visibility

How to overcome good girl syndrome

How to overcome good girl syndrome

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a HUGE Disney fan! The film that started it all? The Little Mermaid

Which I got for my 5th birthday

One of the things that I love about Disney movies is that they typically have deep, inspirational messages that can be applied to everyday life. The Little Mermaid is no exception

In case you’re unfamiliar with the story, here’s an example of that:

Ariel (The Little Mermaid) dreams of being human. When she falls in love with Prince Eric, she goes to Ursula (the sea witch)

She wants the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone:

  1. Become human forever

  2. See Eric again, get him to fall in love with her and seal it with a kiss

Ursula agrees to help Ariel, but there’s a catch: she wants Ariel’s voice as collateral

Also:

  1. Ariel will only have 3 days to find Eric and experience true love’s kiss

  2. Without that kiss, not only will Ariel not get her happily ever after, she’ll be Ursula’s prisoner forever

I know what you’re thinking, “How do mermaids, sea witches and having magic spells broken by true love’s kiss relate to my life, Nina?”

Well…

Why you need a North Star

Why you need a North Star

Years ago, my good sis Michelle told me I have the gift of communication

When she said this, I thought, “Yeah, I have a way of communicating, I can speak to others, teach, write, and use my gifts to convey big ideas”

But what I’ve also come to realise over the years is that my gift of communication fuels my curiosity about language

Hi, I’m Nina, and I’m a word nerd

I get curious when I hear or see a word that I’ve never come across before or suddenly have the urge to know where the origins of a phrase comes from

Even if I’ve heard it lots of times in the past

One such phrase is “North Star”

We often hear people talk about something being their North Star

I’ve always understood what this phrase meant as the thing that gives us purpose or fuels us towards a particular goal

Or our why

But, recently, I’ve been curious about why we say “North Star” in the first place

Here’s what Google told me:

How to build and keep momentum

How to build and keep momentum

Recently, I had the pleasure of being interviewed on the Melanted and Proud podcast. It was a great experience that allowed me to pause, sit down, and reflect on my journey so far in terms of the challenges I’ve overcome to get to where I am today

From launching The Far Above Rubies Collection in its first iteration as a blog, to then learning PR to get more eyes on it, to coaching people on PR, and, ultimately, turning it into a luxury retreat business

For example, I’ve experienced the death of family and friends, my parents have been sick (sometimes at the same time and sometimes right before a launch). I’ve also experienced health issues, depression, anxiety, and feeling unmotivated. I’ve had to navigate the loss of friendships, money being funny, limiting beliefs, and, at times, family and friends not seeing the vision

Although I didn’t get to go through everything, just talking about and looking back on some of the things I’ve achieved, I realised that I’d accomplished so much while navigating life

A question that stuck out to me was: “What kept you going, and why haven’t you given up?”

To which I answered:

How PR changed my life

How PR changed my life

If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen that I recently went live with the lovely Gladys Obaze
She's a coach and brand strategist who helps creative women heal, grow, and build thriving, and authentic brands that attract success

One of the questions she asked me was how PR has helped me

Well...

The short answer: it changed my life

The longer version?

Why mentorship is important

Why mentorship is important

When the ladies attended Media Magic, in Tulum (Mexico) last July, 0% of them knew how to get relevant PR opportunities

I know this because of the results they got from my PR readiness assessment

This means that, at that point, I could have given them the exact language, structure and anatomy of a successful pitch but it would have meant nothing because they didn't then know how to pitch platforms where their ideal clients were actually hanging out

Which is an issue because showing up on such podcasts, magazines, stages and so on leads to not getting a return on your efforts or investment

By the end of the retreat, though, I had them assess themselves again and the results revealed that 100% of them knew how to do this

What led to this success was…

How to deal with naysayers

How to deal with naysayers

When I first got the idea of Media Magic, not everyone understood my vision

For example, a lot of people questioned why I didn't start doing retreats more locally and then build up to hosting them internationally. Others wondered why I was creating a live experience, full stop, when I could just create a course or coach virtually

All of which, had me majorly discouraged and second-guessing myself at times

Fast forward to now and…

Why you need systems to achieve your goals

Why you need systems to achieve your goals

Recently I had the opportunity to chat with Monica Pierre on her show

The Powerhouse Woman Show

It was a great conversation

(Which I knew it would be since we hit it off so well when we met in Paris in October)

And during it, she asked me about the person who has most influenced my entrepreneurial journey: my mum

How to break through toxic cultural beliefs and get PR ready

How to break through toxic cultural beliefs and get PR ready

Recently I had the opportunity to chat with Annie Gichuru of The Represented Podcast

And it was so good, sis!

We talked about breaking through toxic cultural beliefs and getting PR ready

Specifically:

  • The toxic cultural beliefs that keep Black women and other underrepresented groups from pursuing visibility in PR and how to overcome them

  • Why PR isn’t just for the privileged and what it takes to get “PR ready” without feeling unworthy

  • Common misconceptions about PR and the steps you can take to avoid costly mistakes

  • How healing from internalised beliefs opens the door to meaningful progress in life and business

This is important because…