Nikia Phoenix on Self-Love and Human Connection
“Even the really hard, crappy, sucky things I wouldn't change.”
Nikia Phoenix is a content creator and wellness practitioner. This interview is an excerpt from our CCC Visionary Video series. Become a member to watch the series.
How are you feeling today?
Today, I'm feeling very energized. We're starting to really reconnect with each other and reconnect to what drives us. And maybe it took this long to acclimate to the current environment. But I'm feeling good about life. I'm feeling good about my creativity.
What was the Lightbulb Moment that inspired you to fully dive into what you do?
My self-love journey has been a long one, a very long one, but I wouldn't change anything that I've been through. Even the really hard, crappy, sucky things I wouldn't change. But my journey into self-love really brought me to where I am now and show me that I'm not the only one, because often we think that we're the only person going through something. And so instead of sharing, we kind of hide ourselves also because we're kind of ashamed of what we're going through, especially at this point in our lives and our careers. We think, well, I should be above this. I should be beyond this [but] I'm not. And I realized that it was okay to be vulnerable and okay to share those experiences and that my experiences can help someone else along as well.
I'm hoping that I got all of my anxiety out of the way years ago and that now I'm in a place where I can actually breathe easier and relax and slow down and really appreciate what's around me. My impostor syndrome and always looking for the next best thing didn't allow me to be present and appreciate the everyday wins. So now, I've slowed down enough to appreciate those everyday wins.
What’s the most unexpected thing you’ve learned in your current career?
I had a talk with someone today who's working on an app and everything is so fresh in her mind and I appreciated it. She was talking about different processes that we go through in our businesses and creative processes and she ran through a bullet point list of things that I can be doing to set myself up better. I thought about it and I was like, wow, these were all the things that I used to know. I knew them like the back of my hand and I remember doing them, but somewhere along the way I lost my way or I second guessed myself or I teamed up with people who gaslit me instead of actually contributing and helping to build me up. So along the way I am still learning that I'm really not that bad off. Everything is going to be trial and error and you may have to go through it multiple times for you to genuinely believe that you can do it. And that's okay. And I don't think that there's ever been a point in time where I've said, okay, I've made it like, oh, I'm here, I can celebrate, I can just relax. I would love to be there. I don't know exactly what that looks like or feels like as of yet, but I'm happy that I'm still open to learning from different people.
Yes, absolutely, because once we stop wanting to learn and once our ego takes over, it's the death of creativity and collaboration. We've seen it happen in this industry.
It's been so crazy because we've been able to see the ebb and flow. We've been able to see the bell curve, different brands and companies blow up and then drop off. And I would say that a big part of the dropping off would be the intentions aren't clear from the beginning. You know, your intentions were clear when you started [Creative Career Club], and when you started your previous business, and all those intentions were very clear and heartfelt by everyone. So I think that makes a world of difference if you set your intentions up to come from a genuine place and then make sure that all of your actions are backing that, you're going to stay around for a while. And when it's time to shift, you'll shift.
What often sparks your creativity or gets you into the creative zone?
When I'm being creative just for myself, I meditate, I do yoga, I have crystals that I use and I say affirmations when I'm working with other people. I definitely like to put on feel good music when I'm shooting. If I know that I'm about to give a performance, I know that I need to spend some quiet time with myself before interacting with other people. That's a very, very big thing for me. If I'm about to do a live or I'm about to go speak somewhere or [doing a] guided meditation or something, I need to spend some quiet time with myself so that I can really listen to that inner voice.
What is your unfiltered advice for anyone looking to break into your industry?
One of the things as an '“O.G. freckled model,” as a model — because I still do consider myself a model, even though it's been a minute — I remember feeling dismissed when people would treat me like a mannequin instead of a human being. But it's obvious when someone's not comfortable with whatever you're shooting or what you’re wearing. Just like any other member of your team, you want them to feel like they're actually actively participating and you want them to feel valued. So I think it's important that even with models [to] give them a voice. Let them tell you how they're feeling about something or put their own input into the project.
Nov 6, 2020
As told to Natalie Alcala and edited by Ashley Tibbits