Her Story
About Nichole
Nichole Hotchkiss Kuehner is a dedicated crisis intervention and suicide prevention professional with experience in mental health counseling, crisis response, and program coordination. She currently serves as Suicide Prevention Coalition Manager for Onondaga County at Contact Community Services in Syracuse, New York, where she oversees the county coalition, answers crisis calls, and supports 911 diversion and community initiatives such as Chalk the Walk. She began her path in 2005 as a Red Cross disaster relief volunteer and moved to Syracuse in 2016, shortly thereafter joining Contact Community Services on the crisis line before advancing through roles including 911 diversion work. She holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from University of Houston Downtown and a master's degree in clinical mental health counseling from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her prior experience includes work with substance use and incarcerated women transitioning from prison. She serves as a board member for Focus Greater Syracuse and attributes her success to a willingness to learn, grow, and evolve while remaining curious and passionate about meaningful work. Nichole is a mom of three young boys who enjoys outdoor activities like hiking and biking in the Adirondacks, nature photography, and journaling as ways to connect with herself and her family.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Nichole
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to the willingness to learn and grow and evolve. I'm very curious, and I tell my kids this all the time that it's never too late to learn something new. If you have all the answers, that's not really a great place to be. There's always room to learn and grow.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
If you do something that you're passionate about and something that you really care about, something that speaks to you, follow your intuition. You're the one that's in charge of doing these kinds of things, so you need to make sure that it's something that you can tie to something that you're passionate about, that's meaningful, that can kinda take you a long way.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Volunteer as much as you can in different types of settings and figure out where you would best fit. Professional development programs and leadership workshops help grow your network. Putting yourself out there, taking the time to really educate yourself, and finding those opportunities will eventually create and open up those networks to align you and put you where you need to be.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges are resource rich but not a clear understanding of who to call for what type of response in mental health crises, homelessness, funding cuts, transportation gaps, and silos in the community. The opportunities are that attitudes and perceptions are shifting, people are more open to supporting suicide prevention awareness, with walks, runs, and initiatives like Chalk the Walk showing growing community support and willingness to have hard conversations.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Communication, time management, organization, trust, holding space, and following through are the most important values. These pillars allow me to be successful both personally and professionally, especially with a busy family life and demanding role. I show up, I'm engaged, and I follow through rather than just saying it.
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