Meet Nic. The Artist.
Nic has been a professional story teller and photographer for 12 years, since purchasing a camera stationed oversees in the United States Navy. He said, “Being stationed in the Middle East, I suddenly became more aware of people and their stories. I bought a camera, learned graphic design, and began building community for people through the Naval Base Chapel.” Nic, a traveling musician since 2001, has always been driven creatively to show people hope and provide beauty to our world. He said, “I want to use my gifts to connect people to something bigger than themselves. This has always been my biggest purpose in life.”
Nic understands the human struggle from personal experience. For 10 years, he served in various music and arts ministry positions, most recently as a Creative Arts Pastor. Nic found himself addicted to his work, no longer feeling his time and family were being honored with his work demand, and led him to the hard decision of resigning his job. He said, “I was working up to 70 hours a week, sometimes until 3am and up again at 6am the next morning. When I informed them of a need to slow down, and how this work demand was hurting my family, I was told by a leader that my family was the sacrifice and I basically needed to choose my family or choose being employed in that position long term. During my time there, I developed severe anxiety over details and a fear of saying no to people from a fear of losing my job. That comment was the tipping point for me. So a few weeks later, I quit with no plan. God really blessed this decision. I ended up back in Grand Rapids less than a month later with a full time Marketing position in a really great company with amazing leadership and values. I spend all my time now loving on people, telling their story, healing my heart through rest, and being available for my family at home. That church became my home, and I appreciate my time there... but I couldn’t have made a better decision for myself and my family.”
Nic was inspired to do this project with a passion to build community and share humanity with Grand Rapids. He said, “Every community throughout time has been built off of similarities or struggles found in stories, and every story has value and represents a person who has value. My goal in life is to build community and share hope to those hurting with a simple message, ‘You are not alone. You can do this. You can heal. You can make a difference.’ To me, there is nothing more pure than this.”
Abby and Nic met each other while working at Express Employment Professionals in Grand Rapids, where they transform lives through positive employment and building community through stories of hope.