When Nicole Phillip’s mother had a stroke, she went from a typical junior in college to her family’s primary caretaker, suddenly responsible for the wellbeing of her ill mother and her two teenage siblings.
Unfortunately, her mother’s diagnosis led to paralysis, and Phillip was now faced with the fact that she had to support her family. But even back then, Phillip, who is now a successful author, entrepreneur, and single mom herself, possessed an entrepreneurial spirit and rose to meet the challenges present in her new life.
“I was inspired to create wealth that could help me bring my mother home,” she said.
To provide for her family, she started a corporate career and started a small business to create a separate income stream. However, the family hit another snag when Phillip lost her day job.
While she used a year of severance pay to work on her business, she also took on another corporate job. Something wasn’t right though. As Phillip explains, she felt uncomfortable. “I wasn’t living with a purpose,” she said.
Even though she was given a 2% raise during her annual review, her heart wasn’t in it. So, she found herself giving in her notice instead of accepting the raise to continue working where she knew she didn’t want to be. Phillip then dove headfirst into her true passion: Ministry Event Marketing, which strives to help other women entrepreneurs create luxury brands that inspire.
A Legacy of Perseverance
What inspired Phillip to take that leap of faith in her career was her own mother’s relentless entrepreneurship as a young adult. While her mother was now reliant on Phillip for her care, she had already set an example of how to succeed as a woman in business when she was younger. One of Phillip’s earliest memories was watching her mother navigate her own company, Steadfast Life. Her mother was dedicated and persevered against all odds, and as a child, Phillip admired her tireless work ethic.
As an adult, Phillip uses those lessons taken from her own mother’s professional journey — and her own professional experience — to inspire other entrepreneurs to achieve their goals. From her mother’s business, Phillip observed the value of building on her clients’ vision and crafting a product or service that articulates an entrepreneur’s vision. Through Ministry Event Marketing, Phillip can now motivate and push other entrepreneurs to fulfill their dream.
“It’s more so like ‘Wow! I’ve impacted a person,’ and that’s what’s meaningful to me,” Phillip said. “Their gift is out there and they’re willing to share it.”
“I got to have a part of that individual being able to walk in their purpose,” she added.
Phillip is effective in her technique because she also understands the challenges facing women entrepreneurs as mothers and caregivers. She knows what it takes for women to achieve success and how difficult, but important, work-life balance is in successful relationships and in business. That’s because Phillip is a mother and caregiver herself.
When she was 25-years-old, Phillip gave birth to her son Ayden, who is now 9. It’s her son and their intimate family of two that drives Phillip to achieve this level of entrepreneurship and success. She has grown Ministry Event Marketing to a six-figure agency in just five years and authored the book Single, Saved, & Bitter: 30 Day Journey to Healing a Bitter Heart, which details how faith helped Phillip heal from trauma.
Building Behind the Brand
A cut-throat business attitude may work for some, but Phillip takes a more holistic viewpoint, which leads to a more fulfilling journey for her and the business women she coaches. For Phillip, it’s crucial to teach entrepreneurs not just how to make the most of their business, but how to compartmentalize their lives so they can operate to the best of their abilities in all areas of their lives.
“Health is so important,’ Phillip said. “Having the right people around you to support you and your mental health, including being able to share your goals with someone and having them encourage you instead of discouraging you.”
Phillip empowers women to move beyond caretaking roles and into the driver’s seat of their lives to develop their own personal brands. To assist in this endeavor, Phillip recently announced the launch of her new program, Behind the Brand, where she’s taking things one step further by helping entrepreneurs to build their businesses, all while remaining authentic in today’s era of digital media.
Family, Faith, and Financial Goals
Motivated by faith and flanked by her sister Jalisha and former colleague Letashia, Phillip strives to help people engage with and maintain their passions without becoming demotivated by the challenges that setting up a business can bring.
One of the ways she does this is by encouraging clients to focus on their financial goals, while also prioritizing their mental and physical health. As she pushes her clients to find and strive for their true purpose, her clients realize that they need to focus on their mental health as much as they do their business. In short, Phillip’s own brand is about helping people to build and create luxury brands that inspire and motivate, not just soulless corporate entities that prioritize profit over people.
In her latest venture, Behind the Brand, Phillip aims to support entrepreneurs by providing them with the resources they need to find success in every area of their lives. With Behind the Brand, Phillip helps participants work with experts to prioritize what they need without sacrificing their personal lives or their families. In building these client relationships, Phillip hopes she can pass along just some of that legacy of perseverance that her mother instilled in her.
About Nicole Phillip:
Nicole Phillip, CEO of Ministry Event Marketing and creator of Behind the Brand, helps leaders create luxury brands that inspire. She has helped dozens of individuals define their brand and scale to the next figure. Click here to learn more: www.thenicoledenise.org
