Meet Nicholas Brown

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nicholas Brown. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nicholas, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

Confidence and self-esteem is something that I have always struggled with going back to my childhood. As a kid, I was a small, mostly quiet kid that didn’t really have a ton of friends but had certain interest that kept me motivated, whether it was aviation or music or sports but didn’t always really know what to say or how to approach new people so I mostly stayed in the background. I have always been book smart and got good grades in school but definitely was socially awkward at times really through college. I’ve always tried to be a good person but I know in life I have definitely made some mistakes and have regrets about some choices I made or things I’ve said along the way but in general, I always tried to be nice to people and help them out in any way I could. Upsetting someone, especially where there was no intent was something that always crushed me and hurt my self esteem, but the biggest thing that keeps me motivated is knowing that I tried my best, even if it was not good enough or taken the wrong way sometimes.

I was lucky that I started as a musician from a young age, whether it was on guitar or recorder and certainly my many years of playing trumpet from 5th grade through college and even occasionally now, but not as much as I wish I could. I was motivated to do my best and self taught myself since my family didn’t have the money for private lessons. There were a few people better than me in junior high and high school, some of that was because I was afraid to be too loud (the irony as a trumpet player!) I have several teachers to thank in high school as well as the opportunities that I had to become a leader, not only in band but several other organizations that made me motivated to be the best I could be and to come out of my shell a bit. I also became a security specialist in a retail store in college, something that I was definitely NOT confident in and my smaller size at the time didn’t do me any favors.

In college, I went from the big fish in a small pond to the small fish in a big pond, and coupled with my own lack of self confidence really struggled my first couple of years on the musicianship side of my degree in Music Education. It took a leap of faith my junior year to audition at another school, which earned me a small scholarship and a new “first impression” that allowed me to overcome some of that. I also was motivated to prove some of my friends and professors wrong who said I’d never be a band director. I got that degree and a job and enjoyed that field for several years before the pandemic and we moved back to Cleveland where we are from.

But honestly, a lot of my self confidence came from the realization somewhere along the way that it is okay to do some things by myself. There were so many things that I wanted to do in life, or places I wanted to go but passed on them because I didn’t have anyone that could, or would go with me due to things going on in their lives. My wife and I have very different interests as well, which is a good thing really because we can balance each other out. During the pandemic, I took a chance on a cheap airplane flight with my very new YouTube channel, which started just to get some plane videos I had out of my phone, to go to Washington DC and check out the Udvar Hazy Center on a day when my wife had to work. Since then, I have learned it can be fun and refreshing to do things and have met a ton of really cool people and had some really great experiences because of it.

Sometimes, just not being afraid to ask can go so far. I think we are all afraid of rejection/being told no but the reality of life is that, when people are doing something that they love, they often want to share that with others. Some don’t of course, and that’s okay but I think you’ll find that most people, once they find that you are interested in something, will be excited to show it off to you. It doesn’t matter what that thing is either. I think everyone has that one or two things that we get excited for in the morning. Go out there and try to see if you can get involved in it. The worst they can do is say no. But more than likely, they will say yes.

This advice works for dating too. Trust me. If you like someone, just tell them. They may say no, but chances are they’ll be flattered and may give you a chance. Just don’t be creepy. Or not wear deodorant. That doesn’t work for anyone. 😉

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

My name is Nick and I am probably most well known in the Cleveland area for my YouTube channel NickFliesMedia, which started off as a way to get out of the house during the COVID19 pandemic. For most of my life, I have always been interested in aviation, and thanks to my grandparents who indulged me, have been able to immerse myself in it just about as much as possible growing up. I went to Kent State for Music Education and am a former junior high and high school band director. However, that all shut down during COVID and my wife and I ended up moving back home from the other side of Ohio and took jobs in the corporate sector. The remote work life during that time give me quite a bit of free time, so I started experimenting with photography, mostly at parks or Lake Erie. I found out some locations around Cleveland Hopkins and went back to indulge myself in aviation. Those early videos (probably the first 60 or so) on my YouTube channel were all shot on my iPhone as I had no idea what I was doing and quickly filled up the 128 gigs of space on my phone with those videos. I didn’t think anyone would watch any of them and mostly used it as my little library of memories until returning to work full time.

However, people began checking them out and I ended up meeting quite a few people who were in the same boat at the airport and began to be a part of a little community and was given a lot of advice and feedback on it, which motivated me to keep going. I definitely made a ton of mistakes, from buying the wrong cameras to poor editing in those early days but I never really had any intention of making any money off of it. Hitting my first 1,000 subscribers was a cool moment as was getting invited to go to Dulles Airport to do some social media posts of Play Airlines inaugural flight, but I didn’t think it would ever really go any farther than that.

I am really thankful for everyone who has supported me over the years, or came up to say “Hi” at the airshow or other event that I have attended. It has been pretty wild to take my PTO at work and surround it with airplanes and airshows, but luckily my boss and especially my wife supports it. While I still don’t make that much money doing it, it has given me a greater appreciation for the hard work and skills that goes into it and an even greater appreciation for those around me or those who have helped me along. It is pretty cool to see someone wearing a t shirt with my name on it, have someone that I have always looked up to reach out, like or follow my channel, or reaching out and telling me that they, or their kid watches my videos. I try my best to keep things clean and to avoid politics or other controversial topics and allow everyone to share their love and experience in aviation.

Going forward, I have opened up an online shop to sell some aviation themed things and am trying to figure out how to do a members only thing where those who sign up to my channel long term get something free to go along with it. My long term goal is to provide the best possible aviation news and content in northern Ohio, help and support those who need it, meet as many people as I can and experience as much as possible (still hoping for that ride with the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds some day if at all possible, fingers crossed!) and hopefully be able to finish my flight training. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to be a professional pilot and hopefully somehow I’ll be able to do that. If I ever make it, my goal then will be to help others get there too. I think its very important to give back to others as much as possible.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I think the three most important qualities or skills that a person can have are:

Honesty-Be honest. If you lie, people WILL find out and all the sudden your credibility is out the window. Plus, its harder to clean up a lie then it is to disappoint someone with the truth. More than likely if you try and fail, but are honest about it, you’ll get another chance.

Authenticity-Be yourself. Don’t try to be someone else. People like you for who you are and the skills and personality that you bring to the table will take you a lot farther in life than trying to fake it.

Positive Attitude-Show up with a smile on your face every day. Even in the worst possible situations. We all fail make mistakes, or have to face challenges that we don’t want to, but if you have a positive attitude about it, it will go a little easier, the time a little faster and you’ll be able to bond with those around you. No one wants to be around someone who is dour all the time. A positive attitude will translate into a strong work ethic and ultimately more confidence in everything that you do.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I am always looking for folks to partner with. I am looking for people who have a positive attitude, are knowledgeable and excited about what they do, are honest, open minded and have a sense of humor. Feel free to reach out to me via email at [email protected] or send me a message on Instagram and I’ll try to get to it. I’m absolutely open to anything in aviation, and I’ll do whatever I can do to help out as well. We win as a team in all facets of life.

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