Career academy’s Nichols revels in students’ growth

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a series spotlighting non-traditional faculty members at the Commodore Conyers College and Career Academy who are offering instruction in pathway classes.

ALBANY — After more than 10 years of coordinating marketing and communications programs for financial institutions and civic organizations, Heather Nichols decided she needed a change of pace. That desire for change led her to the Commodore Conyers College and Career Academy.

“I knew at 12 I was going to be a marketer, so I am a little peculiar when compared to most people,” said Nichols, who holds a BA in marketing from Valdosta State University. “I moved to Nashville then Tallahassee, where I got into the banking industry.”

She and her husband moved back to Albany in 2007, and she got a job with Heritage Bank. Then fate stepped in.

“I decided I wanted to do something different,” she said. “The financial sector was challenging, but it was time for a change. I had that internal need to do something different. I wanted to do something that was more fulfilling. I was confiding in a friends and she said, ‘I know where you need to be, you need to call Chris Hatcher at the 4C Academy.’ I didn’t know what the 4C was.

“So I met with Chris, and the more he talked about it the more interested I became. As I listened, I knew this was not the path I set myself on, but it may be the path I was supposed to be on. My No. 1 goal was to find a place where I could be fulfilled and give back to my community and actually see the impact of what I was doing. This school lets me see my work make a difference.”

Nichols said she can already see changes in her team members/students.

“They have only been here a couple of months, but you can see the changes in the team members today. The changes have been astounding,” Nichols said. “On Day 1, they walked in the door, heads down, walked into class, sat, and pulled their phones out. They were very introverted and didn’t know how to act. Now, when they walk into my classroom, it’s totally different. They are conversational, their body language is open, they’re comfortable.

“Now the expectations are different. They know when you see someone new, you’re going to shake their hand and act like a normal person would in the real world. Most of them are very happy and, of course, they are still 14 and have bad days like anybody.”

As the students learn and mature, Nichols said she hopes to get many involved in the local business community. Still, she realizes this will take maturity and confidence. But she said she is encouraged by the reactions she gets when she asks business leaders if the students can help with marketing ideas.

“I’d like to have businesses in the community let us focus on what they are doing,” she said. “Thus far, all of the businesses I have spoken with are very excited about what we are doing. They said, ‘Yeah, we have some projects you can work on.’ Chehaw is one. The Museum of Art is another. We have a few things in the pipeline. But we are talking more than a year from now. We’ll have to see what happens when we get there.”