Meet Niki Nichols | Caterer and Human Design Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Niki Nichols and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Niki, can you talk to us a bit about your work-life balance?
About a year into operating our family catering business in 2021, burnout was on the horizon, and I wasn’t sure how I arrived there so quickly. There was a lot of noise and disconnect around what I thought I “should” be doing. This came from family, friends, and my own thoughts that were swirling in my head. From 2010 through 2021, I enjoyed working in healthcare alongside some of the best doctors and nurse practitioners in my area. Over time, it became evident to me that doing both jobs full time wasn’t suiting me.

A wonderfully bright coworker and friend from the clinic, Claire Click (who also happens to be my virtual assistant today), suggested a different way I could take food orders. From a single conversation, my perspective changed, and I decided to work my last shift in healthcare.

Being able to go “all-in” on the family catering business has been an amazingly rewarding experience, and it was the first step in figuring out how to “balance” life and work. As a recovering people-pleaser, it’s tough to say “no” (espeially to people I really care about), but “no” is an important part of experiencing the work life “balance” people desire– especially in entrepreneurship where vacation time, sick time, and PTO isn’t necessarily easily accesible. An attractive part of entreprenurship is being able to have the flexibililty needed for our real life while aligning our mind, body, and soul to our goals, desires, and achievements.

Replacing the entire word “balance” with “peace” is another trick that continues to help me when I am juggling the many things I do. Sometimes there’s so much happening at once, I know if I can remain peaceful while juggling the things I do, I’ve been proven time and time again that’s where the true magic happens.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Boki’s Kitchen is the only catering service driven to connect humans over wholesome meals. We strive to use wholesome ingredients to bring efficient nourishment to our community.

The one thing that stands out about our business is that we’ve family owned and operated since 1989. It wasn’t an easy decision to take the reigns and carry on 31 years of great food for great people, but the world had different plans as I am sure everyone’s 2020 was affected in some way, shape, or form.

Nothing about the journey here has been easy. Challenges our family has met along the way include health issues, machinery and equipment breakdowns, food shortages, and especially inflation. Having parents as entrepreneurs has helped me develop more resiliency for this lifestyle. I have a deep inner knowing that this is the work I was created for.

Soul Atlas: Being Imperfectly Human stemmed from a deep wanting to help others by incorporating human design, moon signs, and astrology. This was yet another skill passed down from my mom, Kathy. She always knew what the moon was doing, and she made sure we were planting everything from our garden to the crops in fruitful water and earth signs. Some of the knowledge I gained from her was easily adaptable to human design. I’ve extensively studied human design since 2015, and I am now confident in helping others who are interested in incorporating it into their daily life.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We’d start our day with coffee and conversation at Electric Fountain Brewing Coffee Bar and Roastery in Quincy, Illinois.

We’d check out some of the area’s thrift stores and stop by a farmers’ market (there’s two in Quincy- downtown and at the town center) to get ingredients to make lunch back at Boki’s Kitchen.

After a fresh, seasonal lunch created by yours truly, we’d head around to a few of our favorite small towns in the area such as Camp Point, Ursa, Mendon, and other surrounding towns to check out local wineries, bars, and eateries.

We’d have a nightcap back in Quincy at Quincy Brewing Company, and we would decide a little Abbey-tizer is necessary, so we’d head on over to The Abbey in Quincy, Illinois for mozzarella sticks and hot wings. We love entertaining our guests when they visit, and we love to leave lots of room for connection and conversation when these special people are around!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have an incredible amount of gratitude for the people in my life. Particularly my mom, Kathy, for teaching me so much in this world and my husband, Bob, for laughing and working alongside me each and everyday. Loving them is so fun, and I’m happy to do it!

Website: bokiskitchen.com

Instagram: @niki.nichols.niche @bokiskitchen @findyoursoulatlas

Linkedin: Niki Neisen Nichols

Facebook: Niki Neisen Nichols

Image Credits
Niki Nichols Kirstin Protsman Brandy Owens