Nikki Vergakes: PR Professional And Podcast Co-Host

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.

All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner, and today I have Nikki Vergakis with us. She is a PR professional and podcast co-host, so welcome to the show, Nikki.

Hi, yeah, happy to be here.

Happy to have you on as well, and we'll dive right in. The first question I have for you, Nikki, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

So it's not a business-related one, but there can always be troubles with traveling, especially international. So, um, and those times can be bleak, but, um, you just always have to see it through, which is what I learned. So last year I traveled to Costa Rica, and I was coming from Boston. So we flew to Panama City and then to Costa Rica, and then we had to get a rental car. And the rental car that we reserved was already given away, and we had to get a car that was like a manual, and we wanted automatic, and it was all different. So we just had to go with the flow. Then from there, we drove from the airport to our hotel, and by then it was late in an unfamiliar area. And when we got there, the host of the hotel must not have told the hotel that we were going, so they basically were like, we don't have your name here. And we had just traveled internationally, like, we were tired, and there was a language barrier as well. So we were translating on a Google app between English and Spanish. But we were able to talk to some of the staff there and they were— they let us stay there for the night. And then in the morning when the office opened, they saw that they had a room for us. So even so, my lesson there is even in the times when it's just, you know, one after another, see it through as much as you can, because you never know what— how it's gonna end up.

Yeah. And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?

So I work in PR, and that means I create a lot of content between press releases and articles and social media. And through many experiences and just years of it, my biggest Advice with that is to edit and spell check and then do it again when you think you're done, especially with social media content. Make sure the tags and hashtags that you're using are correct. You don't want to tag the wrong person. You don't want to spell someone's name wrong. Just double-check and make sure all the facts and everything are straight.

And what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.

So I find with business advice, with— it can be with a new client, a company that you're interviewing for a job, meeting up with a connection over coffee, or if you're doing a project, always do your research. Even if you're just meeting up for a cup of coffee or someone, do research on who they are and what they do and could be prepared with some facts about them, some questions. If you're going to a job interview, same thing, just always do research ahead of time.

And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

I would say to my younger self to, a, to not let what other people think of you or what they think you're supposed to do because of label or a box that they may have put you in, to let that affect and guide where you go with your life or what you think you want to do. Think outside the box from just your surroundings and where you grew up, because the world is always a lot bigger than, than you think it is.

And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?

I think as long as you wake up and you like what you're doing, and it doesn't even have to be tied to a job. You could have a job and also have a passion volunteer project that you're really interested in. As long as you love what you're doing every day, and you're surrounding yourself with people that validate and support you, then that is also very important too.

And what's the best book that you've read? And what was the number one thing you learned from that?

It's not necessarily a lesson from the book, but the book, my favorite book by John Green, who's a known author, it's one of his least known books, is An Abundance of Katherines. And just the idea that myself and other people really appreciate that book, even though it's not one of his most well-known ones. Is the lesson is to always look for the hidden gems and kind of root for the underdog.

And what is your favorite quote and why?

My favorite quote is, life begins at the end of your comfort zone. Because I just think that's so true. Always push yourself beyond what you think you can do because you can always do more than probably what you believe you can.

Yes, I agree. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?

So currently I'm on Twitter @n_vergak. Also Instagram is the same. And my podcast is wewenttherepodcast.com. That's a great place to find me as well. I'm also on LinkedIn.

So Yeah, perfect. Thank you again for joining us.

We appreciate it. Thank you.

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