And so it begins...

Hello World.

I'm Nikki James. If you've found yourself here, you probably already know me and know I am a little crazy. I reached out to an old friend a couple of days ago to ask him if we could meet up about an idea I have. His response was, "Your brain scares me, but yes, let's do it." The truth is, my brain scares me sometimes, too.

I have been on this earth for over 40 years now. Through the process of living this crazy life at this point in history, I have learned, I have grown, I have innovated and started things, I have failed epically, I have built and lost friendships, I have examined who I am and why I am here on earth now in this moment.

We Live a RESPONSEABLE Life

In this season of life, I am a Professor of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Northeastern University. I live most of my life in Boston, USA, but I live two months of my year in Cape Town, South Africa, and most of December in Sydney, Australia, with my family. I count it a privilege to feel like I am HOME in three different cities on earth.

At a young age, I realized that my purpose in life is to help people. I started giving presents at Christmas and later down the road transitioned into helping people, help people when I managed all the Youth Volunteers for a major charity in my home town of Sydney. Today, that purpose has evolved once again. As a Professor, I get to teach the next generation of people who want to help people, help people. The purpose has not changed; it has just leveled up.

At this very moment in time, it is the Fall Semester of 2025. A time in the world where everything feels a bit up in the air. My students are anxious about finding jobs due to volatility in the job market and organizations playing a zero-sum game as they use AI to do what they do with fewer human resources.

I see their anxious faces and have compassion for them. But I have the benefit of perspective. We humans have been here before. In fact, this is the 5th Industrial Revolution, so we can confidently say we have been here before at least four times. That said, I also remember being young and feeling like the world was falling apart at times, being told by 'adults' not to worry, and it would all be okay. I now know they were right. I am okay. I am more than OK. But telling me "it will all work out" without backing it up with the stories that developed that wisdom, perspective, and understanding was not enough to quell my anxiety and fear.

That is one of the core pillars of RESPONSEABLE, to share OUR story so others can be inspired and grow from OUR experience.

This story will begin with my story, but over time, I hope it will be our story...

I am grateful I get to do this (and am also a little bit terrified), and I love that you are choosing to be on this journey with me.