We were lucky to catch up with Nell Tice recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nell, thanks for joining us today. 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?

On March 3rd, 2021, I walked into work and put in my resignation from my COO position at a successful coffee and tea manufacturer. I had no intent of doing so that day, no plan, and now, no recourse. Don’t get me wrong, I was unhappy in my career and had planned on doing this one day, but with a little more preparation.

Something in my head kept telling me to do it. So I did. It was time to get to work.

In 2019, my husband and I started a travel vlog on a YouTube channel called Kenny and Nell. Our biggest passion in life is travel and people were always asking when and where we were off to next. So, naturally, we thought we’d document our travels. It was through this process that I learned how to edit and shoot videos.

Considering late 2019 was a terrible time to start a travel channel apparently, when the world shut down in 2020, we seriously considered giving up on the channel. We were either all in or all out. We decided to continue the channel, posting random videos about anything we could think of. People started asking about photography and videography services, which is what led us to starting our business, enTICEing Media.

When I resigned from my job in 2021, I may not have known exactly what I was going to do or how I was going to do it, I just knew there was something more that I was meant for. I gave up my $70,000 per year salary and in January of 2022, I was in the hot seat, full-time with our business, making $0.

Today, we are growing and growing fast. In the past 5 months, we’ve brought on 2 additional team members and are planning for the next. Clients are happy and potential clients come to us now, which is an amazing feeling. Taking a risk is terrifying, but I’d hate to think of how terrifying it would be if I never took it.

Nell, 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?

In 2019 when we started our YouTube channel, I had no idea that video editing would be something I went to in order to escape my daily life. I looked forward to coming home, setting up the laptop and getting to work. I could escape into a bubble of creativity for hours and not come up for air. That felt really good.

People would always warn me that turning a hobby or passion into a business would eventually take its toll and shift it to seeming more like a “job” or a chore you won’t want to do anymore. That’s just not the case. In fact, I think the opposite happened. Being able to do something I love, compounded by helping people share their unique stories, and being able to take something off their plates just makes what I do that much more satisfying.

I’m proud of the fact that I have the ability to hone in and highlight aspects of people’s lives and businesses. I’m able to provide a sense of security in the sense that you and your brand will be well-represented in my work. At the end of the day, we’re all human. We can use all of the AI the world has to offer, but if we’re not continuing to infuse our humanity into our projects, we lose the connection with ourselves and our clients.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

This is a big topic for me because, for so long, I fought the fact that I was a creative. I grew up playing music, listening to music, and integrating it into all parts of my life. My grandfather taught me how to play Alto Sax at a very young age. All of my friends were musicians. The thing is, I grew up in an age where we were being told that we could be anything we wanted, but just not……..and being a musician, artist, creative fell into the “but just not” category.

Going to college, getting a steady job, working your way up the corporate ladder was the ultimate path to success and it seemed like being a creative never fit into the path, unless it was something you did as a hobby on the side. So, when I finally realized, in my mid-30’s, that it was OKAY to be unapologetically you, that’s when I started embracing that I was creative. For me, creativity equals freedom and freedom to be who you are and not care about what people think is more rewarding than I can put into words.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

People who are non-creatives tend to think very logically. Typically, things need to make some sort of sense at most or all times. I get frustrated often because I find it hard for people to understand my POV, vision, and reasoning. Simply because it doesn’t meet the standard of “making sense.”

Then, there’s the creative process. Sometimes, an idea hits and you MUST act on it. Whether it’s an idea you need to write down or an editing technique that needs to be exercised. Sometimes certain times of day or certain types of spaces cause you to be more creative and you feel drawn there. It’s not ideal to be interrupted during those times as they are sacred.

This creates a disconnect at times, which can be hard to deal with, for all parties involved.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://enticeingmedia.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enticeingmedia/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enTICEingMedia
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nell-tice-07165b16b/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kennyandnell

Image Credits
On the professional headshots, Credit Photographer: Kelly Johnson Photography