367 Engaging in the Hard Conversations with Nik Walker

Season 21
August 3, 2021

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Show Summary:

In today’s episode of The Big Talk Podcast, we’re talking about so many incredible topics that truly align with our values here at The Big Talk: humility, compassion, community, being willing to grow and engage, and ultimately using language and our voices powerfully for impact.

For this conversation, I am joined by the absolutely amazing Nik Walker!

Nik is an actor, cinephile, and theme park nerd. Currently leading the Broadway cast of Ain’t Too Proud (after 3 years as Aaron Burr in the Broadway and touring companies of Hamilton), he’s also a playwright, cohost of the activism talk show The Chaos Twins on BroadwayWorld, and his movie podcast, Little Justice, is streaming with the Broadway Podcast Network. In his free time between all of this, Nik is a professor at NYU.

Originally from Boston, Nik is now a fellow New Yorker with a very successful performing career on Broadway. And although much of his childhood was defined by navigating being Black in a very racially divisive city, he loves that where he grew up gave him incredible access to the arts from a young age.

Nik also credits much of the performer and person he is today to his mother, his hero, who was a single mom from Little Rock, AR. She was also the first Black woman to co-anchor a newscast in Boston and later became a minister. He knows that growing up watching her use her voice so impactfully helped to empower him to use his voice in the world as well.

In this episode, we’ll explore:

Nik’s childhood and how it helped to shape him
The importance of engaging and having hard conversations — especially with people who view the world differently than you
Why admitting what we’ve gotten wrong with humility and a willingness to grow is the game-changer we all need
Being gentle and patient with yourself
Learning to collaborate and giving yourself space for continual growth
Nik’s current favorites — Book: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Speaker: His Mom, Liz Walker, and Podcast: How Did This Get Made