I help people feel seen and heard through my healing stories
I share about my personal story of transformation and healing after the sudden death of my father and my divorce. My marriage was a catalyst that woke me up to the ways intergenerational trauma and patriarchy dictated who I “should” be. It made me feel small and unworthy. Through my own healing and growth, I now believe that I am enough and beautifully right-sized.
I also share about my perpetual struggle answering, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Many would consider that I “failed” after having five careers as a consultant, recruiter, voiceover artist, speech-langauge pathologist, and librarian, but I don’t see it that way. It is a story about how meritocracy and the model minority myth overrode my intuition.
I’ve spoken at organizations including UCLA, San Francisco Public Library, UC San Diego, the Digital Library Federation, NYU, University of Michigan, the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA) and more. Check out my speaking topics below and contact me with any inquiries.
Speaking Topics
Why I Brag About My Divorce
How I Found Success After Leaving Five Careers
Feeling Enough in a Capitalist World
How Remembering Your Worth Fights Systems of Oppression
The Personal is Professional: How to Maintain Your Own Life While Pursuing a Career
Define Your Values and Create Boundaries (1-2 workshops)
Trauma-informed and relational care for libraries
I have presented to dozens of libraries about what it means to be trauma-informed in libraries. This is based on my experience working in libraries as a Health & Life Sciences Librarian at UCLA and the Associate Director of the Network of the National Library of Medicine, Pacific Southwest Region, as well as my trauma training.
What I've noticed in sharing this work over the past few years is that time and time again that facilitating these in groups can actually prevent people from having the deep, personal and intentional time to process it in their own way. This is why I have created a self-paced course called Trauma-Informed and Relational Care for Libraries.
This course includes an Introduction and 5 modules with teaching videos along with questions and activities. It also includes a somatic library for you to access at any time!
Recommendation
“Nisha provided a wealth of resources that defined trauma and trauma informed practices. She offered us opportunities to customize the focus of the webinars to address our environment and culture. Ultimately she tailored her presentation to two sessions to allow participants time before, after and during the course to apply the knowledge and plan for the application of the principles in the future.
Nisha is a knowledgeable, empathetic and engaging presenter and facilitator. We continue to explore this framework and look for additional opportunities to analyze and apply the practices in our organization. I look forward to working with Nisha again in the future.”
— Rachel Almodovar, Training & Organizational Development Coordinator at UC San Diego
Keynote Addresses
Showing Up: Caring for Each Other During Messy Times
I was a keynote presenter for the DLF (Digital Library Federation) Forum in November 2021.
Description
These times are messy. Aside from existing colonial, capitalist, and patriarchal structures, and as a result from them, it’s hard to show up for ourselves let alone for others. But the fact is that we need each other; relationships allow us to thrive. In this talk, Nisha will discuss how systemic and individual trauma show up in our body, minds, and relationships and how we can find ways to show up for ourselves and each other during messy times.
How can we foster "access intimacy" and slow down?: Reflections from COVID-19
I was the keynote speaker for the Midwest Midcontinental MLA 2021 Virtual Conference.
Description
Disability advocate Mia Mingus coined the term “access intimacy” to describe the feeling one receives when someone just gets their access needs. In this talk, Nisha connects this concept with slowing down (reducing urgency) in the context of COVID-19.
Client Testimonials
Nisha is a dream to work with. She's organized, extremely knowledgeable, asks great questions, and brings an incredible energy into her work. I worked with Nisha in her capacity as instructional designer and public speaker and both related to trauma-informed care and/or librarianship. Nisha is a creative and engaging speaker. I can't wait to work with her again!
— Jennifer Ferretti, Founder & Principal, We Here LLC & DLF Senior Program Officer at CLIR
Nisha has done two presentations for our organization and they were both wonderful. Very accessible and engaging. Our members felt comfortable with her and the feedback was ALL positive. On my end, she was easy to work with. Planning was smooth and she listened to and respected our needs. I would highly recommend her to anyone!
— Rebecca Kluberdanz Honsinger, Continuing Education & Emerging Technologies Librarian at Central New York Library Resources Council
I hired Nisha to facilitate a 4-week Trauma Informed Library Practices workshop series for the 14-person UC Berkeley Library Life & Health Sciences Division. Nisha was well prepared, yet flexible. She was supremely knowledgeable, yet approachable. She expertly led us through large quantities of emotionally charged information and worked with us to tailer the content to our needs. I highly recommend hiring her to work with your team!
— Shannon Kealey, Former Head of the Life & Health Sciences Division, UC Berkeley Library
