👋 Tell us a bit about yourself: how did you get started?
Hello! I’m Nikita — I’m a strategy consultant and Founder of Archive 071, a sustainable wellness social enterprise. I’m currently based in Seattle, WA but am originally from the Bay Area, CA.
I’m a big believer in focusing on and following what is most energizing. I studied Biomedical Engineering in college, but at the time, was most excited about my involvement with the university startup incubator. That interest then led me to London Business School, where I was exposed to the power of business within the world of social impact. I ended up doing four impact consulting projects on three different continents that year!
And now, I’m delving deeper into the intersection of business, social impact, and global development — both in my role at Bain & Company and through my own social enterprise. Outside of work, I’m the USA Coordinating Ambassador for One Young World — and spend a lot of my free time out in the incredible nature of the Pacific Northwest.
👋 Our community is curious about all that you do: what do you do in your current role? What’s it like growing Archive 071? Walk us through a day in your life!
Most of my working day is spent on the job as a consultant — we’re project-based, so there’s a lot of variety in the work we do. I’ve done projects in everything from grocery supply chain to skincare pricing to logistics for a trash collection company. My days usually consist of meetings with our client, creating materials to guide discussions, and brainstorming sessions (along with some fun) with my team.
I’m usually up pretty early to get in a bit of work on Archive (and squeeze in a morning swim if I’m feeling particularly motivated). Building up Archive has been a journey–it’s a lot of navigating unknowns and just putting one step in front of the other. We are nearing our official launch (coming up in December!) so a lot of what has been just plans in notebooks and whiteboards is finally becoming reality, which is very exciting. Bootstrapping something from the ground-up definitely involves wearing multiple hats; but I would say my favorite days are the ones involving formulating and testing products (recently, the task on hand was figuring out which Icelandic volcano’s ash makes for the best exfoliant).
👋 What would you tell a young professional looking to get into social entrepreneurship?
- Just get started: One of my big learnings from the One Young World community is that any impact, no matter how small, is valuable. A lot of the issues facing our world today can be so large and daunting, that it seems impossible to know where to start. But as long as you know your ‘why,’ regardless of how targeted or small, you can make a difference–but it just requires working through the discomfort of getting started.
- “Put one foot in front of the other”: This has been my mantra recently. Charting out new terrain can involve a lot of uncertainty and unknowns that are disorienting–but progress is made just one step at a time, so all you need to know is your next move (or at least that is what I’m telling myself!).
- Build your community: As I have gone through different phases of my early career, I have found that I consistently am significantly influenced by the people around me (how they spend their time, what gives them energy, etc) — and so something I’m working on is being intentional about my community, and so far, doing that has brought me to many incredible, inspiring people!
👋 Here at Pineapple, we’re firm believers that we’re more than our work: we’d love to know one fun thing that gets you through the week.
Not particularly original but honestly, my Spotify. It’s the first thing I turn to, no matter what I feel like I need in the moment: a jolt of motivation (usually Guy Raz’s podcast ‘How I Built This’), some brain space (Beautiful Chorus on shuffle), or just good vibes (Labrinth at the moment).
👋 Is there anything you’re manifesting this year?
My words for the year have been “bold but balanced” — which in complete transparency, I stole from the slogan of a whiskey brand. But along those lines, this year has been all about manifesting Archive and building things that are powerful, impactful, and intentional.
👋 Where can others find you?
Pineapple: https://pnpl.io/nikitad
Instagram: @nikita.dhe / @archive071
