Finding A Voice at the Table: An Executive’s Journey in Leadership and Legacy
“I’ve had headshots in my career that look just okay. But Alissa’s pictures? I want to wallpaper my house with these!” says Nicki Bland, VP of Capture Development at Serco, with a broad smile.
“I run multibillion dollar captures supporting companies who are in growth. I am responsible for turning opportunities into winning proposals for our client companies. These could be for anything from offering services, to building an IT system, to integrating those systems in platforms for the defense industry.
During my business day, I also mentor women in multiple spaces, focusing on how they show up by helping them find their voice & using it to effect real change. I ask, do we have a seat at the table & if not, how do we get one? How do we strategically lead to be heard without chaos?”
The energy Nicki brings to her daily work she uses to coach. “I co-founded an executive development & performance enhancement company, The Action Imperative, as an outgrowth of my passion to mentor executive women to achieve full potential & navigate male-dominated businesses through a 2-component method.
First, change begins inside of ourselves by learning to focus on our ability to concentrate, remove distractions & minimize being highjacked by our amygdala! Emotions need balance. Secondly, I use data-analytics to empower. As a data-driven person I like to say, ‘Data doesn’t lie.’”
Nicki has 3 Gen-Z daughters that she says teach her every day. “I guide them, but I am in awe as they stand strong and speak from authenticity.” With the same, Nicki digs into coaching executive women. “I’ve identified a need that women are looking for. They are standing up for themselves but often filled with frustration. As they find themselves, they want to show up differently.
This side hustle may become my retirement activity. I do see a future working with more flexibility. I find joy in helping others, a natural extension of who I am.
Personally, I feel like I hit the billion dollar jackpot. My husband is a chef. The kitchen is his domain. I can literally count on 2 hands the number of times I cooked in the last 25 years! We love to entertain. I love setting a beautiful table. We spontaneously invite people over all the time. Dinner was a sit-down-together meal with all 3 of our girls 90% of the time while they were growing up. We still make it a priority to eat together often.
We also love trying new restaurants. I guess you could say our relationships are built around breaking bread. It is how we show love. It must be in our blood because I have a sister opening a restaurant. She is so great at bringing joy to others!
How I met Alissa was serendipitous. I was working with a branding coach on LinkedIn who assigned me a task of inviting a few new people to a coffee talk. Alissa was one of the people I asked to speak with after following her for a few months. She stuck out to me through her comments and engagement. Following her on LinkedIn, I found her pictures amazing.
In conjunction with starting my business, I wanted photos for my website. Well, it turned out my whole family was in for the adventure. My husband & I did headshots. They are amazing.
The Authentically You portion was fantastic. She really captured me. And then we did family photos with my 3 daughters & their significant others. I wanted those to look like a ‘Vanity Fair’ cover like one we did with my parents & siblings in Italy 7 years ago. Man, she nailed it!
Our nuclear family hasn’t had professional photographs since our 18 year old was 6 weeks old. Alissa made it fantastic! We will forever treasure those photos, passing them down through the generations. That feels very anchoring.”