The Village That Built Her: The Story of Nikki Pederson
Nikki Pederson and her rescue dog, Destiny
In the warm lighting of her townhome, with a pup nestled at her feet, Nikki Pederson sat comfortably in her armchair. Her hair was neatly styled and her makeup was done to perfection; the image of chic elegance. However, as our conversation unfolded, the woman before me became so much more than that picture: layered, candid, and profoundly human.
Rooted in Art
Nikki Pederson is a woman born from a line of creatives and craftsmen. Her grandparents on her mother’s side were shoe and dress makers in Italy. Her father was a singer who joined the Air Force to pay the bills.
Her father’s voice is what brought her into this world, in a roundabout way. While stationed in Tripoli with the US Air Force, Nikki’s father ‘Rus’ was performing and her mother went to listen with a friend. The rest, as they say, is history. They would welcome three beautiful girls into the world—Nikki claimed her place as the middle child.
With bills mounting, Rus decided to lay down the microphone and pick up a badge. He rose in rank from patrolman, to detective, till eventually he started working for the state through TCOLE (Texas Commission on Law Enforcement), which is what would bring her family to College Station, Texas.
While she spoke fondly of her father, she noted that she has had a strained relationship with her mother. She explained her mother’s upbringing and noted that when coming to America her mother had a movie-like idealization of what her life would look like.
When America didn’t replicate what she had seen in films, she became very disenfranchised with her life here, and it affected how she raised Nikki and her sisters.
While she has had tough moments with her mother, Nikki told me that she is strengthened by the other women in her life and has attributed her success and resilience to the love and support of those incredible ladies who’ve been there throughout her career; A career that starts with her roots.
Finding Her Footing
Nikki learned to sew beside her grandmother, a small, Italian woman who spoke almost no English. Nikki would handcraft gorgeous gowns for women in her community and eventually began making dresses for pageant girls. “I put those beads on one bead at a time,” she said, smiling with raised eyebrows. Precision and perfection were threads woven through her work ethic from the start. For 5 years, she grew her craft, and her knack for business grew with her.
When a position unexpectedly opened within the Miss Texas Area Directorship, Nikki followed her instinct. With boldness disguised as curiosity, and relying on what she laughingly referred to as her “stupid confidence,” she reached out to express her interest. “I don’t even know if I was being courageous—I was just stupid enough to ask,” she joked. That simple inquiry led to a major opportunity, and before long, she was named the area’s pageant director.
After 7 years, she outgrew the position but throughout that time she had made invaluable connections that would rocket her career into the next phase: scouting.
“I met an agent who introduced me to the scouting event called the International Model and Talent Association (IMTA),” she explained. This would be her big debut into the world of actors, models, and singers she would eventually represent personally. “I loved every minute of it,” she beamed. Fueled by a fierce determination to silence the naysayers, Nikki’s competitive fire elevated not only herself but also the talent she discovered to the top of their field.
“We had great success. I'm very competitive, but not in a way where I would hurt somebody else. But if I know that you're doing training like this, I'm gonna up it, and I'm willing to put my money into it.” Nikki went on to explain to me how she would bring in the best of the best, such as coaches and reps from L.A. and New York City. There was nothing and no one who would keep her, or the kids she worked with, from climbing to the absolute top of the industry.
Her success didn’t come without its fair share of haters and “naysayers”, as she called them. “I took the abuse from local people who said, ‘I can't believe you're sending our kids off to LA,’ and I said, ‘Well, do you watch movies? Do you watch television? If you do, then don't be a hypocrite’–The devil is here too.”
Despite the negativity in her wake, Nikki kept reaching higher echelons of success with her work. Following several rewarding years with IMTA, she took the leap in 1999 and founded Nikki Pederson Talent, now recognized as NPT Network. Each year, she would sweep the competition at showcases in L.A., having trained her kids for months prior to ensure they were ready.
Now, the reps come to them as each year NPT Network takes their group of young actors to LA for a week, meeting privately with agents and reps. On average, around 90% of their actors get signed within that single week.
Beliefs and Business
The entertainment world has never been known for embracing conservative Christian voices, yet Nikki carries both identities with quiet pride, still learning when and how to speak her truth. “Hollywood's always been more liberal. I'm okay with that–But the more divided we become, the less vocal I felt I could be. For one reason, I didn't want to hurt the company, and I didn't want to hurt the kids that were out there that were signed because I wanted to voice my opinion.”
She expressed to me that in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the desire to defend her beliefs feels more vital than ever. “God still reigns,” she proclaimed. In reference to her business she stated that it is “touched by the hand of God.”
“We haven’t had any major industry issues,” she humbly admitted, attributing that protection to divine intervention. “Sometimes when things were happening in the world, we would pray, or a parent would say, ‘Can I say a prayer in class?’ and we would do it—Everybody's life is touched by the hand of God, but I just feel like I'm very aware of that.”
I asked Nikki if there were moments when the noise of doubt ever managed to break through her wall of confidence. With the same refreshing honesty I had come to expect from her, she answered candidly, “Probably when I went through my divorce. I took a year off. And then when I did go back to work, it was still difficult.”
She explained that after 21 years of marriage, she decided to divorce. Regardless of the legitimate reasons for her decision, she still found herself feeling like a failure. “I didn’t know how to be Nikki and be divorced,” she stated, shifting in her chair.
She returned to work and a few years later, to her surprise, she was invited to speak at the American Business Women’s Association luncheon as a keynote speaker. With the encouragement and support of her closest friends, she graciously accepted.
She stepped up to the podium and lit by a single spotlight she gazed out over the room, filled to the brim with industrious business women. She recalled her years in the business and walked the women through her profession. Reflecting on her pageant days, she shared that it was her own contestants who encouraged her to step out from behind the scenes and experience the competition for herself.
When she was asked what she would do with her ‘reign’ if she won, she stated she wanted to help women. “I wanted to be of service to other women but I didn’t know what that kind of love looked like.” She spoke of her recent divorce and the trauma that she endured in that time. Nikki credited her return to the unwavering support of her dearest friends, sharing that through them, she’s come to “know what love really looks like.”
Nikki’s identity is shaped by the extraordinary women who became her strength and steadfast support. A less than perfect childhood has been eclipsed by her courage and the enduring love of the women who lifted her up.
Nikki found love again and remarried 7 years ago. She owned and operated NPT Network for 25 years and recently sold the business to a former alumni. She has prided herself on exceptional work and perfectionism in all of her business ventures. Premier Properties, her real estate agency, is no different. She’s never been afraid of getting her hands dirty, so pulling weeds and performing various gardening duties at each of her properties certainly fits the mold.
“I’m not a brain surgeon, I’m just gritty. I know how to grind. I don’t mind putting on old cowboy boots, shorts, and a denim shirt, and going out and working in someone else's yard,” she remarked. It’s that work ethic that brought Nikki from single handedly beading and sewing pageantry gowns, to having one of the most successful talent agencies in the country.
NPT Network has boasted the names of many Hollywood stars over the years. Names like Raini Rodriguez, Tiffany Thorton, Brianna Hildebrand, Ian Ousely, and Garret Wareing, just to name a few.
Current Life
Nikki is now enjoying retirement and having no children of her own, lovingly refers to all the talent who have come through her agency as her ‘kids,’ regardless of their age.
Nikki has been an unparalleled force in her industry. Despite all the odds, she came out on top with her dignity intact; something she taught each and every talented youngster who came through her doors.
Chiseled from the stone of grit and determination, Nikki Pederson is a woman of class. Her advice to anyone wanting to pursue a life of stardom, be it acting, modeling, etc. is to “love what you do.” “You have to commit 100%. You have to make sacrifices. It’s not about being famous, but rather being really good at what you do.”
“I tell my kids it’s zero to five years to figure out what the hell you’re doing and why you’re doing it,” she stated. “I would say it was in our first five years of doing NPT when we started seeing our successes. So that theory applied to us as well.”
“I'm now in a new place in my life. I'm 65 years old. I've got the most incredible humans around me,” she remarked, while her rescue dog, Destiny, gnawed on a bone at her feet.
Nikki gives to several charities including (but not limited to) Operation Safe Shield, Backing the Badge, The Bridge Ministry, and Ronald Mcdonald House. She also maintains a lifetime membership with the Chamber of Commerce. She lives a quieter life now, devoting her time to her husband and her beloved circle of friends who’ve supported her throughout the years.
Final Thoughts
It’s one thing to build a business and find some success along the way, it’s another thing entirely to build a legacy. Nikki had a dream, but more than that, she had an iron will and a grit that never wore out. It was her determination and laser focus that kept her from succumbing to the stresses of the business. That willpower carried her—until, of course, it didn’t. When her strength ran out, the friendships she’d forged kicked in like a backup generator, carrying her through until she found her footing again.
While Nikki built a thriving business, it was the love and support of friends that built her, brick by brick. In her speech to the ABWA, she explained that you can’t define courage until you first define love. A love which she experienced head on after her divorce, when her friends surrounded and uplifted her.
It takes a special kind of strength to let the people we love step into the chaos of our world—a feat far too often overlooked. Who you surround yourself with often defines the person you become. In her most vulnerable moments, Nikki was surrounded by women built of fire and steel. They reminded her who she was and helped her see her own strength when she was blinded by grief and shame.
Without community, you are vulnerable to the chaos that engulfs this world. We are not meant to handle life alone. Even the strongest souls and the greatest successes owe everything to the village that built them.
Nikki is a remarkable woman and I am honored to share her story with you. Hers is a life touched by the hand of God—and by the many hands that lifted her along the way.
