Welcome to my stories.

Mary Nikkel 2023, photographed by Preston Goff

My name is Mary, and I'm a storyteller.

This all began with writing, a first love that led me into earning my B.A. in Digital Writing in 2012. I quickly expanded my storytelling toolkit into social media mediums, photography, video, and graphic design. All of these skills would come into play daily as I spent four years creating, coordinating, and curating content as a music journalist with NewReleaseToday, the largest Christian music website in the world. Later, I spent a year contracted as Digital Content Specialist at Christian Brothers University.

These days, I am the Senior Content Manager for the anti-trafficking nonprofit The Exodus Road, where I project manage our storytelling efforts and helm our written communications. I also tell stories for a variety of music and nonprofit clients through freelance publicity and marketing. Past and current clients include Disciple, Lacey Sturm, HeartSupport, Brian “Head” Welch’s Love & Death, Sonny Sandoval, The Whosoevers, Todd Tilghman, The Protest, Convictions, Run Against Traffic, and Fireflight.

Every story I tell is, in the end, a story about people and our impossible resilience as human beings. About the ways we survive and connect, the values we share, the things that matter to us, and the ways we heal and change and grow. When I'm telling those stories, I'm often telling my own story — and maybe yours too.