Nika Stewart was voted quietest and shyest in elementary school. Today she is a TEDx speaker, personal branding expert, bestselling author, award-winning filmmaker, rock singer, and founder of Shine, a personal branding home for people who refuse to become copy-paste versions of themselves. Her viral cancer journey content has reached hundreds of millions, with one video passing 160 million views.

Host Rich Wright and Nika dive into multi-passionate creativity, self-permission, entrepreneurship, resilience, and the science of following your own rules.Nika shares how a mother who valued looking perfect shaped a childhood of rehearsing every answer before raising her hand, and how a Wizard of Oz school play revealed the performer hiding inside the quiet kid. She talks about singing at her bat mitzvah, opera at a performing arts high school, Broadway musical comedy, and the college dorm party where she knew she wanted to be a rock star.

Her career is built on bold creative pivots: a children’s party entertainment business, a custom window treatment design company, marketing for interior designers, teaching “laptop moms” to grow online businesses during nap time, and decades of social media, visibility, and personal branding work.

For nearly 25 years, this secular and deeply spiritual woman has also returned each High Holiday season to lead a temple service as its musical leader. Nika opens up about her 2020 cancer diagnosis and her choice to write her own emotional rules: finding the funny every day, documenting the journey, and sharing it online.

A video about reaching for hair that was no longer there went viral, sparking her book Actually, I Can: Rewriting the Rules of Resilience, a short documentary, an original song, and the Gwendolyn Starshine children’s book series for kids with big feelings and big dreams.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

~“Flighty” actually means multi-passionate

~Artists undercharge because their gift feels easy, and that ease is exactly why it is valuable

~There is no ready. You do it in order to feel readyPush record first, then prepare. You can always edit

~Your skill set travels with you through every career pivot

~A creative outlet gives the mind respite and sparks solutions

~Nika shares research linking humor and laughter to better outcomes for cancer patients

~Consistency online opens doors, including the TEDx stage

~“Figure it out” can be the most powerful vote of confidence: you’re good enough

Nika also shares how her husband’s “figure it out” challenge turned her into an award-winning film editor, her open, trust-based approach to parenting, and her newest venture: a community for dollhouse and miniatures lovers built on small spaces, big joy.

Connect with Nika:

Website: https://www.shine-365.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikastewart

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

Youtube: @NikaStewartSHINE

FB: https://www.facebook.com/nikastewart

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nikastewartshine

Connect with Rich:

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theartistrecovery.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Linkedin: @richwrightunltd

Facebook: @richwrightunltd

Instagram: @richwrightunltd

FB: @theartrec

Instagram: @theartrec

Support and Shop Art Rec Merch: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.artrecshop.com⁠⁠

Join Podmatch: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.joinpodmatch.com/artistre....

Dyslexia Classes: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skool.com/dyslexia-classe...

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