Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicola Smith.
Nicola, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have been a bit of a rebel all my life and as a result, my career path has been more of a winding road than a straight line. Early in my career, I worked in the independent film industry doing production design, managed tour bookings for a couple of punk bands, and worked for the president of a radio network. Then, I found my way into the digital marketing and advertising industry where my strategically rebellious approach to the creative and problem solving process helped me move into a leadership role focused providing clients with insight and strategic recommendations around emerging technology, consumer behavior and media platforms. As a result, I had the opportunity to lead strategy around first-to-market opportunities in NFC and RFID technologies, social media, mobile marketing and content development, gestural, voice and touch-based interfaces, mobile experiences and payment technologies, augmented, virtual and mixed reality, and a number of other emerging technologies for a wide variety of clients including: Verizon Wireless, Maybelline, Coca-Cola, PUMA, Microsoft, 20th Century Fox, Nestle, GE, Carter’s, Chick-fil-A, Cisco, Toyota, AT&T, Nike, Pepsi, L’Oreal, IHG, Cox Media Group, P&G, HP, and more.
Based on my experience, working with Fortune 500 brands, my own career journey, and the support I received from my mentors and my community, I launched REBEL & REASON, a brand, marketing and innovation consultancy and training company in 2016, to help others develop strategically rebellious habits that do more than just command attention. I partners with business leaders and brands to help them resist the curse of comfort, defy the fear of stagnation, and remain fresh within the marketplace by strategically breaking conventions to successfully convert passive audiences into actively engaged brand participants, and develop future-focused business opportunities.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road, but I think obstacles are part of the journey to figuring out what you actually want to do. As I look back on my career, it was often the biggest obstacles that drove me to think about my problems differently and as a result, find other, more innovative solutions. I think as women, we do still carry the burden of our gender in the workplace. At different points in my career, I have dealt with overt sexual harassment as well as the less overt sexual bias that exists within many organizations and institutions. These types of gender-based obstacles are part of what pushed me to start my own business so that I could help other businesses create brands and corporate cultures that are more intentional about both equality and equity in the workplace not just for women, but for all minority or underrepresented groups.
If you are just starting your journey, know that you WILL face obstacles, but the goal is to use them as a mechanism of pushing yourself forward, and remember that just because something has always been done a certain way does not mean YOU have to do it that way. Forge your own path and find ways to turn obstacles into opportunities.
What should we know about Rebel & Reason? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am the CEO and founder of REBEL & REASON, a marketing, branding, innovation and cultural transformation consulting and training company based here in Atlanta. We specialize in helping companies develop strong, unique challenger brands, establish sustainable internal corporate cultures, celebrate the power of non-conformity, and redefine their role within the market to leapfrog their competition with long-term results. At REBEL & REASON, we believe that results-driven rebellion has a global impact. Our workshops and online training help executives, entrepreneurs, and corporate creatives purposefully unleash their inner rebel, rewrite the rules of success, and turn disruption into opportunity.
While REBEL & REASON works with startups and Fortune 500 brands across a broad spectrum of industries, the work I am most proud of are the projects we are doing with local nonprofits like ChooseATL, a division of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and WonderRoot, an arts and advocacy nonprofit. With both of these nonprofit,s REBEL & REASON has had the opportunity to help lead strategy for programs and initiatives that are bringing together brands, artists, advocates, and government officials, as well as civic, business, and thought leaders to create substantive change in our communities.
I am also really proud of launching our training division earlier this year to help people and businesses understand and leverage strategic rebellion through both in-person workshops and online training. Our first online training course, Full Time Rebel: How To Thrive As A Corporate Creative will be available to the public in late September and it covers all of my rules for success as a rebel in a corporate environment.
What sets REBEL & REASON apart is our proprietary framework for brand and culture development, our extensive experience in the retail, telecom, entertainment/media, QSR, CPG, finance and nonprofit spaces, and our focus on asking two powerful questions that often inspire change and ignite rebellion: “Why?” and “Why not?”.
Lastly, I am also proud to serve on the Advisory Board for the Alliance Theatre, the largest producing theatre in the South East, the ChooseATL Council, a recognized part of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and the FutureX Live Advisory Board, an annual event to highlight innovation in Atlanta. I am also a founding member and advocate of Digital Divas, a community organization that promotes and mentors women in digital, media and technology-based fields.
Do you have any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general? What has worked well for you?
I know that networking is a scary word for a lot of people, but it has hands-down been the most powerful tool in my business success toolkit. Networking does not have to mean going to big industry events, walking up to strangers, and introducing yourself. Networking is not about randomly connecting with people. It is really about activating your existing network (both personal and professional) to connect with people who may share your passions, goals or skill set. It’s about finding others who share your philosophy on life or career or your industry and seeing how you can help and support them.
We also need to dismiss the idea that networking is just about getting a job. My philosophy on networking is NSN – Never Stop Networking, I know of too many people in the corporate world who tell me they are so focused on what they are doing for their own company and in their own industry that they have not “networked” in years. Networking should not be a behavior that stops once you get your dream job, that is the perfect time to ramp up your networking. Once you have a job, you have a title you can leverage to make connections and activate your network. For those who are working for big brands, you have the weight of the brand name behind you once you start working there, use it to your advantage. Networking is a tool that will help you move up though your organization, build bridges, and develop relationships that will benefit you throughout your career.
Our upcoming online course Full Time Rebel: How To Thrive As a Corporate Creative includes a whole section on building bridges and networking.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rebelandreason.com
- Phone: 404-323-1726
- Email: Nicola@rebelandreason.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebelandreason/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebelandreason/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/RebelReasonLLC
Image Credit:
Nicola Smith, REBEL & REASON
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