We were lucky to catch up with Nikii Duke recently and have shared our conversation below.

Nikii, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

The biggest risk I’ve taken is betting on myself. I’ve given up a regular 9-5 job to chase after my dream of professional wrestling. When everyone else expected me to fail I kept going. I landed a tv gig to wreslte on tv within my first year professional wrestling. When all was betting against me I kept going.

Nikii, 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?

I fell into the industry backwards. I emailed the talent manager of Wwe asking for a tryout! I knew nothing about wrestling but knew I was eager to learn. Nothing came from the tryout, I was unsure if I even wanted to do it. A few years go by and I’m itching to wrestle, I joined a local club and learned the ins and out. A TV position fell into my lap. I landed a tv gig working for WOW- Women of wrestling within my first year wrestling. When all the odds were placed against me I kept going.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My first tv tapings was god awful! I had all the odds stacked against me and I just felt like I failed. It was a mess, I was torn. Instead of quitting I went back to the drawing board and came up with a plan to come back stronger and better than ever. I was beaten down hurt and lost, but I kept showing up everyday to practice to get better and keep going.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I struggled most of my adult life with an eating disorder. I want to show young girls you don’t have to be skinny to be beautiful. I want to show girls you can be a fricken badass and kick ass while being strong beautiful and sexy! The ring allows me to channel that side of me. I’m not afraid to get down and dirty, it empowers me through wrestling to kick ass!

Contact Info:

• Website: Theskyyfit.com
• Instagram: @nikiiduke
• Facebook: Nikiiduke
• Twitter: @nikiiduke