Life & Work with Nick Kizirnis of Ohio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Kizirnis.

Hi Nick, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m a long-time musician and user experience designer based in Dayton, Ohio. I started playing, recording and touring in bands back in high school, releasing independent albums and getting to share bills with so many amazing artists. In the early 2000’s while we were raising our kids I began working with companies as a user experience designer, studying user behavior and designing solutions for their web applications, sites and apps. I spent many years at LexisNexis and Anthem before setting out on my own as a consultant.

Today I balance my time between consulting for small, businesses, larger non-profits and healthcare companies and continuing to write, record and perform my music. I also stay active in our local and regional music community by teaching guitar and through a monthly meet-up for musicians looking to connect with peers and learn more about the industry.

Looking ahead I am working on a new album to be released next year (my fourth since 2000) and helping my clients meet their goals for their customers.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve been very lucky to find both great work opportunities through the years and meet amazing musicians who have really helped me to share my music with the world. Sometimes I think for a minute about all the flat tires and cancelled gigs, and the cut budgets and re-orgs but then I think remember all the wonderful people I’ve worked with and played music with, the opportunities to travel to different countries for work and the different cities to play music. I’m so grateful for the opportunities and the friends I’ve made and the experiences I’ve had. So sure there have been some bumps but it’s been worth it to have this adventure.

Whenever I think things are getting rough I remind myself that I work from home and am always with my family, travel to fun places, work reasonable hours and play music every day. Pretty amazing!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’ve been playing original music in my hometown of Dayton and around the country since I was in high school. I’ve had several bands made up of fantastic people and each had it’s own success in some way, and each taught me lessons that I took forward. I got to play with incredible artists like Bill Kirchen, Los Straitjackets, Pixies, Man or Astroman, Dick Dale, Marshall Crenshaw, The Breeders and many more. I got to play CBGB’s in New York and The Orleans in Las Vegas. I could not be happier about these experiences, and I’m really grateful for it.

Several years ago after a break from music I started writing songs that were definitely the start of a new musical chapter. My friends all rushed in to help my make a “solo” album called “The Distance” that received good reviews and kick-started my dedication to songwriting and learning to sing properly. For decades my primary focus was playing guitar, and now I want to not just sing my songs well, but really enjoy singing for its own sake. And I definitely do.

Since that album I’ve released two more and just started working on the next. This is the first with my band (Kyleen Downes, Kelly Morelock and Bryan Lakatos) and we are really excited to see how it turns out.

After many years of being known as a surf-influenced guitarist I am really excited to be sharing my songs and seeing what people think. I’m enjoying playing in a band more than ever, and have even started playing solo shows, something I was hesitant to do for a long-time because I lacked confidence in my voice.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I have used a lot of apps and listened to a lot of podcasts, but these days I tend to spend more time trying to get away from the devices and turn down the inputs. I did enjoy Marc Maron’s WTF podcast for years, and for music industry information Ari’s Take … I tried many business and design podcasts but never landed on anything that I stuck with – I guess it’s fun trying different ones!

I will give a shout out to the Headspace app which was very helpful for getting back into a regular meditation routine.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nickkizirnis.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickkizirnis
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nickkizirnis
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickkizirnis/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NickKizirnis