Chad Strickland

Co-Founder and Strategist 

Chad is a culture and people strategist focused on the power of belief, purpose, and communication to drive business results.  With a 20-year career that started as a labor and employment attorney and then transitioned to senior business executive, Chad has been exposed to how the power of people can impact an organization.  During his nearly 15-year tenure with one of the most successful specialty retailers in the country, Aaron’s Inc., Chad was responsible for the most valued aspect of the business model: attracting, hiring, training and engaging the 20,000+ associates (majority Millennial).  Building this function from scratch gave Chad invaluable experience and lessons on what’s effective for today’s Millennial workforce.  An accomplished team builder, Chad was asked to lead various functions in transition during his career including, Marketing, Real Estate, Legal, and Merchandising.  

With his humble beginnings growing up to a single-mom on a farm in the rural panhandle of Florida, Chad developed a unique ability to empathize and effectively communicate to a wide variation of cultures.  Equally comfortable in the boardroom in Buckhead, Atlanta or a manufacturing floor in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, his expertise rest in the power of relationships.  

In co-founding NICH in 2016, Chad sought to develop a resource that he wished he had as a business leader in large enterprise.  NICH was purposefully designed as a strategic resource that can also implement meaningful creative services to drive results and impact the lives of employees in a meaningful way.  

Chad has been a featured speaker on the topic of culture and engagement for the next generation workforce at numerous industry events including CEB, Consero, Oracle HCM World, and Hansen Wade.

In his personal time, Chad can be found training and leading Atlanta’s most prominent Master’s cycling team.  A lifetime competitive athlete, he tends to ride around 10,000 miles a year – all over the world in the most challenging terrain and conditions. 

Nikki Strickland 

Co-Founder and Creative Strategist

Nikki is the millennial, people and culture strategist, creative director, and internal brand expert who provides clients with counsel and a personal confidant to successfully lead their brands around the world. Nikki has acquired a unique fusion skills through her experience working for a multi-billion dollar retail enterprise, a thriving WebRTC tech startup, and the largest employer branding agency in the world. She has developed a range of specialties from high-level talent acquisition and people strategy to graphic design, creative copywriting, and internal communications.

A modern renaissance woman, Nikki’s expertise ranges from graphic design to copywriting to coding a website.  Most of these talents are the result of insatiable curiosity to learn new skills for personal growth.  “I’ll teach myself to do it” – a regular mantra of Nikki’s.  Combined with her genuine extravert personality, Nikki often leads NICH’s client relationships serving as counsel and personal confidant to senior executives in some of the leading brands of the world.  

A passion for purpose and an eye for great design, she sees great potential in organizations that engage the next generation workforce to accomplish their goals.  Nikki leads a team of creatives, communicators, and designers, that understand the power of effective and authentic communication.  

Nikki’s other obsession is experiencing the world via the bicycle.  She leads a prominent Atlanta women’s cycling team, FeraFox.  Their mission is to promote confidence, accessibility, and fun through cycling (and fashion!).  Nikki designs cycling apparel with partner Cuore of Switzerland.  She is also a brand ambassador for the most influential cycling brand in the world, Specialized.  More importantly, her fur babies are Emmy the Street Dog (a rescue) and Hutch the Maligator (a Belgian Malinois).

Joanna Durr

Strategist 

Joanna is an optimistic, curious and trusted strategist, influencer, and global business partner.  She has distinguished herself as a leader and innovator in building purpose-driven organizations and creating cultures that inspire results. Over the course of her career, she has worked as both a consultant and executive operator with Fortune 500 companies including Newell Brands, The Coca-Cola Company, NCR, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and The Home Depot as well as start-up organizations across diverse industries. Continually, she has galvanized companies to outperform their competitors, supported senior leaders through major change initiatives, and engaged and energized employees to create productive and cohesive workplaces. 

The meat of Joanna’s career was with Newell Brands. Initially, she led Marketing for the $2.5B Home & Family business that included the Rubbermaid, Graco, Calphalon, Levelor, and Goody brands. Ultimately, she became the Vice President of Purpose where she partnered with senior leaders to develop communication and change management programs that ensured strategic and operational alignment with the company’s purpose. 

Prior to her executive experience, Joanna spent more than a decade with the consultancy BrightHouse, a BCG Company focused on purpose and people, and brand strategies. As an early member of their team, she was a pioneer in developing processes to uncover, identify and articulate the concept of purpose. 

Her efforts have positively impacted broad aspects of business, including marketing and brand strategy as well as employee engagement, recruiting, and training. She is also acknowledged in the business community as an expert in purpose and is often invited to speak on the topic with key influencers and decision-makers.

Her personal life and interests further reflect her passion for culture. She has chosen Asheville, North Carolina as her permanent residence because of its immediate access to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and lively music, food, and art scene. She is a seasoned traveler, having visited over 30 countries and worked in more than half of them.

Jessica Quinby

Creative

Jessica is a unique creature capable to magical creative abilities and a deep understanding of how culture impacts business strategy.  Known as a truly unique and authentic creative storyteller, she brings the culture stories to life at NICH.  

She has worked with global brands like AT&T, ESPN, Marriott, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts and The Walt Disney Company, as well as national brands in the real estate, entertainment, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and banking industries. She mastered the art of employer branding as a Senior Copywriter and Creative Director at one of the largest digital recruiting agencies in the world. She’s a pro at connecting people through strategic storytelling and big ideas that span multiple platforms. Jessica also has serious chops in video, mobile and UX copywriting – and her work has been recognized by nearly 50 industry awards, including an IAC Best of Show.

Jessica earned her Masters in Advertising from the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed the renowned Texas Creative Sequence.  Outside of work, Jessica’s time is spent with her mini-me, Vivian, and her husband Zak.