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Nikki Gal is not your standard model. Yes, she's beautiful with stunning features and looks good in everything she wears. Nikki has also been featured in top publications and worked with unique brands, but more importantly, Nikki displays perfect "model behavior" with her inspiring list of accomplishments. She has entrepreneurial, artistic, and advocacy dreams and goals and is fulfilling them rapidly. Nikki is an American fashion model, designer, mental health advocate, and artist. Working in the fashion industry as a model for ten years, she has appeared on the covers of twenty-plus international fashion magazines, including Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Glamour, and Grazia.
In addition to her modeling career, she has also been featured in Vogue, L'Officiel, and Vulkan Magazine. At just 20 years old, she started her entrepreneurial journey as an artist in 2019. After just one year of launching her Digital Art company (See Thru Nikki), she had reached over 10 million impressions via social media. Nikki launched her digital art campaigns and works about societal issues in advocacy for change and awareness. In 2021, Nikki also launched her nonprofit organization and platform, 'Raw Talk with Nikki Gal', which is so important. It is about raw conversations about women's mental health and wellness. The platform has reached international audiences, hitting 40 countries. Nikki's mission is to inspire others to follow their creative dreams by sharing their authenticity with themselves and the world. Nikki's career as an artist gave her the platform to create art with a vital purpose and message.
As a multi-faceted entrepreneur, Nikki deeply understands the business world and always looks for new opportunities to grow and innovate. By 2022, she founded and launched four more companies in addition to her first company, which includes a sustainable fashion brand, Gal Intimates, providing comfortable and affordable intimate wear.
When Nikki had a moment to stop, she spoke with us about her aspirations and mission, her modeling career, and why she decided to become such an innovative entrepreneur and a mental health advocate. She's creative with a sharp business sense and a humanitarian spirit. So let's get started.
What do you like most about modeling, and what are some challenges? I love connecting with talented creatives— I have met many creative and passionate individuals through the years. One of the biggest challenges is maintaining your identity in such a fast-paced industry. The fashion industry is a revolving door that can cause anyone to lose sight of their identity. I find it essential to prioritize a balanced self-care routine and always tune into yourself.
How do you feel about sustainability within fashion? Sustainability is so important to me and my fashion brand. I would love to see sustainability more integrated within the fashion industry. As a fashion designer, I have made it a mission to create a fashion brand that practices sustainability by promoting a minimalist approach. Since the launch of my fashion brand, Gal Intimates, in 2022, I have only released a handful of designs— less is more with quality over quantity.
I enjoyed studying about your skincare routine (which is a passion). Can you tell our readers how crucial it is to care for your skin? With the skin being the body's largest organ, we must take care of our skin. I like setting time out each day to tend to my skin for my routine. I want to use only cruelty-free and vegan skincare products targeting my skin type. Doing thorough research before using any effect on your skin is essential, as good products make a huge and positive difference.
I really enjoyed studying about your skincare routine (which seems to be a passion). Can you tell our readers how crucial it is to take care of your skin? With the skin being the largest organ of the body, it is extremely crucial we take care of our skin. For my own routine, I like to set time out each day to tend to my skin. I like to use only cruelty-free and vegan skincare products that specifically target my skin type. It is always important to do thorough research before using any type of product on your skin, as good products make a huge and positive difference.
It's also inspiring that you stepped out of the modeling world and became an entrepreneur. You have a digital art company, a photography business, a branding consulting company, a nonprofit for mental health, and two fashion lines. What made you want to develop an entrepreneurial side? Thank you! From a young age, I have always had a multi-faceted mindset, which led me to pursue my passions professionally in my adult life. As a model, I felt that my creative potential wasn't being seen or heard as I wanted it to be, which led me to pursue entrepreneurship at age 20. By following entrepreneurship, I could navigate my creative side while having control of my narrative as an artist. I was able to be in the driver's seat as an entrepreneur, which led me to pivot and manage directions by pursuing multiple passions, interests, and ideas professionally. I am so grateful to have taken that risk for not only myself but also my creative visions and expression.
Please expand upon the digital art company. Also, how would you describe your art? I launched my digital art company, See Thru Nikki, in 2019. I am so grateful to be able to share my art with others while helping other individual's artistic visions come to life. In 2020, I launched an art piece, "Say Her Name," with a mission to raise awareness of police brutality and anti-Black violence in the United States of America by honoring six female victims as well as their names. The art piece gained over 10 million impressions via social media through the years. Also, it gained the attention of notable figures such as anti-racist activist Ibram X. Kendi, singers Ashanti, Sheila E., and Ice Cube, as well as actresses Tracee Ellis Ross, Zoë Kravitz, and Amber Riley. As an artist and human, I am proud that my artwork has positively impacted societal change and awareness in our world. My artwork is powerful, as it holds impactful messages within different communities. In 2022, I launched a digital art series titled "State of a Woman," which was featured in an international exhibition in Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon. The series pertains to advocating women's mental health and the art and embrace of raw emotion. My artistic expression within my art pieces must hold value, message, and meaning.
As an activist, why did you choose mental health? What topics do you focus on? Through the years, I have met many who struggle with their mental health, which motivated me to become a voice for the mental health community. Within the mental health community, not everyone has a voice, which made me want to use my voice to advocate and spread awareness. The main topics I would like to discuss include:
Social media's effect on the female brain
The importance of self-care
Mental health visibility in the education system within the United States of America
Can you tell us about your podcast, "Raw Talk?" In 2021, I launched the non-profit organization and platform Raw Talk with Nikki Gal to promote raw conversations about women's mental health and candid topics women face daily. Raw Talk with Nikki Gal reached international audiences by the end of 2021, hitting 40 countries. Through the platform, interviews with women from all walks of life, race, and profession were covered. Women deserve to be heard and seen in a candid and raw light.
How does "The Model Memo" podcast advocate for the modeling industry and its positive characteristics? I launched The Model Memo podcast in late 2023, where the platform plays the role of an informative audio memo pad of fashion models' candid experiences while highlighting stories from inside and outside the modeling industry. When we look at a model's billboard or fashion campaign, we look at the model, but we don't typically think how that model feels or what that model is thinking. I want to challenge that by hosting conversations with fashion models from all over the world. Being present in the fashion industry myself, I have also witnessed many fashion models around me struggle with their mental health, which motivated me to advocate for the model community as well. I wish to unite the modeling industry by emphasizing mental health, body image, and self-esteem transparency.
How do you balance everything that you are doing? Do you have a team that works with you? Furthermore, when you have downtime, what do you do to recharge? Balance has been a crucial part of my life as an entrepreneur and a human. I work internationally with teams who inspire me to become more productive and proactive in my professional career. I love surrounding myself with people who amplify my creative expression and motivate me to reinvent. During downtime, I tune into myself and my thoughts with meditation and yoga. It keeps me focused and energized throughout my daily work.
Have you always been a risk-taker? I have. Being a risk-taker means always being fearless of failure and accepting the trial and error process. Through my entrepreneurial experiences, I have become a risk-taker by taking on new challenges while navigating my craft.
You said, "My mission is to get many creative conversations going while simultaneously strengthening those conversations through limitless empowerment and creative liberation." Can you please expand? Creative liberation means holding the power of your self-expression and identity. The reinvention of creative individuality is constantly evolving, and we as humans should embrace that energy through discussion, unity, and artistic collaboration. One individual's voice is powerful, but when we creatively unite, the human voice becomes increasingly influential.
To keep up with Nikki Gal, follow her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/nikkicgal/
Her website is: https://www.nikkigal.com