Nikki Rawlines
Marketing Manager - Social Media Manager
My name is Nikki Rawlines and I am a 30 year old Monctonian, living every millennial’s dream: leveraging social media to earn a full-time income. I entered the workforce following the completion of the Legal Administration/Legal Assistant and started my career at one of the largest personal injuries firms in New Brunswick. After 8 years and making it to the top as a Senior Paralegal, I knew the day in and day out sedentary lifestyle was no longer fuelling my passions.
I decided to open the door to expanding my career into the marketing realm. I was always known to be social media savvy amongst my peers. I got my first real start in the marketing field when I started working with the owner of a local restaurant, Skipper Jack’s Maritime Restaurant, creating social media marketing campaigns as an on-the side endeavour. I really started pushing the envelope outside of the standard tactics, and it gained traction. After seeing the positive impact of my online social media marketing and watching the positive impact on the businesses bottom line, I decided to take a risk and pursue my marketing passion full time.
After leaving the stability of my long-term career, I joined the Colliers International New Brunswick/Platinum Atlantic Realty. Fast forward to two years later and I am now their full-time marketing manager. Being involved with such a trusted brand has also opened many doors for me. I have continued to add many other social media clients to my portfolio and been able to work on some great fundraising initiatives as well.
Overall, my primary job is to help businesses and brands elevate their online presence. I have the privilege of being able to help put some great local businesses on the map, which is now more important than ever. I get to help paint my hometown as a great place to live and a great place to do business - and what's not to love about that.
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What are you most proud of professionally? And who or why?
On a professional level I would initially be inclined to say being recognized as one of Atlantic Canada's 30 Under 30 Innovators. But for me, one very exciting part of my job is helping people see the capabilities that social media tools have when used in the proper way. In 2019, I volunteered my services along with several other people's resources and efforts to help launch the first-ever “social media” fundraising campaign with the Friends of the Moncton Hospital Foundation called #SmileInBeccasName. The parents of the late Rebecca Schofield (a well-known name in Atlantic Canada for her battle with cancer and her #inbeccasname inspirational acts of kindness movement) wanted to create an endowment fund in her honor to help people with cancer through their financial burdens. To help with the little things like cab rides, groceries etc., things you and I may take for granted. Most people know the #InBeccasName story which quickly became viral online, so we knew that this was something we could leverage to raise money for a great cause in her Memoriam, but we didn’t want to take away from the legacy she established, so we had to come up with a new concept. There was a lot of pressure for this launch to be successful, to properly honour Becca’s legacy. A lot of people helped out on this project from video and photography services to make it happen. My role was helping conceptualize how to make this go viral (we asked that after donating, people share a photo with the #smileinbeccasname), creating the social media channels and managing the content for the campaign i.e. sharing the photos of donors, Becca’s story and our message. I ran the online campaign on a volunteer basis for about half a year, at which point I trained an employee within the Friends of the Moncton Hospital Foundation to take over the management of the campaign in-house (the long-term vision is that this will live ongoingly). Over $100,000 has been raised to date. As someone who lost her father to cancer at the age of 5, this cause was very near and dear to my heart and this project was very fulfilling.
What’s your vision for Atlantic Canada in 10 years? What’s our biggest opportunity now?
My vision is that people will continue to see the value in elevating our small businesses and entrepreneurs. I think over the last year, people have come to realize how these people play an integral role in our society. They are the ones sponsoring our local hockey teams, giving out free meals to the less fortunate and working late just to ensure you have that perfect last-minute gift. I envision a time, where people only share their positive experiences, in a digital age where it is so easy to be negative.
What was your greatest stage of growth? What made it a shift for you?
It's never easy to make a big life change or decision when you are comfortable and safe where you are. For me, my biggest moment of growth would be when I quit my long term career to find a path that got me excited again. I now see more than ever the importance of waking up and being excited about what you do.
What’s your deepest learning from this past year? How did/will you apply it?
Continuously surround yourself with people that challenge and push you, not people that simply nod, agree, and allow you to be complacent. I apply this daily, when I have an idea - I always ask others, how I can make it better.
Who’s inspired you, directly or indirectly? How have they inspired you?
My grandmother and my mother are both two extremely strong women that have instilled the values of hard work in me since a very young age. My grandmother is a two-time breast cancer survivor, who recently lost the love of her life - yet she wakes up every day positive and full of life. She has never once complained about life being unfair. To me when I am going through a difficult decision or choice, and I start thinking "it's not fair", I always take a moment to stop and reflect at how minuscule these obstacles are compared to the challenges she has overcome. It always helps snap me back to reality. To say I had a picture perfect childhood would be a lie, but my mom always worked hard to give me and my sister everything we needed to be successful in life. Looking back now, I appreciate the sacrifices she made. She has always been my biggest cheerleader and supporter.
What would you have done differently?
I wish I had taken the risk of changing careers sooner. I think back and there were a lot of days where I was going to work every day not excited about what I was doing, but I continued to do it because it was safe - it was comfortable. Once you find something that you are passionate about and get to embrace it, it is such a breath of fresh air. I wish I had taken that leap sooner.
What are the principles you live by?
Grit and determination are the best tools anyone can have at their disposal - and they are free. It is so easy to succumb to a victim mentality when the cards are not dealt the way you want them to be in life. But, as someone who has overcome a lot of hardships and losses, I can tell you, there's not one challenge out there that cannot be beaten by hard work.
How have you recovered from fractured professional relationships? What uncomfortable truths have you learned about yourself in those experiences?
In any field, you will always be surrounded by a lot of different personalities, not all of those personalities will fit seamlessly with yours. Continuously work towards improving your people skills as much as continuous education and training. Don't assume that your professional skills alone are enough to propel you in your career.
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Social, Tech-Savy, Innovative, Maritimer, Dog Mom, Foodie