We had the good fortune of connecting with Nikki Nie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nikki, we’d love to start by asking you about lessons learned. Is there a lesson you can share with us?
Starting my own business has taught me so much! Right now what is coming through is that when you figure out your dharma, what you were put on this earth to do, work no longer feels like a chore. It becomes something that is infused into every part of your life. This is also tricky because when the line between work and play gets real blurry. Even in my downtime, I’ll reach towards work because when I get inspired I want to share it! Being in service is my purpose and fills me up in so many ways. Although we can’t just work all the time, that’s not sustainable, even when we love it. So I surf, meditate, play my ukulele and harmonium and get out in nature to truly give myself space to just be. You should absolutely love what you do, but more importantly, make sure you love who you are beyond what you do for a living. Love your being.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started my career as a professional dancer in Los Angeles. I love dance but the industry is a tough one to feel grounded in and I found that I only felt validated by external circumstances. My worth was based on what job I booked (or didn’t book for that matter) and after a semi-decent decade-long career, I felt quite unsteady and dissatisfied. This lead me to take a deep dive with some transformational internal work. This ended up looking like 500 hours of Yoga Teacher training and moving across the world to Bali. What I found in that year was more than the ability to do a headstand, or guide hour-long meditations, what I found in that humid Island of the Gods, was myself. My true Self. And the knowing that I was worthy, capable and enough. Now after having careers in dance, makeup artistry and fitness I feel a deep sense of fulfillment in my work. Now more than I ever I feel in alignment and deeply driven and passionate to serve my community and create a life that I love.
But just because you figure out what your purpose is, doesn’t mean life gets easy. My first year back in SoCal was a struggle! I taught classes all over the city, most of which had less than 5 people in attendance. I would work so hard to create a workshop only to have 3 people show up and end up with me actually having to pay the studio more money than I made that day for the space. But I didn’t give up. I kept teaching, I kept creating and I kept believing I could. Now, just 2 years after moving back from Bali I have taught thousands of people all over the world through events like Oprah’s 2020 Vision Tour, Tony Robbins Virtual Seminars, as well as Apps like Tonal, FabelticsFit and Hello Core. I’m also a founding Guide for KINRGY and have built my own brand and teach multiple courses, classes and workshops throughout the year. Work is abundant and I’m so grateful to do what I love.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My favorite places are mostly beaches, I love to park my van by the ocean and allow nature to nourish me through riding waves and drinking in the fresh air. We would go to Malibu and surf logs at first point, if we wanted to be fancy we would stay at the Surfrider hotel and eat dinner on the pier at The Malibu Farm. If we were more low key we would sleep in my van and get breakfast burritos at Country Kitchen .
We would find a sound bath to attend somewhere, which isn’t too hard to find in LA, maybe get an Ayurvedic treatment at Surya Spa at the Proper Hotel in Santa Monica and have some vegan lunch at The Butcher’s Daughter.
A morning at the Self-realization Center would be a great way to reflect on the trip and then a smoothie at Juice Ladies for some nourishment. The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to shoutout Julianne Hough for supporting me down my path when I moved back from Bali. KINRGY gave me a community when I felt alone and continues to encourage me to keep shining my light! Also I would like to shoutout my agent Lyndsay Marie Farias from The Movement Talent Agency for helping to expand my reach to sharing holistic wellness with the world. My community wouldn’t be as expansive without her guidance.

Website: nikkinie.com

Instagram: @nikki_nie_

Facebook: Nicole Niestemski

Youtube: Nikki Nie

Image Credits
Dominique Palombo Nikki Dalonzo Devin Pedrano-Snow

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