Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Riccardo.
Hi Nicole, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been playing music. As a kid, I was inseparable from my walkman and headphones. I started taking piano lessons in kindergarten, joined the choir the year after, and started playing flute in fourth grade. Fast forward through attending a performing arts high school. performing in Carnegie Hall, and a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Flute Performance, I finally entered the “real world.” After spending some time freelancing, I quickly realized how unstable and inconsistent it was, so I ended up in a normal 9-5 in the medical industry. I worked my way up to assisting with marketing and social media, transferred around to a few different practices to gain more experience with marketing and social media, until eventually, I thought to myself, “Why the heck am I using all of these skills to build someone else’s dream when I can be building my own?” So that’s exactly what I did. I slowly made the transition down to part-time as I started using my marketing and social media skills to create opportunities for myself until I eventually transitioned into full-time self-employment. I started receiving question after question from people I knew through social media about how I was able to do this for myself, which led to the creation of my very first digital course (and now signature program), Create Your Career. I designed this program to walk other creatives and freelancers through the exact method I used to build my career from the ground up. Now, years and many students later, this method has helped not only me but numerous other creatives be able to get off the freelancing hamster wheel (or out of the dread 9-5) and turn their expertise into a sustainable and profitable business. I do still perform with a few orchestras, but my primary focus now is sharing everything I know to help empower other creatives and freelancers with the information they need to create a life and career they love!
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?
For me, the two biggest struggles that stick out are: 1—getting out of my 9-5. After I graduated, I spent years in a 9-5 where I couldn’t use my creativity, and it absolutely drained me. I was miserable and felt like I was giving up on everything I had been working towards my entire life! It was honestly one of the lowest points in my life, and I had trouble even finding the motivation to practice, let alone the motivation to try to start my own business! I’m eternally grateful to my now-husband, David, who conveniently has his Master’s in Performance Psychology. He was able to help me shift my mindset and find my motivation again so I could create a better situation for me. 2. The second biggest struggle I faced was how to make it happen once I decided I wanted to start my own business! I spent a lot of time feeling frustrated and overwhelmed about what to do and how to do it… I wanted to make sure I was doing everything right! Unfortunately, when I started out, digital courses and business coaches were not as readily available as they are now, so I spent a lot of time figuring things out on my own. I used to dream of having a fairy godmother that could just come tell me, “You’re doing this right,” “Do this instead,” and “You need to do this next.” That’s a large part of why I do what I do now – so I can be that fairy godmother I needed for others!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a flutist, digital course creator, and the President & Founder of NR Media, and we specialize in working with creatives. My digital courses are designed to empower creatives with the education they need in order to start and grow a sustainable + profitable business. I believe that we deserve to be compensated (well) for our expertise! And through my agency, we empower creatives with things like branding, websites, graphic design, and photography – all utilizing sales psychology and conversion based design because these things should be doing some of the heavy liftings FOR you! I fully believe that if you’re investing in something that it should be optimized with every advantage possible to give you an incredible ROI. I’m known for my no-bs and honesty wrapped up in empathy and love. I’m here to cheer you on and support you in all you do, but I’m also not going to beat around the bush and call you out if you’re doing something that won’t work. I’ve always had enormous respect for people in my life that aren’t afraid to be direct and give you the loving kick in the butt when you need it, so I aim to be that way for others! The thing I’m the proudest of is that I’ve been able to build a successful business for myself literally from nothing. But even more than that, I’m really proud that I’ve created my business centered around having a great work/life balance. I believe in humans first, and I built my business to reflect that. So now, not only do I get to do something I truly love and help a lot of incredible people along the way, but I also have the freedom I always dreamt of back in my 9-5.
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@nicolericcardo.com
- Website: www.nicolericcardo.com www.nicolericcardomedia.com
- Instagram: @nicolericcardo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/createyourcareergroup
Image Credits:
Erin Dudley, Jolene Madewell, Rachel Rodgers, and Julia Rachel
