Where do I begin with Nikki Bon?
Well, I begin by saying that this is absolutely one of my favourite episodes of the podcast. It generally comes down to the guest, and Nikki was so honest and insightful about her story that our conversation couldn’t help but be great.
But what are the take-aways?
As I said in the intro, I don’t want to interpret the episode for you. Everyone takes their own wisdom from these episodes, so all I can tell you is what spoke to me.
First, I love that Nikki went to Los Angeles at all. Lots of people talk about taking on Hollywood, but how many actually have the courage and self-confidence to do it? She did and she’s doing it. It’s like that episode of Cheers where the guys from the bar go skydiving. At a certain point only Woody actually has the courage to do it, only because he’s been lying about it and the guilt is getting to him. So he stumbles to the open door of the plane, shouts, “I’d rather die like a fool than live like a coward!” and falls into the sky.
They other guys stare open-mouthed at their friend disappearing and Sam says something like, “He jumped! He’s not up here, he’s down there!”
That’s Nikki in Los Angeles to me. Of course, I don’t think she was ever a coward about it. She went there and chased the dream and I love it. I really do.
I also love that she didn’t go there to be a comedian. She went there to be an actor and comedy came upon her via those nudges from the universe that I’ve written about before. You don’t always find your path directly. Sometimes you need a bridge and acting was the bridge that brought her to where she didn’t know she needed to be. And she was wise enough to take the road that presented itself. She was nudged into comedy, and when she tried it, she was trusting enough to follow a new road.
It’s so easy to attach to how you want things to be instead of letting the flow take you where it wants to go. Nikki decided to flow and here she is, feeling free, being herself, and heading in an awesome direction.
And I love that Nikki does things. How many times have we talked about that on the show already? Rakefet Abergel wanted certain roles so she wrote the scripts and made the movies that would let her play them. Emily Dolan Davies wanted to work with more artists so she built a recording studio. Then she started releasing free drum tracks for people to record to. Andrew Mangan wanted to practice web skills and writing, so he created the Arseblog and uncovered a full-time business covering his beloved Arsenal Football Club.
You have to do things.
Nikki started doing her hilarious (and kind of astounding) Voicemail Lip-Sync videos. Then she created her Insta Girl character. Then, of course, came the stand-up.
Which brings me to another thing I love. I love that Nikki committed herself. You can’t reach pro level with amateur habits. Nikki recognized it right away, so when it came time to really give comedy a try, she stopped performing once per month and started performing eight times – per week. That’s what the comedy world demanded of her and that’s what she demanded of herself. That’s what it takes to be successful in anything. Professional habits lead to professional results.
Love it, love it, love it.
I’m going to stop writing about Nikki now. Please do yourself a favour and listen to her story. I suspect you’ll find it as compelling and inspiring as I do.
Enjoy!
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But before you do, here’s a Nikki Bon Voicemail Lip-Sync: