Meet Nicole Casino | Creative Entrepreneur

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

Hi Nicole, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I think I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit – always seeing ways that things could improve or gaps that could be filled and then wanting to tackle them. I really enjoy the challenge of looking at something and figuring out how to make it better/create something new that can provide a benefit for those involved.
As a performer, musician and creative, it became my mission to serve those first and foremost in my creative community and help offer solutions and opportunities to help them get their art out into the world. That mission first founded 92 Creatives – a hub for creatives and creative businesses that focuses on bringing them opportunities and building a portfolio of revenue streams to help them succeed. One of the first things I experienced and started learning about in the musician community was how little was being shared about how to actually make a living from your talents. So I went to finding answers to those questions and started applying that knowledge to help other creatives.
One thing always leads to the next, as they say! In doing this work with creatives, I found a huge parallel between the creative community and the coffee community. Being a coffee nerd myself for many years, I was often using coffee shops and coffee brands as partners with creatives and artists I was working with through 92 Creatives and started to notice an opportunity to bring both together a little more formally. Coffee, not unlike the Arts, has a way of bringing people together – whether it’s to chat about something, share ideas, just enjoy each other’s company or think about the world’s deepest questions. So I got with some other friends who also saw that parallel and shared a similar mission and started working on Coffee of the Arts. We hope to continue to be an Ambassador for the Arts and a Catalyst for Creativity.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Taking the road less traveled is never easy. It’s often full of self-doubt, unknowns and times when you’re not sure if you’ve blown it by turning down this road. But it has also allowed for the most fulfilling times, the most cherished times and an immense amount of pride in the work that I’ve chosen to do.
Through being a full time performer, to living in the business world, and now trying to marry the two, I am constantly reminded why I traveled down this road in the first place. We all have a unique set of skills and talents and as challenges came up along the way, with no concrete answer on how to solve them, the beauty is in creating an answer that may not exist yet. It’s a part of getting to be creative every single day.
92 Creatives and now Coffee of the Arts are a manifestation of the opportunity that I was given to create and develop and explore new ideas. Some have called it “unfocused” or say “she’s trying to do too much” but I see it as “multi-passionate” and “mission-driven”. The journey has brought a TON of failures and criticism and many sacrifices. Sacrifices that I may never know were the right decision to say no to, but had make in order to push forward to the goal in mind. And it has honestly been worth it every time.

With both 92 Creatives and Coffee of the Arts, the mission is to champion the creative spirit. It is to give back, support and build a community that shares ideas and talents with the world. Both intend to serve the arts communities in many ways. With Coffee of the Arts, we donate 10% of our profits to arts organizations and ensembles across the globe. With 92 Creatives, we create opportunities that can help sustain careers in the creative industries.
I keep that in the front of my mind whenever the negative thoughts of entrepreneurship start to creep in. I have and always will be an ambassador for the arts and creativity.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
It would first and foremost be built around 2 things: Arts and Nature – the 2 things that we are known for!
We would see a handful of concerts and performances at a variety of venues: watch the LA Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall, see an artist at the Hollywood Bowl, check out a Sofar Sounds show at a random location and maybe even get in on a jam.
Our mornings would be spent hiking the hills and hiking the Rim of the World hike in OC!

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?
There are so many people and organizations who have been a part of my journey! I first and foremost credit my supportive parents who have always taught me to go for my dreams. But beyond that, I was extremely fortunate to come up in and be a part of the top ensembles and organizations in the world for music and marching percussion. The marching arts (drumline and marching band) and all of my instructors that I was able to be mentored by, gave me the skills to go out into the world, be confident in who I was and strive for excellence in everything I do. I want to specifically shoutout Ivan Pacheco and Jeremy Riley, who although taught me in my younger years, instilled a belief in myself and my abilities that I have taken with me throughout my entire life.

Website: https://www.coffeeofthearts.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coffeeofthearts/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-casino/

Other: https://www.92creatives.org/

Image Credits
First image: Austin Henry Wallace

Second and Third Images: Giovanni Leuvano