We were lucky to catch up with Nikki Jabs recently and have shared our conversation below.

Nikki, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I think the definition of success has been reduced in America to your career and financial income. As I grow older, I come to realize that success expands beyond a career and money.

When I was a police officer, my entire personal identity was to “Nikki, the cop.” I had two college degrees and people considered me as successful. I did not feel successful though. I didn’t have time to relax or travel due to the demanding hours of being a first responder, which also led to very poor sleeping habits, I was missing opportunities with friends and family due to my odd and unpredictable hours, and had no time for my own hobbies.

I currently define success as being happy in your career, making enough money to sustain your desired lifestyle, having the time to build relationships with people as desired, having the time to grow mentally and emotionally as appropriate, and most importantly, being happy overall. Fulfilling my definition of success takes time, patience, emotional intelligence, self awareness, and intention.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

When I was a child, I was extremely creative. I could make the most beautiful crafts out of sticks and rocks. I was also very musically inclined and I loved expressing myself through acting and singing. I never thought that I would ever be able to make a decent living from my creativity, so I took a more traditional career route by becoming a police officer.

Fortunately, with the rise of social media and e-commerce, the term ‘starving’ artist’ is now dying out. Creative minds have so many different avenues to make money nowadays.

Due to my lack of traveling growing up and as a police officer, I decided that a full emersion into traveling would satisfy me. I quit policing and began delivering groceries full time. I made almost twice as much as I did when I was a police officer and had full control over my own schedule. I began outfitting a van for traveling and moved into my van to travel full time.

I began expressing my comedic creativity via TikTok and Instagram shortly before I took off and now I post on YouTube. I have found an intense enjoyment out of editing videos and just began making money from my content. I had the idea that I would simply post photos on Instagram and hopefully begin making money from that, but my TikTok ideas quickly segued into a love for video editing. I now do long-form videos on YouTube and can’t get enough of it!

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

The most rewarding aspect of being a content creator is the heartfelt messages I receive from people who follow me. Sometimes the experiences in my life strike a chord with a viewer and they are inclined to message me about how my experience helped them in some way. I am humbled everyday by the people who reach out and share their lives with me. Reading their stories inspire me to keep on posting content even through all the hardships I experience.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I quit policing to deliver groceries full-time and gain my mental health back before moving into my van when I used to define success as the general societal definition of having a good career and making good money. That was a huge ego hit for me and I struggled mentally with that transition. I then started to see the big picture. I was making almost twice as much money, I had no boss, no coworkers, my schedule was under my control by every minute of the day, I was helping people during the pandemic when they couldn’t go out for themselves, and I noticed how all the other shoppers like myself were happy. I was earning honest money and my mental health was finally back to normal. I began seeing friends again, I finally had time to get back into my hobby of salsa dancing, I had enough money to pay my mortgage, bills, pay off my van loan, and renovate my van. This was when my definition of success changed.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @nikki.jabs
• Facebook: Nikki Jabs
• Youtube: Nikki Jabs
• Other: TikTok: @nikki.jabs

Image Credits
Nikki Jabs