Niki Victoria: From Drop‑out to 3‑Income Creator at 22
Quit uni, hit one million followers—her confidence blueprint
I just sat down with Niki Victoria.
She built a 1‑million audience and three revenue streams before finishing her teens.
In this episode you’ll learn
How she stacked three income streams by age 19
Mirror routine that rewires self‑talk in 60 seconds
One networking question that unlocks mentors and free advice
We dive into the details later in the conversation.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
02:33 The leap from uni to content creation
04:44 Early hustles and first $1 000 online
07:04 Manifestation tactics that actually moved the needle
09:16 Balancing being present with constant posting
11:40 Fixing creative burnout without leaving socials
14:13 Body positivity and the mirror drill
16:39 Advice for brand‑new creators
18:54 Lessons from a stalled jewellery brand
21:39 Turning failure into an app idea
26:54 Why she trusts intuition over algorithms
32:19 Core principles for success
36:16 Building a high‑value network
45:51 Finding purpose and enjoying the journey
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Here’s the full transcript:
Speaker 1 (00:00.312)
Hi Nikki.
you
you
Take us back to the moment where you decided to leave university to pursue your career in content creation. What was going through your mind and how did you overcome the fear and uncertainty of that decision and that change?
I was searching up so many YouTube videos about dropping out and how other people did it. And there wasn’t even that much out there, honestly, because it’s kind of your choice at the end of the day. No one can influence that. But I definitely was worried about what my parents would think. They’re very traditional. And immigrant parents are always just going to be so much more strict. But I decided that if I
Speaker 2 (00:51.288)
really, really put my mind towards something I could do it. Like that’s how it’s always been for me. And I knew that it would work out. I had this like, you have to have this kind of confidence about yourself where it’s just like, you know, you think you’re good enough. So why not? Why not take the risk? And my mom did ball her eyes out when I dropped out. Like she was so sad.
But I always, I just kept telling her that like if I wanted to, could go back. I’ll always have that option. But to be honest.
It was probably, so this happened during the time that I went to LA for the first time when I was 17. And I saw how people out there were living. People my age had apartments to themselves. They had money. They had great like friendships or so it seemed, know, to me everything was like this crazy illusion of, wow, they made it. And honestly, it was kind of good that I saw this world of theirs because
It showed me that it was possible and it gave me some kind of like reassurance that, why can’t I do that? You know, what’s stopping me? And ever since I, I mean, I did have a YouTube channel since I was 12. So they basically always knew I was going to do this. And I also did actually start with photography being my full-time thing. So I thought that that was going to be my end all be all, but you know, I’m glad I
I’m glad I did it. I’m never going back.
Speaker 1 (02:26.806)
Yeah. Never. So you mentioned there was a lot of confidence that you had about what you could do in the world. So how did your early years, you mentioned your family is also quite traditional. How did your early years shape that person that you see now?
I think stubbornness. I’m just very stubborn. And if someone tells me I can’t do something, I’m going to go and try and do it. My mom, think. Yeah. She’s very stubborn too. But I also think like, my gosh, this is so zodiac sign of me, but it’s because I’m a Scorpio.
Where did you get that from?
Speaker 1 (03:03.31)
Of course, it all makes sense now.
Yeah, it’s the stars actually.
Yeah. Yeah, fair enough. So run me through what was going on when you were like, I’m going to do this full time. So you had the photography business that you were doing. How was that doing? Did you have savings? Had you already? Did you have savings? Did you have already a following on YouTube? Like at what point were like, you know what, maybe I can make this a thing.
So I reached 300K on TikTok when I went to LA and it was pretty like small compared to all the other people that I was meeting out there. They had millions of followers and I thought, okay, with 300K, like, is that enough to take this full time? But first I was thinking obviously about photography being my route and I thought that...
with photography and with the social media management job that I had at that time too. It was like my COVID job, know, that’s kind of where it stemmed from. But I thought as a social media manager, as photography, like maybe a bit of social media partnerships, three streams of income seemed like enough to hold me by. And I made the decision after dropping out shortly to move out of my parents’ house and decided to get a studio.
Speaker 2 (04:29.996)
So that photography studio was gonna be my like fourth stream of income where I was gonna rent it out with another studio partner and we were just gonna have a space to do our photography in but also have other people come by and shoot their stuff. Lemonade stands. Lemonade stands, I made bracelets. How. Bar sales.
You’re a hustler. Yeah. Love it. Where did that come from? Did you start with a lemonade stand?
Speaker 1 (04:53.186)
What do you when you started doing?
Speaker 1 (04:59.042)
Wow. And you were, you’re in Canada, right? Yeah.
Yeah. So it was, yeah, I just always trying to think of more ways to like have my own money because my parents weren’t the kind to do like allowance or anything. Yeah, obviously. I just had to, you know, go to Forever 21 or wherever I shopped back in the day. And I would just think of like a fourteen dollar shirt being like really expensive. And I was like, one day it’s not going to be expensive.
And so honestly, it’s kind of crazy to even like carry your childhood self with you, like that inner child that people say and look back on the way that you viewed the world has changed so much and has evolved. like, don’t know, I find it really cool to like remember my thoughts or what they used to be back then and like look at it now and be like, you’ve grown. I did, my gosh, I have a diary. And like, it was still the same diary up until like,
Did you journal much when you were younger?
Speaker 2 (06:03.384)
four years ago and then I eventually switched like journals, it filled up. But the diary entries back then used to be like what I did in a day. Still not bad. And I mean, it was cute. No, just on the fun days. And then I would, at the end I would be like best day ever, BD. Yeah, so that was my thing.
Really, that’s still not.
Speaker 1 (06:15.97)
Did it every day?
Speaker 1 (06:19.854)
and the bad days.
Oh, cute. Yeah. Yeah. So you started off as a enterprising young boy at 14. It still seems like, what were your inspirations early on? Because that’s not normal for a lot of kids.
Well, I think...
Speaker 2 (06:49.454)
I don’t know. My inspiration was coming from a family that didn’t have much, like immigrant parents. My mom working at Tim Hortons when they first moved to Canada. And Russia. Yeah. So both my parents are Russian. My dad basically promised my mom a better life in Canada as immigrants kind of do. And I grew up on like secondhand clothes pretty much. Yeah.
thrifting when that became a trend actually I was like
I’m so ready for this. I’ve been training my whole life for this moment.
Why is thrifting trending? That’s supposed to be for the low-income families.
Not anymore. anymore. Gentrification.
Speaker 2 (07:36.974)
But yeah, I guess that made me hustle was being like, you know, I don’t think we should live that way. I don’t think we deserve it. I think it could be better.
What is your view on visualization and how it can impact the outcomes of your life?
anything that you say comes into existence, anything you think comes into existence. Like all our thoughts, our energy is what I’ve learned through many of those self-help podcasts, I must say. But I’ve had this kind of inner battle of like spirituality versus religion and then like not knowing which to follow, which was right. It didn’t have to be that complicated. I was kind of overthinking it, but I learned the balance of both or you know what I believe in. But
I don’t even think any of the visual, visualization stuff has to do with spirituality. People really sort the manifestation thing into that being like, you and your crystals and your zodiacs and whatever. I don’t think it’s that. I think visualization and manifestation is just like what we tell ourselves, you know? And my mom, for example, is a person who stresses a lot. She is always,
like revved up, like her nerves and everything is just out of control. And I think she honestly puts that on herself by telling herself things that aren’t even true. know, like whenever I used to be out late at night, she would just be constantly telling herself that something’s gonna happen to me. And like, that’s horrible, you know, like you’re gonna, like that’s gonna happen if you keep saying that. And you know, it’s...
Speaker 2 (09:23.458)
I’ve seen things play out so strangely where it almost feels like a sign when something does happen. Like if you say that something happens and then it happens, like.
What does that mean? know, yesterday I had a friend, for example, say that he was thinking of breaking up with his girlfriend. She texts him two hours later being like, I think we should break up, which is wild. You know, it’s crazy proof that this like energy is what you’re putting out there. And for me, that’s been the way I’ve started to like live my life. That’s like the cheat code to life, what everyone says. And I’ve started trying to follow it, you know, it’s not.
hating the players kind of like the game or
So what’s an example of how you’ve begun to use manifestation in your life to lead to the life you live now?
I calm my own stress by telling myself things that are gonna be like, it’s gonna be fine. Like I’m always late to things, but I always tell myself it’s gonna be fine. And then like, nobody really cares that I’m late at the end of the day. Yeah, I think we all put our thoughts into ourselves and like overthink and stress too much. And it’s all, yeah, as you said before about perspective, about what you feed yourself and what you focus on. And I mean, I think...
Speaker 2 (10:51.96)
Where it’s hard is being clear on exactly what you want because you have to be so precise. And sometimes even I don’t know what I want. Like nobody knows really what they want unless they have every single detail written out. And so.
I guess the way I try to do it is, yeah, being very specific and just always coming back to those specific thoughts, just to not like be all over the place with what I want, you know? So, yeah, I guess I use it more in the short term way, today, tomorrow, this week, rather than five years from now. I’ve stopped trying to focus on the future so much. We’re always living in the future of the past, you know?
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:38.794)
and I’ve been working on trying to be more present myself.
Yeah. How do you find being present while also being a content creator full time?
yeah, that’s tough. There’s yeah, there’s that balance I’ve had to find with like putting your phone down at one point. Honestly, yesterday, even my roommate and I were talking about how bad we want to do a week off social media and like how much I’ve been craving that because always creating and always like thinking that I have to record every single part of my life. It’s just so I get so annoying. know, I’m tired of like thinking that
anyone, like who even cares? Sometimes I go back to the point of like, why do I need to show this to someone right now? Why can’t I just enjoy it for myself and be a little selfish like that, you know? So during hangouts, I mean, for quality time, dates, friendship hangouts, family time, I never have my phone out. That I find does not need to be documented. And that I find could just be like a little selfie if you want, but.
Otherwise that person has my full attention. For travel and stuff, usually first five, 10 minutes is like photo taking. Yeah. And then, you know, the rest is just to enjoy because then you get that work stuff out of the way. And then you’re kind of there.
Speaker 1 (12:56.343)
needs first.
Speaker 1 (13:06.638)
So you have a combination of, mean, you do a lot, right? You’ve do a lot of creative stuff. You’ve got your Juru brand that you started and the lemonade stands, all these very, very interesting and savvy businesses at 22 plus multiple seven figure accounts. It’s a lot, right? So how have you managed to combine the artistry and
business side.
I mean, I’ve lost my creative spark so many times. Not creating or creating just for myself. Yeah. So I’ve tried to do these like photo walks. I really have been just telling myself that I’m going to do it and never have. When you just like take out your camera and just take photos of anything you want, you know, I am so used to.
How do you get a bath?
Speaker 1 (13:55.854)
What’s a photo of?
Speaker 2 (14:07.214)
posting my photos that I never really take photos for myself. I don’t even know what a photo for myself is anymore. You know, what’s something I’m not gonna share and it’s just for me and for memories. My creativity outlets have become music. I’ve tried to get into DJing to be like you. Yeah, I always used to be like a musical person and then
I think I just have to take a rest sometimes. Like a true rest of not putting anything out there. So that’s why the social media break is needed.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:47.372)
Yeah. Have you done that before? What happened? Did the world fall apart?
No, I come back with so many introspective thoughts. I did this yoga retreat back in October and that’s when I really said like I’m not doing anything on my phone. Like I’m just gonna be present, gonna do yoga, gonna be in nature and that really like I came back from it like a new person I swear. It really did something in me but I think anytime it’s really good. I’ve tried to do the whole like
no phone one day of the week thing, but it usually just doesn’t end up working. I get like a spontaneous energy in me to like film. Now even I’ve tried to just film on the days that I feel like filming, you know? I’ve asked Tragedy BT frankly, give me like a weekly schedule where I won’t feel burnt out that I have to film every single day. So.
It’s worked? Has it helped?
Well, chat-tubety helps in a lot of ways. I’ve probably trauma dumped on it like three times last week. It’s like having your smartest friend be right there at your disposal.
Speaker 1 (15:47.949)
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:57.888)
Yeah, and this is just like gassing you up unnecessarily. Feed my delusion.
Yeah, my goodness, that’s the best part.
It’s true, but the delusion is what’s gonna keep you going in this world where like nobody’s used to believing in themselves anymore. feels like, you know, it feels like we’re all just on this hamster wheel constantly and kind of running in like a program, like a system, like a cycle. Yeah. But once you kind of tap into like what you actually want, maybe escaping that cycle.
And actually just being grounded through the cycles, like what’s important. I don’t know where this spiral of thoughts came from. Thinking about like how fast time passes by.
Yeah, it is kind of crazy. mean, the lack of confidence is really interesting. I feel like a lot of it’s got to do with the content world as well, which is a fine, which is a weird one.
Speaker 2 (17:01.998)
Well, of course, mean, we’re being fed all these trends and beauty standards and like, why are people getting Botox at 20 years old? I don’t understand. You know, it’s these crazy like everyone’s in their delusional world in some way, thinking that you always need to improve yourself. This glow up culture I’ve talked about in like my past YouTube videos. It’s hard to differentiate from that even.
because I try to think of like a YouTube video idea and all that’s out there or all that’s on my feet at least is like, here’s how to get your summer body. Here’s how to look better and glow up tips. And that’s been my videos in the past too. You know, I can’t even say, but it just sucks that like, I mean, I saw this one TikTok of a girl yesterday and she came back to social media after five years. That’s why I was talking about the whole like phone social media break.
And she said like a point that I knew was true. And she just kind of reminded me of it. But the fact that, yeah, we always think that we need to do more and we need to like match this beauty standard or keep feeding into this consumerism. mean, the whole world is just thriving on consumerism.
Realizing what truly makes you beautiful or what truly makes you you and being so comfortable with yourself as you are, yeah, that’s a hard thing to do.
How do you find that from your experience?
Speaker 2 (18:36.642)
I’ve started trying to feed myself content. Like if I can’t do a full social media break, I’ll just try and like watch the creators that I actually think can help with that. There’s this one girl who told me, forget her last name, but she is so grounded, like such a good creator to follow because she truly like connects with nature, shows people how to become more grounded and explains her journey of like
you know, discovering her femininity or whatever, all this stuff, discovering her confidence and it’s a good thing to follow. Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:15.49)
So curating it a bit more. I have an app that blocks basically the feed on YouTube completely and directs me to my watch later. And that’s it. So every time I go on YouTube, go straight to my watch later. Yeah, I can share that with you, which has been good. I’ve started setting alerts for, okay. I started setting alerts for,
Interesting. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:45.526)
certain creators in different channels. And that’s the only thing I really try to focus on.
I wish there was an app like that for Instagram.
Well, yeah, there isn’t. I mean, blocking them on your phone is...
But then you have to post and then you’re just going to like end up scrolling.
Yeah, 100%. So I’d like to talk about confidence a bit more. Have you always been a confident person, like in front of camera? No.
Speaker 2 (20:18.03)
I don’t think anyone grows up and is naturally confident. I mean, some kids. But I definitely had to work on that. think, oh my god, for me it was not even the height. You’d think that a sudden growth spurt would be kind of crazy. When did you grow up? I was pretty average up until 10th grade.
Yeah, that’s the same for me. Yeah, still average.
But I definitely, for me it was the chest. Not having like anything come in ever. That was tough. You know, I so excited about my first bra. You’ll never get that feeling as a guy. You know, it’s a whole different like.
thing. And then, yeah, anyway, back to the confidence stuff around all of that. I think just like accepting yourself, accepting your body as the only body you’ll ever have. And like, honestly, this morning, such a random thought. I looked at my legs and I was like, damn, like, I’m strong. I feel strong. Finally, you know, I used to I part of me in another like
in a different part of my life, I’d look at my legs and be like, they’re too thin or they’re too like bulky or something. But now I was just like, I had this new found appreciation for them this morning. I went rock climbing yesterday and I was like, I can’t believe I did that, you know, because of your legs and like, I don’t know. I find to be very, like I’ve learned to be so grateful for like the bodies that we have because some people don’t even have some limbs or don’t even have like a fully functioning brain, you know?
Speaker 1 (21:52.845)
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:09.998)
Well, a lot of people don’t have a functioning brain.
My frontal lobe is still not developed. But I... yeah. I mean, it’s crazy how the human body is so taken for granted every single day.
Three more years.
Speaker 1 (22:27.618)
So what were the specific techniques or ways you managed to become more accepting of who you are and what you’re working with?
Okay, this might sound strange, but like standing naked in front of the mirror. I think every person has to do that at least like once a year. You know, cause then you re I think it was honestly the first time I did it was like health class when I was young. The health teacher just told us to like look at our bodies one day and like none of the class.
I’ve done that. I’ve done that.
Speaker 1 (23:01.942)
So everyone stood naked in the car.
That’s crazy. Yeah, I went home that day. just, was like, shit, this is we’re working with.
Did you say anything to yourself or were you just kind of like?
mean, it felt kind of strange. We never do that. Like we just like kind of hop into the shower and we’re like, okay. But you know, to be fully like present there in a sense, it’s like, well, this is what we were given. And another technique has been, well, a lot of people will say like practice affirmations and like tell things to yourself. That doesn’t work for me. You know, I’m like, what am I doing? For me it’s more just like,
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:49.292)
Yeah, just like thinking about, know, you do like a full body scan. There’s like these meditations where you scan throughout your entire like head to toe thing and you feel every part of your body and like it gets like a little tingly or whatever. And you’re just kind of like learning to differentiate all your parts. And honestly, it’s yeah, that’s that’s a good thing to do once in a while, too.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:16.814)
because then you learn to appreciate even your nails, your knuckles, I don’t know, everything. And yeah, just being more aware of what you have, who you are in the physical present.
Yeah, the, uh, I read a book. No, no, I was listening to a podcast for a while. I was like the mindset mental during COVID and he had this thing where he suggested every day for like a month or something. You just stand in front of the mirror naked and just be like, I love you. I love you. And I did it for like a month and the first few times I couldn’t look at myself in the eye.
It’s really crazy. Yeah. And then after a while I was like able to do it. It’s like, didn’t believe it. She’s wild.
Yeah. Yeah. Cause I was even, oh my God, I was falling asleep last night and I was trying to visualize like myself in my, like I was trying to like, I don’t know, daydream, night dream. don’t know. was just having these thoughts and I was trying to visualize like me. And then I realized, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, why can’t I even, I don’t even know how I look because it’s true. We never see each other or we never see ourselves like.
But it’s a dream.
Speaker 2 (25:37.024)
in our entire lifetime. We only see us through reflections of mirrors, cameras, whatever. We never actually see ourselves. And I find that to be such a crazy thought because it becomes harder to visualize yourself. You can’t look at yourself with your eyes closed. Isn’t that crazy?
I just see darkness. Do you visualize like you’re a very visual person?
Mm-hmm. I learn like I’m a visual learner
Yeah, because I just like, if I close my eyes and try to imagine this is black.
You got to sit and think for a while. But yeah, I think it’s much easier to see other people in your thoughts. Yeah. It’s to see yourself.
Speaker 1 (26:05.357)
Meh.
Speaker 1 (26:15.33)
Yeah, just quickly, though, I love doing this podcast. If it’s positively impacted you in some way and you would like to support us, please subscribe. By subscribing, it allows us to build a much bigger base of listeners, which results in better guests, better production and a better show overall. Alternatively, please take a look at the affiliate links of the products that I use and love in the comments below and consider purchasing using those links.
They’ll give you a discount and they’ll also provide the podcast a small kickback. These are two very easy ways for you to support us as we continue to grow the podcast that we absolutely love doing. Thank you for your support and now back to the episode. So what if someone was to start creating content now and wanted to become an influencer or wanted to get into content creation and make the media world more of a career? What would you say to them?
I’d say that you have to tune into yourself and be like, well, what can I share with the world that’s going to be valuable? Because relying on just your looks is not going to get you through. That’s what a lot of people do. gets them, honestly, gets them like.
Pretty far. Depends on how good looking you are.
That’s true. But I think for the rest of us, mean, I kind of like thrived off of value. You know, I was trying to teach people something and I think that worked. It helped being attractive, I guess, but also just like knowing that I can have something valuable to say.
Speaker 1 (27:32.13)
for the rest of us.
Speaker 1 (27:51.16)
How did you figure out what to say?
Well, I thought about my strong suits. I thought about my photography and modeling experience and I was like, I actually know a lot about this field. And now I’m trying to build an app off of everything I know about that field. So just trying to further it more because I realized at one point I didn’t have to teach myself something new. I could just work with what I have and make it work. But to people starting content creation, I’d say, yeah, figure out what you’re good at.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:23.128)
figure out the strong suits of your personality. Is your personality even strong enough to talk in front of the camera? Because I knew that like mine was somewhat, but I don’t think I could lead a full podcast and have a lot of people listen to it right now. So yeah.
The podcasting thing is just it develops over time. Like you started the YouTube channel at 12 you said. So you’ve been doing it for 10 years. Practice does help. The first episode of this podcast was so bad.
I also, yeah, practice makes perfect.
Speaker 2 (28:57.134)
I think also what’s important is with that practice thing is you don’t even have to post the first few videos that you make. You know, like that’s so easy to just like, kind of tricks your brain into thinking, well, I’m not going to post this anyway. Let me just like see what I can do with this video. And you make a video. Yeah, you don’t post it. It just takes off all that pressure right away.
Yeah, that’s actually a really good point. I’ve been, well, Joe and a bunch of other people that I’ve been speaking to about this have said that I should be doing a lot more solo episodes and I’ve just not wanted to and I just kept putting it off. I don’t know, I feel like kind of weird about just sitting there for half an hour talking about the topic. that’s that what you just said then is a useful point.
that I’ve never actually thought about, which is you don’t actually have to post it, just make it. Yeah. Yeah.
And who knows if that ends up being posted one day or you decide to like come back to it or you find it in your archives and you’re like, well, this is actually pretty good. Let me just go ahead and send it.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:00.662)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, you’ve got to send it. talk to me about the, so it’s Novi and the digital course you did as well. So what were some of the learning curves in getting that started and any mistakes or lessons you learned that you want to share around kind of content creation and building a business?
So many. mean, the reason I even started Novi, which is not really existent anymore in a sense, it’s the website’s still up, but I don’t really try to take it anywhere now. I think I’m maybe gonna rebrand one year, but for now it’s on pause. I learned so much through like learning, like having a business and running it all by yourself. I mean, there are so much work that goes into it. I didn’t even know.
and so many things that you don’t even think about. And to try and overcome each challenge of like samples not coming in on time or shipping customs and so many things about physical products that is just annoying to deal with. But I really did have a lot of those moments where I would just sit there and it’d be like, do I keep going? Do I give up? And then I would listen to a podcast and I’d be like, how did business owners get through like their
most difficult challenges and then that would help and be like, well, you learn after your challenges, like failure is how you learn. So I just kept telling myself that every time something would fail, I’d be like, this is how you learn. This is part of the journey. But with the chorus too, that was a thing that like really took me, took me a year to do it. Like it took me a year to think about it and then actually take action. So a little too long, but did it.
Speaker 2 (31:51.522)
go the way I wanted it to? No. But did it lead me to having another idea like this app? Yes. So I think there’s always gonna be a positive about starting something, even if it doesn’t go the way you plan it. You’re always gonna get something out of it because you actually put in the time and effort. And I believe there’s always gonna be some kind of reward for your time and energy and effort.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:15.436)
Sure. So what happened with the jewelry business? What made it go on pause?
I think I wasn’t passionate about the products anymore.
Yeah, that’s a hard one. And unless it’s making money hand over fist.
It’s like, I still kept getting orders after that too. It’s like after I announced, I actually, don’t know if I officially announced that I was pausing it, but me not being passionate about what I’m selling, it’s not going to work. You know, I don’t like, wouldn’t, if I wouldn’t buy it, then why would I sell it?
And you wouldn’t buy it, the products that you initially selling? shit, you didn’t believe in it? Damn.
Speaker 2 (32:52.334)
That’s why I discounted them a lot.
Speaker 2 (32:56.494)
was like, 75 % off. But I think I had a middle man helping me out. And then that middle man left and wasn’t helping me anymore. I find that that’s a part where I relied on someone and I kind of went to shit.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:19.31)
Yeah. So what have you learned from a very young age? Trust anybody. I wonder if that’s the, that’s the Russian immigrant attitude of like, you can’t rely on anybody. Cause it’s like, it’s like a, guess it’s culturally, it’s very like, there’s, can be somewhat standoffish like, so
Don’t trust anybody.
Speaker 2 (33:44.653)
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:49.174)
Not standoffish, self-assured.
What’s the difference?
Well standoff is just like, rude. Standoff is just like, you know, cold. I do think Russians are very yeah, definitely.
It comes from the weather.
Yeah, no like true Russians are cold, so unapproachable. I’m kind of scared of them. But anyway.
Speaker 1 (34:17.409)
Yeah. So would you say you you align with that more or have you kind of moved into the more Western like open view of the world?
Definitely. Yeah, I think I grew up just like Canadian, Canadian. Yeah. But having like Russian culture in me, which is different from like the true Russian beliefs. I don’t know. Yeah. to differentiate that. Yeah. I don’t know. I like the food, the music, my few pop songs that I remember from my childhood. And I like knowing the language. At least I’m bilingual. Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:56.014)
Yeah, I can speak English. That’s all I’ve needed. mean, Australia is like 90 % white and everyone speaks English. I haven’t needed anything else.
But I think because I travel a lot, would love to know other languages. I keep telling myself I’m going to learn, but it happens.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:14.008)
give it another year and then eventually you’ll do it. What podcasts are you listening to that help give you some? J-Shit. J-Shit. Really? That’s a good one.
Maybe five.
Speaker 2 (35:24.928)
I met him once. Jay Shetty is great. think also Mel Robbins is good. Dr. Huberman lab. Diary of a CEO.
Yeah.
Yeah, of my guests have been on his podcast, which is pretty cool. moving up in the world very slowly. You’re doing great, 3D.
So.
Speaker 1 (35:57.638)
I want to quickly chat about the online presence, how you’ve handled fans, critics, how do you handle criticism, negative feedback, and what have you learned about self-worth with social media?
I’ve stopped listening to people online. Like genuinely just like could not care less what they say. If it’s good, if it’s bad, don’t care. Sucks, but I think just like listening to yourself is what’s most important and you could get really lost in the sauce. Listening to your loved ones is also important, but like people online don’t know you. Like they only know your content and that’s only one part of you.
And I’ve learned to try and like develop myself as a person that is so much more off social media. Like I truly think if you know me personally, you’ll know, you’ll know me. Like, I don’t think the social media content really gets into how I truly am. Yeah. I think at a very early age, I stopped listening to like hate comments.
knowing that I like, I’m so much more than that. Like, they’re just hyping behind a screen. Yeah, people hide a lot. And then they say mean things. And it’s just projection, know? Jealousy, projection.
Have you managed to find the differentiation between hate comments and actual useful feedback? How do you find that without getting offended?
Speaker 2 (37:35.862)
I think, well, sometimes I will read messages. I’m not gonna say that I don’t, because I do. Like, messages is different from comments. But with messages, if someone...
tells me how like one of my content like videos, whatever made them feel, then I will listen to that. What is like, yeah.
Even if it’s negative, do you get negative messages like that? Or is it always like, my god, babe.
I honestly don’t get much hate, which I’m very grateful for, but I also think it’s because I share useful things instead of just like, in my opinions, yeah. Because yeah, I’ve never shared anything political, never going to, never shared anything like that I, yeah. I mean, I don’t talk about it much to even my friends. I hold very thing, that was not a word. I hold a lot of things deep inside that I’ll only tell a few certain people.
Mean.
Speaker 1 (38:33.375)
It’s a Russian culture.
I honestly don’t even think that everyone’s opinions should be like, I don’t think that like everyone’s so expressive nowadays and like, go you free speech. But sometimes, I mean, I don’t care what that person on the street has to say. Like, maybe they think their opinion is valuable. Sure, everyone’s is, but I don’t think we need to listen to everything.
Opinions are like assholes. Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one. Someone said something really funny to me recently. They like, the democratisation of men with microphones is going to be the downfall of society. I lost it. Yeah, that was wild. So.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:25.09)
You
Wrapping up on this part of the podcast, if you could distill everything you’ve learned from 12 into making a YouTube channel, into photography, six-figure following, sorry, seven-figure following on YouTube, Instagram almost, TikTok, all that sort of stuff, building businesses and moving to New York. What are the core principles and the guiding light that you would like?
to have the listeners understand that it may help them to have a similar path.
Speaker 1 (40:05.55)
You didn’t? No, he’s vibing.
No, no, no. You said more so about like the journey.
Yeah, so what kind of principles would you take for your life so far that anyone listening that wants to potentially emulate this would be able to apply?
Okay.
First is that you shouldn’t waste much time. Time is precious and time is money. And I think you could do a lot with your time that you’re probably wasting your time on. Yeah, using your free time towards things that will actually help you as a person, even if it’s hobbies or sports or creative arts and movement, anything, but not scrolling because scrolling is disappearing.
Speaker 2 (40:57.954)
you’re just kind of, disappear for a bit. It’s like you, yeah, yeah. And yeah, other than the whole like time is valuable thing, probably the fact that you should just tap into what you want, learn to ground yourself, learn to be one with yourself and,
I actually do. It’s crazy.
Speaker 1 (41:21.486)
Stare at yourself naked. It’s actually very good technique. Honestly.
Are you self-taking? And take risks. think taking risks is the big thing. Listen to the universe. Listen to the signs around you. Listen to your path because everyone has a purpose in this life and you’re just trying to find yours. And definitely recommend Jay Shetty’s podcast for finding a purpose. how? Yeah. Yeah. But there’s this one episode like about like finding your purpose all about it.
and he goes deep into like all the techniques that you could use. And I’ve definitely followed a lot of those self-help podcasts. They are so valuable. I think the more we listen, the more we learn. It’s kind of like the whole like thing with opinions too. You’re kind of just, you’re not listening when you’re speaking out so much. Yeah. Yeah. But also,
Speaker 2 (42:23.49)
I think another part is surrounding yourself with the right people. I find networking was the thing that got me through. After dropping out, I knew that was going to be the tool that was going to get me to where I want.
How did you network effectively?
I to anyone and everyone, it was nice. And honestly, I asked them for advice. I asked people, what’s the one piece of advice that you would give me with my position right now? The more, again, the more you listen, the more you learn. Yeah, and especially for some reason, well, for a big chunk of my life, up until a few years ago, I was really looking up at people from their age. I thought that the older you are, the smarter you are.
Good start.
Speaker 1 (42:54.626)
That’s a great question to ask.
Speaker 2 (43:08.792)
which sometimes isn’t true. But I was asking like really successful older people mostly like, what would you say to me right now if you were to tell me like how I can achieve my goals? And I’ve heard a lot of different things, you know, some people were more willing to help than others. But I also think like the friend circle that you have impacts you a lot. Like are these people
also following their dreams or are they just getting by? And there’s a balance, know, there’s the people you hold so close to your heart. And I don’t think you should just cut everyone out. I was in that habit once where I, yeah, I went through like cutting a lot of ties and I learned, hold up, we can’t do that, slow down. Like, it doesn’t mean that these people are bad people. It just means that you should
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:07.79)
shouldn’t put all your time in them because what are you getting out of it? Do you feel inspired after you hang out with that person? That’s what I’ve asked a lot of like after my hangouts, that’s what I have asked myself. And I wanna feel inspired, I wanna feel energized. I want to feel like I came out better instead of drained because there was a lot of hangouts where I would feel pretty drained at the end. But I...
learned to differentiate that fast. And now I think I have a great circle of people around me because once you like learn how to sense energies, then you’re good.
Yeah. A lot of that is just slowing down and being able to like be in touch with the subtle components of your life and experience and just listening to the little whispers. it’s been something I’ve been working on a lot. Just trusting that little like whisper that tells you the right direction to go. Yeah, that’s what some people call it. Yeah. What if you have IBS though?
Yes, you’re good. You’re good. You gotta listen to your intuition. mean.
Speaker 2 (45:11.886)
Funny. I think your intuition can guide you in very good directions. I mean, it’s guided me.
Yeah. Yeah. And you’re doing, you’re doing well.
Cause you know what I found myself asking? Like I would come to friends being like seeking advice on a situation. And if I’m already seeking advice about something, that probably means it’s not good. Like, well, there was this like one brand opportunity, no, brand opportunity where I kept thinking like, do I go on that trip? Do I go on that trip? And if I wasn’t already like a thousand percent about it or even like, yeah, you know.
What do mean?
Speaker 2 (45:54.51)
If it’s not a simple yeah, it’s probably my gut telling me that it’s not a good idea. I didn’t go on the trip and a better opportunity came as it should.
Yeah, you know what, I have...
not trusted my gut for a very long time and I’ve gone directions based on a lot of fear. I remember there was a girl I dated years ago and when we would fight I would consult my friends about it and she hated it. She’s like why can’t you just figure it out yourself and I’m like because I don’t know the right answer and but she was great she would be like she would sit with it.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:38.478)
and she would reflect on it and then she’d come to some conclusion. And I realized that that’s probably a better way to approach a lot of this and that I needed to work on that a hell of a lot more. And it’s taken a long time. It’s been a very slow process, but it’s definitely getting better. Trusting. Yeah. That was the core. just didn’t trust that I was.
Yeah, it’s also just like training yourself. Practicing. Trusting. Trusting is hard.
Speaker 1 (47:07.694)
Good enough, really. It’s getting better. I’ll get there by 40.
Learning to value yourself and differentiating what you need in your life gets better after you put some kind of value on yourself. You’re I actually am the shit.
That’s going to be our little snippet.
No.
Joe. it’s funny. Well, look, I’m conscious of time and I want to just talk to you about some general, just life conversations. I got a few questions around that. Yeah. So what views have you got that would make people either scratch their head or get angry? Any hot takes you got right now?
Speaker 2 (47:59.118)
clubbing is overrated yeah I mean when you go to a club sober you’re like really?
So
Speaker 1 (48:06.478)
You know, I’m Three years. Yeah. And I’m always out. Chronically outside.
Yeah, you were. Very good, very good trade.
Do you want to take?
Yeah, clubbing is overrated. People should know how to cook more. Why does nobody else know how to cook? Or like, yes. I want be saying that. Salmon. A good salmon harvest bowl, grains, vegetables, all that. Just basically like Chipotle at home.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:31.672)
Gina Helicop? What’s your favorite movie?
Speaker 1 (48:37.976)
Seven, yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:46.286)
What’s the biggest thing over the last two years you’ve changed your mind on?
Probably where I want to live. I’ve went like back and forth between America, Europe, Australia, everywhere. But I’ve also just decided that I don’t have to decide right now. I’ve decided a lot of things about now just being the time that I can still be 22. I like to rush it a lot. I like to...
Or you are Russian.
Speaker 1 (49:29.186)
Yeah. So New York isn’t home.
No, New York is overwhelming to me.
Really? You haven’t been here for long.
It’s, it’s, I know, but I already know. Not going to be exactly. Okay. And I do love the people here, but careful there. No, I, I do think that I meant to live by the ocean. Yeah. That’s what would me, what would make me the happiest genuinely.
Okay, trust your God.
Speaker 1 (50:00.91)
nature. Yeah, I love the beach. It’s like my calming place. I do miss it. What I miss the most is walking my dog on the beach that was like 20 minutes from my house. Yeah, that’s probably the one thing. But you know, we’re here for a purpose. Follow my gut. I don’t really know why I’m here, but we’re here. We’re vibing. So we’ll see.
I think you’re making a lot of things work out for yourself. You’re always somewhere.
Try my
I was outside, chronically outside. I don’t like the home. But I have a home. Yeah, yeah. It’s Joe’s couch. Actually, when I first came to New York, I slept on Joe’s couch for like three weeks.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (51:00.398)
It was a small couch. I ended up giving up for a while and just slept on the floor. I was like, I’m going to be stoic.
you
That’s perseverance right there.
Now I have a bed. Really moving up in the world. On the CEO thing, what if they’re a CEO of a company that has $10,000 in revenue? CEO of nothing. Just going rare. CEO and founder of nothing. You are a CEO. You literally are. Nikki Victoria Media.
you
Speaker 2 (51:28.076)
Yeah, I wish it was...
I’ll be a CEO soon
Speaker 1 (51:40.302)
Media and ventures. NVV, Nikkie Victoria Ventures. I’m going to trademark that before you get to it. What’s an example of a kind gesture somebody did for you that had a massive impact? A small, sorry, let me do that again. What’s an example of a small kind gesture that somebody did for you that had a massive impact on you?
sure.
Speaker 2 (52:06.156)
My roommate washing my dishes. She’s so sweet. You know, it’s just when you really don’t want to do something and then you come home and it’s done for you. Well, I just like now I wash her dishes.
Yeah, so I was going to say, how do you show up for other people in the way based on that kindness?
I love kind of thinking of my friends as like, how would I treat my partner? Let me treat my friends that way. Because sometimes I think I lack like a relationship, but I’m not really lacking a relationship. I’m lacking the way it’s gonna make me feel. And so I think by showing up for friends like that, by being like, what would I do for a person I love? You know, it’s kind of, yeah, it’s just like the little things, you know?
It’s a great way to think about it, what would I do for a person I love, even if you don’t love them.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:00.366)
What do you mean?
saying that to every interaction that you have with people versus just, yeah. It’s interesting. Yeah, it is. Like, you might have a challenging interaction with somebody that like maybe you’re not super close with. And it’s like, what would I do for a person I love in this situation? Might be a nice way to frame it.
You mean like even stranger I see
Speaker 1 (53:28.108)
Came out of your mouth. What is the most beautiful thing you’ve created?
connection with others. My biggest, like, I don’t know, the thing that brings me so, so, so much joy is having my friends meet my friends, you know? Like, I have a lot of separate friendships, and whenever I see that someone thrives with one of my friends and like, they connect, and then whole new friendship blossoms, that brings me so much joy. Even like how you met Harry over the weekend, it was like,
Just anything like that, any kind of new friendship is, that is the most beautiful thing I’ve created, is new friendships, yeah, between other people. Not even myself just like letting them frolic and thrive.
Yeah, the, so my previous business in Australia was running like an event company. did festivals and owned a club for a while and did a bunch of stuff like that for about six, seven years. And it’s been so interesting putting on these events and like putting on this weekly club that a lot of people in the small city that I was from went to. It was like a pretty cool spot.
I’ve seen, well, I built friendships with lots of different age demographics because people would go out for say three years and then that would stop going out. And then the next group of like people that would start going out more would go out and then I’d make friends with them. And it just kept happening. And now, you know, I’ve gone through probably four of those demographics in that city and off the back of the festivals or the
Speaker 1 (55:18.478)
club that I had, people are getting married, people having kids. There’s all these friendship groups that have formed and I, and I will go and see people and how has this happened? There’s these like connections that don’t make sense and they’ve come together. Like I went to Coachella this year and one of my like dearest girlfriends, she invited me with her friend group and it was like,
this group of girls from Melbourne and then a group from my hometown that should not connect. This is strangest combination. It was so much fun. Yeah. Which is really cool. I find that really, really interesting. It makes it kind of worth it. Yeah. But it’s a new world now. I’m into a completely different ball game. So we’ll see where this one takes me. Wrapping up, what is one lesson that you’d hope people can take away from this conversation?
To listen more around you. To recognize anything little that’s going on around you. To pay attention to the small things really. Just any small sounds, any small gestures, any small conversations, and small interactions. Even your coffee shop order today. How is that barista? Maybe you can give a compliment next time. Make their day, you know? Just listening more and...
acting more.
Gotta slow down to be able to do that. Can’t do that if you’re sending it 24 seven.
Speaker 2 (56:54.232)
Slow down, exactly.
Speaker 2 (56:59.116)
I think that’s been the biggest thing for me too, is slowing down.
Yoga helps.
Yoga helps meditation.
Yeah. Six coffees.
Just three.
Speaker 1 (57:15.306)
three. Nikki, is there anything that you are excited about at the moment that you would like to let listeners in on?
I’m going on a trip with my mom in a week. And I’m taking her along with me as a plus one to like my work trips. Turkey and Greece. Wow. And she’s never been to either. yeah, I’m just last year I took her to Mexico for her birthday and she loved it. And I think that mother daughter time for me is just so precious. Yeah. Knowing how much my mom did to me.
That’s so fun.
Speaker 1 (57:42.285)
So cool.
Speaker 1 (57:52.236)
What?
Knowing how much my mom did for me, well growing up has been just, you know, I’ve reflected on that a lot.
Yeah, that’s so beautiful. Yeah, I love that. Nice. And where can people find you if they’re interested?
Instagram YouTube TikTok at Nikki Victoria. Yeah
right. Nikki, thank you for coming on.
Speaker 2 (58:19.486)
This was so fun!
Sure, I’ve got one more question for you. What is the meaning of life?
to find your purpose in this world.
And to find your purpose, go to YouTube, subscribe to Nicky.
No, no, purpose of life, no, the purpose of life is to enjoy every moment.
Speaker 1 (58:45.186)
Yeah, even the ones that aren’t enjoyable. How do do that?
Because the more you recognize that you’re having like a low day or a bad day, you can’t have a high day without a low day. You can’t have a good day without a bad day. That’s I’m trying to find out.
Stay lovey.
And if you’ve made it this far and enjoyed the episode, please go to YouTube, search that one time with Adam Itwari, click subscribe, like the video and leave us a comment.
