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 came from a childhood that taught me everything about connection.

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

A genuine longing and 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 last 35 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 the pages of published books and articles.

Through all of those experiences, this thread has remained constant: People thrive when they are led with intention, integrity and genuine care.

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

Not really.

This was a person who made decisions without regard for their impact on others. Who was so dismissive of the people around them that the entire culture became infected with anger, disengagement and hopelessness.

I watched amazing, talented, wonderful people become shadows of themselves.

And I felt it too. My natural enthusiasm, vision, and joy was getting difficult to find.

That’s when I understood something that continues as my mantra to this day: Culture is what leadership allows.

I knew I had to leave. But I also knew I had to do something. So, I left. And I started writing.

Then one morning while I was writing, I heard this voice. “Love-Led Leadership. Love-Led Leadership.” I couldn’t unhear it.

I’d never heard the term before, so I started researching, and what I found surprised me. There was actual research. Real companies using love as a core value. Scholars and practitioners who believed, as I did, that love was the most powerful leadership force in the world.

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

Since then, I’ve been committed to a path that’s less about controlling outcomes and more about coming back to who we really are.

I started writing. Speaking. Researching. Learning. And the more I immersed myself in this work — the more it changed me.

It still does. Every single day.

This isn’t a philosophy I teach from a place of having it all figured out. It’s a life I’m actively living, not just on the good days but the hard ones too.  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 questions.

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

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