You might be the problem.
Or your boss might be.
Let’s find out.
Either way you deserve an answer - not a peptalk.
You’re not stuck because you’re not trying hard enough.
If you’re the hardest working person in your organization, have certificates/degrees/social proof of your awesomeness plastering your email signature, continually go above and beyond expectations and STILL feel frustrated, stuck, and underappreciated-
Hi, I’m Nikki.
I’m not a life coach. I don’t do vision boards. I don’t have a three-step program to get you promoted.
Generic advice isn’t going to work for you because it caters to everyone - you’re not everyone. You’re a high-performer who needs real actions and a new perspective. That’s where I come in.
I ask inconvenient questions, listen carefully, and help you come up with practical steps you can take now to navigate your situation and stop spinning in place.
One honest conversation can change what you see. And what you see changes what's possible.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
A finance manager came to me wanting to know how to fix his toxic boss. Bad news: you can't fix other people. Good news: you can work around them. Six months after we worked together he was called out by his company's CFO in a town hall for exceptional team performance. His boss didn't change. He did.
A woman in tech was told by her manager to find another role. That's a rough day. It also wasn't entirely her fault — what happens when a burnt-out high performer makes her teammates look bad isn't always pretty. We figured out how to get her work in front of people who weren't her direct manager. Someone noticed. She was scooped up by another team and is now happily doing something with AI.
A mid-career woman came to me with more credentials than I have — and was about to go back for her third master’s degree because she kept getting overlooked. The degree wasn't the problem. We worked on the actual problem. Things got better. Not perfect — but better than being blocked at every turn.
Your employees are disengaged because they’re tired of being ignored.
Gallup’s state of the workforce 2025 says that 77% of your employees are disengaged, but I’m guessing you already knew that. Maybe your annual engagement score went up last year - kudos to you and all but what actually changed at work that lets you know what you’re doing is working?
You don’t need another motivational speaker. Your people have heard it before. They don’t want you shoving positive mindset, productivity, or 5 new ways to use Copilot more effectively down their throats.
They want you to do what you say you’re going to do, reward the behavior that you demand, and notice when they show up for you.
I'm a TEDx speaker, published author, and full-time corporate professional — which means I'm not parachuting in from the motivational speaker circuit. I work inside a large organization every day. I know what it looks like when talented people go quiet. I know what it costs you when they do.
The employees you're most worried about losing aren't disengaged; they're just done waiting for something to change. That's a solvable problem. But it requires honesty, not inspiration. Your people are still here.
The question is what's keeping them — and whether that's enough.
Bio (sort of)
The [completely reasonable] plan for my life was to write a book, hit the New York Times Best Seller list, and then quit my day job.
Turns out getting on the list is kind of hard, and even the people who made it on there have day jobs. You can imagine my disappointment when I actually met a multiple NYT best seller, and she still teaches full-time.
The daydream flopped, but the book didn't - I still sell a handful of copies each month to people I've never met, which is pretty cool. One of those people was a local business leader who invited me to speak to her Women in Business group. That talk got me two (paid) speaking referrals and two coaching clients. Five years later, and here we are.
I still have my day job, but I'm not mad about it. I'm not saving the world, but I do get to work on interesting projects. I do this work because there's no way I'm gatekeeping any info that can help good people get the recognition they deserve.
When I'm not working, I'm momming, reading, or making something really cool in Notion. Actually that might be a lie... I'm probably napping first and then doing all of those things. Anyway, that's me.
Oh yeah - if you wanted my creds here they are: Corporate Strategist at a Fortune 50 company, Executive MBA from Duke, Magna Cum Laude graduate of Sweet Briar College with a degree in economics, published author, TEDx speaker, trained corporate facilitator and executive coach, certification from Story Telling with Data, Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma, Triple Crown from Toastmasters International, graduate of half a dozen leadership development courses (can I be done now?)