Meet "Team Leon": A Q&A with Nickie P., Customer Service Representative
Meet the people behind our products. Next up is Nicole Smith, aka, “Nickie P,” who works in our customer service department. We’ll start by saying that everybody loves Nickie P: our employees, our customers, and anyone who has seen her perform (she moonlights as a hip hop artist—and she is legit). Here we chat about her music, how she manages to stay positive when things get tough, and what it’s like working alongside her husband.
Leon: While your full name is Nicole Smith, pretty much everyone around here knows you as “Nickie P.” Is it a Clark Kent-type situation where you’re Nicole Smith by day and then Nickie P. is your alter ego?
Nickie: That analogy works fairly well in all honesty. I am a Customer Service Representative here at Leon during the daytime hours, however I am a hip hop musician in my off hours. I started when I was about 17 years old. My maiden name is Price, so naturally my friends just started calling me Nickie P., which eventually became my stage name. The name has stuck with me ever since (along with some added aliases over the years such Nickie Priceless, Sick Nick, Nickels, and Nixx).
Leon: Music is at the heart of why we do what we do here at Leon and we know it’s a big part of your life too. Tell us about your music:
Nickie: I have been singing since a very young age and was enrolled in private vocal lessons at about age 12. At the time, I studied Italian Opera, Broadway Showtunes, and the like. When I was about 14, I started to gain an interest in hip hop music and eventually started to shift my focus. My second eldest brother Kevin (aka Esque Roxwell) was in a local hip hop crew called the Seven Chakraz. I had been quietly writing raps and practicing when no one was around. When I was about 17, I was inducted into the group after surprising my brother and our friends at a house party open mic with my hidden rap skills. I was basically shuffled into another room immediately by members of the 7C (7 Chakraz) who quickly inducted me into the group.
I performed with the 7C regularly until they disbanded in 2007. From there, I began my solo career and released my debut album “The Glitter Wars” in 2009 with the help of Daleth Music Group, a small music label out of Southfield Michigan. I left Daleth in 2010 and focused on self releasing my second album “The Triumphant Rise & Tragic Existence of Sick Nick” in 2013.
Since my second album release, I have had the privilege of opening for hip hop greats such as Digable Planets, Blackalicious, and the mighty KRS-One, to name just a few, and I have organized multiple local events in the community. More recently, I have directed some of my focus back into education and I’m currently studying Arts and Entertainment Administration and Management at Eastern Michigan University. Although working towards bettering my skills as administrative support for myself and other working artists, I still try to make time to perform, collaborate, and record new music whenever possible.
This year, I released my third full project entitled “The Collective Thought EP,” which was a collaboration project with local emcee and comic book artist Kam Komics (Kam Reynolds aka Kool Ade Kam). Kam designed and pressed a custom comic book which serves as a replacement for a traditional CD. The comic takes you step by step through each track on the album and comes with a digital download so you can follow along with the artwork and the music. It was by far one of the most fun projects I have worked on and watching the music come to life in the form of Kam's fantastic artwork was more than I ever could have imagined for the album.
Currently, I am working on a few collaboration projects with local emcees including Duke Newcomb, Tru Klassick, and Jay Classic as well as an indie project with local one-man-band Jonas Wildman.
Leon: You work in the Customer Service department here at Leon, and while we have amazing customers, we know that your job isn’t always easy. No matter what is going on in your day though, you are always a ray of sunshine here in the office. How do you stay so positive even when you’re dealing with tough situations?
Nickie: Aw, why thank you! :) I think I have been blessed with a pretty easy going attitude. I love our company and our team and so being cheerful is pretty easy! At the end of the day, even if things don't pan out the way that I had hoped, I always leave feeling appreciated by my team and knowing that the hard work I put in doesn't go unnoticed. Don't get me wrong, I have my days when nothing seems to be going right and it is nearly impossible to carry a convincing smile. But if a situation is frustrating for me, then I can only assume that it is twice as frustrating for our customers, and for that I try to do everything in my power to bring not only a solution to the table, but also some positivity. We have some outstanding dealers whom I love working with and I always want to be sure they are taken care of.
Leon: Your husband Rhett works at Leon too—what’s it like working together?
Nickie: When I tell people that I work with my husband, I am usually met with a skeptical, "Well that must be a hot mess" sort of response. In actuality, it's really quite the opposite. If anything, it has strengthened our understanding of each other and also our respective roles here at Leon. I learn new things from Rhett every day. He has been my favorite teacher for the past 18 years, drawing me diagrams of shipping plans and showing me installation breakdowns that help me to better provide solutions to problems for my dealers. In return, I teach him more about the front of house, sales, and customer service aspect of what we do here which helps him to better prepare our projects for our customers.
This is not the first place that Rhett and I have worked at together. In fact, this is the fourth place that we have found ourselves on the same working team. We make a great team at work and at home and I am so grateful to have such an amazing partner in both my personal and professional life.
Nickie & her husband Rhett fully embracing the black and gold theme and looking incredible at our Leon holiday party a few years back
Leon: If you had to pick, what are your top 5 favorite albums of all time?
Nickie: That is definitely a hard question to tackle and if you were to ask me tomorrow my answers may be slightly different, but here are some of my standing favorites:
To learn more about Nickie P and her music, check out her website and be sure to follow her on Instagram, Spotify, and YouTube.
