We were lucky to catch up with Nick Daily recently and have shared our conversation below.

Nick, appreciate you joining us today. Along with taking care of clients, taking care of our team is one of the most important things we can do as leaders. Looking back on your journey, did you have a boss that was really great? Maybe you can tell us about that boss and what made them a wonderful person to work for?

I once had a supervisor that I can say was truly one of the best supervisors I ever had, Lydia Middleton. She was excellent at ensuring clarity of communication and providing specificity in duties expected to be completed. For instance, on my first day in the office, Lydia provided me with a four page document detailing the overall scope of my role as well as what success would look like in each area. After allowing me to review the document, we talked about the feasibility of each task within the identified timeline and she accepted my input in the final outcome. Even with this document, we were able to consistently re-visit and revise my duties as new and unexpected items came up. Another thing that makes her stand out is that she and I took our work seriously, but didn’t take ourselves seriously, so in our office, we regularly had dance parties before meetings, chatted about work and life, and even dressed as each other for Halloween one year! Because I couldn’t imagine my work without Lydia, she currently acts as a Senior Associate with LuvServedDaily because of her attention to detail, know how, and approach to developing managers and leaders with compassion and attention to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Nick, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

“Hi Friends, my name is Nick Daily and I happen everyday. The pronouns I use are He or They.” These are often the first words that clients (and others) hear as a personal introduction to me. I often share that I take my work seriously, but I don’t take myself seriously and this leads to many opportunities to “lower the temperature” or decrease the defensiveness that people often feel when encountering consultants.

LuvServedDaily Consulting is a consulting firm that centers love and joy in the diversity, equity, and inclusion; learning & development; team building; and executive leadership coaching, training, and consulting it provides to colleges, corporations, community-based organizations, and churches. We recognize that shame and blame are not educational tools and focus on helping individuals and groups get closer to their stated and ideal values. While LuvServedDaily has meant a number of things throughout the 15 years I have used it as a life philosophy, LuvServedDaily is the commitment to a person (or organization) developing to their fullest capacity. This iteration was inspired by my read of bell hooks’ “All About Love.” In it, she describes how love is a feeling, an action, and a commitment and it resonated so deeply that I chose to update the meaning of my long-held mantra.

Originally from LA County, before moving to the Inland Empire at a young age, I am an identical twin, the fourth out of five children, the last “boy”, and the favorite! I have a degree in Women’s and Gender Studies with a Minor in Religious Studies from University of Redlands where I studied the ways that masculinities impact men, and – perhaps more importantly – why men choose to interrogate their own masculinities. I then went to Oregon State University to receive a master’s in College Student Services Administration with a focus on intersecting oppressions in higher education. There, I started what would be come the Masculinities Explorations program. I then spent a decade working in higher education institutions as a Residence Life Coordinator, Title IX Coordinator, an Assistant Dean for Black Student Affairs, as well as a senior diversity officer prior to full-time work with LuvServedDaily Consulting.

Although we focus on learning and development and DEI, much of the work we do relates to conflict management and negotiation recently. Our clients have brought us in to help their teams work through “little c” conflicts as well as “big C” Conflicts within their organizations. Fortunately, much of the work of DEI is related to conflict management. Conflict is central to the ways that we interact with each other as humans but also DEI is in conflict with the status quo, and we work with our clients to prepare them for the bumpy road toward their goals.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When I worked for organizations, I often had roles that allowed me to excel in the areas that were natural talents for me (primarily relationship building, public communication, presentations & trainings, visioning & brainstorming, policy adherence, and engaging DEI topics). These roles also had people who did the tasks that I told myself I “wasn’t good at”, budgeting, marketing, logistics, coordination – deliberative skills, if you will – but these people had talents for these skills that allowed them to flourish and, as a result allowed me to flourish as well.

But when I decided to go into business with and for myself, I learned quickly that I didn’t have a budget reconciler, I didn’t have a communications department, I didn’t have an events coordinator, someone who would schedule my events, or someone who would think through all of the possible missteps and alternative options, but someone had to do it. And that someone was me!

And so I learned. I learned how to do budgets as a sole proprietor with the help of my tax advisor (and YouTube University). I improved my marketing and communications experience by watching and consulting with colleagues who did this work for longer (or for a living). I built my abilities to think through logistics, organization, and coordination by trial and error and with the graciousness of clients that I double-booked or those to whom I forgot send virtual meeting links.

Being a small business owner stretches your learning edges while honing your areas of expertise. So while it may take me longer to do those things that I’ve only recently begun working more deeply with, I have also been able to increase the speed it takes to do those parts of the job that I have done for over a decade! It’s really rewarding to have those traits celebrated by collaborators, contractors, and clients alike!

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the public speaking, performance, and oration training I received growing up in a Black, non-denominational church. At as early as 5 years old, we were instructed to read, sing, dance, speak, act, or perform in front of as many as 300 people weekly! Although the stated reasons for children participating in the church in this way did not include “professional development,” I strongly believe that my comfort in front of crowds, connecting with people, and so much more stems from the training I received in my grandma’s churches over the years. While my beliefs have changed, my gratitude for that early learning remains!

I remember that I started facilitation and training back in my first year at University of Redlands, trained by Ilaria Pesco and Leela MadhavaRau (among others). Throughout my college career, I was able to practice and hone my skills through being trained, training trainers, and facilitating trainings for students. I went on to do the same in graduate school at Oregon State University, adding conference presentations to my repertoire of public speaking to academic audiences. However, it wasn’t until I found myself in southwest Ohio, Yellow Springs – to be specific – that I began the work of LuvServedDaily Consulting as a trainer, facilitator, and keynote in my role at Antioch College, as well as at community-based organizations and nearby colleges.

When I began my role at The Claremont Colleges in Black Student Affairs, I found that there were many requests across the 7 consortial colleges for my expertise in trainings and facilitation – and many opportunities to act as a consultative partner for challenging dynamics on their campuses. Additionally, my presentations, trainings, and facilitations in international organizations began to pay off as well because campuses were offering to *pay me* to speak and present at their institutions! I started off with relatively low rates, just honored to be offered compensation and acknowledgement for the work put-in to develop a workshop. Many of these clients were connections that I had made and maintained throughout my professional career, people who had seen the quality (and value) of my work.

It wasn’t until I became the senior diversity officer at a community college (and created an actual website) that my side hustle began to take shape as something that could possibly be more. In the summer of 2020, many individuals and organizations were looking for facilitators and trainers and were often referred to me (or much rarely just googled “Diversity and Inclusion Training”). The quality of these trainings, led to clients referring others to me, and I also began sharing my successes in working with clients on my social media and website. This led to more interest and more clients, all while I was working a 40-60 hour a week job. So, I would get frustrated with the amount of work I was doing and raise my prices to find out if organizations were serious about this work and most clients paid the increased rate. Which helped me realize the value of the work I was doing and move beyond scarcity and imposter syndrome.

The true turning point for me, was when I made – after taxes and pre-tax deductions – the same amount of money as a consultant as I did in my full-time job. That’s when it clicked that I could *maybe* be successful in this. I also recognized that I could “come back home,” if necessary, but my husband and I decided to take the leap! And we’re so glad we did.

Unfortunately, 2023 was a rough year for DEI professionals, in particular, because of the (misguided) political focus on DEI, Affirmative Action, “wokeism”, and CRT. I found my clients decreased by two-thirds from the year prior (talk about market shrinkage!), I heard from many of my small business friends that they saw a 20-30%+ decrease in their revenue between ’22 and ’23. So, in 2023, I began to pivot my *language* (not my message) to “learning and development,” “workplace cohesion,” “team building,” “psychological safety,” and more simply to attempt to increase inquiries for interventions. The reality of DEI is this: it lives in everything and everything is impacted by it, therefore, we can use all the euphemisms we want, but DEI is here to stay. 2024 is already looking up with organizations reaching out about conflict management and resolution, strategic leadership, and – yes – DEI basics, and I trust that this year will continue to build toward greatness!

Contact Info:

• Website: luvserveddaily.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickdaily/

Image Credits
Carrie Rosema; Ke’Ana Bradley; Elissa Kobrin; Michael Edwards