We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nico Marie a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nico, appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My mother poured into our creativity as kids. As a child, I had activities outside of home & also had creative tools at home readily available. I remember there being lots of music, books, things to paint/draw with, in addition to being in dancing classes & choir. If we ever asked for anything creative, it was given to us. I’m so grateful for that.

Nico, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a yoga instructor & DJ in St. Louis, Missouri, I got into deejaying over 10 years ago after taking free DJ lessons at the local community center. I had my first gig in a friend’s basement & not too long after that I linked up with SLUM Fest (St. Louis Underground Music Festival) & my career started growing from there. Now I have gigs regularly all over the city & curate many parties of my own.

For yoga, I started taking classes about 7 years ago or so to stay active. As I was practicing at a local studio the owner proposed that I take her teacher training courses. I trained with her, taught at that studio for a while, & then branched off to teaching my own classes. Most recently, I’ve been building a following as a yoga instructor on YouTube as well as Black Yogi Nico Marie.

Everything I do is centered around joy. Especially, Black joy. My mission in all my endeavors is to create safe spaces for Black healing & happiness. I like to make new experiences accessible to Black folks & our allies. I’ve made it my duty to pour into the city & it’s people & to create memorable moments for us all.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I built my audience with research & consistency. There is an infinite amount of free content on the internet about how to get your social media to grow & I simply utilized it. I would look up tactics on YouTube about how to get the algorithm to work in my favor (for YouTube & Instagram). I also took a free Social Media Marketing class online to learn some things.

One of the things I learned is that consistency is key. I believe my YouTube channel grew so fast because of my consistent uploading (in addition to what I learned about Search Engine Optimization). My advice would be to use the analytic resources of social media to find out what content your followers enjoy most, make more of that type of content, & upload at a consistent rate that works for you. Don’t be afraid to try new things! Just make sure you are authentic & genuine in whatever you do because people can tell. Be sure to enjoy what you do!

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

A lesson I had to unlearn was being “safe” in everything I do. I had to learn how to get out of my comfort zone & try new things. I was always a person who stayed in their comfort zone or what they’re used to. My life had become a monotonous cycle of work, sleep, & stress. Worrying about failing was holding me back & once I started to take risks, I started to see many more opportunities present themselves to me. I realized that if I wanted change in my life, I myself had to be open to changing & evolving for the better. Happy to say it worked out in my favor.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djnicomarie/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/yogawithnico/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djnicomarie/
• Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/djnicomarie https://twitter.com/yogawithnico
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/blackyoginicomarie

Image Credits
All the photog’s @’s @_sulsuljess @photobymarcoo @fivedollacam @idunnomarty