#Mompowerment at the ALT SUMMIT 2019

Who do I want to be?

During a discussion about business development at the Alt Summit in Palm Springs, CA, Kelsey Nixon, an Emmy-nominated TV personality, mom and author encouraged women ask themselves ‘what do i want’? when they find themselves in need of a career reboot.

“As women we can get caught in a hamster wheel of more, more, more, more,” said Nixon. “But sometimes its okay do just do what works for you in this chapter and take things at your own pace. Be honest with yourself.”

Nixon, who’s a popular Food Network personality, hosted a Solo Talk on Tuesday at the Parker Hotel Ballroom about paving the road for a creative career reboot. She said the idea to help other women accomplish this type of “reset” stemmed from her own experience having a wildly successful cooking show and other profitable business ventures, while at the same time dealing with a traumatic experience.

“The craziness of building this creative career and the heartbreak of dealing with personal tragedy led to this.

The mom of two says she was having difficulty carrying out her pregnancies full-term and had lost a baby while her television show was continuing to gain popularity.

“I was done. I was emotionally, physically, creatively exhausted. I didn’t know how to be a public person on the television show and the Instagram community and talk about guacamole and behind the scenes, deal with the fact that I just lost a baby,” she said.

That’s when Nixon put her career on pause. First she swapped skyscrapers for s lush green scenery (her family moved from New York City to Portland, Oregon). It was during that time, she says, that she watched a Beyoncé documentary in which the famous singer asked herself what do I want? before deciding to replace her dad as her manager.

“It hit me like a ton of bricks,” said Nixon of Beyonce’s own rhetorical question. “‘What do you want?’”

Figuring out what you want

In Nixon’s discussion she highlighted the following tips to give yourself a necessary reboot when the demands of life and career become too much:

1. Take Care of Yourself. You cannot operate at your best level as a creative when your’e not taking care of yourself. Whether this looks like taking a break, therapy, hiring a life coach or taking medication. “Your mind is your best and most valuable tool…so take care of it,” says Nixon.

   2. Know how to create the right kind of conditions for yourself to thrive. “For me, that took removing myself from the hustle bustle of New York City and putting myself in a calmer place,” she says.

   3. Define what it is that you want. Discipline yourself. Create a structure. Get organized and work hard.

   “A year ago when I was at Alt (Summit) l asked myself this question,” shared Nixon. “What do i want?”

Nixon said she attended the Alt Summit last year asking herself the question again.

WHAT DO I WANT?

“I want my creative talent to be valued and championed. I want to work with producers and distributors who want to empower me with the business side of things as much as in front of the camera,” she said.

Nixon’s newest project, a family food game show titled Dinner Takes All, premiered in March on BYUtv.