"Our biggest strength is our passion."
Introducing Nizel Adams, the CEO of Nizel Corporation, an IT firm based in Chicago, and a global leader in the industry.
Nizel is a child prodigy who was recognized as one of the smartest people in Illinois and the US. His intrigue with computers from an early age eventually led to his successful IT career.
At Nizel Corporation, they offer everything under the sun when it comes to IT, including selling hardware, software, and high-tech construction, bringing futuristic, cutting-edge tech innovation to buildings around the world.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Nizel Adams: I’m a Chicagoan with a southern heart. Born & raised in Chicago, I grew up impoverished which led to roaming the streets. While there were many adventures had in the streets, I eventually became known as a child prodigy.
I was recognized as one of the smartest people in Illinois & eventually the US, having qualified to go to college in the 4th grade, but opted to not skip any grades. As a small child, I decided early on that I would either fix computers or be a doctor. What began as a teacher’s assistant in 1st grade computer class blossomed into me teaching computers at local colleges & eventually full-blown IT career.
Nowadays I live my dream running Nizel Corporation, an IT firm based in Chicago that is a global IT leader. We set the standard for the entire IT industry whether that be defining job responsibilities & writing certification exams through our work with organizations like CompTIA or working behind the scenes with companies like Comcast, Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc.
Aside from that we do everything under the sun when it comes to IT including selling hardware, software, etc. When our clients come to us, they come knowing we are a one stop shop for all of their needs.
If you were in an elevator with Warren Buffet, how would you describe your company, your services or products? What makes your company different from others? What is your company’s biggest strength?
Nizel Adams: At Nizel Corporation we want to be your one stop shop for everything IT. Need a new computer? We got you. Can’t figure out how to make your application user friendly? We got you. Want to build a starship?
We got you. We are one of, if not the only IT firm in the world that specializes in high-tech construction, bringing futuristic, cutting-edge tech innovation to buildings around the world. We take design & innovation seriously since we want it brought to life…not just be in books, TV or movies. Our biggest strength is our passion.
We’re passionate about tech & we’re passionate about you. We want to see you reach the mountain top even if it means we take some lumps along the way. The cherry on top is we make solutions simple.
Quiet quitting, The Great Resignation, are an ongoing trend causing many businesses to struggle keeping talent engaged and motivated. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. In your experience, what keeps employees happy? And how are adapting to the current shift we see?
Nizel Adams: People spend a third of their lives at the workplace. It’s imperative that employers see their employees as not just an employee number. They are people & people have a lot of stuff going on in their lives.
Solving this problem means an employer must connect with their employees on a deeper level rather than a surface level professional relationship. When an employee speaks, listen, decipher what changes need to be implemented then actually IMPLEMENT those changes.
If they are having emotional outbursts, sit them down and actually talk to them in-order to understand what’s going on. Don’t send them home, ignore them or tell them they need to act more professional. Invest in therapy services as a free benefit.
Celebrate those that work for you whether that be through company events or something as small as an email. One of the most important things a company needs to do is identify toxic employees & take steps to either correct their behavior or remove them.
Sometimes this is hard since a toxic employee could be a high-performer, but I’d sacrifice performance any day for peace of mind in the workplace.
Online business keeps on surging higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for the year to come and how are you capitalizing on the tidal wave?
Nizel Adams: The pandemic while tragic brought several things to light. All of the lies people were told every single day such as having to travel to physical offices, meet face to face, etc. were exposed.
Companies overnight found the resources to become almost fully remote & that trend will continue at least for the next couple of years since workers are refusing to go back to the old ways. Coincidentally I had written an article exposing these things years before the pandemic.
We’re capitalizing on this by expanding our offerings in the virtual conferencing space, partnering with companies like Zoom, 8×8, etc. We also offer a full suite of cybersecurity protection such as antivirus, firewalls, network monitoring services.
Our main offering during these times have come in the form of helping companies transition to a remote work environment which includes helping employees build out their home offices, setting up VPN servers, converting physical servers to virtual ones, etc.
We’ve also started an initiative to help companies build out their e-commerce & social media platforms in-order to generate online sales.
Christopher Hitchens, an American journalist, is quoted as saying that “everyone has a book in them” Have you written a book? If so, please share with us details about it. If you haven’t, what book would you like to write and how would you like it to benefit the readers?
Nizel Adams: When you look around nowadays there are so many people that are lost, confused & just meandering through life. I would like to one day write a book about all of my adventures.
There are so many lessons I’ve learned that I would love to pass on to others. From career to dating advice there are plenty of knowledge gaps that can be filled with my stories. Not to mention I think it would be surprisingly entertaining!
In your experience, what tends to be the most underestimated part of running a company? Can you share an example?
Nizel Adams: By far the most underestimated part of running a company is how many hats you must wear especially during the startup phase. You have to be a marketer, graphics designer, manager, financial expert, business developer, sourcer for everything, even your own IT person.
This is something most people don’t realize so they crash & burn early on.
You can’t do everything yourself. Good leaders also know how to delegate responsibility. While I would love to run reports for & talk everyday with all of our clients, I know that my time is better spent doing the bigger picture things while others can do things such as create reports, help clients with their branding, etc.
A close second would be gaining market share. Trying to overcome competition is extremely hard & most people can’t believe that 1-3% business growth is a standard goal for a lot of companies every year. It’s a grind that you have to stick with before it pays off.
What does “success” in the year to come mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Nizel Adams: The only thing that matters to me is regaining my Yelp Elite status. Everything else can fall by the wayside.
Jokes aside, success in 2023 for me on a business level means obtaining our dream office, getting more enterprise clients, winning a large government contract bid, getting into the videogame console retailer market & establishing ourselves as a major player in that arena.
I also hope to make headway into the education sector, establishing relationships with schools whether that be working as their IT vendor or helping them establish an IT curriculum that’s better suited for people looking to go into the field.
On a personal level it means becoming more fit, continuing to learn new skills & finishing up my home projects such as rebuilding my deck.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Nizel Adams for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Nizel Adams or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.
