. But I won’t pretend that I have some magic formula for success. I always say you have the freedom to take my advice or not. At the end of the day, I’m more focused on empowering you to move forward toward your goals and get results. I can provide the strategy, but it’s you that has to be courageous enough to own your power and your purpose and take that all-important next step forward. I’ll be your personal cheerleader, encouraging you on, every step of the way!

What ignited your initial passion in wanting to help entrepreneurs and mission-driven organisations find their brand voice?

After working with hundreds of business owners, one after the other, helping them to master their messaging and communicate in a way that made their clients and customers feel seen and heard and understood, I began to notice a pattern in their responses and realised that certain questions would elicit powerful responses that, once woven together, really positioned them in an unforgettable way.

I talk about it in terms of “leading with empathy” because that’s what it’s really all about. It’s remembering that your brand voice is actually not all about you; it’s about tuning into what your clients or customers are struggling with the most so you can speak to them in a way that communicates you understand. And it’s about talking about what you do in a way that helps the people you most want to serve to trust your intentions. People call it “human to human marketing” and I guess that really is the essence of it. To develop your brand voice, you need to be a human being who cares about other human beings. It’s really as simple as that.

What was the concept behind The 100 Stories Worth Telling Project?

I’ve always worked mainly with women business owners and, time after time, they would open up to me and tell me their stories. I was blown away by how often they’d turned adversity to their advantage to live life on their own terms. I wanted to give those women a platform from which to reach more people, so I started the project in 2015 with no idea where it would lead. Today, the project explicitly includes all women, as well as non-binary folk. I want it to be as inclusive as possible and give everyone who has ever felt like they had less of an opportunity to use their voice a way to share their journey—even if it’s not over yet.

The project helped me realise that our ability to be resilient is tied to the truth of who we are and what we’re here to do. We can transform our mess into an unforgettable message that has the power to change lives—it’s one of the most amazing things we can do for other people. I’m actually writing my first book about that right now.

Can you share a tip on how entrepreneurs can avoid burn out?

I have been there—more times than I like to admit. That’s why I’m passionate about helping people to build businesses that are sustainable and work for their lives. It’s no good earning millions of dollars if you’re chronically stressed, miserable, and lonely. My friend talks about living a “fully integrated life” and that’s really the goal when you’re thinking about how to avoid burnout. How can you build a business that feels spacious? How can you leave room for what’s most important? Any business will have its ups and downs, so how can you prepare for those? How can you get your head into the right space so that when things go wrong—as they will sometimes—they don’t affect you as much? For me, meditation has been vital to get me into a better relationship with myself and help me through stressful times. I also have an incredible support network of entrepreneurs who shore me up when things get tough—and vice versa. That’s really important.

How are you working towards your own personal development?

I never want to stop growing. I’m dedicated to stretching myself in all ways—spiritual, emotional, mental, social, physical. In recent years, I’ve come to a truer sense of who I am and entrepreneurship has definitely helped me on that journey. It brings up all your issues, shall we say! But you also have to get over yourself quickly, because otherwise, it can affect your bottom line. In the past, I’ve held onto unhealthy boundaries and self-sabotaging beliefs (like “I’m not ready yet”) that prevented me from moving forward as quickly as I would’ve liked.

Number one rule in business you stick by?

Slow down to speed up. You can’t deepen into the work that’s calling you forward if you’re too busy to press the “pause” button and take time to get clear on your vision for what’s next.

Can you share one pro and one con of being an entrepreneur?

It’s called a rollercoaster for a reason! You can have the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. It’s all part of the package.

What does #BEYOUROWN mean to you?

It means inspiring women business owners everywhere to be themselves by being myself. If sharing the not-so-good stuff helps someone else feel less alone, then I’ll do that.

Finally, what are you working on throughout 2019?

My first book! I’m excited about it. I should have the first draft finished by the end of October. This is big for me—I’ve wanted to write a book since I was a little girl!

Instagram: @nikkigroom

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikkigroom

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkigroom

Website link: https://nikkigroom.com