In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews U.S. Paralympian Nicky Nieves. Nieves shares the story of her team’s historic gold‑medal win in sitting volleyball at the Rio Paralympics, emphasizing that belief, hard work, and perseverance turn goals into reality. She offers a mantra of "never say never," encouraging people to see every need as an opportunity to help others. Her business advice focuses on the mental shift from being a consumer to owning a venture—owning it, speaking and walking with confidence, and taking decisive action. When asked what she would tell her younger self, she warns against self‑doubt, urging belief in one’s own potential. Nieves defines happiness as self‑discovery, urging individuals to find what feeds their soul. She cites the Bible as her most influential book, highlighting faith and strength as essential for her nonprofit work. Her favorite quote, from her mother, is a call to be confident and aggressive on the court, reflecting her competitive mindset. Finally, she directs listeners to her Instagram (nikolina_cruz) for further engagement, emphasizing openness to questions and conversation.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Nikki Nieves with us. She's a USA Paralympian, so welcome to the show, Nikki.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for having me.
Of course, thank you for joining us, and we'll dive right in. The first question that I have for you is, what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
The best story would have to be making it to the podium in Rio. My team was the first team in history for sitting volleyball to get the gold medal. And for me, that meant everything because you always hear people saying, believe in yourself, you can do it, you can do it. And you know, you, you believe in yourself, but there's always that little doubt. So for me, it was actually fulfilling. Like, it's true. Like, if you put your hard work in, you believe in yourself, you do what you need to do, your goals are absolutely achievable.
And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Never say never. And I know that sounds really cliché, but I just feel like if you know there's a need for it, and if you know that you could reach out and help someone, whether it be one person or a million people, never say never. It's possible.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily any industry-specific.
Business advice would have to be, it's going to be a little bit of a change going from being the person that people treat you, so being the person that's a consumer, and then becoming the person that's the boss. It's a little bit of like a mind game because it's It's weird, it's yours, it's your own, it belongs to you. So advice I would give anyone is just take it and own it. It's yours now, you just gotta own it and speak in confidence, walk in confidence, and do what you need to do to get it done.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Don't ever doubt yourself. There's gonna be people that are gonna pity you and people that are gonna say, "Oh, that's nice, maybe one day," but don't doubt yourself because you will be as big as you want to be.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
The key to happiness is finding yourself. A lot of times people think that other things or other people could make them happy. But honestly, you just, you have to pour into yourself and find what makes yourself happy, what makes you tick, what feeds your soul. And once you find those things that feed your soul, and that makes you tick, that you can operate by yourself, then you'll find your happiness.
And what's the best book you've read? And what was the number one thing you learned from that?
This is gonna sound a little crazy, but for me, the best book has been the Bible because I am Christian. And the one thing that I learned from it is that strength and faith is everything. For me, it's in the Bible, it says if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you know, God will back you up. And That has been the case entirely on this quest to having the best nonprofit I can have.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
My favorite quote would have to be from my mother. And I'm a middle hitter and I was an outside and a middle hitter throughout college. And her thing was, you know, be confident, you're a killer, kill. Meaning, you know, I'm a spiker, spike the ball. So it's my favorite quote just because This is who I am, and this is my trick of the trade, and I need to be confident. I just need to go out there and just do it.
Yes, thank you so much, Nikki, for joining us. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
The best place would be for my Instagram. It is nikolina_cruz, Cruz with 3 Zs. I am completely open to questions, to comments, concerns, whatever the case may be. I'm an open book.
Awesome. Thank you again, Nikki. We really appreciate it.
Thank you so much for having me.
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