Today we’d like to introduce you to Taina Nixon.
Hi Taina, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in metro Atlanta to Haitian immigrant parents and surrounded my loving family and community who encouraged me to work hard and steward my gifts well. After receiving my BA in Biology from a small HBCU in Huntsville, Alabama, Oakwood University, and my master’s in public health from Emory University, I worked as a communications specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A couple of years later, I got married and joined my husband who was working back in Huntsville, where I was asked to take a position at our alma mater as a student advisor and it was in that position that I discovered my love of coaching.
I coached students who were performing poorly academically and realized their struggles had very little to do with academics. So, I put my innate relationship-building skills and public health knowledge to use in helping students achieve both academic success and social-emotional wellness and loved it.
I was quickly promoted to lead advisor and then again to director of the department that oversees first-year students’ well-being and experience. I put in long hours doing incredibly fulfilling work and I loved working with my students but knew I’d only be there for a season; I had more to do. I wasn’t sure what my next move would be, but I prayed and watched for an opportunity. The birth of my son presented one.
After having him, I kept feeling called to share my insights online. I used my personal Instagram page to share what life was like as a new mom and wife, working in leadership as a very young administrator. Thus began my official content creator journey.
Soon I went from part-time mommy blogger to full-time paid influencer, slowly building a community of dope women, many of them Black, ambitious, and multi-passionate, like me! So, it was no wonder many of them started asking me about mentorship or coaching on how to create a life they would love as much as I seemed to love mine. I began offering virtual coaching, using my lifestyle platform to attract like-minded women and that’s how The Casimir Collective was born.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Entrepreneurship is no cakewalk, especially when you never planned on it. I quit my 9-5 unexpectedly. At the height of the pandemic in September 2020, the same employer who provided no maternity leave a year before now demanded I come back into work, in-person, full-time, offering no flexibility or consideration for the fact that we had a one-year-old at home. I followed the Lord’s leading to leave and am still overjoyed that I did BUT also left behind regular paychecks, health insurance I barely had to think about and paid time off. On top of navigating all that, I also carry the responsibility of building my company, articulating its value, marketing services and managing day-to-day operations alone. So, as I said, it’s no cakewalk. But this is the reality of building something bigger than yourself on your own terms so it’s worth every challenge encountered along the way.
As you know, we’re big fans of The Casimir Collective. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The Casimir Collective is my company, named for my dearly departed dad, from whom I gained my charisma, boldness, and confidence as a birthright. I provide confidence coaching to faith-focused women who value self-development. I also offer motivational speaking, make guest appearances on podcasts and virtual platforms, and partner with brands whose values, products and services align with the wants and needs of my community! My goal is to grow it from a solopreneur operation to a physical and virtual space where women find community and resources to ensure their well-being.
Today, I am primarily creating that space online. My followers know me for my authenticity because I share the good, the bad and the struggly! Instead of the polished, curated persona that is expected from an expert and influencer online, I take them behind the scenes and let them see reality. Whether it’s talking to them as I clean the house that got messy because I struggle with seasonal depression or sharing both the excitement and anxiety that comes with landing a major brand deal, I want them to see me live what I teach. If I can show them through my own life that confidence is not a product of perfection but can be achieved despite imperfections and setbacks, regardless of where we are on the journey to becoming the women we’ve been called to be, then they’ll know it’s possible for them, too!
If you’re looking for sisterhood along with the accountability and strategy a confidence coach can provide, I’m your girl. I offer varying levels of coaching that target inner confidence (e.g., sense of self, spiritual practice) as well as exterior confidence (e.g., style, self-expression). We can do it all together: purging closets, discovering power colors, taking personality assessments, creating scripts to handle conflict, ultimately reverse engineering your path to success, and starting exactly where you are right now. It’s what I’ve always done to achieve what I want and what I teach women to do every day.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I don’t believe in luck but I do believe in favor! And I have been the recipient of boundless favor that has taken me and my business from faith to faith and glory to glory. Being spotlighted by an amazing role model early in my influencer days, being approached by brands like Target, Aveeno, Mcdonald’s and more when I have less than 10k followers, winning all kinds of giveaways and opportunities–that’s God’s favor that keeps finding me as I’m diligently learning, growing and sharing in my little corner of the internet.
Contact Info:
- Website: thecasimircollective.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thetainanixon
Image Credits
Teymi Townsend Jason Merideth Neville Simpson Tanya Thomforde
