Nikkie Handy is a seasoned Franchise Business Coach with 25 years of experience in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE).
Specializing in transforming childcare centers into high-quality educational environments, Nikkie’s expertise spans child development, ECCE teaching methodologies, early childhood behavior, and brain development. Throughout her career, she has held key roles including teacher, campus director, regional program director, business consultant, quality assurance auditor, and professional development coach.
Currently, Nikkie coaches business owners on financial stewardship, operational efficiency, customer experience, and regulatory compliance, translating complex financial data into actionable insights. She is passionate about empowering others, especially women, and views her mission as paying forward the support she received growing up in extreme poverty.
With big plans ahead, Nikkie is committed to helping others rise—#TogetherWeRise.
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Houston, Texas. It’s time for Houston Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.
Trisha Stetzel: Hello, Houston. Trisha Stetzel here bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. Today, I have an extraordinary guest on with me, a true champion of economic empowerment and a powerhouse in leadership and business coaching. With 25 years of experience in early childhood care and education, she has dedicated her career to transforming child care centers into thriving, meaningful impact for children, families and business owners alike. She has made it her mission to be the ally she once needed, helping others rise above challenges and find their true why. Her belief in the power of lifting each other up is a cornerstone of her work, and a key driver of her vision for the future. Nikkie Handy, welcome to the show.
Nikkie Handy: Thank you so much, Tricia. I’m so happy to see you again and I’m thrilled.
Trisha Stetzel: Oh my goodness. And we just like oogled over each other when we first came on the show, right. So. Exactly.
Nikkie Handy: It was like instant brain crush.
Trisha Stetzel: Exactly. Way back in October, I think, at the Franchise Business Review Summit. And somehow at that summit with the 2 or 300 people that were there, Nikkieand I ended up in the same place at the same time, doing the same thing, walking to the event afterwards, and we totally bonded. It was amazing. So, uh, Nikkie, I know I’ve given, uh, you know, the bio version of who you are, but, um, tell me more about who Nikkie is and how you got started in the in this childcare business. And I know you’re a franchise coach, so talk a little bit about that as well.
Nikkie Handy: Absolutely. So I sort of wear it as a badge of honor that I started out very young in the industry and worked my way up from the very, very bottom. So you name it from infant teacher to curriculum coordinator to center director to site area director to implementation. I have served in some sort of capacity. And and these days, in my role as a franchise business coach, I really serve as that sort of safe place, trusted resource way, a like an opportunity to externalize your thinking and strategize about your business so that each one of my franchise center owners has a way to sharpen their tools and get those resources lined up so that their their business can become that hub of opportunity, a place for community and connection and meaningful work, and just incredibly transformative work to happen for the children that attend these programs, but also the career pathways for women in the industry, because especially in early childhood care and education, there, there is it’s heavily populated by women. There’s a lot of black, Hispanic, Asian women that that enter this role naturally. You know, women sort of are caregivers by nature. And and one thing that really gets me excited is just thinking about how we can build career pathways for them, ultimately expanding those opportunities. Imagine if some of these ladies started at, you know, I’m the afternoon closer in the infant classroom all the way up to the C-suite.
Nikkie Handy: And and just how inspiring that would be to other women and really making more possible, putting more opportunity on the table. So so that’s my I like to call it my, secret mission, right? Because my main mission is really contributing to that. The the economic success that that hub of industry that that really supports these salaries. But my side mission is that that work to create opportunity for for women that that happened to me at certain pivot points in my career. Somebody looked at Nikkie Handy and said, I see something there that has value. Let me offer an opportunity to get a toehold in that next level, a little bit of of coaching or support, to try to equip you to be successful and take it and run with it. And sometimes women can be a little bit territorial or resource guard, because wherever you got to in your career, you really had to make effort to get there. And and so we’re not as good as coaching each other up. And that’s that is so fun for me to see. Like these women layer on a set of of business acumen, skills, corporate savvy onto their already big heart. And to create this dynamic working professional, I’m just like go girl, go girl, get all the way to the top.
Speaker4: I love that.
Trisha Stetzel: And you know, before we started the show, you were talking about the, um, you were talking about numbers. Like how many women enter into this field at the level that you entered into. Yet when we look at the CEOs, the presidents, the owners of these franchises, we don’t often see women as owners. So talk a little bit about that. And I know that rolls into the mission that you have.
Speaker4: Yeah it does.
Nikkie Handy: So if you if you, you know, pull up like the top four largest childhood early learning companies in in this continent, you’re going to see that those C-suite executives are heavily male populated. And they they came into that role having the business acumen, that corporate savvy, but not the experience of that boots on the ground, working their way up, deep connection with the work that happens in their organization. And to me, it seems like such a disparity that that there should be a representation of the face of the industry at that top 1% at the leadership. Right. And so I think, man, wouldn’t that be energizing and reinforcing for all of the women who choose this as a career path, to be able to look up and say, oh my gosh, I work for Tiffany Alaniz, who I work, I know that she started in the classroom and just like me. And look, there she is, you know, chief Executive officer, that that’s something that I think is truly it’s a bit of a bit of a blind spot in our industry. And oftentimes it has to do with that coaching aspect, which I, I feel like I, I sort of discovered my niche, my superpower, if you will, that that coaching has to do a lot with accumulating those nuggets of wisdom. Being committed to being a lifelong learner, you rub shoulders with brilliant people that are good at what they do, and you try to, you know, let some of that rub off on you. But then the next step is getting that into as many hands as possible so that that success reinforces itself. So so that’s what I really want to accomplish. If I could leave a legacy in my career in this industry, it is that right there is getting that that good magic as far reaching as possible to see as many women just elevate their their own careers and their their earning opportunity for being honest and building a legacy for their own family as possible.
Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I love that. And, you know, I’m sure you and I talked about this when we first met, and it sometimes as women, we don’t see ourselves as being at the top right, as being that CEO. So we don’t visualize that very often. So normally we’re just okay with being where we’re at, right? We’re okay with being okay. So what are some of the tools or tactics that you use to help these women really understand that there’s so much more for them than where they are today?
Nikkie Handy: I love that’s such a great question. And I, I’m going to probably, um, start preaching. So stop me if I really get a steam going. But here’s what I think really, really should start happening is that women need to take the time to point out pockets of brilliance, raw talent. You know, a growth mindset when they see it and and start illustrating for other women, women what’s possible. Right. If I look you in the eye and say, wow, that what you said right there, or that that little project that you brought to fruition or or that presentation that you gave blew me away? More people need to know about this. More. More people need to do what you’re doing. Do you know how incredible you are? Because I feel that, you know, just like we were talking about the representation in that top 1% in our industry, that sometimes your eyes need to be opened to the possibilities. And right now, in early childhood care and education, there’s kind of a sensation that there’s a cap to where you can go, where your your career trajectory can take you. Right. And that that might be, you know, an area director or implementation specialist. And so I feel that a lot of women have limited themselves. And you said it yourself, the visualization part is so key because every every high performing athlete does this. You have to see yourself in your mind’s eye winning that to get there. It’s like your brain needs to see that it’s possible to start seeing the opportunities that will arise, the development and growth that that you need to get there. And until you can visualize that, then you will limit yourself. And so so sometimes it’s about really pointing out to say, I know you’re capable of way more than what you’re doing. And that is when somebody says that to you, when somebody sits down and says, like, I can see there’s so much more to you that is like. It’s like drinking super fuel. Like you’re like, okay, I might be wearing a Superman suit under this. This shirt. I’m pretty sure I am.
Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. So you’re pushing women in your industry and specifically as a coach and the franchise that you’re a part of, how do we or what are your thoughts on how we as women who want to support other women, how do we do that? There’s so many women out there like the where when I grew up in corporate, right. Uh, there was a lot of well, I don’t know if I can do that. Well, I’m not sure if I can get there or there’s only one position open, so I’m not going to support the other women that are in my organization because there’s only three of us, right? So one of us is going to get that role and the other two aren’t. So how do we you and I know right. We’re like elbowing them to get to the top. Um, and what I’ve realized over the years is that we really need to create this sensation of supporting each other as women getting to the top. So what are your thoughts on how how do we do that? How do we foster and nurture women even beyond the ones that you have regular contact with in a bigger way?
Nikkie Handy: Yeah, yeah, I again, I love that question. And I think that, um, that that this conversation is big and it has big ramifications because it’s fascinating to me that women are really great friends and they’re great at nurturing relationships. What I think is missing that magic sauce in the recipe is that we need to be able to push each other, to build the skill, to reach just beyond your capacity, to be bold, to like, grab that seat at the table and say, no, I deserve to be there. Be here. You know, if if I’m sitting across the table and like so my my dear, dear friend Candice Gillam, I need to connect you with her Because this woman is brilliant, right? The way that she thinks is like, I’m playing checkers and she’s playing 3D chess, right? She’s brilliant, but she really needed a safe space to say, you know, I but I have imposter syndrome, like, I don’t. I’m part of the conversation. I have a seat at the table, but I feel like I shouldn’t be there. And that led to a whole conversation surrounding what are the what are the minute actions that we can take to start to combat that imposter syndrome. And I feel that that, that women oftentimes lean into the care and support that, that if I just offered a safe shoulder for her to kind of lament to like, oh, this is my experience. And and I’m like, Candace, I get it. And and, you know, I’m here. I’m cheering you on. Right? That we stopped short of what could take her to the next level. And men actually do this for each other all the time because they’re like, bro, you’re selling yourself short or like, hey, come on, man.
Nikkie Handy: Really? That’s all you’re doing? And and what I have liked, what I’ve done in, in my coaching experiences is to really start, I take some of the little nuggets out of radical candor and some of the I don’t know if you’ve ever read Professional Troublemaker by Lovey Luvvie Ajayi. If you haven’t, you need to because it’s about boldness and it’s it’s about being able to say the thing that needs to be said. And and what I found. Out is that if you marry up the care, the compassion, all the nurturing that you’ve done to cement that relationship and leverage it to start saying to that woman sitting across the table is like, I know you have more. I know you can do better. And then break it down to say, we’re going to hold each other accountable for taking the steps to get there, because it’s a it’s a disservice to you. It’s a disservice to the world to not maximize your brilliance. And that is what that’s a skill that I think a lot of female leaders really need to start thinking about how to build in themselves is that it’s great to be a really relational leader. It’s fantastic to work from that relationship to to get high functioning teams. Now we need to take it that step further to be to to build the the mutual respect that comes and that the, the good things that grow when you can be the one to tell them the thing that needs to be said, that is it’s next level. And it’s really rewarding when you get to that place with another woman.
Trisha Stetzel: I love that I’m thinking about when you were talking about the brilliance that that each of us has that we need to bring forward and up. I think about it as a gift, a gift that we all have to give. And if we hold it to ourselves, then the people who are meant to receive that gift are never rewarded. So we need right? We need to step up, and we need to be better for each other, and we need to nurture each other. I’m so excited about this conversation that we’re having today, Nicky. So, uh, if people have listened this far and they want to connect with you, how might they find you and connect with you to have an even bigger conversation about this?
Nikkie Handy: Yeah, absolutely. I’m on LinkedIn, Nicky Handy and I would I for me, that networking component is really about the tapping into the wisdom that lives in the collective experience that women in industry are having. So you don’t even have to be in early childhood care and education to connect with this message that I have with this work that I’m doing because I am quite positive. If you’re working, you know, through you, you are in a spa or you’re, you know, working in a pediatric clinic, that that you’re probably hearing things that connect to your own experiences and maybe you’re feeling that same sensation. It’s like, how do I break the glass ceiling? How do I get to the next level? Maybe I’m not being ambitious enough. Like for a female, sometimes ambition sounds like a dirty word. And no, I want to encourage more women to be ambitious. Because guess what? If you succeed, we all begin to succeed. And and I think grab on to that opportunity because we’re going to be riding your coattails. Let’s go.
Speaker4: Together.
Trisha Stetzel: Yes, absolutely. And by the way, it’s Nikkie in I k k I e n d e n d. So don’t mistake that for another. Nikkie Handy. I’m just.
Speaker4: This is the Nikkie you need.
Trisha Stetzel: That’s right. Absolutely. So, um, really thinking about Nicki, like, one of your favorite stories of somebody that you’ve mentored or coached, whether they’re in the current franchise that you’re in today or a place that you’ve been before. What’s one of your favorite stories about someone that you’ve stood next to and helped them rise to the top?
Nikkie Handy: So my one of my favorite stories, I actually mentioned her name earlier because I’m manifesting for you, Tiffany Alaniz. I’m manifesting for you that when I met this woman, I. I tell you the truth, she is humble. She is incredibly hard working. And she was overlooked for opportunity. Right? So she came into the organization that I was working with at the very entry level position that you could possibly come in at instantaneously. I knew that she was a wealth of talent that was just waiting to be tapped into. And immediately I felt almost like a sense of frustration on her behalf that I’m thinking to myself, girl, why have people not been like Tiffany Alaniz is the one Tiffany Alaniz promoter get her into the office. I don’t know, we gotta do something with this talent, but I, I said, put that aside because we’re going to start today. And immediately we started having fantastic conversations, fruitful conversations about what should be possible for her and where she needs to kind of build herself to to get to that next level. I cannot take credit for her success because, number one, she’s naturally an incredible person. Number two, I think it really just took someone looking at her and saying, you can do this, I’m going to be the one to give you permission, okay? And and number three, a lot of it has to do with her looking at opportunities and saying, no, I’m going to be bold enough to take it today.
Nikkie Handy: Today is the day. And so today she is she’s in charge of a massive implementation project in the state of Arkansas, and she is coordinating hybrid remote work in person. Mind you, starting from this entry level, level position and just handling it like a boss lady. And I’m looking at her and I’m thinking, I want to see your star rise. This is amazing. But keep going because there’s more there, there’s more there. And I want to see that, and I want to follow it, and I want to celebrate it. And I want to just feel the warmth of the glow of the after effects of that, because that, to me, is the exact recipe that that can be duplicated for other women who are probably selling themselves short and just need that right cheerleader at the right time.
Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. And so, Tiffany, we’re manifesting this for you.
Speaker4: This is how we all are.
Trisha Stetzel: So much more there, so much more there for you. And by the way, sometimes as a coach, it’s enough to be there just to help the person you’re coaching with permission to move forward. Sometimes all they need, they need someone to stand in their greatness, right? And say, it’s okay for you to go do that. You’ve been thinking about it for a long time now. Go do it right.
Speaker4: Yeah, I.
Trisha Stetzel: Just I love that so much. All right, Nikkie, uh, as we start to get to the back end of our conversation today, what’s 1 or 2 things that you would like for, uh, the listeners, especially the female listeners, the strong, bold ones who haven’t yet taken that first right. Step forward. What’s your message to them?
Nikkie Handy: Two things I would say. Number one. Today is the day, right? I think decide that you’re going to be an ambitious woman and decide to be unapologetic about that, because when you frame it in the context of this larger conversation, it’s not selfish. You are succeeding for your family, you’re succeeding for your industry, and you’re succeeding for women everywhere. So be ambitious. That’s number one. Number two, we’re sitting here today to give you permission to stop limiting yourself. You don’t have to stop at the next level up. The C-suite is an opportunity for you. So start manifesting it. Start planning to get there and call me if you need some help on exactly how to get that that far. Because we’re going. We’re going.
Trisha Stetzel: Love that so much, Nikkie. Thank you so much for being on the show today. It has been just a blast of beautiful, fresh, ambitious air to talk to you today.
Speaker4: I just thank.
Nikkie Handy: You for the opportunity. I’m so excited to be here. And I’ll be following your career also because, you know, like attracts like. So you’re part of the tribe?
Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. And again, if you want to connect with Nikkie, she loves to network. By the way. You don’t have to be. As she said in her industry she loves to connect with people. It’s n I k k I e e h a n d. You can find her on LinkedIn. I we may have to have you back again in 2025 Nikkie so we can have another.
Speaker4: I’m ready for it.
Nikkie Handy: I’m ready for it.
Trisha Stetzel: Love it. Uh, thanks again for being here. That’s all the time we have for today’s show. Join us next time for another exciting episode of Houston Business Radio. Until then, stay tuned, stay inspired, and keep thriving in the Houston business community.