Nicole Vick has spent the last fifteen years providing tools and strategies to stakeholders, community-based organizations, students, and residents to improve health and prevent disease in some of Los Angeles County’s most underserved communities. She's built a life of purpose as a public health professional, businesswoman and now author.

On this episode we talk about her life and she shares both the heartbreaking pain and the extraordinary triumphs that led her to advocacy and social justice work. Her early years of self-doubt and discomfort in her own skin would set her up for decades of bad choices and difficult situations: a teen pregnancy that could have derailed a lifelong dream. Nicole channeled challenging moments of her life into prime opportunities for personal growth. She shares skills she used to connect, build, and create community, comradery, and a sense of purpose.

This is all a precursor to Nicole's book, Pushing Through, which just took the #1 spot in Amazon's healthcare category! She gives a glimpse of what she shares in the book. It's such a motivating story because it's a 'real human' story. Nicole's stories are real, making her success feel equally real and possible for us still in grad school. I think it's especially moving for non-traditional grad students, public health grad students, and mothers in grad school. Listen our convo and then check out Pushing Through available now on Amazon and available in print in the fall.

You can follow Nicole on Instagram @nicoledvick.