Nicole Duncan-Smith

I attribute my success to the ancestors that came before me. I stand on their shoulders - my mother, my father, my grandmothers, my grandfathers, and on and on. Those who came over on slave ships and were not able to actualize their purpose, I do everything that I do in honor of them.

Work hard, play hard, come in early and stay late, and give yourself grace. Anyone who sees me knows that I love concerts, parties, and laughing with people, but they also know that Nicole will be the first one in the office. My day doesn't start till 9, but I'm here between 7:45 and 8. You can find me on the weekends too. But I also work in spaces that I love, so it doesn't feel like work. If you work where you love, it's never really work. When I was in college, people wanted me to go into politics or law or the military, but I went to the space that I loved, and it opened doors for me. I'm passionate about hip-hop culture and people, and I found a way to combine my passion for God and my passion for hip-hop, even when I didn't see a road for it. I was able to trailblaze and break glass ceilings. When you break them for others to pull them in, you make sure you don't play in the shards from the glass. I don't play in the shards. I will let you know where I am, I will let you know that I'm here, I have a seat at the table. If there is no seat for me, I will pull up a folding chair. I will stand over your shoulder, but I will be included. And the reason why I have it is because I work hard, I play hard, and I'm passionate about the things that I do.

Don't smile when you don't want to. Sometimes women smile because they think that they have to. Don't smile if it's not sincere. Work hard. Don't compromise yourself. It's okay to be the smartest person in the room. You don't always have to tell people. They will see it if you work hard.

The biggest challenge in my field right now is getting people to accept that Black and Brown culture is American culture. The funding has been cut so severely because they see it as DEI or Black, and Black is considered marginal or alternative and not American. It's such a mixed conversation because I was born in America, so how am I not American? The funding opportunities - corporations are not offering grants if they see Black or Brown or African American, they see that as pushing a woke narrative. While the Black community is the most inclusive community that you will ever meet, they frame it as though we're cutting white folk out, where white folk has been in hip-hop since the very beginning. That's our biggest challenge right now, to push past the bigotry that does not believe - while you exploit hip-hop culture, while you have a Kid Rock who cut his teeth in hip-hop - while you exploit hip-hop culture, not valuing it as Americana, and only seeing it as this fringe thing. Another challenge for me personally is being a woman. I have the dual burden of being Black, and also the dual joy of being Black and woman and female. There are still times where women are not kind to other women because we're competing for that one spot in the male gaze. So those are the biggest challenges, but I'm built for those challenges, and I won't let them stop me.

Consistency, empathy, compassion, being industrious, and creativity are very important to me. Empathy and compassion are really two different things. Being faithful is also important - I believe that whether you believe in my God or not, the morals and standards that come with faith are important to me, that I see that you have a ruler, a barometer that runs your life. I judge people off of that. There are people who are great people, but they lack creativity, they are not hardworking, they're sloths, and so they can't be in my company. I can love them, but they can't be in my close circle.