My Best SHIFT

S5:E5: Shift Happens: Relaunching a Dream (with Nikki Walker)

• Hosted By: Chantée Christian • Season 5 • Episode 5

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In this episode, Chantée Christian sits down with Nikki Walker, a seasoned public relations expert who has recently relaunched her PR agency after a seven-year corporate journey. 

Hailing from Jersey City and now based in Utah, Nikki shares her experience navigating the complexities of entrepreneurship, shifting career paths, and finding community in unexpected places. 

Together, they dive deep into the importance of representation, the power of personal evolution, and the strength of building connections that fuel both professional and personal growth. Tune in for an inspiring conversation about reinvention, resilience, and the journey of relaunching a dream.

Connect with Nikki via LinkedIn | Instagram.

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Chantée Christian:

Hi, nikki, how you doing today. I'm so good, Chantée, so glad to be with you. Yes, it's been what feels like a way too long, amen. But before we get too into our conversation today, tell the people a little bit about yourself.

Nikki Walker:

Absolutely so. I'm Nikki Walker. I am a Utah resident for the past seven years, hailing from Jersey City, New Jersey. I've been in public relations and communications for the past 25 years and have just relaunched my PR agency after a seven-year stint in corporate America. So that is the long and the short of it.

Chantée Christian:

I love it. I love it. I love a good entrepreneur. So I remember first being introduced to you and thinking, damn, I know two Black people in Utah. To you and thinking, damn, I know two Black people in Utah. Right, and every time I say Utah, people were like are there Black people there? And it's a lot of Black people in Utah.

Nikki Walker:

There are. There's a significant amount of Black people in Utah. I think. There are Black people everywhere. You just have to find the community right. So we're spread out. We're pretty spread out here, but there are lots of activities and events and organizations that pull us together regularly.

Chantée Christian:

I think that that's so important just community right, because we are together because of a community right, and so I think that one of the things that you did not mention right is that you are a best-selling author. I am a best-selling author, as one of the things that you did not mention right is that you are a best-selling author.

Nikki Walker:

I am a best-selling author, as one of the featured authors in the amazing anthology Awareness. Put Me On, yes, yes, best-selling on Amazon, amazing, yes, thank you for the vision of this project and for having me along for the ride.

Chantée Christian:

Thank you, I appreciate you coming, I appreciate you trusting me with it and it's amazing of what you've done with it. And we met because I co-authored a book with someone else that we both know who has actually also been on my podcast.

Nikki Walker:

He's amazing. Shout out to James Jackson.

Chantée Christian:

III. Yes, but that's community, right, like? I think that a lot of times when people think about community, they think about it in such a very narrow-minded view and I think that, at least for me, I'll say, the older that I've gotten, the more that I realize that networking isn't what it used to be. Right. Like what did someone tell me? Your network, your network, is your net worth, right? And when I think about all the people that I have in my community through some form of networking, right it's been so powerful and just life-changing for me.

Chantée Christian:

So I'm curious, because you move from the east coast to the middle that's not the world, it's the west, it's definitely the wild wild west.

Nikki Walker:

Yeah, see y'all the geography is not the West Coast, but it is out West.

Chantée Christian:

Yes, and so how has community played a part in all of the pivotal and amazing things that you've been able to do?

Nikki Walker:

Yeah, I would not have been able to do any of it without community. I, when I came out here, I thought I was going to be like the only black girl and looked up and was plugged in. Was plugged in by two really great friends, found out I was in Salt Lake and said we're coming to get you and you know, come, scoop me up, brought me to church, introduced me to all of the people. And it is in community where I found my strength, where I found a lot of my gifts were really brought out from and because of community. So, you know, I, one of the things that anchors me here is being a community connector and that's something that I've always done.

Nikki Walker:

And for the seven years that I've been here, I've been in spaces, I've been in different communities than a lot of other people, right? So sometimes I'm in spaces that one of my communities doesn't have access to, so I open the doors so that they then have access to that community. Now are they going to what they do with that is really on them. But I trust that the people that I let into or or introduced to other circles or other communities, I trust that they are going to do right by them Right, that they are going to use the community and share with the community as you do in community that's powerful, because you also said something that I think a lot of people are, I won't say, struggling with, but it's like this reinvention, this re-acknowledgement of their gifts and and being in places that nurture them, that really help pull them out and support them, right.

Chantée Christian:

So you said that you were in these places where your gifts were able to shine, essentially, and so, when you think about your gifts, what would be like your top three gifts?

Nikki Walker:

Oh, ok, in no particular order. Yeah, emotional oration. So I think that I have the ability to talk and make people feel things and they are encouraged to move on those feelings, and so I think that's one um. Another is definitely like this ability to um, to see where your piece fits somebody else's piece.

Nikki Walker:

So that networking is really core to me. It's something that for my entire career it has been the most important thing for me. So you know, I've had an opportunity to use those skills and talk about them and share with other people and watch people network themselves into a frenzy, into a good frenzy, right? So that would be number that would. And then my final gift, I think, is just the gift of transparency. Like the community has allowed me and received my transparency in a way that I feel accepted and encouraged to continue to be transparent, and one of the things that I learned when we started kind of promoing the book Awareness Put Me On is that my transparency was changing people's lives, changing people's perspectives, changing people's outlooks, and it is a gift that lots of us have but we're afraid to express right.

Nikki Walker:

We're afraid of. What are they going to think of me? What are they going to say about me? And I came to a place where none of that mattered anymore because it was divine for me, like, like, all of the things that have been happening in the year 2024 have been divine alignment, and so I know what God thinks of me.

Chantée Christian:

Yeah, yeah, that's really like I'm getting chills, and I say that because so often we are deterred from our natural gifts because they don't make money, they're not always tangible, they lend themselves to all these other things and to other people's perception right, and so we get caught up in. What will the people think? What will they say? How will they interact with me after they know?

Chantée Christian:

And I think that one of the most powerful things about living in your truth and being transparent and being vulnerable is that there's someone that's looking, there's someone who needs to hear the thing, because they're where you were and or where you are or where you used to be, and they also need some sort of strength and some sort of encouragement. Right, and like when we were doing the book, even when you and I had talked, I said, yes, I expect this book to do well, and if only one person takes away something from it, what is it that they take away? How do we shift the paradigm for them? And that's one of been some of the biggest feedback that I've gotten about the book from strangers which I say that because family and friends will hype you up, or sometimes, but from strangers who don't know us at all.

Nikki Walker:

And.

Chantée Christian:

I say us because there's over 20 of us, right, but that don't know us at all. That said, the way that you all bared your souls and your hearts out. I saw me in almost every chapter and that to me was like I don't even need to know what chapters and where you saw you. All I need to know is that we did what we were supposed to do.

Nikki Walker:

That's right. We understood the assignments. That's it the assignment.

Chantée Christian:

Yeah, and I think that a lot of times communities forget the assignment.

Nikki Walker:

Mm-hmm. A lot of times, communities forget that the assignment is community and while we are pursuing our individual feats, we become gatekeepers, or we become mean girls or boys, or we become so far detached from the community that the things that we're doing don't even make sense for the community anymore.

Chantée Christian:

Yeah, that's good. That's good. It's also reminding me of like knowing who your customer is.

Nikki Walker:

Yeah, yeah.

Chantée Christian:

That's super important, because if you don't know, you're doing things and like, oh, no one's coming. Well, that's not your community base, right? And so I'm curious, because we're using the term community and I have a definition in my head, but how would you define community?

Nikki Walker:

I define community as as this you know, a space that you can't touch, but a space that is filled with individuals whose goal it is to improve the circumstances of the whole. That's what I think community is. So, whether that's the Black community or the tech community, or women in leadership community, I think everybody's goal is to improve the circumstance of the whole.

Chantée Christian:

That's dope, that's dope.

Nikki Walker:

Okay, what's your definition?

Chantée Christian:

Ooh, so I feel like my definition might be a little churchy, but it's like where two or more convene with a common purpose is and desire to execute on the purpose is community to me, like I used to say when I was on the dating circuit, that I wanted to be in community with my partner, and people used to be like what are you talking about? And I'm like I want to be in a space where we agree on why we're here and what we're doing here and how we move forward. Right, and so, like, when I think about community, I think about it probably a little more micro, right, obviously, it has huge macro components and pieces to it, but I think that someone, when I was just talking about this, actually about impact, a lot of my clients come in saying I want to have big impact and I'm like, yeah, that's so cute because you can have huge impact, because you can have huge impact and what you think sometimes is small impact has far, far, far more reach.

Nikki Walker:

Right, you'll ever know it's the ripple effect, right? Yeah, I've been reading a lot or, or, more efficiently, saying, I've been watching a lot of people talking about delayed gratification oh my gosh. And so, like this whole idea that I want to make an impact. Great, that's real. The impact that you have in your head, this place and space that you're going to be at. You have to understand that it takes a lot of small impacts to get to that place, and when you can't stop and celebrate the small things, when you are not stopping and recognizing that, look, I just made an impact here because you're waiting for this big boom to happen, you're going to miss it.

Chantée Christian:

You missed the whole thing, you miss it. No, for sure, for sure. And and that's, I think that's part of a a culture of lack of presence. Right, like so often, we are conditioned, I would say. I would say we're more so conditioned than not to think about the past and the future but not to focus on the present. Right, and when you're not focused on the present, you don't even see the wins. That's right. So how can you get any sort of gratification from it if you don't see it?

Nikki Walker:

And there it is and that's such a great point. Yeah, you're so pressed to be rewarded and you know you're just so pressed that you are literally looking past the thing that is happening. That is so great and so amazing and so impactful and you don't see it. And that's how we get into spaces where we get burned out. You don't see it and that's how we get into spaces where we get burned out or we start to have imposter syndrome because we haven't been present in the moment and seeing what everybody else sees. We don't see that because we're all already onto the next thing.

Chantée Christian:

Yes, y'all can't see me, but my head is about to roll off my neck because I can't stop shaking it. Right, it's especially when we talk about imposter syndrome, when we talk about um, like it's something about. When I think about generations right and I even take the generations out when you think about decades of life, right when you were in your 20s, your focus most of the time is getting the house, the marriage, the kids, the dog, the whatever.

Chantée Christian:

Bars right, right. Then in your 30s you're climbing this ladder because you got to get there, got to get there, got to get there. And in your 40s you're kind of assessing do I still want to get there if I haven't gotten there already? And if not, what else am I going to do? Because I don't know that I'm in love with that anymore, right. And then in your 50s you're like OK, got a few more years before I can officially retire. I really don't want to have my foot on the gas like that anymore. So what does it look like to be able to be Right? And in your 60s it's like well, let me recalculate. Can I retire? Am I ready to retire? What do I do when I retire?

Chantée Christian:

And I'm speaking about this generally, based off of the people that have been in my spaces and myself, and what I find is that around 28, 29, around 48, 49, around around 58, 59, there's this moment of holy shit. What have I done? It's nothing that I had imagined. And if I could go back right, and not to say that there are regrets, right, just if I could go back I would probably have paid a little bit more attention, I would have said something different, I probably wouldn't have took that job and that pay cut. You know all of the things that now have made us who we are and are part of our story.

Chantée Christian:

However, we weren't present in those time frames because we were chasing something else.

Nikki Walker:

Oh my gosh so true.

Chantée Christian:

Right. That chase lends us to now is not only is it delayed gratification, it is instant sorrow. Come on with it Right, and we don't even know why, sometimes A lot of times. A lot of times, yeah, which is why community is so important, because when you're around people who are in these different phases, they can help you identify what's going on with you.

Nikki Walker:

I talk about people and community as your board of directors right, and when you have a large community or several communities, you get to pull expertise from different perspectives. Right, and as the CEO of your own life, you get to build your board of directors, and those people should be people who offer you a mirror, who offer you stern and loving correction where necessary. Those should be people who see the real you and let you know when you slip in. Right. Those, those are the kinds of people who you know are running the company that is you are helping you to direct the company. That is you and it's so important. That is you are helping you to direct the company. That is you and it's so important. This life is not meant to be done alone, and and and being unmarried doesn't make you alone right. It is about partnerships and and relationships past, you know, romantic. This is real life. This is, this is adulting 101, like for real yeah, and I mean it just.

Chantée Christian:

And that whole idea of being single and alone blows me, because I know so many people who are married and or with longtime partners who also feel alone, and so it's not about having a physical body in a space with you that makes you on alone. And so often I work with a lot of execs and people that have just all different spans of life. Execs and people that have just all different spans of life. Usually the number one thing that is something that we work on is that they don't know who they are, and I mean like who you are right, so like what makes you happy, are right, so like what makes you happy, like what actually brings you joy, what keeps that flame of joy burning, even in the midst of the chaos. But who are you outside of being a mom? Who are you outside of being a dad? Who are you outside of being a partner? Who are you outside of the title that you have at your job? Like who are you?

Nikki Walker:

it takes a lot of work to answer that question. It takes a lot of work to answer that question and it's hard work, like this is, it's not. It's not amusement park time like it is. Dig in, sit down, figure it out, talk to yourself. You know, take the bandaid off. It's so much to get into, it's frightening, quite frankly, and it takes courage and you know a lot, of, a lot of us have to work our way up to that of a lot of us have to work our way up to that.

Chantée Christian:

Listen. I tell anyone who will listen, if you have a therapist or coach, that don't have a therapist and or a coach you need to go get you a new therapist and or coach, because we are all works in progress, right, and which means like we've been at some stage of where you're, at which means like we've been at some stage of where you're at Right, which is why we're helpful.

Chantée Christian:

Right. Like there was a time where I thought that I knew who I was. I told you I know exactly who I am, ow Right. And then when I heard it and when I saw it, it wasn't who I was. It was who people wanted me to be, or who people thought.

Nikki Walker:

I was yeah.

Chantée Christian:

Who people have projected so much of all of the things. And so when I started peeling back the onion with some support because, like you said, it does take courage, it takes a level of vulnerability with yourself that is unmatched.

Nikki Walker:

Yes, yes.

Chantée Christian:

Because you got to look in the mirror and say, well, who are you Like? What makes me laugh? I can tell you all the things that don't make me laugh Right, because we can default to that really easy. Things that don't make me laugh right, because we can default to that really easy. But we hardly ever again in the present are able to say what we enjoy, who we are right, and I say that in so many different things, in so many different spaces. But, like, if you can't tell me who you are, then you can't tell me the communities that you need to be in. You can't tell me who you are, then you can't tell me the communities that you need to be in. You can't tell me the type of partner that you want. You can't tell me the career that you aspire to have. You can't actually tell me your gifts and believe them, because you don't even know you own them Right.

Nikki Walker:

That's a sad, sad, sad place to be in.

Chantée Christian:

And yet so many of us have either been there unconsciously and or are still there very unconsciously.

Nikki Walker:

Or sometimes very consciously, and that's when I have a problem cloud over our head because we would rather the comfort of what we know than the discomfort of getting to the next level of self.

Chantée Christian:

Oh, because it's easier to stay in comfort.

Nikki Walker:

Absolutely. It's the devil, you know.

Chantée Christian:

Right, and it's something about that, though, that just grinds my gears, because when I know better, right. What's the saying? When you know better, you do better, you do better. And so when I choose not to, then I also don't understand why I keep getting opportunities presented to me to work on that thing, and it's because you're ignoring it. It has been brought to light and you're ignoring it.

Nikki Walker:

I love how you put that opportunities for me to work on that thing, because that's what it's going to be. You're going to call it chaos. You're going to say it's stress. You're going to say why are these things happening to me? Instead of saying, oh look, now I have an opportunity to work on that thing. Get it over with, do the work and move on, because if you don't, it's going to circle back around and it's bringing friends.

Chantée Christian:

Listen, it's bringing some big time friends. Yes, big time friends, big time friends, friends you would rather not have in your circle.

Nikki Walker:

You don't want to meet them in an alley. You don't want to meet them in a dark alley.

Chantée Christian:

And you know it's funny. I was listening to Sarah Jakes Roberts this morning and she said something that reminded me of the last few years. For me. She said you know, when we go into prayer and asking God to continue to and this is a prayer I'm paraphrasing.

Chantée Christian:

So don't, don't, y'all don't quote me, but essentially she was saying when we go to God in prayer and we say, you know, help us be in the image of you, help us be and embody the image of Jesus, and what does that look like and feel like? And I thought to myself I've got to stop praying that and I'm going to Y'all can't see her and I'm going to Y'all can't see her. Well, and I say that because my chapter was originally going to be my 40 was Jesus is 33.

Nikki Walker:

Ooh.

Chantée Christian:

And I got a lot of pushback on it and I said okay, and I got the pushback because they wanted me to share the story different, and which was how we got to what's in awareness. Put me on now, and my 40 was Jesus is 33. I went through more than I could ever have thought and or imagined and I kept saying I don't understand. Like God, did you forget that I was here? Like hello, do you see me? Like hello, do you see me? And it was in some of those very self-inflicting moments where I was like, oh, this is for me to practice my empathy, this is for me to practice compassion.

Nikki Walker:

Oh, all right out here casting spells with your prayers and scared when it come back to you. Oh do it, oh do it oof right.

Chantée Christian:

this is me learning how to love unconditionally. This is me sticking through even though I don't know right, like it was in those times where I was like, if so, there's this um, I can't think of the scripture at the moment, but the essentially the story is that, you know, jesus is upset with the disciples because they fell asleep and for the longest time I was like they, so lazy. Them jokers was lazy, and when I dug deeper into the scripture and done some research, the truth of the matter is they were saddened with grief and they were depressed because they heard Jesus' cry and his sense of grief and angst and it worried them and the only thing that they could do was sleep. And not only did it shift my judgment, but it shifted my own perspective of my own situation.

Nikki Walker:

Right.

Chantée Christian:

Like if Jesus knew what was going to happen and was crying out to God like, hey, can you reconsider, girl? Who am I to not sit on this bed and cry my heart out when I don't know? But if he knew and still had pain and angst, so that the people around him had pain and angst, then who am I not to? And it was a lesson in releasing my judgment. Yes, right, like.

Chantée Christian:

There were so many things for me that were happening where I was like this, this one, this, this is what being like Jesus is. I want a refund. I don't want to be like Jesus, I want to be like Peter. But I say that to say a lot of times we don't realize what we're saying and what we're asking for and what it looks like when we get it back.

Chantée Christian:

Right, like, I would have always told you I am a God God fearing woman, cause I am. I would have told you I'm, I'm, I'm not um, I'm not actually, I'm made in his image, but I'm a whole lot more like Peter than not. Okay, and in those moments I understand now that what I was going through was for me and it was for the future impact that I'll be able to have Right, right, right, um, which I think is powerful from the perspective of none of this is what I asked for, right? Well, I mean, god got a sense of humor, you know, yeah, sometimes he's not that funny, but to me, but, I'm living in my gifts, I'm living in my truth and I have a hell of a community that supports me, and I think that my community has shifted as I have shifted.

Nikki Walker:

Yes, can we talk about that real quick?

Chantée Christian:

Go ahead.

Nikki Walker:

Yes, the community. The community has shifted as you have shifted. I am experiencing that right now and the journey is new, but it is felt and it's hard. It is very difficult to separate yourself from others when you have been connected to them for so long. But the truth of the matter is, as you know, all of the people say everybody can't go everywhere, everything is not for everybody, and the higher you get, the less chance of being able to breathe there is, and everybody don't have iron lungs like me, so some folks got to stay at, you know, base camp while I trek up to the peak of the mountain.

Nikki Walker:

And while in theory that should be okay, we are real life human beings with feelings and emotions and ideas and perceptions, and so it gets a little messy when you come to the point where you have to make a stance that is best for you, best for your business, best for your future.

Nikki Walker:

You have to do those things, though, like we have to do hard things, and you know every approach might not be right and there are going to be some mistakes and hiccups in these moments where you are decidedly dismissing yourself from places and spaces that no longer serve you and spaces that no longer serve you. You have to make the hard decision and I'm saying it like this because somebody had to say it like this to me for me to understand it, because I mulled over it and I cried over it and I worried about it. But, just like all other things, I give it to God and he will give me the wisdom to approach the situations in a way that people will walk away with some understanding. But understand, dear lady, dear sir, understand that if it is your intention to keep on moving, you're going to have to leave some folks at base camp.

Chantée Christian:

That's it no.

Chantée Christian:

I love this because we build relationships, we build rapport and, like you said, we're humans and so we have emotions attached and memories attached to the people, to the situation, to the thing, and that's okay. Yes, that is okay. What's also okay is to create boundaries that honor you, right? And one of my clients said earlier this week actually, which I was crawling in my skin, but she said well, I want to create boundaries that people will be okay with and respect. And I said, no, no, sweet pea, that's never going to happen.

Chantée Christian:

There will always be someone who does not appreciate the boundary that you created. The only way that makes it a great boundary is if you hold it true that you created. The only way that makes it a great boundary is if you hold it true. So you have to create boundaries that you are able to say and are comfortable with, because you're going to have to stand 10 toes down on them and you're going to have to yourself, right, Because people will push, people will tap, and it's only because that's what they were used to, because this new boundary has created protection, right, and so how do you continually protect yourself and grow, right? It's almost like um, perfect example, flowers um, I can't think of the one that has, like the elephant ears, almost um I can't think of the name of it, but you have to cut it.

Chantée Christian:

And it grows back, but you have to cut it in order to grow back in order for it to grow back. It's the same thing with friends. It's the same thing with community. It's the same thing with letting people go. Sometimes you have to cut people and they may or may not come back.

Nikki Walker:

Yes, and that is the. That is the thing. The thing is right. We're in people's lives for reasons and or seasons, right, and so perhaps this is just the season where it is time for me to do something different and you don't fit into that schematic. But that doesn't mean that next season you don't get to come back and make a guest appearance. That doesn't mean that you don't become a season regular two years down the line. We don't know what is going to happen next. We know that in this season there are cast members that need to take a break. We need to retire them from the show. That does not mean they don't come back, and I think, when we're explaining our journey to people who we have outgrown right, I think that that is an important point to make. It doesn't because, as you said earlier, like these memories are real. These experiences that we have had are real. These emotions that we have shared together they are real. They don't go anywhere. They don't go anywhere. They don't?

Chantée Christian:

They don't. You know, it's interesting, it's so funny. As you were talking, I was like we're both Aquarius and I am really good at not talking to people about why they're not in my life anymore. So this, which is also something I'm working on, right.

Nikki Walker:

I said it's an early, hard journey, did not? Early and hard honey. Early because I just assumed stop speaking to you. I just assumed don't pick up the phone no more. But that was that's old Nikki, right, that's, that's uninvolved Nikki. You know, this is, this is Nikki who not only understands that I deserve to be able to speak my truth, but other people you know I'm, I. I have given up myself to other people so much so that walking away without saying what has happened, it's just rude. It's rude. It doesn't honor the relationship.

Nikki Walker:

It doesn't honor the time and energy spent on and with it doesn't, and so you know. So for me, it's important that I make it plain. I'm clear about everything else with. Everybody Should be clear about where I stand.

Chantée Christian:

No, I think that's really important, especially for people who typically have an avoidant characteristic when it comes to what they perceive as conflict right. And having a conversation with someone that may be uncomfortable does not automatically mean conflict. Like we got to stop watching reality TV, thinking that if we tell somebody you know what I love you, I'm going to pull back right now, that all of a sudden we got to go and have a whole commotion. No, no, and if that's the case, then that's the answer.

Nikki Walker:

That's the answer. That's the absolute answer, and the whole thing was was a lie to begin with, and so chalk it up to the cost of doing business right and move on. Now you know everything you ever needed to know.

Chantée Christian:

Yeah, I mean, I could go on a whole diatribe about how you think that you're in certain relationships and certain spaces with people and then they show you who they are and you decide to stay. Well, that's the same thing as with a romantic relationship when you stay somewhere too long, baby, you're gonna want to get burnt, not the person.

Chantée Christian:

yes, right, and that's okay right and and it's okay to enter a community, I feel like you're not supposed to be there and to leave it and to come back to it Like it's always okay, and I think that that's one of the biggest things. Like people, by nature, right, we don't like rejection, right, but we'll reject without thought, we will reject without purpose and without intent, and so when we're talking about having these uncomfortable conversations, it is being intentional and purposeful about the relationship. Right, and Keith Lee says it all the time, I'm not the target audience for this Right, and I may not the target audience for this Right and I may not be your target audience anymore, and that's okay.

Nikki Walker:

Exactly.

Chantée Christian:

That's okay, this was good.

Nikki Walker:

Yeah right, we should do this every week.

Chantée Christian:

You tripping you know I'm lying. We're going gonna try to make sure that that come out. So I'm curious. We've talked about quite a few things. Um, what would you want to make sure that you leave the people with?

Nikki Walker:

um, what do I want to leave the people with? Yeah, we kind of covered a myriad of things, but I think the thing and I'll tie it into awareness put me on the thing that I want to leave people with that I think this discussion has kind of embodied is the time is now for you to become aware of who you are and what you need in order to thrive and in order to succeed in a way that doesn't hurt. You have to take the time to examine you. That's what I want to leave people with. You know it's Suicide Awareness Month.

Nikki Walker:

I don't know when this is going to air, but right now in September, it's Suicide Awareness Month and I'm speaking from the perspective of a Black woman, and Black people in these Americas have a very difficult time with mental health awareness and you know, and just taking care of that and it's ingrained in us generation after generation, care of that and it's ingrained in us generation after generation. We can talk about it all the way back to how we had to protect ourselves in the enslaved days, and we can really follow the path that makes this such a taboo. We can follow the line of why this is taboo, but it's a new day. It's a new day and we now are responsible for ourselves because we have the information. We know what mental health disparities look like. We know that we are suffering from mental health ailments. We can identify them in our friends and our family and refuse to look at ourselves. So I say to everybody please take a look at yourself and see what it is that you need, because nobody else is going to give you what you need.

Chantée Christian:

Yeah, yeah, that's good, that's good, yeah, that's good. I'm glad you like it.

Nikki Walker:

That's good. Yeah, that's good. I'm glad you like it. That's good. So tell the people how can they find you? Yes, yes, you can find me on Instagram, my favorite place to play at Nikki Walker PR, and that's N-I-K-K-I Walker PR, or my brand page, which is n-w-p-r dot consulting, and of course, I'm nikki walker on linkedin, which is my other favorite adult social media platform where we can follow and partner and learn and do all of the things. So yeah, I'm out there in the world, y'allall.

Chantée Christian:

Yeah, she is. Her content is dope. So make sure you follow and I'll make sure that your information is inside the podcast notes so they can also capture it there. I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being a part of this journey with me. Thank you for trusting the process. Thank you for, even though there were times where you had doubt, that you set it aside to walk in your truth so that others could benefit from what you had to share. So I just want to say thank you.

Nikki Walker:

My absolute pleasure and thank you. Nothing is by mistake and us crossing paths is no different. So thank you for being a part of my community and just being a bright light in all the communities where you exist. Thank you.