OUR BOARD MEMBERS

Nikki is the CEO and founder of The Social Sailor, a social media agency that creates consistency and brand awareness for small businesses.   

Nikki has a diverse and skills-rich background. Her initial career spanned 17 years in the health care system where she served her clients as a Dental Hygienist. During this time, she also developed her professional career by obtaining a BS in Human Nutrition which led her to spend 10 of those 17 years as an educator & lecturer on nutrition and oral health care.  Following her passion for speaking and developing strategies to breakthrough learning gaps, she continued her professional development and received a Master’s in Educational Leadership. 

Eventually, she stepped into her second career as a project manager, and was unexpectedly thrown into social media.  She immediately fell in love with creating content for small businesses, and learned everything that she could about the digital social world. This ultimately led her to launch her own company in 2019.

“I get excited when I work with a business that need social media help. I like helping others develop a personality to their business.” Nikki Shipp

Little did she know that all the skills, tools, and resources she had learned would be meant for something else.

When her son, Drayson, was diagnosed at age 3 with Autism, she immediately took action and began researching ways to help her son.   This led into a journey that she never thought would happen to her.

“I learned that there are a lot of resources and support out there to help people on the spectrum, but you have to go digging for them.  It does not readily appear unless you go looking for the help.”

Throughout the years, Nikki has learned how to get the help and resources for her son.  She is proud of the strides Drayson has made and continues to be his biggest advocate. 

As she’s also taken the time to speak to lots of other parents who have children on the spectrum, she soon realized that parents need help too. 

“Parents need to feel empowered and confident that they can advocate for their child and find community support, which is an emotional process.  Often times, when I speak to parents, I hear much of their emotional response, but they are at a loss on where to go for help.”

After much thought, Nikki decided to embark on launching her passion project – Pieces For My Puzzle Podcast!  This show is designed to help parents find resources, learn how to ask the questions they seek answers to, but most of all to provide hope and inspiration to families with a loved one on the spectrum.