Welcome Nikki Stefanoff to the Atto team
We are excited to welcome Nikki Stefanoff to the Atto team as our Content Creator. Discover more about Nikki below!
Tell us a bit about your background
I’m from the UK and after graduating from studying film and scriptwriting for three years I quickly realised that getting a job in ‘the movies’ was actually ‘really hard’ and perhaps I needed another approach to telling stories. So, I did a postgraduate journalism degree.
After finishing my training I pitched an idea to BBC Worldwide for a new magazine and worked with them for a year on developing it. But, as with a lot of things related to the BBC, it all came down to budget and the project was scrapped. So, I moved back to the Lake District and started working in a newspaper newsroom reporting on everything and anything. I wrote stories about the foot and mouth crisis faced by England’s farmers, catastrophic floods taking people’s lives and homes and was the journalist sent to interview locals living in the first village in England to get Wifi - oh, how far we’ve come!
After a year, I made the move to London and spent 10 years editing magazines and freelancing for national newspapers and mags. Then, like the many Brits before me, I met an Aussie, got married and emigrated. That was 7 years ago and I’ve been freelancing as a content strategist and copywriter ever since. I’ve helped launch start-ups, written digital content and blogs for big and small businesses and helped countless brands and individuals work out the best way to tell their stories.
What excited you about Atto?
I love the startup attitude as you have to be flexible, open minded and creative - my favourite attributes in a person and a business. I also love doing anything I can to help raise the profile of women so, for me, Atto is the perfect storm.
You've run your own business now for nine years, what have been some of the learnings?
When I first started out I said ‘yes’ to every opportunity and it was the best thing I ever did. I arrived in Australia with a husband and two-year old but no contacts, no networks and no idea what I was doing. Then someone offered me a freelance gig writing a digital campaign for a superfund. I had no idea what superannuation was (we have the pension in England) but I said yes and just did a lot of research! That job led to another campaign, which led to an introduction to another digital agency and the ball just kept on rolling.
Outside of Atto's content, where should female founders go for inspiration?
I’m a big fan of both One Roof and Future Women and am regularly inspired by the conversations I see happening between the women in those communities. I also love to read about women’s experiences, particularly in the world of tech. There's a great book called Uncanny Valley about a woman working in Silicon Valley and I’m a huge fan of Kara Swisher and religiously listen to both her podcasts Recode Decode and Pivot (with Scott Galloway, who’s also a fav of mine!) And of course, Brené Brown and her podcast, Unlocking Us, offers endless insight and inspiration.
What are you hoping to achieve with Atto?
I want to help build connections through storytelling. As everyone works their way through the program there are so many success stories and inspirational learnings along the way and I want to make sure I capture all of them.
What is your number-one rule that founders should follow for their own content initiatives?
Know your own voice, understand your audience and keep it simple.
Where can we find you?
Come say ‘hello’ to me over on Yarn Studio, find me on Insta @hellonikkistefanoff and, of course, www.linkedin.com/in/nikkistefanoff
