About Nikki

nikkiI’ve been described as a self-starter with a can-do attitude a few times in my life and looking back now it isn’t that much of a surprise where it all came from.

I was born and brought up in central Africa, which being a developing country has sunshine in abundance but also it’s fair share of difficulties. So I learnt very early on in life to be very aware of crime, how to plan ahead for the next time when shipments of sugar, butter, and flour arrived into the country after months of waiting, and how to survive when the water and / or electricity was cut off without warning for sometimes days at a time.

At the age of 12 I learnt all about making dramatic change work for you when I arrived in England at boarding school. All the girls were totally focussed on music and fashion,
both of which had skipped my part of the world completely and all I could focus on was why on earth would someone put blocks of concrete on the side of the road a call it a pavement?

Yet an environment that at first seemed so far out of my comfort zone, with some perseverance, eventually become a very happy home and from then on change was definitely something to be embraced in my eyes.

I caught the entrepreneur bug when I was working with the DTI. I remember feeling an immense sense of reward when people would walk in as an average person with an ambition and leave as business owners bursting with pride and excitement about their future. So then being presented with the opportunity to join a start-up called Orange it was impossible to resist.

Being part of the original team that grew Orange to one of the most successful companies in the UK was an amazing journey right through from launch to IPO to the first trade sale. No one had ever done what was promised to the market, and the vision was met with resistance from closed minds everywhere from the city to the industry analysts. In fact in most headlines it was actually ‘doomed to fail’.

lt was from this experience that I gained the tenacity to see a ground-breaking project through against all the odds, and I have applied this without fail throughout my career.

After Orange I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel and after selling up and buying a backpack, I lived “the dream” in Australia for the best part of the next year. My cold shower was delivered on my return to England in the snow. I was then faced with the reality of property prices having tripled, my friends having moved on and the challenge of starting again from scratch.

So again, with some perseverance, and after a few frustrating interviews, I took the bull by the horns and made it work. I launched my own management consultancy which demonstrated the power of success through brands and people. Now having re-discovered my purpose I started to look forward to my future with new sense of determination.

Some 18 months later I was contacted by an old colleague from Orange with an opportunity to realise the vision of being able to pay for things using your mobile phone. The inevitable path was once again in front of me. I co-founded the company, later branded Beem, and in my role of Chief Operating Officer I dedicated several years to successfully building the world’s first truly independent mobile payment service from concept to completion.

This year in my latest venture, I am launching a dynamic new umbrella brand for an exciting range of products created for the personal development and well-being market place.

To those that have taken the time to read this and understand me a little better, my key message is to remember that ‘anything is possible’ if you put your mind to it and believe you want it badly enough.

And most importantly – there are always people who will help you on your journey, as long as you are open to letting them do so.

If you or a friend has an idea, or an early stage business that is proving to be a little more difficult than you thought to manifest into life. Contact me via this site and we can discuss how I can help.

To your success

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