Nikki Bowman–Before You Sit Down to Write, You Have to Stand Up and Live
Nikki Bowman, President & CEO of New South Media, addressed the 2014 Women & Technology Conference on October 16, 2014
On her way to the Women & Technology Conference, expert multi-tasker Nikki Bowman stopped to explore an historic cemetery for a future edition of her flagship publication, West Virginia Living. She parked her stylish heels on top of a tombstone so she could more easily navigate the uneven ground while she took photographs.
Only later–when she was a few miles away–did she realize she was barefoot and her shoes were still on the tombstone. “I turned around and drove back to collect the shoes,” Bowman laughed.
It’s all in a day’s work for Bowman, who received the SBA’s director’s choice award for Woman-Owned Small Business in West Virginia at the Women & Technology Conference dinner on October 16.
Bowman is President & CEO of New South Media, which she founded. West Virginia Living was her first publication, but now the company publishes seven magazines.
In her remarks, Bowman challenged those gathered to be passionate, bold, persistent, and hard working. “Feel the fear and do it anyway,” she advised, “in all aspects of life.”
As a girl, she enjoyed visiting the library to read National Geographic magazines, and loved the feel of the paper and the sense of exploration that the articles conveyed. She said she followed the motto that “Before you sit down to write, you have to stand up and live.”
Bowman spoke of her own experience as a woman in business and advised women to sit at the head of the table. She said to ask yourself how you’ll serve, not how you’ll make money. And she said to “give where you live. Be involved with your community and give back.”