By Sam Rucker
A few weeks ago our NFT Creators Klub came to an end, concluding a four-week program giving established artists from all over the world the right tools to ride the NFT wave.
One of those members who joined the NFT Klub was Canadian artist, turned entrepreneur, Nika Fontaine.
In this blog, we’ll be hearing about her journey. Discover how Nika turned her passion for art and spirituality into a successful business model and platform for Web3 creativity — and how TOA helped her get there!
Nika before Klub
Even though Nika was born and bred in Montreal, she’s been calling Berlin “home” for the last 14 years.
As a professional artist, with a Master’s in Painting, Nika has always been driven by a need to create. But, in 2018 she took things one step further. Nika harnessed her entrepreneurial and higher spirit to co-founded Aurgin, “helping to build communities and creative centers for spirituality and regeneration, internationally.”
The idea was to use Aurgin as a platform to “sell NFTs, to fund charities and social projects.” She saw this next stage in her career as a chance to fulfill her “dream and dharma”
There was only one issue: Nika’s “knowledge of NFTs and Web3 was very limited.”
Getting from A to NFT
Having gone through TOA’s NFT Creators program, Nika minted her first NFT and has now proudly secured her first job offer in Web3! So how did Nika go from being an NFT amateur to a Web3 pro?
In short, “TOA Klub accelerated [her] integration into the Web3 ecosystem and expended [her] network.”
Like many of us, Nika knows she learns “better from people rather than books and articles”. TOA not only helped her get a grasp of the NFT essentials (through interactive sessions with blockchain founders and experts) but also gave her “wonderful tools to keep on learning by [her]self”
Part of that ability to continue innovating in Web3, beyond TOA, was a result of the community she found through NFT Creators Klub. This was also Nika’s “personal highlight”,
TOA members, like Nika, always get the chance to learn alongside a whole crew of “like-minded creators”. “The group was super diverse,” she says “and everyone was bringing a fresh perspective and knowledge.”
Even after the Klub ended, Nika continued “collaborating with some members on long-term ventures.”
What’s next for Nika?
Nika has been able to take her knowledge and her new network of fellow NFT creators to pioneer a successful future for Aurigin.
Aurgin will subsequently be growing into a “residency project” and get a “campus and mobile campus”. Plus, a new job in Web3 means she can keep time for her “personal art practice, which has freed itself from the market rules — since I can sustain myself from other means.”
If you want to connect with Nika, or find out more about her work, feel free to visit her website.
What about you?
Are you also interested in learning and experimenting in a Web3 space? Then, be sure to check out Crypto Founders Klub, starting the 2nd of May.
And, if like Nika, you’re looking to go down the NFT road, but you’re are not quite sure how to get there, then you could always join our second, upcoming NFT Creators Klub!
