Meet Nikki from Impact Digital

Nikki Goodson is the founder of Impact Digital (and Manzana’s first-ever member!).

Founded in 2021, Impact Digital is a digital consulting business specialising in analytics, search marketing and digital products. With a heavy focus on community connectedness, Impact Digital works with mindful and purpose-driven businesses that are aligned with their strong company values.

Part of Nikki’s work on Impact Digital is based at Manzana’s HQ in the CBD. She’s been a strong Manzana supporter and walks the talk when it comes to her community values.

Here’s a little more about Nikki’s work and experience at Manzana.

Tell us the story of how Impact Digital came into being...

I'd been working freelance for a couple of years after wrapping up a fixed-term contract. In the beginning, freelancing started out as something to do until I figured out what to do, because I was feeling very uninspired by the job market at the time. That was pre-covid - before the pandemic shook up our expectations of the working week - work from home wasn’t even a thing yet! I always knew I wanted to work for myself at some point though, so as I took more jobs I began learning from other independent workers about what they did and started to see how it might be possible to create my own business.

Along the way, I’d also noticed some challenges in the marketing industry - digital tools not being used to their best potential, campaigns being created with no clear objectives or measurements in place - due to lack of budget or expertise. So I saw an opportunity to work in a more purpose-driven way with the digital tools.

My real passion always lay in using business as a force for good though, to create the kind of world I want to live in. So it was natural for me to create a business that had a strong vision and design services in a way that supported the kind of life I wanted to live.

Impact Digital's business values have a strong focus on community engagement and integrity. How do you actively implement these values into your work?

Partly it’s in the way the business is designed and partly it’s everyday actions. The Impact Digital brand is used as a kind of vision board to inspire positive change, and in that way, people naturally gravitate together around similar ideas or projects. This creates the kind of healthy community environment you need to thrive as an independent worker - or in fact as a human in general.

I use shared spaces a lot and many of my co-workers have their own businesses they're working on or ideas they’re testing out, so this allows us each to follow our own paths, but also work together. That freedom is really important to me, as is celebrating our wins together.

In terms of integrity, I think that’s more in everyday actions. Integrity shows as your reputation and that only develops with time and consistent behaviour. People need to believe they can trust you when they’re not around.

Answering this question has really made me think and I’m wondering how do I implement these values into work for my actual clients. I’ve talked a lot about the environment of my own business, but I think that’s the same thing that helps my clients - by developing this community around me and considering the physical environment of where I work I’m primed to continue developing better offerings for my clients - whether that’s through improved the services, or actually, just the broader ideas and people we can bring to the table.

Did the way you work have to change throughout COVID lockdowns and restrictions? How?

Absolutely, it became much more apparent the need to consciously make actions to look after myself. Losing those opportunities to naturally connect in person made me more conscious of making the effort to work on relationships I really value. I signed up for Impact Hub Waikato’s Back 2 Purpose impact entrepreneurship programme and this was a real lifesaver in terms of thinking about how I view myself and uncovering some of those unconscious biases I had about what it means to be an entrepreneur or how I should spend my working week. Shout out to the Impact Hub Auckland team who have recently launched a free version of the programme called Poipoia te Kākano - Nurture the Seed. 

Has your involvement with Manzana impacted your business and work?

Yes, for sure - the leadership, support, and industry connection Manzana provide are invaluable to keeping my ideas and business moving. Manzana is one of the very few, if not only, women-led co-working spaces in Waitematā and this is vital to supporting women in developing businesses. Women have such a unique perspective on how to do business and that’s so important for today’s challenges. I believe this initiative will lead to further entrepreneurial ventures down the track. 

What's your vision for your field of work over the next 10 years?

One of the gripes I hear most often from women in the marketing / digital / design fields is their frustration with not being part of the planning and decision-making process at the beginning of projects. They’re annoyed that the job could have been done better and the outcome greater if they were involved earlier. This is integral for tackling our most pressing local and global issues. So I would like to see this change. I think part of that solution includes the way we work and also it's about building confidence in women to use their voice. Sometimes we already have the power, we’re just scared to use it.