In March 2006, Nicole established Desert Flower Management Consulting, Inc., to provide strategic counsel to nonprofit organizations that focus on empowering economically disadvantaged families and children.

Prior to starting Desert Flower, Nicole was the Vice President of Marketing and Development for the YWCA Atlanta. In this role, she managed the organization's $2.3m philanthropic budget and developed the staffing, technology, financial, and revenue solicitation infrastructure for both the marketing and development departments. Within two years, she and her team facilitated more than 150 strategic community and donor partnerships with the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation/Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation, City of Atlanta Neighborhood Planning Unit-L, Atlanta Housing Authority and United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, to name a few. Nicole also managed the YWCA Atlanta's launch of a new national YWCA brand which included media outreach and redesigning all organizational and programmatic collaterals including the website.

Before accepting an opportunity in the non-profit sector, Nicole worked for Porter Novelli – DC and the American Institutes for Research – Prospect Center where she managed social marketing and public health education campaigns for federal, state and local government, nonprofit, pharmaceutical and public affairs organizations. Her efforts in the for-profit sector focused on encouraging behavior change to promote healthier lifestyles among low-income, minority, underserved and uninsured populations. Health issues on which Nicole focused included breast and cervical cancer, HIV/AIDS, STDs, osteoporosis, and teen smoking and drug use.

Nicole earned a B.S. in public relations from James Madison University and M.A. in public relations from the University of Maryland at College Park (UMCP). Her Master's thesis is published and while at UMCP, she was recognized as a Minority PR Graduate Student of the Year by a national journalism association.

Nicole has provided pro-bono counsel to numerous nonprofits and has served as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Brookhaven Boys and Girls Club, the model club for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. She is a 2001 graduate of the Buckhead Business Association's Leadership Development Institute and is active with the Junior League of Atlanta, for which she recently helped to facilitate the development of a new project with the Latin American Association to mentor young Latinas.

The company's services include project management, strategic fund development and marketing, and proposal writing. Issues with which Desert Flower has worked include homelessness, early childhood education, school and community reform, diabetes, youth leadership development, child sexual exploitation, citizen engagement, community revitalization and economic development.