Trisha Nicolas on Successfully Navigating Career Pivots with Authenticity and Heart

From TV news reporter to Snapchat executive to HR leader—Trisha Nicolas' career journey proves that following your heart (without losing it) can lead to unexpected success. Join us as she reveals how embracing discomfort, maintaining integrity, and staying eternally curious transformed her professional path in ways she never imagined.

 Guest Bio

Trisha Nicolas is a multimedia content executive whose diverse career spans journalism, tech, entertainment, and people management. As a key leader at Snapchat's content division, she developed unscripted programming for over 250 million daily active users, including shows featuring Megan Thee Stallion and Steph Curry. A trained journalist who built her career in NYC and Boston newsrooms, Trisha earned recognition for amplifying marginalized voices. She's now empowering the next generation through her organization Anglade, which promotes equity in entertainment and sports, while also hosting her YouTube channel "Oh Shut Up, Trisha" covering true crime and current events.

Content Sample:

1, The Snow Day Decision: Discover how a dreaded snowstorm assignment became the catalyst for Trisha's bold career pivot that changed everything—and why walking away from the "wrong room" opened doors she never imagined.

2. The Strategic Heart: Learn Trisha's powerful philosophy: "Follow your heart, but never lose your heart"—a refreshing approach to career transitions that preserves relationships while honoring authenticity.

3. The Generalist Advantage: Explore why Trisha's ability to master various roles—from journalism to tech to HR—ultimately created a powerful convergence of skills that enabled her to build her own media brand and nonprofit.

Key Takeaways

• [00:05:00] The power of listening to your unhappiness and setting a firm boundary—even without knowing what's next—and how doing so can open unexpected doors.

• [00:08:30] Moving with integrity through career transitions creates a network of supporters who will champion your growth for years to come.

• [00:17:30] Embracing what you don't know and becoming a student again is a superpower that transforms apparent weaknesses into opportunities for growth.

• [00:25:00] Creating meaningful impact by addressing industry gaps—how Trisha's Anglade organization is bringing equity to entertainment and sports by exposing underrepresented communities to behind-the-scenes career paths.

• [00:31:20] Finding career fulfillment by bringing your diverse experiences full circle—how seemingly unrelated roles can converge into the perfect foundation for your passion project.

Suggestions:

To connect with Trisha Nicolas, you can find her links here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trishanicolas/

https://www.angladeagency.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@ohshutuptrisha 

If you're looking to add exceptional talent to your public relations, marketing, communications, sales, or business development team, connect with Paradigm Staffing at paradigmstaffing.com to find your next star performer.

Host and Platform Information

This insightful session was hosted by Jolie Downs with Paradigm, for more on career evolution and growth, you can connect with Jolie here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joliedowns/ 

If you enjoy learning from others, please give us a like, subscribe, and share with a friend.

Ending Note

What career transition has been calling to you, but fear or uncertainty has kept you from taking the leap? 

Transcript

Trisha Nicolas

[00:00:00]

Jolie Downs: Welcome to the Career Wander List podcast, your compass for new career horizons. Today we are talking with Tricia Nicholas. Tricia has held multiple roles across the entertainment industry, gaining a breadth of experiences shaped her multifaceted career. Now as a multimedia content executive, Tricia made significant contributions in both the entertainment and news industries.

Notably, she played a pivotal role in the content and partnerships division at Snapchat, where she led multicultural programming efforts and developed unscripted shows for an audience of more than 250 million daily active users worldwide. Some of her shows included off the leash with Meg Thee Stallion, level up with Steph Curry, the fight inside with Ryan Garcia and coming out with Manny MUA.

Now, Tricia is also a trained journalist who built a successful career as a local TV news reporter, anchor and producer, leaving a lasting impact on stations and communities in both New York City and Greater Boston area. While she covered everything from crime [00:01:00] to politics, she specialized in telling the personal, often untold stories of marginalized communities.

She earned a reputation for providing a platform to those whose voices who were too often unheard or silenced. Tricia went on to spend time with WORTHI, a Cultural Connections agency where she moved from VP of Creative into the VP of People and Culture. She is now empowering the next generation of leaders in entertainment sports with ala, where she'll be promoting.

Equity in these often gate kept industries, if you will. She's also back doing news on her own terms through her YouTube channel. Oh, shut up, Tricia. Where she covers true crime and other conversations in the news cycle. Very exciting. I am looking forward to learning more. Tricia, thank you for joining us on the Career Wanderlust podcast.

Join. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here and talk a little bit more with you. Oh, I, I love all the things you've done with your career. You have done. A great deal and so I'm really [00:02:00] excited to hear more about what's some of the favorite career advice that you've had or what has, what has been something that's helped carry you in your career that's made a big 

Trisha Nicolas: impact for you?

I think that's a really great question. One thing I think that has helped me, especially throughout the many roles that I've had, I. Is ensuring that I stayed open, especially working in media. Media is a rapidly evolving space and oftentimes, especially I can go to a personal story. Um, you get really excited to be where you are and then you get there and you realize, this actually isn't what I want to do.

Right. And I believe that me, I, my ability to. Be open and pivot really helped me find success, for example. Mm-hmm. When I was a TV news reporter, I was about maybe 23 years old. Mm-hmm. Um, I know hard sleep. I'm not that anymore. However, I was about eight, three years old. I graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.

 Received my bachelor's in English. I then went on to Emerson College where I [00:03:00] received my master's in journalism. Interesting. My first job was in Worcester, Massachusetts, and then my second job was in the number one market for news New York City. Amazing. And at that age, I think that, that, you know, I've reached the pinnacle of success, right?

I was there, I was excited to be there. However, I just wasn't happy. I wasn't happy and the reason why I wasn't, because, you know, I, I love telling stories. Mm-hmm. However, I wasn't able to tell the stories I wanted to tell. Mm-hmm. When I got into the industry, I realized that you are being assigned stories, you get to pitch them.

Sure. But you're being assigned. And usually the stories that I was being assigned as a general reporter. Was, you know, water main breaks or you know, politics. But for me, I like to talk about people and real things. That was my thing. And I remember doing a lot of inclement weather. I can't tell you how many times I sat.

It was terrible. It was terrible. I can't tell you how many times I've gone out and I was, you know, doing snow [00:04:00] coverage. And I remember I said to myself, okay. I do not like this anymore. I love telling stories, but I do not like this. I'm just not happy. Mm-hmm. And this is where being open comes in. I was like, all right, I have to make a pivot because my happiness comes first.

Right? Yes. So I remember I said, all right, when the next I. Snowstorm comes, I'm gonna quit. And I said, I don't care. If I don't have a job, I'm gonna trust that God is going to provide, something will happen for me, but I just can't sacrifice my happiness. Right, right. So that was huge. So I remember it was November, 2017.

Jolie Downs: I have to give you big props for this. That's a big deal. Well, you'll listen to yourself too. So many people will stay and they're not listening to themselves, and so congratulations to you for listening to yourself and for setting a date on that. You know what? My happiness is worth more than this.

Absolutely. This is the end date for me. Absolutely. Go on. I love this. Thank 

Trisha Nicolas: you so much. It was hard, don't get me wrong. Oh, it's really hard. [00:05:00] Oh my gosh. Especially when you don't know what's coming. Mm-hmm. But for me, again, I, and I'm living in New York City. Don't forget New York City. Very expensive. Really expensive.

Yes. Really expensive. And again, I'm the number one market. Everyone's like, oh my God. And I worked so hard to get there. Yes. With my master's, with my bachelor's, I interned every single semester of college at various news stations. So you would've thought I would stay there and just, you know, worry about other people think, right.

Yes. No, and well, 

Jolie Downs: that's, I like, this is why I give props. 'cause there's so many things why we talk ourselves out of listening to ourselves. Right. And like you said, oh, I've worked so hard to get there. I spent all this time, all this energy, all this money to get here. So I should just keep going. Not if you're unhappy.

Trisha Nicolas: I wasn't happy. I was miserable. 

Jolie Downs: Yeah, 

Trisha Nicolas: I was

Jolie Downs: miserable. 

Trisha Nicolas: So I'll tell you that Snow flake fell and I remember they called me and they said, Tricia, we need you to go cover, do some snow coverage. And you know, and integrity is another thing I'll speak about as well, which is very important. I always moved integrity and everything I do.

Mm-hmm. So I didn't just [00:06:00] quit right away, but I was like, I'm giving my two weeks today. Good 

for you. So I still 

Trisha Nicolas: went out there and I covered the snow, but I gave my two weeks on that day. And guess what happened? Literally I gave, this is November, right? Mm-hmm. November, 2017. I gave my two weeks. I toughed it out, did what I had to do.

Two weeks came. I was in some group chat for, black women in the media, right? Mm-hmm. It was a GroupMe and in that group chat where a lot of women who wanted to do entertainment news. Mm-hmm. I am hard news. I am a trained journalist, right? So it's very different. Somebody put in that chat, Hey, Snapchat is looking for a news producer contract role.

Is anyone in this group interested? 'cause you know, I can recommend you. And I'm like, oh my gosh, what? What are the odds? What are the odds? Okay. So, and I remember telling people, 'cause you know, this is before social media is what it is today. People were like, you're interested in a app, you're gonna leave [00:07:00] TV to go do

digital, like you're really smart for the foresight because at the time everyone thought it was ridiculous. Like, you're crazy. I was like, I'm gonna go through with it. I wanna learn like this is excites me. And December 5th, 2017, I started at Snapchat a contract role and then get this contract role and I stayed for five years.

That's fantastic. Yes, yes, 

Jolie Downs: yes. I do, I believe when we, when we make choices, when we make positive, proactive choices for ourselves, that that are correct, as in, isn't that like tuning fork inside, right? You, you knew, you knew you were unhappy. You know, I, I need something else. This is not right for me. When we make those active decisions that the universe does answer and brings forth always for, for what's right for us, first step, the hardest part is taking the first step.

Then you're able to receive. A hundred percent. That is the hardest part. It is the scariest part. It is so frightening. And so, so I always give I a lot of big props to people who, who listen to [00:08:00]themselves and then make those really scary steps. And I find that, you know what? Incredibly beautiful things generally follow 

Trisha Nicolas: those

really steps.

When you're 

Trisha Nicolas: uncomfortable, the best things happen. You, there's no growth in the comfort zone. Yeah, and that's what I've learned. So, and I wanna speak about integrity as well. Tell me. 'cause integrity is something that I pride myself on. Thank you. Regardless of how I feel at the time in the moment. Because as you look at my career, you see I've moved a few times, right?

Mm-hmm. But I always moved integrity. I believe that you should follow your heart, but never lose your heart. You need, because at one point, that is exactly what you wanted and be grateful for it, right? Mm-hmm. And I will say that has come back and served me tenfold, right? Every time I've left somewhere or I am looking for somewhere else, people I've worked with, I'll help you.

Oh, let me, let me help you out. Let me, people I've come in contact with, because I believe like always have your heart. Never lose your heart. Don't allow your circumstance, your current circumstance. It's temporary. Yeah. To make you lose [00:09:00] your heart. Move with integrity, with everything you do. And that has always, always helped me, especially making these pivots that I've made throughout my career.

Jolie Downs: Oh, I think it's so beautiful when you said that. It gave me little chills. I love it so much. Follow your heart, but do not lose your heart. That is excellent advice. 'cause. Look, it's the, it's the double sided, right? It's like, you wanna follow your heart, but, and you want to be true to yourself, but you don't want to

leave a trail of waste behind you. You wanna leave a trail of seeds that are gonna continue to grow and flourish and, feed not only yourself, but the people who come behind you as well. Absolutely. Because it's 

Trisha Nicolas: really easy to say, well, forget this, I'm done. I'm outta here. But it's like, no.

Again, at one point this is exactly what you wanted. And I believe every single step I've done, or I've taken, I should say, served a purpose for me. Where I learned, right? So I look at it as like, I am expanding my toolkit, right? [00:10:00] Like no, like not, I'm not gonna take everything with me. But at least I can say I did that.

Yeah. And it was, it was great and I wanted that at one point, but I'm not gonna leave upset and. You know, start should just move very ugly. It never serves you well. 

Mm-hmm. 

Jolie Downs: Yeah. 

Trisha Nicolas: You know, I'm 

Jolie Downs: curious, what was that like for you? 'cause that was at the forefront really with Snapchat and making, what you were doing was very, 

disruptive, if you will. So, what was that experience like for you and did you learn anything from that experience? 

Trisha Nicolas: Did I, did I, so going to Snapchat, coming from. I praise God for my news background. So while I said like I left it, I still needed it because I am a journalist. I know how to turn a story very quickly.

I have the skills. I know how to verify. I know how I, I have that right. 

Mm-hmm. 

Trisha Nicolas: So at Snapchat, pairing that with a place that, um, is very big on innovation and we move very quickly, it's tech. Move very. KPIs are always moving. Mm-hmm. What I learned was how to move even more quickly, and I learned that how adaptable I was.

Right. Because [00:11:00] I can't tell you how many conversations we've had where it's like, okay, we're running this way, and then it's like, all right, two seconds later, oh, another program came out at another social media company. Now we gotta go that way. So we were forever like moving, but that to me was a skillset I was able to add, right?

Mm-hmm. Because now I'm like, I can move very quickly. Like you can put, I'm not afraid of anything. Yeah, you can put a challenge in front of me and I'm like, oh, I can conquer that. Because at Snapchat I had no choice. I was not a tech person. I remember going in there, and I'm coming from a place where I'm pitching news stories because I felt that.

It would be a good story. And my news directors and you know, executive producers assignment desk, they felt it'd be great too. But at Snapchat, going to a tech world, it's all about data. 

Mm. 

Trisha Nicolas: Data, data, data, data, data. Right. And I remember being in, and they speak in a lot of like acronyms, SSPS, and I was like, what are guys talking about?

Like, and to go to a, where you had to prove everything with data. To me was foreign. And it was scary. It was [00:12:00] scary. But looking back now, that's where we are in society, right? Right. Mm-hmm. Working in this digital space, you have to understand data. Yeah. Now I can say I can analyze data very well, and I make data informed decisions, and I learn that through Snapchat, and then I'm pairing it with my journalism Right.

With that as well. And it's like unstoppable, like it.

I remember being in meetings and I used to do, because, you know, I'm in the meetings and, um, I'm like, what are they talking about? And I, I wouldn't voice it, right. But what I would do detail, you know, write a little note and I would just Google it later. Like, what does that mean? Yeah. So I turned into like, uh, a student again.

Mm-hmm. So I would just like, you know, Google it real quickly so I could understand, and of course you can't be afraid to ask questions, right. So like, if I. I would just ask and they were like, open to telling me. But usually like you can find things on Google if you can figure it out. Yeah. And so, I mean, if 

Jolie Downs: you can Google something, you should, you should Google it.

Yeah, exactly. What does that mean? [00:13:00] Yeah. And then take the higher level conversations, you know, to other people. But I agree, never be scared to ask questions. There is no, no such thing as stupid questions. No, not at all. Not at all. So now I really love this adaptability. 'cause let's be honest, it's, it's a superpower.

And really in our world, being flexible and adaptable is a key attribute to success. A hundred percent. I'm curious if you have any advice that you'd give people to who struggle with being adaptable or flexible. Is there anything you would say or share that could be helpful? Nothing 

Trisha Nicolas: grows if you are comfortable.

Right. Like you have to take, I think it's an, the way I look at it is I'm like, okay. When I'm like in my eighties, nineties, right? Mm-hmm. I wanna be able to tell my grandchildren, great-grandchildren, whoever, like, you know, grandma lived a life, right? Like, I don't wanna say that I sat in one place that was so unhappy.

You get one life, literally one life. One life. Make the most of it. 

Jolie Downs: Make the most of it for the please, for the love. 

Trisha Nicolas: Yes. And you suffer when you are sitting there [00:14:00] unhappy and you're afraid to make a change. You are not winning, you're hurting yourself. It's like drinking your own poison. Mm-hmm. Why? Why?

Mm-hmm. You won't be afraid. And of course you don't have to be as dramatic as I was where I just put in my two week and like prayed that something would happen. Right. You could just take like little steps. Right. For instance, if you know you are unhappy in your position. I would say, well start researching what it is, what you're passionate about, and then start taking little steps towards that while you still have the role that you're in.

And then when it's time, it's like, okay, now I'm ready to go. But. Again, I was very dramatic with it. And I like to take those type of leaps. Yeah. Yeah. But you don't always have to do that. You can just start, you don't incremental wins. Right. So little things. Mm-hmm. Studying it. Start speaking to people in the same industry that you wanna get into.

 Maybe there, if there's an apprenticeship program, do that. You know, start, just start setting yourself up where you get, you feel a little bit more comfortable. I think about it as, instead of me, where I just dive into the deep end. Mm-hmm. You wanna put your floaties on, right? Yes. Put your on, put your, put your floaties on.

Yes. Mm-hmm. [00:15:00] Yeah. And then when you jump, have 

Jolie Downs: a little bit of support because you feel a little bit more confident in what you're doing. Exactly. I'm a big fan of the baby steps. Look, we can do everything. Through baby steps. And so, yes, and really, really excellent, excellent advice. And you're absolutely right.

You know, I think it's important to talk about because we aren't meant to be unhappy. And a lot of times, you know, people will think, oh, well this is how it is, you know, well, this is life. Well, no, actually, we're not meant to be unhappy. We're not meant to be miserable. We're not meant to live our lives in a place where we feel.

That's not our own, that's not, it's not helping us grow. It's not helping us be our best person. And so it is always the right decision to make a change even if it's uncomfortable to find the place that's gonna make you happy. Absolutely. So thank you. Thank you. Now what about challenges? Okay. We all have challenges in our career.

What's been a really big challenge that you've faced in your career? How did you overcome it? What'd you learn? 

Trisha Nicolas: Ooh, very good question. So I will say my last role was a challenge. 

Jolie Downs: Right? Okay. Tell me about it. 

Trisha Nicolas: Oh my goodness. [00:16:00] And, okay, so let me talk to you about it. So, as you see, my background is in journalism, it's in content creation.

Mm-hmm. It is very much like in the content world. So I'll say this. My last role was a challenge, but an exciting challenge. 'cause as you know, I'm a person who enjoys pivoting and I like to try new things. But I will say the reason why it was such a challenge is because I didn't have background there, or at least I thought I didn't have background there.

Mm-hmm. So my last role as, as VP of people and culture, the way it happened was I actually as went to that agency because I was supposed to start the production company. Now, this is 2022. Okay. And there was the agency and there was supposed to be a production company. Unfortunately, there was the actor strike and writer strike happening in 2022.

Yeah. You can't launch a production company with those circumstances. It, it's painful. Very painful. So I'm very grateful, so grateful that my CEO rather than him saying, all right, see you later, go figure it out. Mm-hmm. And threw me back to the. He found [00:17:00] another spot for me in his agency. Right. That's great.

And again, I don't have a PR or marketing like background, but we tried different roles. Mm-hmm. And we ended up, and I was his first hire, so we got to a place where we needed hr. He needed people and culture and I always will give him his props. He's a leader who will find your strengths. Mm-hmm. And strengths you don't even know you have.

Mm-hmm. So he came to me and at that time I think I was like VP of Creative development, and he was like, Hey, I, I need a VP of people and culture I. And you have a background that, you know, you were a reporter, like you know how to talk to people. And he was like, think about this. Like, and I was scared to death when I tell you, but I was like, you know what, again, I'm a person who likes challenges.

Mm-hmm. 

Trisha Nicolas: And the fact that he trusted me in that way where he instilled in me a confidence like, no, I think you can do this. Like, I was like, alright, 

Jolie Downs: let's try it. Yeah. That's really good 

Trisha Nicolas: management style by the way. Go 

Jolie Downs: on.[00:18:00]

Trisha Nicolas: I would've never applied for a a people and cultural role. I never thought I'd be doing hr. Right? 

Yeah. 

Trisha Nicolas: So I get in there and this is when it's important to accept what you don't know and ask questions. 

Mm-hmm. 

Trisha Nicolas: What I ended and remember, I said I moved with integrity. So I ended up hitting up. I became a student again.

Right. And of course I had the baseline because part of being in HR is connecting with people, right? Yes. And as a reporter, people, that's my specialty. Being able to connect with people, being able to ask the right questions, to extract the information we need. So just kind of like it's a transferrable skillset.

Mm-hmm. So when it came down to like interviewing, oh, I loved interviewing, being able to connect with someone and also it felt so good to do 'cause as you know, like we are in what, 2025 the job market is. Whew. It's really scary. 

Yeah. 

Trisha Nicolas: And I'm on LinkedIn all day reading horror stories from people talking about their terrible experiences with people they were interviewing with.

Mm-hmm. And for me, I was like, I'm gonna make it my personal mission [00:19:00] to at least make this an enjoyable and let these people know. Like I see them, I hear them. Right. And that was my biggest thing. Like I'm a very empathetic person. Naturally. Yes. 

Jolie Downs: You really did an excellent job on that. I have to say, I, I mean as you know, I'm a recruiter.

I work with a lot of hiring managers. Countless interviews. Countless interviews, and I will say that it was noted across the board at my company that I. Trish. People love Trisha. Everybody walked out of the interview with you being like, oh my God, she's the best. 

She's so amazing. 

Jolie Downs: So you did a really, you absolutely fulfilled your purpose.

You did an amazing job. Thank you 

Trisha Nicolas: so much. You hear people like, it's not their fault. Like the job market is terrible. And to hear that they're just being treated so nasty from people who are in positions of power. It's like, you have 30 minutes. Make it worth it. Let them know you hear them, you feel them.

Right. And this is just a beautiful way to go through life, really. Absolutely. Again, moving into integrity. Never losing your heart. Right? Right. Never losing your heart. So no, I can't offer [00:20:00] everyone a role, which was the hardest part was having to like be the one to say, I'm sorry. Oh my God, that broke my heart each and every time.

I know. It's the worst part. It's the worst part. The worst part. But you know, at least it came from me and they know like, I care and like, you know, I'm sorry. But to the point where I was saying like that challenge, it was hard like to go there and I'm sitting in this role, I'm the VP of people and culture, knowing that I don't really have like the background.

It's it pivot. It's a big pivot and it was scary. But what I did was, again, I leaned into my network and people were willing to help me. I talked a lot of HR managers I knew, I ended up joining a lot of different organizations. Mm-hmm. I started like just reading a lot. I became a student again. I. Right.

Trying to learn as much as I could. Right? Yes. And just really just immersing myself in that world. And I learned a lot. I learned so much. And again, I all the kudos to my CEO who saw that. And then I forgot that when I was at Snapchat. I actually used to lead the Snap [00:21:00] Noir, which is an employee resource group for the black employees.

I led that for two years, meaning that I kind of was hr, so I was liaison between senior leadership and our black employees. So I kind of was doing it, but I forgot. Yeah. And I was like, this is like what I used to do when I was at Snap. Chat, like it's kind of 

Jolie Downs: similar. Well, it's easy for us to discount ourselves sometimes too, and just like forget our, like you said, I mean, you forget our experiences.

We discount our experiences. We think of them as one way when actually there's so much that goes into it, you know, that we don't fully see. So yes, 

Trisha Nicolas: absolutely. Absolutely. So that was a challenge, right? Yeah. Yes, it was a challenge, but I mean, I learned so much from it. I'm excited to, you know, take that skillset in wherever else I go.

Would I go back to people and culture? Probably not because I wanna like stories. You know, learning what you don't wanna do is just as 

Jolie Downs: valuable. 

Trisha Nicolas: You gave it a try. Absolutely. And I always say you don't know what you don't like until you try something. Something. A hundred percent. You have to try things.

So like. I think I go back to my experience just in college. [00:22:00] I told you I interned every single semester of college. 'cause I knew I wanted to do communications smart, I wanna do something. But like I remember trying radio, I remember trying, and this is when it wasn't like how it is now, like I would probably thrive right now.

But it was very like, you are radio, you are tv, you are pr, you are this. And there was no like intersectionality. 

Mm-hmm. 

Trisha Nicolas: I remember saying like trying things like, I don't like radio. Okay. No, I don't Like I tried entertainment. I didn't like entertainment. I remember I tried pr. I didn't like it. I tried corporate comms, didn't like it.

Then I got to news, local news. I was like, oh, I love this. Yeah. But I wouldn't have known unless I kept trying. Yes, and trying different things and being okay to say, eh, this didn't serve me, but thank you for the lessons. Let's move on. 

Jolie Downs: Oh, I just hope everyone who's listening is, is clocking the way that you're going about life in this way?

'cause this really is an incredibly successful way to go. This is the way you succeed in life. Let's just be real. Okay. And really, the learning, I mean, it's been something that consistent in your stories is the the learn. Like you learn how to learn, you know how to learn. And this is the [00:23:00] key to everything because you can learn.

Anything really. If you just make yourself a student, go back to the basics and learn what you need to do. And I love that this has been a consistent through your life and you've consistently grown your experiences, grown your skillsets. I think it's incredibly valuable and I just hope people are listening and will apply that if they're not already.

Apply that to their own life too. Absolutely. Really, really amazing. 

Trisha Nicolas: Forever learner. I will be a learner. I feel like when you aren't learning, you're dead. 

Jolie Downs: It's true. Well, it also, it keeps us youthful. I mean, it keeps us youthful. It keeps us interesting. 

Trisha Nicolas: You know, honestly, honestly been, it hasn't been linear, like at all.

Like, I've done so many different things, but every single time again, I approached it with, open heart, excited to learn. Yeah. And took what I could from it and moved on. 

Jolie Downs: Yeah. I had this guest who, one of my favorite things, that I've heard over the days it, like, it's not, it's not a career ladder, it's a career jungle gym.

And I just truly believe that it really is a career. It's, you gotta find the right bar for yourself at that time. You know, whatever you might need. [00:24:00] Oh, that's a good, really, it's so, okay. Well tell us about, Anglade 

Trisha Nicolas: I did say absolutely yes. Anglade so I'm glad. It's been a passion project of mine for a really long time.

It started off as me wanting to do a nonprofit back in 2017. Mm-hmm. But like I mentioned, I ended up at Snapchat where I just I didn't have time. I couldn't do it. Yeah. So I revisited it because as I moved, and I, again, I have so many different roles, but a lot of the roles I had were very influential in creating the narrative for a lot of underestimated and marginalized communities, right?

Mm-hmm. 

Trisha Nicolas: So I was a development executive at Snapchat, meaning that I would buy shows from producers or production companies, and I would work with them to authenticate the characters. But when I look around and look at how many people are in those spaces, they don't look like me. Which is probably why a lot of negative stereotypes are, you know, constantly being perpetuated in media.

And unfortunately I think that's because there's a lack of exposure and [00:25:00] access. Right. And I even think about, I didn't know what a development executive was until I became one. This is what you guys do. Like I'm gonna, I'm gonna master this one too. Yeah. And I loved it, right? Like I probably there pin there probably, but 

I loved it, but I noticed like when I speak to young kids who look like me, they talk about Hollywood, they don't speak about the entertainment business. They speak about the industry. And the industry to me is like the actors, the, you know, the and which is fine, but I'm like, there's a whole other business behind it.

And those ones are actually making more money and there's more stability, but they're more influential. Yes. Yes. Right. I can't tell you how many students I've spoken to who tell me they wanna be athletes, which is fine, but I'm like, do you know you could be a gm, you could work the front office and you can make a lot more money and you have stability, and they have no idea that these careers exist.

So I started Anglade [00:26:00] to be able to provide, yes, exposure and access to promote equity and what I believe is a gate kept industry. Mm-hmm. Because again, I have all the, like I, I have a master's, like I worked in communications. I didn't know the little, like other roles like, you know. I didn't know a development executive, I didn't know, gm.

I didn't know these things until I got in it and I was like, oh, whoa. And that's what I wanna do. I wanna be able to get more people in the door, especially those who come from lower social economic classes. Right. I love so much. That's brilliant. Thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure. I've been able to, partner with

A lot of government agencies as well as educational institutions mm-hmm. To be able to provide them with, whether it be a workshop. Whether it's a fireside chat where I'm just speaking about my experience. Mm-hmm. Whether it's, I built a 12 week curriculum where I'm going to be working with, I can't say who yet.

Yes. But we'll be teaching [00:27:00] literally like it's Intro to Entertainment, intro to Sports, and then I'm going then and doing a speaker series where I'm bringing people from the industry to talk to them. And then I'm also taking them to different facilities to then see these places, studios. So it's really exciting, rewarding work.

It's been, it's been amazing and I think it's needed. Oh, definitely. 

Jolie Downs: I'm sure people will be interested. So if they, if someone wants to get involved in some way, where do they find you for this? Because it's very interesting. 

Trisha Nicolas: Oh my God. Please. Un glad agency.com. Mm-hmm. That's A-N-G-L-A-D-E-A-G-E-N-C y.com.

Okay. Or if they want find me on LinkedIn and just DM me. I am now, you know, I've worked people in culture, so I read every DM. So, that's great. 

Jolie Downs: That's not always easy to do, I admit. I, I, I'm in catch up mode right now. 

Trisha Nicolas: Everyone, now I said I read them, so I do see that. Definitely check us out on, our website and we also are on LinkedIn and we also are on Instagram as well.

Perfect. So would love to [00:28:00] partner with anyone who wants to bring this to students that they know. Mm-hmm.

Hopefully. The media landscape, hopefully. 

Jolie Downs: Yes, I, I will include the links too, in the notes as well. So I, I think it's brilliant and I'm wishing you all the best with this. I'm excited to, to, to watch you on and see how this grows. So thank. So, you know, something I always ask my guests because I love to hear what you feed your mind with proactively, because I think it's just one of the most important things we can do to proactively feed our mind.

Is there anything that you've watched, listened to or read that had a positive impact on you that could help others as well? 

Trisha Nicolas: Absolutely, I'd love to share. So I read a book 

mm-hmm. 

Trisha Nicolas: Called Range by David Epstein. Okay. I read this one and it talked about, have you read it? 

No. 

Trisha Nicolas: Oh, it's good. So it's funny because again, I'm so thankful for leaders who see me in ways that I don't see myself, because when I was working at Snapchat, our, I believe he was the head of content,

his [00:29:00] name was Jared. And he's, he was amazing. He was amazing. And you know, I am the person I am today where I wanted to like have my hand in so many different things. Mm-hmm. And he was like, Hey, in my, at this point I'm like on the totem pole of like levels. He is like the head, I was like associate, but he was like, Hey.

And I was never afraid to talk to him or anyone, honestly. Maybe it's that, maybe that's a reporter in me where like it's a conversation. It's, it's how it should be. Yeah. Really. You know, we're all people. You know, we're all people. Yeah. So I remember he said, I have this book for you. It's called Range by David Epstein, and it talks about the power of the generalist, the power of, you know, being able to take a concept and merge yourself in it and become like an expert and then move.

So like the power of generalist. And I thought about it, like that's how I, I was like, oh, you're right. And it's funny because when I look at my career now, I'm like, oh, like, I kind of was like a, I, I move like a generalist. Mm-hmm. When I'll go in, I'll learn something, I make impact, and then I'll move to the next thing, learn it, make impact, move.

And there's [00:30:00] power there. Where you 

Jolie Downs: power 

Trisha Nicolas: there. Course now it's important. Uh, I'm going, I mentioned Anglade but I am doing news again now on my own terms. As I mentioned before, for me news was, I love telling stories, but my problem was I wasn't able to pick my stories. So now with digital media, I. It's amazing.

I love it. I can find it myself 

Jolie Downs: and I applaud this. This is what we all should be doing. We, like you said, I mean if, if there's something you really wanna be doing and you're not being given the opportunity through your work or you go do it yourself, we have the capabilities. Absolutely. It's, we live in amazing world with so much opportunity and so congratulations to you for taking that opportunity and running with it.

Trisha Nicolas: Oh, absolutely. And I'm so excited, like the YouTube channel, I am shocked, like. It has been growing. I started it like not even a month ago. Mm-hmm. And I'm like, 50 K views here, 20 K views, one k plus subscribe. I'm like, and people are like, oh my God, thank you for like telling these stories. Because I approach it as a real journalist.

Mm-hmm. Like I don't [00:31:00] speculation. And I noticed there was like a spot there because I'm like, oh, like I respect everyone who's on YouTube and telling like true crime. But they bring a lot of speculation into it. And my thing is like, eh. I don't like that. I'm gonna tell you what happened and allow you to form your own opinion.

And then I'm taking my digital media experience as far as data analytics and what I learned at Snapchat to be able to capture the attention of the audience. So I'm telling in a way that's engaging and digestible. That was always my thing. I wanna tell stories that are digestible without compromising journalistic integrity.

Mm-hmm. So I say this to say, yes, I was a generalist, but it also talks about the importance of also becoming an expert eventually, where then you deepen the experience in a place that you love from your generalist experience. So for me, it's going back to news and now I'm trying to become an expert in that space, taking all the different skills I acquired from my many different positions.

Exactly. 

Jolie Downs: That's where I was gonna say it just, it's, it's, it's all coming together. All those, all those little things from all different positions are all coming together to create this one, to [00:32:00] be the best it could possibly be. And that's, and that's what we all do. We all, we all carry those things on.

We bring 'em into our next roles 

Trisha Nicolas: it's great. It's full circle. It's a full circle's, it's full circle. And I'm, now, I understand because sometimes I look back, I'm like, why am I, what am I doing? And now it's like, oh, I get why, like I left news. When I, did I get why I went into digital media.

I get why I became a development executive. I get it now. Yeah,

because 

Trisha Nicolas: now it's serving me in my new venture, going platforming myself and creating my own media brand essentially, and telling stories again, which I love. Yes. Never left it. It's one 

Jolie Downs: of my favorite things about talking to people about story is that they're stories, right?

They're personal stories. Because when you talk to people about their personal stories, that's just generally the truth. Every story, wherever they're at, they can look back and see why all the different things happened, to lead them to where they are. Right. And I just think it's, it's really great to remember because when we go through those difficult times, when we're in the challenge, when we're in that difficult moment.[00:33:00]

It's very difficult. It's very hard, but I try to remind myself that every time I am in one of those moments, that every single time that's happened to anyone else, something beautiful has followed. As long as you take the time to learn and grow from whatever you're going through, it generally will lead to something better, 

and it is just like these little dots that lead us to where we end up needing to be eventually. 

Trisha Nicolas: Absolutely. It eventually makes sense. Yes. And 

Jolie Downs: eventually it, it's hard when you're in it, but eventually it makes sense and you can see so, so if you are going through a struggle right now, try to hold onto the fact that perhaps this struggle will be leading you to something better in the future.

Absolutely. So, absolutely. I mean, okay, Tricia, you've done. So many things. Okay. And you've had a lot of successes. So another thing that I like to ask people about is their personal superpower. Because look, we are born with certain superpowers, but we also develop them over time, and you've done so many different things.

I'm wondering, is there a superpower you've developed over time that really serves you 

Trisha Nicolas: connecting with people? 

Jolie Downs: Oh yeah.

Trisha Nicolas: Like that is [00:34:00] my superpower. I see. Whether it was reporting where I, I can tell you like, I was like a really young journalist. I'm in these top markets, the youngest one there. Mm-hmm. And the way I was able to get people to open up to me and these veteran reporters were like, how did you get that interview?

And I was like, I just spoke to them like they were a person. Like, so that served, you know, working at Snapchat, being able to connect with so many different, of like the heads. Where a lot of people were like a little nervous. I was like, I'm just gonna talk to them, right? Yes. Like, great. But then also with the editorial aspect of it, where I'm like now, because at Snapchat with the news thing, I also had to figure out what our audience cared about.

So really being intentional and listening connect, I feel like that's connecting as well to even like people and culture where I had to interview people and even supporting our wonderful staff. Like it was important for them to feel safe with me and feel like they could speak to me about things.

Oftentimes, HR is scary and I used to always say, I'm not your typical hr. Like, I'm not like, I wanna be like a, [00:35:00] I'm here for the people. I wanna be a true resource for you. I don't want you to feel afraid, because that doesn't make the workplace a great place at all. No, nobody wants, no. The safe space is, yeah.

The best thing you can give a world, 

Jolie Downs: you know? 

Trisha Nicolas: Absolutely. Absolutely. I believe it's important to help people thrive. So I believe my ability to connect with people has been my, my biggest superpower and it's served me so well and I love it. I literally could talk to a rock. Yeah. And I also believe that everyone has a story, right?

I'm that person who talks to everyone. Yes. Like everyone. 'cause I believe you can learn something from someone no matter where you go. Or also someone can learn from you. Like you never know. But I value and I love conversation. Like when I tell you, the airport is one of my favorite places to be. I'll sit there.

I'm not annoying person talking to people. Like I love talking to people and Ubers, oh my gosh. I love Uber Lives because the drivers have great stories. Do, 

Jolie Downs: huh? [00:36:00] I love talking to my Uber drivers too. 

Trisha Nicolas: Remember Uber Pool? Do you remember UberPOOL back in the day? I 

Jolie Downs: never did. UberPOOL. Did you do it? That's what, when other people would 

Trisha Nicolas: be in there, right?

Oh, that was my favorite. Oh my gosh. I live in New York City. I'm like, yes, I'll, I'll stay. Pick that person up. Like, and you get people, because that connection, everyone has something that you can either give to them or you can take from them. And you make people feel good. I love to talk to people. That's my thing.

Jolie Downs: Yeah. And what a, what a rich way to go through life too. It's beautiful. Yeah, just, just adding that little add, that little spark of joy to everyone that you're coming in, coming around to. So tha I must say, thank you for that, Tricia. 

Trisha Nicolas: So funny. 'cause when I was younger, my mom and dad always say like, I did well in school.

My problem was always, she talks too much. And I'm like, well, guess what? That's your 

Jolie Downs: superpower. You turn it into a business. 

Trisha Nicolas: Shut up, Tricia. 

Jolie Downs: Yeah. You know, I mean, that's what we need to be doing. We just need to look at what our, you know, what are those things about us and how do we turn those those into our strengths and, and make some money from.

Trisha Nicolas: [00:37:00] Absolutely. I always say, even my YouTube, I'm like, I don't care if one person watches. It's the fact that I was able to get that story out there because the stories I'm covering are it's crime. Mm-hmm. Like it's sad. It's like, and it's sometimes that with the news cycle, people feel like you tell the story and you move on.

For me to be able to memorialize it in a way feels so good. So then you don't forget, I know this story happened in 2017, but I don't want you to forget it. This one happened in 2022, don't forget it. So being able to, you know, get justice in a way for these. Oh, 

Jolie Downs: these so important and, and all of their family members, it's so important for their family members and their friends to know that it's not forgotten and that you're doing justice to that.

I mean, that is a really big deal. 

Trisha Nicolas: It feels so good. I'm not gonna lie to you, being back in this space, I always say like, I don't care if one person watches it feels good to do this work. You know what? 

Jolie Downs: And I always say like. A hundred percent. If you're doing work that feels good to you, it does not matter anyone else.

It's all about you doing that work. And the fact [00:38:00] is, is if you are doing work that feels good to you, it is going to impact other people a hundred percent. And even if it's just one person that is a hundred percent worthy, absolutely. So. Absolutely. I, I feel the same. I feel the same. Uh, Trisha, this has been such a wonderful talk.

I can't tell you. Thank you so much. Before you go though, I'm gonna throw out one final question. Okay? Yeah, of course. What are you sure of in life? 

Trisha Nicolas: I am sure that God will always make a way for me, and I am sure that no matter what I do, my steps are already written and it'll happen. I just have to make sure that I silence a noise and always go back to.

What makes me happy? What am I, what drives me? So regardless of if it seems impossible. It's gonna happen because looking at my career thus far, I've never had a moment where it didn't work out in the way that it should, and even in the moment I thought it didn't, it always works out for my good. Yeah, so that is my thing.

I am sure that God will always make a way for me regardless [00:39:00] of circumstance or how hard it may seem or challenging. It'll always work out. I love it. 

Jolie Downs: Oh, thank you so much for sharing, Tricia. It was beautiful. I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much for 

Trisha Nicolas: having me. You're such a pleasure. This is great.

I love that you're doing this. Thanks. 

Jolie Downs: Thank you for joining us on the Career Wanderlust Podcast. If you find value in learning from others, give us a like and subscribe. If you're looking to grow your communications, marketing, public relations. Our sales and biz dev team with the best talent and quickly check us out@paradigmstaffing.com and submit a request.

We are wishing you a most successful and fulfilling career. Until next time.