About Nicki

I’m Nicki—leadership coach, speaker, author, and founder of Love-Led Leadership®.

I’ve spent 35 years learning one thing above all else:
The way you lead your life is the way you lead everything.

And that belief started long before my career.

I spent much of my childhood alone. And while that wasn’t always easy, it gave me two gifts:

A deep appreciation for real connection.
And an understanding that what people crave most isn’t recognition—it’s relevance. They want to know that who they are and what they bring actually matters.

That understanding became the foundation of everything I believe about leadership.

Over the years, my work has taken me from the corporate world to nonprofits, from mentoring college students to leading civic initiatives, from owning my own business to writing and speaking.

But through all of those experiences, one truth remained constant:
People thrive when they are led with intention, integrity, and genuine care.

And then I experienced the opposite.

I found myself working for someone who had never really been taught how to lead.

This was a person who made decisions without regard for their impact on others. Who dismissed the people around them in a way that slowly eroded the entire culture.

I watched talented, capable people become shadows of themselves.

And I felt it too. My natural enthusiasm, vision, and joy started to fade.

That’s when something clicked for me—something that’s stayed with me ever since:
Culture is what leadership allows.

I knew I had to leave. But I also knew I had to do something with what I had learned.

So I left. And I started writing.

One morning, while I was writing, I heard it:
Love-Led Leadership. Love-Led Leadership.

I couldn’t unhear it.

I had never heard the term before, so I started researching—and what I found surprised me. There was real research. Real organizations using love as a core value. Scholars and practitioners who believed, as I did, that love is one of the most powerful forces in leadership.

And in that moment, Love-Led Leadership was born.

Since then, my work has become less about controlling outcomes and more about helping people come back to who they really are.

I’ve spent years writing, speaking, researching, and learning—and the more I’ve immersed myself in this work, the more it’s changed me.

It still does. Every single day.

This isn’t something I teach from a place of having it all figured out.
It’s a life I’m actively living—on the good days and the hard ones.

Messy. Imperfect. And completely worth it.

I’m not here because I have all the answers.
I’m here because I know what’s possible when we’re willing to ask the right questions.

And that’s the work I do with my clients.

If any of this resonates with you—if you’re ready to lead your life and your work with more clarity, intention, and heart—I’d love to be part of your journey.

Ready to learn more?   [ Love-Led Leadership Coaching]