Page 112 - Nicole Ari Parker

ended up wiping and cleaning up after my team! A few months later, I got an investor on-board.
I ended up turning my first pop culture blog site into a 30-minute weekly TV show in LA. I was
doing everything I had to do, working overtime with no weekends or holidays off. I thought it
was all happening but one of our syndication partners filed for bankruptcy. At 23, I went from
making 150K a year to 0 just like that. I felt defeated and went through periods of depression. A
few of friends encouraged me to fall back on my college degree and get a corporate job, but
somehow, I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let this setback define me. I couldn’t let this be how my
story ends.

I hatched up a plan and forced myself to bounce back up. I figured if what goes up must come

down, then what goes down must come up, right? Simple law of gravity! I got the right team of
people behind me and little did I know at the time that my name was being mentioned in rooms I
haven’t walked into yet. I started booking national spots on-air. From E! to CBS News to the
Associated Press to CNN/HLN, my media footprint started to expand. I was shocked to see a few
of the celebrities and their teams recognized that I was getting up there in the media circuit and
they had been there for me since the beginning! I remember back in 2015 when I anchored “Live
From the Red Carpet” for the very first time for the Associated Press, my 80-something-year-old
grandma in China somehow managed to find the livestream! She didn’t understand a word of
English but let’s just say she watched the entire show with a smile on her face. It’s moments like
this that is so rewarding to me! I feel like I have been blessed with so many incredible
opportunities and that my journey is greater than myself. Nothing makes me happier than
receiving messages from women all over the world, asking me for advice or telling me that my
story gives them inspiration! Through my new company, I want to pay it forward and provide
opportunities to women of all ethnic backgrounds that I didn’t get when I first started my career.

Erika (Q): ​Speaking of your new media company XYZ Media, tell us about it!

XiXi (A): ​I co-Founded XYZ Media with my boyfriend William Puetz because we wanted to

create a media company that could truly celebrate diversity! We aim to inspire, create and
educate. In addition to covering a diverse range of topics relevant to the social generation, we
will also be giving opportunities to people from all ethnic backgrounds. We will be holding
seminars on media training, entrepreneurship, and social media management. Later this fall,
XYZ will be launching a series of digital channels with original content focusing on
entertainment, fashion/beauty, lifestyle, and more. ​Stay tuned!

Erika (Q): ​What does it mean to be a “Global Mogul?”

XiXi (A): ​This is just a term that I coined for all the millennial go-getters out there to create
their own opportunities and to live the lives they’ve always dreamed. I constantly get direct

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