Today we’d like to introduce you to Nikki M.G. Cole
Hi Nikki M.G., thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Power Up, Power People! I am Nikki M.G. Cole, aka, Nikki M.G. The Power Expert. I grew up in Maryland, within a multi-racial family of fierce women entrepreneurs. Ever since I was a kid, I believed I could be an entrepreneur and live an abundant life. However, growing up as a Black woman in the 1980s and 1990s, I came to be passionate about racial, gender, and environmental justice. I experienced interpersonal and institutional racism growing up and it pissed me off. And my experiences made me deeply curious about the intersections of human nature, history, and politics. Also, I grew up working in the hospitality industry, and like many Americans, I waited tables through high school, college, and afterwards. It was in 2009, after struggling financially, emotionally, physically and spiritually in the hospitality industry, that I began my career as a public policy advocate, campaign strategist, and all-around organizer. From 2009 to 2016 in the District of Columbia, I led several coalitions and campaigns to win Paid Sick Days, Minimum Wage, and Wage Theft Prevention policies for all workers. I also coordinated 2 different grassroots slates of candidates to take over the DC Democratic State Committee and build an effective pipeline to higher public offices. Afterwards, I went on to serve in directing roles in various state and national organizations to advance and protect working class people’s economic, health, and education rights.
It was in 2021 though, that my passion for social entrepreneurship re-emerged. I see business as a means towards liberation for myself, my family, and community. I started my business because I was tired of being the only Black woman in rooms who could confidently lead the collective strategic planning process, from the problem and solution idea to implementation. I was tired of men easily taking credit for transformative wins on the backs of Black and Brown women organizers like me, and I was also tired of seeing my people undervalued and under resourced in their communities, schools, nonprofits, and businesses. But I know from decades of experience that there are fundamental skills and competencies needed to build and manage systems – and that BIPOC women leaders have these skills but often lack confidence, ongoing leadership development, and investment from employers and investors.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No. It has not been a smooth road. Some of the biggest struggles along the way have been, in no particular order:
1) Continually believing in myself and practicing self-care as an ongoing means of sustainability and liberation.
2) Managing personal, family challenges, while sustaining my capacity hold down a full-time job and build my business on the side at the same time. It has been really hard.
3). Managing my own expectations of what I want, and where I see my business going, vs having the patience in the present moment to do the micro-tasks that in the long run, will add up to my vision.
4) Wanting to scale up operations, but struggling to figure out constant marketing capacity to generate the sales needed to sustain more staff and space.
5) Jerks like Blume who are making and winning cases that dismantle historic civil rights protections for marginalized groups, including his latest lawsuit against the Fearless Fund, hosted by the Tori Burch Foundation, that exists in order to help close the gaps in funding between white men and BIPOC women entrepreneurs. We have applied for a business grant from the Fearless Fund, but have yet to hear back because they are hemmed with his lawsuit. UGH! I’m so mad about this. There are so many barriers that exist for women and Black women in particular. Like – this guy has nothing more constructive to do with his time that slowly whittle away what little protections or advantages we have in this patriarchal supercapitalist construct?! Ok, end rant.
Despite these challenges, I’m more determined than ever to keep going. It’s been about 2 years that I’ve successfully been operating, with a team, with a steady cashflow and steady business. And we’re doing great work, rooted in social justice values that I and my team can honestly say we are proud of. We’ve built so much infrastructure, and are continually practicing internally, what we teach externally, that its working. We are sustaining and growing at a pace that makes sense for us.
We’ve been impressed with Nikki M.G. The Power Expert, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I developed a three-pronged approach to reduce the gap in the social responsibility business and nonprofit sectors: to teach and implement organizing strategy, tech skills, and resource mobilization to BIPOC women social justice leaders; to coach about putting values-based systems and tools in place for the sake of scaling transformational power; and to consult with organizations on sustainable strategic planning and collective power building practices.
My mission is to build a self-sustaining, multi-lingual network of Power Experts by providing online crash courses, mindset coaching, tangible tools and organizational consulting on strategy design with relatable, imagination-sparking science fiction and pop-culture references to create scalable, abundant organizations and businesses that can replace and transform exploitative, status quo systems.
According to the University of Denver’s School of Business in 2023, “1,800 U.S. businesses are opened by women every day, 60% of which are created by Black, Indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC)…only 25% of women-owned companies sought outside funding, and few received it.” Furthermore, they found that BIPOC women “entrepreneurs lack knowledge about available funding sources and capital readiness; they have limited social capital and low confidence in their ability to secure capital; and they face unconscious bias from funding sources.”
The same barriers exist across employment sectors. The National Women’s Law Center reports that, “without public investments and public policies to shift how we do business, Black women face racism and sexism at every turn in our economy. Among full-time, year-round workers, Black women typically make only 67 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. This wage gap will typically cost Black women $1,891 per month, $22,692 per year, and $907,680 over a 40-year career.” That’s money lost we could be reinvesting in ourselves, our businesses, organizations, and communities! And the statistics are just as abysmal for Latinx and Indigenous women in the U.S too.
It is because this that I’m committed to coaching, training, and consulting on how to implement power strategies with BIPOC women-led businesses and organizations dedicated to building transformational, values-rooted systems free of oppression and exploitation. I bring an effective intersection of social, racial, and environmental justice campaign expertise, 21st century national and global business acumen, and deep culture of team spirit geared toward women BIPOC leaders.
I think what I want readers to know most about my brand and offerings, are that everything is geared around the concept of POWER, and that power works the same way regardless of your project, nonprofit, or business. We want to connect with directors and executive directors of nonprofits, unions, and foundations, as well as with social justice warriors ready to become entrepreneurs and/or who want to sharpen their strategy towards abundant, regenerative systems and campaigns.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I have several mentors that I go to for different reasons, and I met them all at different times and places in my life. The first mentor I got, I was paired with after graduating from an intensive organizing training. So – I recommend looking for trainings that partner you with coaches or mentors. Other mentors I have, I got because I deeply admired their work and asked them directly. So to that extent – I say don’t be shy at reaching out to the people who’s work you look up to. Finally, over the last two years, I’ve joined two different coaching programs geared towards Black and BIPOC women entrepreneurs. These programs have boosted my confidence, skills, and library of reference material like no other! The two programs I am talking about are Rebecca Thompsons Go Live In Your Light Bootcamp, and Rachel Roger’s Hello 7 Club.
As for networking in real life – not in digital settings like Rebecca and Rachel’s programs – you just have to get out there, old school. Go to events with people who have similar interests. Sign up for tabling at local events. Give donations, sign up for ads, and show up to charitable events doing work you value. And go to events that other entrepreneurs like you are hosting. Support and network with them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nikkimg.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powerexpertsunited
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090961269802
- Twitter: https://x.com/nikkimgcole
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@powerexpertsunited
