Nicole Williams The driving force behind Rhythm to You brings the power of rhythm, offering dynamic team building and educational programs.

Move in a little bit right here, kind of like fill it out, move in a little bit with your drums and all.

That's still a bit, you know, a circle right here.

Bring your chairs with you.

My name is Nicole Williams, and I contribute to human flourishing through my business Rhythm To You.

this is not a small circle is an intimate circle.

We got a reframe, reframe Where I bring the power of rhythm, dance and movement to organizations from the youngest citizen of our population to our oldest CEO.

She just brings a different perspective and does it with confidence So are we ready for some singing?

Oh, yes.

Say.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

We gonna start that again.

I say.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

And I always say they're two things that bring people together like nothing else Good food and good music.

And so that's how Rhythm To You was born out of seeing the need.

In mostly the marginalized communities, we're recognizing that music anyone with heartbeat.

Then a mine to the left, then mine to the right, then mine to the left, My name is Autumn McCully.

I am the vice president of Empowerment Services at the YWCA in North central Indiana.

the YWCA National has a stand against racism And so for each week we did something in the community where we partnered.

And so for the music part, we partnered with Nicole really to focus on music, bringing music so her dance and drum and bringing the community together and really just talking about racism through her music.

How many?

Real quickly, how many of you rumble?

If you had to, you've been followed in a store.

How many of you knew that you had to show up looking a certain way because they don't know you and you had to try to impress?

People who may not look like you.

My top strength is I'm a connector.

That's what I do.

And I want you to think about the music teacher that you might have had, that music teacher had.

You bring everybody in that building together to to have a concert, right, different personalities, different backgrounds.

And so I think music teachers, I'm a little biased.

I have a special gift of bringing people together for a collective good.

[Nicole singing] Music has always been a part of my life.

I was that kid that my family members would come in the house.

My dad was okay, Nicole, and everyone would be livingroom, and I would be dancing to the music.

I was in school for accounting.

So one day I was sitting in the lunchroom and I was looking.

I don't belong here.

That night I started my application for Berklee College of Music, And I've never turned back ever since.

Oh my gosh, Nicole is her energy, is, it's just powerful.

I'm going to bring my energy and I'm going to pass it on to you, Dorris, You're going to pass it all around.

Oh, she is able to help people to to talk about racism or different topics through music.

we have a journey, brother.

You need it.

Bring it, Bring it I've been called Doctor Joy.

I've been coined the name Dr. Joy, we see so much of the other stuff, right?

The frailty of just life.

And I try to do as much reframing and believing if we can have one mustard seed of hope, a mustard seed of love, a mustard seed of joy, it can can produce immeasurable return When I come in that space, it's going to be kindness.

Wherever I go, there's going to be empathy.

Wherever I go, there can be laughter, wherever I go.

But there's work to do.

Say, there's work to do.

Look at somebody.

There's work to do.

Oh there's work to do work.

So at the very beginning, I think people were coming in nervous, right, because they didn't know what to expect.

And sometimes I think, you know, having an event like that, people are like unsure and they don't know what to think.

And they're nervous.

Right.

Because they they don't know what to think.

I'd say about ten, 15 minutes and you could tell people were relaxing.

Right.

And they were getting into the drumming, whether they were doing it with their hands or using the instruments.

through her music and through her drum and her dance, she really connects people.

And it's like they don't want to leave.

And they just wanted to continue on.

It's really beautiful, the way that my dad speaks about me to this day, you would think I had a mantle like 20 Grammys, right?

He has always been one of my biggest cheerleaders.

you know, you see your dad, you think, Dad, But when I saw him on stage, I'm like, Now I know why they called you Mr. Dynamite.

Reality is that none of us were born way that we are by and seek that we all have our own views about life.

We have different experiences and it shouldn't negate somebody else's, that your experience from where you're born is different from the griminess of the concrete jungle of New York.

But it's something that we could still connect, right?

We share our stories and each story is valid.

And so I think especially right now, that we need to honor people's stories, even if it's not your reality, I want you just lean in there.

Really listen to what I'm saying.

Honor my truth.

Even if you don't understand, can you at least honor my truth?

And I think that's where barriers will hopefully be eliminated.

It doesn't take a relationship to have them, but it takes a relationship to to break them down.

And so that's my hope.