Nikayla Carrillo
Nikayla (Bex MacArthur) Carrillo (she/her/they/them) is a mental health advocate, writer, and childcare provider based in the Omaha Metropolitan Area. She brings a deeply rooted lived-experience perspective to trauma, recovery, and neurodivergence, focusing on bridging the gap between clinical understanding and the realities of lived psychological experience. Her work centers on making complex mental health concepts more accessible through storytelling, reflection, and human-centered interpretation.
She has been actively producing work in her field for a little over a year, marking her first formal career step after previously being a stay-at-home mother and student. Nikayla attended Full Sail University, where she majored in Digital Cinematography and Creative Writing, building a strong foundation in narrative structure, visual storytelling, and communication. Her mental health content creation process is fluid and research-intensive, involving reading, ideation, drafting, revising, and often discarding ideas as her understanding evolves. The transition from a creative background into mental health advocacy has been both unique and formative in shaping her professional identity.
Professionally, Nikayla works as a Daycare Provider at MSHD, where she integrates trauma-informed awareness, child development principles, and a nurturing, structured approach to supporting children’s growth. Her mental health work is grounded in lived experience and independent study, and she is intentional about building credibility while engaging with topics that are often deeply raw, complex, and emotionally charged. She considers the act of consistently producing and sharing this work to be one of her most meaningful professional achievements to date. Currently, her career is freelance-based, flexible, and passion-driven, reflecting an evolving path focused on advocacy, education, and the intersection of storytelling and psychological understanding.
• Strategic Content Marketing: Attract, Engage, and Retain
• WordPress.com Essential Training (2019)
• Illustrator Quick Start
• Writing a Cover Letter
• Creating Your Personal Brand
• Writing in Plain Language
• Learning to Write Marketing Copy
• Grammar Foundations
• Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL)
• Writing Ad Copy
• Personal Branding on Social Media
• Full Sail University - BFA, Creative Writing
What do you attribute your success to?
She attributes her success to the time that it took to get to where she is today as she took the time to stay home and be an excellent mother before pursuing her career. She loves the recent transition into the field of mental health content creation after studying digital cinematography and creative writing at Full Sail University. She has many plans ahead and plans to engage in volunteer work in the future. She loves being a mother is her favorite hobby, and focusing on ensuring her children feel loved and supported.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I’ve ever received is that I can have a fulfilling career while also raising my children and loving them well, without having to sacrifice one for the other. I’ve learned that maintaining my own mental health is essential to showing up fully in both my personal and professional life. Rather than choosing between ambition and family, I’ve come to understand that both can coexist when supported by balance, intention, and self-awareness.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering this field is that it is possible to build a meaningful, successful career while also being a present and loving mother you do not have to choose between the two. With intention, boundaries, and a strong commitment to your own mental health, you can create a life where both your professional goals and your family life are valued and nurtured. Success doesn’t require sacrificing one part of yourself for another; it comes from learning how to integrate both in a way that supports your well-being and growth.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges I face in my field is establishing credibility while primarily working from lived experience and early professional practice, particularly when addressing complex and often misunderstood mental health topics. I am also learning how to responsibly share emotionally intense subject matter in a way that is both helpful and grounded, while building structure and consistency within a freelance and fluid work environment. At the same time, I see strong opportunities in the growing need for accessible, trauma-informed education and authentic voices that bridge clinical language with real-life experience. As I continue developing in this role, I am motivated by the opportunity to help others feel seen, understood, and supported through more compassionate and relatable mental health conversations.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being a mom and making sure that my kids are mentally prepared and that they feel loved and seen is my favorite hobby. It probably sounds a little cliche or cheesy, but ensuring my children are mentally prepared and feel loved and seen is what matters most to me. I enjoy being able to have a career after being a stay-at-home mom, and when you're able to break generational curses, you're actually able to make a difference and give your child everything that they need.
Locations
MSHD
Freemont, NE 68025