POLKcast: Business, leadership & community with Nikki Smith
Polk Cast Transcript – Nikki Smith
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[Hosts]
We’ll start a trend. Everybody leaves
a little note for somebody else. I.
00:00:03.720 –> 00:00:04.190
Love it.
00:00:04.190 –> 00:00:05.920
I love it. We could be trendsetters.
00:00:06.100 –> 00:00:07.200
Yes, you already were.
[Music]
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Another kind of free-form rock. Go
make solo. Maybe want tap toe.
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Just another kind of free form. I
go make solo, maybe want tap toe?
[Madison]
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Welcome to Polk Cast Polk State College’s
official podcast. I’m your host,
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Madison Fantozzi.
[Leah]
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And I’m your co-host Leah Bartholomay. Woohoo.
[Madison]
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Today’s guest is well acquainted
with Polk State College. Nikki Smith,
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founder of ASAP Prints
received her associate in arts
degree from Polk State in
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1991.
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ASAP Prints is a commercial print shop
located in Winter Haven and has been listed
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as one of the top 50 women
owned businesses by the
Tampa Bay Business Journal.
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ASAP has also received the Winter
Haven Chamber of Commerce’s,
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Small Business of the Year award
and several other accolades.
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Nicki was awarded the Polk
State Distinguished Alumna
Award in spring of 2019
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and says it was a moment to be
cherished forever. As a business leader,
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creative consultant and philanthropist
Nikki and her husband Ed continuously
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give back to the community.
Over the past few years,
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ASAP has given more than $30,000 in
scholarships to the Polk State Foundation.
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They believe in the power of education
and investing and helping others
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when not designing out of
the box art for clients,
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Nikki spends her time reading, traveling,
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and checking out the newest technology
gadgets. Welcome to PolkCast, Nikki.
[Nikki]
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Thank you. I’m so excited and
nervous. More excited than nervous.
[Leah]
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Oh, don’t be nervous, <laugh>. Thanks.
[Madison]
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Well, you’re no stranger to campus,
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but what does it feel like
to be back here today?
[Nikki]
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You know,
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I was thinking about that and it
feels like it’s comforting because the
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buildings and everything are the
same, but at the same point it’s,
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everything is so different when
you look inside these buildings.
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When I was here back when you
said it was way back then,
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there was not even
technology for a cell phone.
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And so now you look at people,
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they have iPhones and laptops and iPads
and all of this technology even within
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the buildings and it is so different.
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So I’m very much happy to be here
and on campus and looking around.
[Madison]
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Really. Cool.
[Leah]
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Do you have any memories being back
on campus from when you were here?
[Nikki]
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Yes. So I’ve seen some chairs and
different things outside and I remember
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specifically being in band
at Polk State. In fact,
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that’s how I ended up
getting to Polk State,
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is they offered me a scholarship so that
I could afford to go here in return.
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I played in the band. So you know,
being in the Fine Arts auditorium,
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we would play there, we would play
outside and it wasn’t a big band,
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but it was our own little
group and family. So that
memory came back right away.
[Leah]
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Did you play the flute Lake Lizzo?
[Nikki]
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I did play the flute
[All]
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<laugh>.That’s awesome. Yeah. Yeah.
[Leah]
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You said the trend.
[Nikki]
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I, well I don’t know if I was
a trendsetter then, but um,
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I went to Winter Haven High School
and was in the band there, so.
[Leah]
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Awesome. Well share with us a
little bit about your background,
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where you’re from and
what led you to Polk.
[Leah, Nikki]
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State. You got it.
[Nikki]
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So I was born in Seoul, Korea and I
spent the first year of my life, um,
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in an orphanage there. And then
thankfully I was adopted, uh, by a family.
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So I moved to mi, um, Florida
when I was five and was grew up,
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lived in Winter Haven, went
to Winter Haven High School,
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and then I came here
to Polk State College.
[Leah]
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I know you said you were one,
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but do you have any memories of back then
or do you have any photos or anything
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from your past.
[Nikki]
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Crazy story.. I do have, I have zero
memories. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>,
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if I did have a memory
from when I was one,
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I need to go and get book a
world’s records. Right. I,
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so I don’t have any memories,
but I do have a photo, um,
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and it’s me and this little baby carrier
and I have a little number on me and
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I’ve gone back and, um,
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volunteered with the organization
that helped me get to America.
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The craziest thing is I met
this woman there who was born
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one day after me from the same orphanage
cuz we were volunteering and I was like
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kind of just looking at her
like, I’m, are you my twin?
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What’s that word they call
it when everybody has a twin?
[Leah]
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Right. Um, you’re a doppelganger.
[Nikki]
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Doppelganger. Yeah. She was not,
but it still was pretty cool.
[Leah]
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That’s great. Wow.
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Do you know anything about your history
or anything who your parents were, why.
[Leah, Nikki]
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You were there? I don’t, I don’t,
Yeah, you figure to end up, you know,
[Nikki]
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as a little baby in an orphanage that
kind of says the history’s kind of gone.
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Right. Um, so I just kinda look
forward and I’m just so thankful.
[Leah]
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That is awesome.
[Madison]
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So what was it like
growing up here? You know,
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you mentioned that you went to Winter
Haven High School and then you came here
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to Polk State. What was
your experience like?
[Nikki]
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It was perfect for me. Right.
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Everybody has different
desires and thoughts on what
they want to do in life and
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what they want their education
goals to be. But for me,
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when my time here on campus,
I was a wife, I was a mom,
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I was working and trying to take
these classes in business and at
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that time I wanted to get my AA in
accounting. That was a challenge, right?
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I was a flute player in the band,
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not necessarily an economics
and accounting kind of person.
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My brain didn’t necessarily work that way.
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So to be able to finish and achieve
it and get my associate’s degree was
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perfect. It was exactly what I needed.
[Madison, Leah]
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Wow. Wow. So you were
a wife and a mom Yes.
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When you were going to college here.
[Nikki]
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And working.
[Leah]
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Wow. Yeah. That’s insane. So was
there a gap between high school?
[Nikki, Leah]
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No. You had married early?
Yeah. You were like, this is.
[Nikki]
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Where Well, I got married here while,
you know, cuz I was here for two years,
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might have been two and a half. I
might have been on that two and a half.
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Little bit stretched
out plan. Um, but yeah,
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so during that time of
life that’s what, yeah.
[Nikki, Leah]
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Wow. Yeah. That’s crazy. Yeah.
[Madison]
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That.
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Actually represents a lot
of our students. I mean,
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most of our students are coming here
part-time and Yep. Cuz they’re working.
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Yep. They have families. Um,
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I think your story speaks to a lot of
the situations that our students find
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themselves in. So.
[Nikki]
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Yeah, I do. I think that’s what the,
at that time it was community college.
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Now of course it’s state college. Um,
but I think that that little niche,
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um, really, really is appealing and
very, very important in our community.
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Right.
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Because not everybody has the desire to
go off to college or the financial means
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to go. So for me, music got me here.
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Sports gets people to school
sometimes, um, by what you know,
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and then foundation
scholarships are available, so.
[Leah]
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Awesome.
[Madison]
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So what inspired you to open ASAP Print?
[Nikki]
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I, after college I started
working for another company and,
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and even while I was in college I was
working for a company and that industry
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just kind of completely went
extinct. It’s like, you know,
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technology changed and so that industry
I was in went away and so I started
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working for a printing company.
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I did that for a couple years
and it just wasn’t a good fit.
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And I decided cuz I, I’m ambitious,
I’m kind of a little more, um,
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spunky and I wanted to do something
more than just be a print salesman.
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So I started the company, I took
a $5,000 loan from the bank,
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started the company in our home
and figured, you know what,
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I have almost nothing to
lose and everything to gain.
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And I wanted it to be based on
excellent customer service and just
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really, um,
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trending technology and just a whole
lot more than just print on paper.
[Madison]
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And so what was that feeling like at
first starting a business from scratch?
[Nikki]
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It was scary as the day is long, right?
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So I think by that time there was, uh,
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so as my husband myself and now we’ve had,
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we had two kids by that time and he,
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I think my husband was
working, he was doing politics,
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which you everybody knows how the um,
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what a coke rollercoaster ride that
could be. He was politic and yeah, Right,
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exactly. Thankfully he was not the
politician. He was working for one,
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but it’s still a lot of hard work and
a lot of hours. But I was nervous,
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right? We were a dual family income.
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You quit your job and you think
that you got the gumption to make a self
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business run, uh,
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and work and all of a sudden you’ve taken
a lot of responsibility on your hands
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and a lot of grocery
money. So I was scared.
[Leah]
00:08:04.750 –> 00:08:07.000
What year did you start asap.
[Nikki]
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I.
[Leah]
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Think in your house.
[Nikki]
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I think it was 2001. Okay.
[Leah]
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Yeah. So how long did it take to get
from your house to where you are now?
[Nikki]
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Lots of moving. It was an ongoing joke
that every year that Nikki would move us.
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Right? And as we grew, um,
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I think at one point there were four
people working inside my house and
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I had a little office room and I
would just work all the time, right?
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I’d get up,
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I’d go stuff some food in my face and
come back and sit down and work some more.
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I’d go take a shower and sit in my
pajamas and work some more and then people
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would show up. Finally we were
like, Okay, hey, home is home.
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We gotta find some balance. Let’s
get all these people out and move.
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So that was probably year two or three.
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We’ve been in four different offices
on Central Avenue here in Winter Haven.
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Then we moved out to an office in Recker
Highway and then I think it was about
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four or five years ago, we bought
the building on Havendale Boulevard.
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And that the joke got to stop that
I moved us every year. Now we are,
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we are all set, 7,500 square foot,
there’s nine of us and there we live.
[Leah]
00:09:11.610 –> 00:09:16.320
It is really impressive
to go from one your house
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to the building that you have
now. And as a graphic designer,
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I’m so excited going into
your building. It’s so fun.
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It’s like a Google office almost.
There’s like all this fun stuff.
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Everybody gets to bring their dogs to
work, which is very cool and very fun.
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And on top of that it’s beautiful.
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There’s so many aesthetically pleasing
things in they’re all that you’ve made.
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So, And your equipment’s amazing.
00:09:37.680 –> 00:09:42.040
Can you tell us a little bit about your
shop and some of the items that you guys
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have made in there and some of the
really cool printers that you have that
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you’re the most excited about?
[Nikki]
00:09:46.660 –> 00:09:50.400
Yes. As soon as I get past the excitement
of dogs in the workplace, Yes. Yes.
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Okay. I do thank you for mentioning
that cuz I do love having dogs there.
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I think it’s so fun. And you
know, we love our furry friends,
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so why not let them come
with us and you know, and,
00:10:00.120 –> 00:10:03.080
and the only rule we have is that they
can’t bark and thankfully none of our
00:10:03.080 –> 00:10:05.560
little friends have barked
or they’re not barkers. Uh,
00:10:05.560 –> 00:10:08.480
unless you’re the UPS man, then, then
everybody gets to bark at the u They.
[Leah]
00:10:08.480 –> 00:10:11.760
Get a pass. They get a pass. Yeah. So
what are all the furry employee names?
[Nikki]
00:10:11.760 –> 00:10:15.680
Okay, so we have a
Macallen, we have a max,
00:10:16.260 –> 00:10:20.960
and recently we’ve had a little visitor,
Dexter puppy. So yes. And sometimes,
00:10:21.130 –> 00:10:25.600
um, I can’t remember the other
one’s name. Shoot, sorry.
[Leah]
00:10:26.050 –> 00:10:27.400
He must be ops worker.
[All]
00:10:28.640 –> 00:10:29.473
<Laugh>.
00:10:29.600 –> 00:10:30.433
<Laugh>.
[Leah]
00:10:31.150 –> 00:10:31.910
Very cool.
[Nikki]
00:10:31.910 –> 00:10:33.760
Some of the equipment
and things that we have,
00:10:33.760 –> 00:10:36.880
our core competency is we print
on paper. That’s what we do.
00:10:36.880 –> 00:10:41.400
You guys know cuz we get to print with
you guys and for the college and any
00:10:41.400 –> 00:10:45.960
papers and para, uh, pamphlets
that students get or like
maybe a postcard that,
00:10:45.960 –> 00:10:47.720
you know, somebody on the list would get.
00:10:47.850 –> 00:10:50.280
We have good probability we printed it.
00:10:50.500 –> 00:10:55.480
The funds and creative stuff we’ve
done are signs and window graphics
00:10:56.260 –> 00:10:58.320
and um, wall murals.
00:10:58.650 –> 00:11:02.800
We love taking a wall
that somebody says, Hey,
00:11:03.370 –> 00:11:06.200
we have no creative idea. What
do you envision on that wall?
00:11:06.220 –> 00:11:09.320
And coming up with something
unique, we ask, it starts with, Hey,
00:11:09.320 –> 00:11:11.480
what’s your budget? You know,
what are the parameters?
00:11:11.480 –> 00:11:15.320
Does it need to be interactive? Is it
gonna be long-term, outdoor, indoor,
00:11:15.320 –> 00:11:16.840
All of these kinds of questions.
00:11:16.840 –> 00:11:21.720
And then we’ll create space and we try
to keep a little bit of every project we
00:11:21.720 –> 00:11:25.960
do and put it in our building so that
way when people do come by to visit it
00:11:25.960 –> 00:11:28.920
kind of can spark an idea or,
um, you know, give give them,
00:11:28.920 –> 00:11:30.160
get their imagination going.
[Leah]
00:11:30.370 –> 00:11:31.320
It is very cool.
00:11:31.420 –> 00:11:34.920
And it also smells so good cuz you
have all those nice glossy papers.
00:11:35.010 –> 00:11:38.040
It smells like a beautiful new
book every time you walk in.
[Nikki]
00:11:38.250 –> 00:11:41.360
It does, it kind of smells like the
library like we’re in now. Yeah. Oh.
[Leah]
00:11:41.360 –> 00:11:41.970
Kinda. Yeah.
[Madison]
00:11:41.970 –> 00:11:46.560
Is there anywhere locally where someone
can go or where listeners can go and see
00:11:46.560 –> 00:11:48.160
some of your work out in the real.
[Nikki]
00:11:48.160 –> 00:11:52.560
World? Yes. Okay. So, and see
listeners here would probably be what?
00:11:52.560 –> 00:11:55.120
Winter Haven and Lakeland. Mm-hmm.
<affirmative> in Winter Haven,
00:11:55.270 –> 00:11:59.280
just about any place around will
have something. Um, if I started,
00:11:59.280 –> 00:12:03.640
obviously Polk does, um, the
MLK park down at Lake Silver.
00:12:04.110 –> 00:12:05.480
They, we did a,
00:12:05.480 –> 00:12:08.240
they needed a timeline and a little
bit of graphic about the park,
00:12:08.240 –> 00:12:10.120
obviously outside long term.
00:12:10.300 –> 00:12:13.320
And we didn’t want it to be
one of those static displays.
00:12:13.610 –> 00:12:16.640
So we created a cool shape,
lots of vibrant colors,
00:12:16.640 –> 00:12:19.200
and it gives the history of
Winter Haven that’s outdoor,
00:12:19.210 –> 00:12:21.440
so anybody can go anytime, um,
00:12:21.670 –> 00:12:26.520
everything from coffee
shop to li the library. Um,
00:12:26.650 –> 00:12:30.880
in Lakeland specifically, because
we’ve just had hurricane season,
00:12:31.890 –> 00:12:35.960
um, hurricane hunters, NOAA has
a huge warehouse in Lakeland.
00:12:36.420 –> 00:12:41.160
And when they moved in, it’s a
like a 12 airplane hangar.
00:12:41.160 –> 00:12:41.993
It’s huge.
00:12:42.060 –> 00:12:45.760
And all of their facilities and all of
the data comes straight outta Lakeland.
00:12:46.050 –> 00:12:50.680
We did a wall mural, uh,
logo, graphics, door signage.
00:12:51.210 –> 00:12:55.040
Um, now to answer your question
though, I’m sorry about that.
00:12:55.040 –> 00:12:56.800
That’s probably not a place
you can go in and visit.
[All]
00:12:57.400 –> 00:13:01.920
<Laugh>. Sorry. Well, the Winter Haven
example was a good answer. Ok. Yeah.
00:13:02.120 –> 00:13:04.800
Probably you’re somewhere you can’t
- Yeah. Yeah. That’s the super cool.
[Madison]
00:13:04.980 –> 00:13:06.680
But that’s really cool
that you did work for them.
00:13:06.700 –> 00:13:07.720
Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
00:13:07.720 –> 00:13:08.553
Awesome.
[Leah]
00:13:08.850 –> 00:13:10.600
So, I mean, we kind of
touched on this a little bit,
00:13:10.600 –> 00:13:14.160
but what does your job specifically
entail and what’s your fa what are your
00:13:14.280 –> 00:13:15.080
favorite aspects of.
[Nikki]
00:13:15.080 –> 00:13:19.960
It specifically? I would say a lot
of customer service, a lot, um,
00:13:19.960 –> 00:13:23.760
obviously leadership for
some for our team and design.
00:13:24.210 –> 00:13:27.760
So I might not do the day
to day, Hey, sit down,
00:13:27.760 –> 00:13:29.560
we’re gonna click the
mouse and, and do that.
00:13:29.560 –> 00:13:32.800
But I do get to participate in the
overall, Hey, let’s talk about it.
00:13:32.800 –> 00:13:35.240
Let’s do a think tank session. Uh,
00:13:35.240 –> 00:13:37.240
and then the other side of
that would be leadership.
00:13:37.240 –> 00:13:42.240
I think being able to identify
what each of the teammates need to
00:13:42.240 –> 00:13:46.480
be the most successful at the job
that they do, that would, to me,
00:13:46.480 –> 00:13:50.480
would be a really key part of
leadership. They’re not all the same,
00:13:50.620 –> 00:13:54.360
but somehow we have to be able to
work with them, work with each other,
00:13:54.580 –> 00:13:57.360
and becomes very successful
together. Awesome.
[Madison]
00:13:57.390 –> 00:13:59.160
Well, you kind of touched on this already,
00:13:59.160 –> 00:14:03.040
but how does your job and
Polk state cross paths? Yeah.
[Nikki]
00:14:04.050 –> 00:14:06.440
Through asaps success,
00:14:06.440 –> 00:14:09.600
I’ve been given the opportunity to
serve on several different boards.
00:14:09.600 –> 00:14:12.600
And one of them right now is I’m the
vice president of the Polk State Alumni
00:14:12.600 –> 00:14:17.280
Board. Um, and so that is
path crossing number one.
[Nikki, Leah]
00:14:17.280 –> 00:14:20.520
I would say maybe in house
v I am the vice president,
[Nikki]
00:14:20.520 –> 00:14:24.440
would everybody please rise <laugh>? Um,
00:14:24.440 –> 00:14:26.680
so that ra I really am
passionate about that.
00:14:26.680 –> 00:14:31.000
I really would like to get more alumni
involved and create avenues where they
00:14:31.000 –> 00:14:34.160
can see what’s going on in the
college. So if you’re an alumni,
00:14:34.160 –> 00:14:38.200
this is my shameless plug, please
reach out. Let’s get involved.
00:14:38.200 –> 00:14:41.680
Come to a basketball game, come to any
kinda sporting events, whatever you want.
00:14:41.680 –> 00:14:45.320
Just let’s, let’s connect.
The other way that, um,
00:14:45.320 –> 00:14:49.160
ASAP connects with Polk State and
me personally, is through printing.
00:14:49.570 –> 00:14:54.280
We are a, um, valued
vendor for the college.
00:14:54.420 –> 00:14:58.640
And I love being called and asked
to participate in, you know,
00:14:58.640 –> 00:14:59.880
in printing stuff for you guys.
[Leah]
00:15:00.510 –> 00:15:04.720
I also often call you crying because
projects are difficult and I screw up.
[Nikki]
00:15:05.080 –> 00:15:06.080
<Laugh>. No, I.
[Leah]
00:15:06.080 –> 00:15:08.520
Appreciate that. You’re always
like, you’re gonna get through.
00:15:08.520 –> 00:15:09.560
It’s almost Friday.
00:15:10.310 –> 00:15:11.920
It’s right. And we call it fun. You’re.
00:15:11.920 –> 00:15:14.600
My yay. You’re my emotional
support printer. Well.
00:15:14.600 –> 00:15:15.310
Thank you.
[Madison]
00:15:15.310 –> 00:15:16.143
Love it.
[All]
00:15:16.400 –> 00:15:17.233
<Laugh>.
[Leah]
00:15:17.250 –> 00:15:21.000
So how did Polk State provide you with
a foundation to get where you are today?
[Nikki]
00:15:21.740 –> 00:15:24.880
I’m gonna say perseverance, right?
00:15:24.970 –> 00:15:29.840
So kind of like what I touched on a,
a few minutes ago about, you know,
00:15:29.840 –> 00:15:33.600
all the different things that we,
I had to juggle Polk State, they,
00:15:33.600 –> 00:15:34.960
professors were encouraging.
00:15:34.960 –> 00:15:39.280
It gave me an avenue where I could
actually get my education without the
00:15:39.480 –> 00:15:43.200
pressure to, I, I don’t even
know what pressure it would be,
00:15:43.200 –> 00:15:45.560
but just the overall, you know,
education, pressure of classes.
00:15:45.560 –> 00:15:49.600
And I think professors were understanding
this was not foreign to them, right?
00:15:49.600 –> 00:15:53.000
You’re juggling so many things,
but then the encouragement to, Hey,
00:15:53.000 –> 00:15:55.600
let’s finish. You can do this.
You got this, let’s finish up,
00:15:55.600 –> 00:16:00.480
let’s finish up that one to one ratio
of them speaking into my life wa was
00:16:00.480 –> 00:16:00.890
important.
[Leah]
00:16:00.890 –> 00:16:01.723
Awesome.
[Madison]
00:16:01.740 –> 00:16:04.000
And so what inspires you to
give back to the college?
[Nikki]
00:16:04.670 –> 00:16:08.000
I believe that had I not
persevered and finished my degree,
00:16:08.150 –> 00:16:13.080
I probably would have started a path
to not finish lots of things in life,
00:16:13.620 –> 00:16:16.520
but because I stuck with it,
because of the encouragement,
00:16:16.910 –> 00:16:20.160
I believe that that started
setting, setting the trend,
00:16:20.160 –> 00:16:22.640
and laid the foundation to
start becoming an entrepreneur.
00:16:23.950 –> 00:16:26.840
I want to give back to the college
because I want everybody to be able to
00:16:26.840 –> 00:16:30.640
experience that. You know, nowadays
in our county and our demographic,
00:16:30.650 –> 00:16:34.240
we have students that are,
um, you know, they, they,
00:16:34.240 –> 00:16:36.960
they could be single parents,
they could be, you know,
00:16:36.960 –> 00:16:39.920
taking care of their parents
or their grandparents.
00:16:39.930 –> 00:16:43.440
They’re multi-generational
living. It’s not as easy as, Hey,
00:16:43.440 –> 00:16:46.480
I’m just gonna go to class, go
home, study and sleep and repeat.
00:16:46.530 –> 00:16:51.400
There’s a lot of things involved
I want to give back because I want
00:16:51.400 –> 00:16:55.160
all of them to be able to persevere and
finish and get their degree and get that
00:16:55.160 –> 00:16:55.993
sense of accomplishment.
[Madison]
00:16:57.150 –> 00:16:57.640
Well,
00:16:57.640 –> 00:17:02.120
and so Polk State’s business program is
our second largest program apart from
00:17:02.120 –> 00:17:03.400
our associate and arts degree.
00:17:03.700 –> 00:17:07.040
And so as an accomplished business
owner and an entrepreneur,
00:17:07.350 –> 00:17:09.440
what advice do you have
for our business students.
[Nikki]
00:17:10.020 –> 00:17:14.040
Get the bachelor’s degree. That’s so
cool. When I heard it, I was like, What?
00:17:14.040 –> 00:17:17.080
That is so fabulous. I mean,
that’s, that’s what took it.
00:17:17.080 –> 00:17:20.640
What from community college to state
college? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh,
00:17:20.640 –> 00:17:22.880
being able to have that bachelor’s
degree. I think it’s important.
00:17:22.880 –> 00:17:27.240
I think it’s awesome. The, if you are
going into a, um, corporate world,
00:17:27.310 –> 00:17:31.920
that bachelor’s degree can help you stand
out amongst those that don’t have it.
00:17:32.120 –> 00:17:34.360
Again, it also goes to, um,
00:17:34.360 –> 00:17:37.920
giving you more knowledge and insights
and how to deal with people in the
00:17:37.920 –> 00:17:38.410
workplace.
[Madison]
00:17:38.410 –> 00:17:40.000
So as an accomplished business owner,
00:17:40.000 –> 00:17:43.480
what advice do you have for aspiring
entrepreneurs and business leaders?
[Nikki]
00:17:44.620 –> 00:17:47.520
The business leaders one
was, is, is interesting.
00:17:48.150 –> 00:17:51.360
I would say that as a leader,
00:17:51.810 –> 00:17:55.880
it is your job to identify and help equip
00:17:56.510 –> 00:18:00.360
people to work with you. And
notice I didn’t say for you, right?
00:18:00.360 –> 00:18:02.880
Just because you lead doesn’t mean
that people have to work for you.
00:18:02.990 –> 00:18:06.680
You’re leading. It’s funny,
I I say you need to educate,
00:18:06.900 –> 00:18:09.760
you need to equip and
then you need to launch.
00:18:09.820 –> 00:18:14.280
You need to launch your team into the
areas that they’re gonna be successful and
00:18:14.280 –> 00:18:17.640
let them go. If there’s an, uh,
00:18:17.640 –> 00:18:19.720
an event that’s like a hiccup
or a little bump in the road,
00:18:19.720 –> 00:18:22.080
which there will be if you’re
a leader in anything you do,
00:18:22.300 –> 00:18:24.800
you just need to address
it and then move on.
00:18:24.820 –> 00:18:29.120
But the biggest thing is to
celebrate every win, right?
00:18:29.120 –> 00:18:30.960
The wins tend to get
brushed under the carpet.
00:18:30.960 –> 00:18:34.920
The wins are just the expected norm.
But if you celebrate everything,
00:18:35.280 –> 00:18:37.440
whatever it is, whether it’s
a birthday, whether it’s, hey,
00:18:37.440 –> 00:18:39.000
you got a compliment from a client,
00:18:39.490 –> 00:18:43.440
or you just did a really outstanding
job that day, celebrate it. That way.
00:18:43.440 –> 00:18:47.800
When the bumps and hiccups do come
along, they’re easily, easily addressed.
00:18:47.990 –> 00:18:52.640
I also would say leaders need to have
the courage to understand that sometimes
00:18:52.640 –> 00:18:56.280
people need to find their happiness
elsewhere. And as a leader,
00:18:56.280 –> 00:18:59.720
it might be your job to help them move on.
[Leah]
00:19:00.290 –> 00:19:04.120
So celebrating, is it red
wine? White wine or beer?
[Nikki]
00:19:05.110 –> 00:19:09.560
That is a great question.
And I’m going to go with D,
00:19:09.580 –> 00:19:10.520
all of the above.
[Leah]
00:19:10.960 –> 00:19:11.400
<Laugh>. Perfect.
[Nikki]
00:19:11.400 –> 00:19:15.320
Answer. See, and if and if
Scantron tests still exists,
00:19:15.320 –> 00:19:18.080
I wouldn’t be bubbling in D <laugh>.
If that doesn’t exist anymore,
00:19:18.080 –> 00:19:20.200
then that tells you how long it’s
been since I’ve been in college.
[Leah]
00:19:20.800 –> 00:19:23.560
<Laugh>, I don’t even
know what that means. You.
[Niki]
00:19:23.560 –> 00:19:27.760
Know, know what a Scantron is. Okay.
A scantron is like when you were,
00:19:28.010 –> 00:19:30.760
or when somebody was in school
somewhere that’s listening.
00:19:30.760 –> 00:19:34.200
They know like you bubble it. Like
when you vote, you bubble in oval.
[Leah]
00:19:34.670 –> 00:19:35.680
I was homeschooled.
[All]
00:19:35.890 –> 00:19:36.410
Oh.
00:19:36.410 –> 00:19:39.400
Oh, oh guys, that makes a lot.
00:19:39.400 –> 00:19:40.400
Of of sense now.
[Leah]
00:19:40.830 –> 00:19:43.560
Okay. A voting thing where
it goes, I got you in.
00:19:43.560 –> 00:19:44.920
No, I scanned, scanned.
00:19:44.960 –> 00:19:45.360
Tron. I.
00:19:45.360 –> 00:19:46.193
Was like Tron. Yeah.
[Leah]
00:19:46.410 –> 00:19:47.400
I was very confused.
[Nikki]
00:19:47.470 –> 00:19:49.920
Number two, led pencil. Well,
[Nikki]
00:19:49.920 –> 00:19:53.080
like the SAT t is probably in the A
Surely those still have to use that. Oh.
[Leah]
00:19:53.080 –> 00:19:53.800
Right, right.
[Madison]
00:19:53.800 –> 00:19:56.760
Okay. Well those were in a book though,
so maybe you were, I don’t know.
00:19:56.760 –> 00:19:57.560
When I was in college,
00:19:57.560 –> 00:20:00.960
you had to go to the bookstore
and buy your own Scantrons. Wow.
00:20:00.960 –> 00:20:02.680
And if you would show up
to class without them,
00:20:02.680 –> 00:20:04.760
you couldn’t take the test and
the professor would make you.
00:20:04.760 –> 00:20:06.160
Leave. I’ve never heard the word.
[Leah, Madison]
00:20:06.160 –> 00:20:07.640
Scantron. Scantron Or a blue book.
00:20:07.950 –> 00:20:08.600
Yeah. And.
00:20:08.600 –> 00:20:09.760
A blue book. Yeah. Okay.
[Nikki]
00:20:09.760 –> 00:20:11.480
Okay. So wait what’s a blue book?
[Madison]
00:20:11.650 –> 00:20:13.360
They’re kind of like Scantrons,
00:20:13.360 –> 00:20:17.440
but they also have room for like short
response answers or essays. Okay.
[All]
00:20:17.440 –> 00:20:18.920
Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
[Nikki]
00:20:19.180 –> 00:20:23.360
And you can buy ’em at your
local bookstore for the
low price of $250. Right.
[Madison]
00:20:23.360 –> 00:20:27.360
Expensive. Luckily now everything’s
online. I mean, I prefer physical things,
00:20:27.380 –> 00:20:28.240
but I mean,
00:20:28.240 –> 00:20:30.800
our students probably don’t know what
a Scantron is at this point either.
[Nikki]
00:20:31.000 –> 00:20:33.080
Right? That’s true. That’s
true. So physical things.
00:20:33.080 –> 00:20:35.440
Would you rather read a book or
would you rather read a Kindle?
[Madison]
00:20:35.530 –> 00:20:38.200
Oh, a book. A hundred percent.
I’ve never touched a Kindle book.
[Leah]
00:20:38.200 –> 00:20:42.360
Or a a thousand percent Plus we look
at the computer all day long. Yeah.
00:20:42.360 –> 00:20:45.960
Like to actually physically be able
to hold something and read is just so,
00:20:46.020 –> 00:20:48.320
And the smell of the paper.
You know how I am about that.
[Madison]
00:20:48.320 –> 00:20:50.680
And I love to put it on
my coffee table. Yes.
[Nikki]
00:20:50.680 –> 00:20:52.640
Oh yes. Do you have a, you
have a book stand then?
[Madison]
00:20:52.640 –> 00:20:56.360
I do. Okay. I have one on every
nightstand. They go on the books.
00:20:56.360 –> 00:20:57.193
They go on the show.
[Leah]
00:20:57.320 –> 00:20:58.280
Madison doesn’t even read.
[Madison]
00:20:58.510 –> 00:21:00.600
I know, I don’t. That
was so funny. Oh my gosh.
00:21:00.600 –> 00:21:02.240
I haven’t read a book in a
really long time. You haven’t.
00:21:02.240 –> 00:21:03.200
But if it has a cute cover.
[Nikki]
00:21:03.940 –> 00:21:05.880
Hey, so that might be my note. And I,
00:21:05.880 –> 00:21:09.320
that’s gonna be my unsolicited
advice to you read. I love to read.
00:21:09.390 –> 00:21:13.760
I mean you get exposed to
so many different stories,
even if they’re fiction.
00:21:13.910 –> 00:21:16.320
Just someone’s first off
that was in somebody’s brain,
00:21:16.320 –> 00:21:20.720
which kind of surprises me how people can
do that. But then also just, you know,
00:21:20.720 –> 00:21:25.080
World War II stories or America
coming through the ages and I mean,
00:21:25.080 –> 00:21:27.640
I’m a huge reader. Me too.
I read, read, read, read.
[Leah]
00:21:27.640 –> 00:21:28.280
We should start a.
[Nikki]
00:21:28.280 –> 00:21:30.040
Book club. Book club. It is. I love book.
[Leah]
00:21:30.040 –> 00:21:30.880
Clubs. Do We’ll just trade books.
[Nikki]
00:21:30.880 –> 00:21:34.360
How? Yeah. And would you like to
have red wine? White wine or beer?
[Leah]
00:21:34.790 –> 00:21:36.040
D All of the above.
[Nikki]
00:21:36.040 –> 00:21:38.240
You are copying me and
we might get kicked out.
[Leah]
00:21:38.550 –> 00:21:39.840
I’ll do a seltzer vodka.
[Nikki]
00:21:40.090 –> 00:21:41.120
Oh that, that works.
00:21:41.250 –> 00:21:42.440
So still D Okay.
00:21:42.760 –> 00:21:43.593
<Laugh>.
[Leah]
00:21:43.850 –> 00:21:44.683
Um,
00:21:44.910 –> 00:21:49.040
well what would you like to leave our
listeners and Polk State students with?
[Nikki]
00:21:50.150 –> 00:21:54.240
I would like to encourage everybody
to be a really good human being.
00:21:54.630 –> 00:21:57.560
Even when nobody’s looking,
that tends to be my line.
00:21:57.560 –> 00:22:01.080
You’ll hear me say that a lot. You pick
up the trash, you help the elderly,
00:22:01.080 –> 00:22:02.200
you share a smile,
00:22:02.220 –> 00:22:06.560
you focus on positive things and
you have a heart of gratitude.
00:22:07.190 –> 00:22:09.520
I believe that if we all can do that,
00:22:09.550 –> 00:22:12.600
that we can change our
culture and our mindset.
00:22:12.810 –> 00:22:17.360
We can become thankful and
uplifting. And with that as our goal,
00:22:17.860 –> 00:22:21.880
our school and I say our,
cuz I’m an alum, our city,
00:22:22.220 –> 00:22:24.880
our state and our country can be changed.
00:22:25.110 –> 00:22:25.943
That’s awesome.
[Madison]
00:22:26.070 –> 00:22:28.720
I remember that from your
distinguished alum speech,
00:22:28.730 –> 00:22:31.240
so I’m glad that you that
you mentioned that. Thank.
00:22:31.240 –> 00:22:31.930
You. Yep.
[Nikki]
00:22:31.930 –> 00:22:32.960
VP in the house.
00:22:33.020 –> 00:22:34.240
Woo. VP in the.
[Leah]
00:22:34.240 –> 00:22:37.320
House. Yeah. It’s so hard. It’s
like so many people it it’s,
00:22:37.320 –> 00:22:38.840
it seems like everyone is,
00:22:38.840 –> 00:22:42.520
there’s a little bit of like unkindness
or everyone’s like struggling.
00:22:42.530 –> 00:22:46.840
So the breath of fresh air when you get
someone who just even smiles at you.
00:22:46.840 –> 00:22:51.360
Yeah. Like simple things. I think people
don’t realize in our fast-paced world,
00:22:51.790 –> 00:22:54.800
it’s just take a breath, be
nice and be a good human.
[Nikki]
00:22:54.950 –> 00:22:55.440
Yeah.
[Madison]
00:22:55.440 –> 00:22:58.480
Yes. I have to mention when
I walked into our spot today,
00:22:58.480 –> 00:23:02.440
this was here on the couch it says to
whomever and I was a little nervous to
00:23:02.440 –> 00:23:03.440
open it, but when I did.
[Nikki]
00:23:03.440 –> 00:23:04.760
So you’re opening a little blue note.
[Madison]
00:23:04.760 –> 00:23:09.240
Yes. It says, I hope your day
is as amazing as you are. Oh.
00:23:09.240 –> 00:23:11.480
And was a little bit
of kindness in my day.
00:23:11.530 –> 00:23:15.120
So I left it here cuz I wanted Leah to
open it too and have the same experience.
00:23:15.120 –> 00:23:17.760
But now Polk Cast gets, have that.
00:23:17.760 –> 00:23:20.440
Experience. That is awesome.
Hey, maybe we’ll start a trend.
[Nikki]
00:23:20.440 –> 00:23:23.040
Everybody leave a little
note for somebody else. I.
00:23:23.040 –> 00:23:23.470
Love it.
00:23:23.470 –> 00:23:25.120
I love it. We could be trendsetters.
[Leah]
00:23:25.300 –> 00:23:26.320
Yes, you already were.
[Nikki]
00:23:26.490 –> 00:23:28.880
Oh, thank you. Hopefully
it was a good trend.
[Leah]
00:23:29.480 –> 00:23:31.960
Multiple. Okay. The flute, printing. There.
00:23:31.960 –> 00:23:32.120
You.
[Madison]
00:23:32.120 –> 00:23:34.120
Go. <laugh> Now Little blue notes.
[Leah]
00:23:34.180 –> 00:23:37.320
Now. Little blue notes. Oh, well
thank you so much for coming on.
00:23:37.320 –> 00:23:38.720
It was really great having you here.
[Nikki]
00:23:38.880 –> 00:23:42.800
Thank you. I loved having this interview
and I loved sharing it with you guys.
00:23:42.810 –> 00:23:43.640
Of course. You know,
00:23:43.640 –> 00:23:47.520
I have huge heartfelt thanks for you go
both and I think you do an outstanding
00:23:47.520 –> 00:23:52.200
job and special cred too. To our editor
and to the recorder for this podcast.
[Leah]
00:23:52.360 –> 00:23:53.560
Whoop boo. Woo.
00:23:53.560 –> 00:23:57.160
Whoop <laugh>. Awesome. Well thank
you. You’re a beautiful person. Aww.
[Madison]
00:23:57.500 –> 00:24:01.040
Aww. Cool. I think that’s a wrap.
[Music]
00:24:01.530 –> 00:24:05.560
Another kind of free form rock. Go
make, do solo. Maybe want a tapa toe,
00:24:05.560 –> 00:24:09.520
Just another kind of free foam. I know.
Make good solo. Maybe want a tap toe.
00:24:09.520 –> 00:24:09.840
Woo.