Conversations with Nikki Corbett

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nikki Corbett

Hi Nikki, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’d say I have a non-linear career path, with experience in roles that span different industries, but there’s that invisible string that somehow does tie them all together.

I graduated college a semester early, as I was eager to join the workforce (insane, in retrospect!), and started my career in Commercial Real Estate. After a good 4+ years, I wasn’t in love, so I moved on both literally and geographically. I landed eventually doing wholesale mortgage lending, and it was great until it wasn’t.

When the market crashed in 2008, I was ready for some consistency, and traded my real estate license for the stability of a giant tech company, and ended up spending almost 12 years at Intel. I played a myriad of roles there, most notably doing M&A integration, my favorite part being a rotation spent in Shenzhen, China during the hot, humid summer of 2014. It was October of 2019 when I woke up one morning and knew it was time to move on.

Due to a mis-titled job posting, I applied for a role at SkySlope, and somehow convinced them I was the right person to run a startup within the company. This role challenged me in so many ways, and I grew exponentially as a leader and gained new and sharpened existing skills. I often ask, who gets the luxury of running their own business while being supported by a $30M company? Fortunately for the business, but unfortunately for me, my team and I had changed and streamlined every aspect of the business, so much so that it was running itself and poised for scale. We were dependent upon a thriving real estate market, which we did not have. At the end of Q3’23, I decided to resign and move on. To what, I didn’t know, but I knew it was the best choice for me!

In 2024, I had a very unique opportunity to go through the Techstars accelerator with a company I was consulting for operationally. This gave me a crash MBA in all things early stage, preseed startup and ignited my passion for working with startups even more.

Now, I’ve combined all my experience and expertise and with startups in the following ways:

Fractional Operations Leadership
↳Comprehensive oversight of day-to-day operations
↳Strategic planning and execution of growth initiatives
↳P&L management and financial optimization
↳Team building, training, and leadership development

Startup Growth Strategy
↳Market positioning and competitive analysis
↳Pricing model optimization
↳Sales process development and team structure design
↳Strategic partnership identification and negotiation

I also host the Round Two Podcast, which is my passion project that I absolutely love. I talk with people from all over the world about major life changes, “round two’s” if you will, about entrepreneurship, and pivots. With each episode, I evolve as a host and I absolutely love sharing these stories.

Last, but certainly not least, I love coaching people at career crossroads, whether it is help jumping into a leadership role, or help positioning to make a move to another company. I love hearing from my clients (who all turn into friends) when they land an interview or get that promotion!

Personally, I am living a nomadic lifestyle right now, spending time in Arizona and California when not out working and seeing the world. Over the past 7 months I have been to Poland, Austria, Greece, Turkey, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Mexico. It has been so much fun!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My best advice for overcoming obstacles is to know that rejection is redirection, we learn the most from our failures and grow exponentially if we can really take a step back, take a look at what went wrong, and adjust accordingly.

Having a solid group of friends/advisors who are a few steps ahead is incredibly valuable. Seek advice, work with people aligned to your mission, you can only go so far alone.

Obstacles and challenges are a part of life, so just go for it, you’ll never know unless you do.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’ve always been someone who has marched to the beat of my own drum.

I have been traveling for over 15 years and a lot of it has been solo travel. I am really proud of this because I have seen so many beautiful places and it’s changed who I am and how I exist in the world.

Self-awareness is super important to me and I challenge myself to work through everything that comes up because as humans we all make mistakes and will be growing til our last days.

I’ve learned it’s ok to have boundaries I enforce, that some of the best conversations happen with strangers when I am out on the road, and being my own best friend is the biggest gift I have ever given myself.

All of this fuels my professional life in more ways than one. We are the sum of our parts!

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I’d be remiss to not hype up my own podcast – Round Two Podcast with Nikki Corbett. I love it!

Lately I have been using the Hallow app to strengthen my relationship with God.

If I want to get a good laugh, the Good Guys podcast never lets me down.

I’m currently reading The One Thing by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan and it is amazing!

Networking is one of the best habits anyone can get into. Meet people. Slide in DM’s. Follow up with folks you haven’t talked to in a while. You never know what could happen.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roundtwopodcast/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkicorbett23/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@roundtwopodcast
• Other: https://nikkicorbett.substack.com/