Leading with LOVE: Meet Kulur Group CEO, Nick Love
If your brand is D.O.P.E. and challenging the plateau, then chances are you may have heard of Nicholas Love, and if not, allow me to introduce you to him. Nicholas is the first named CEO of Kulur Group, Love is more than a business leader; he is a marketing savant who is on a mission to disrupt the industry status quo in a transformational way, and his formula to get it done is the equivalent of 4-Key ingredients: L.O.V.E.
Leading with Heart
It is no easy feat to be a leader who is completely open, vulnerable, and transparent. But Nicholas (Nick) Love, refuses to lead any other way. Nick leads the Kulur Group very much with purpose and a whole lot of tenacity, compassion, and motivation.
As Kulur Group’s first CEO, Nick’s leadership style stems from many years of refining his craft. From his time as an on-air talent for ESPN to his transformational role at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and his powerhouse leadership in the agricultural and tech industry–helping to guide some of the world’s leading brands on how to effectively navigate the ever-evolving digital media landscape to achieve their goals. Now at the helm of Kulur Group, Nick spends his days pouring back every single lesson that he has learned in the industry and life into sustaining an organizational culture full of talented people who were each selected not only for their talents, but because they also strongly embody Nick’s core values (loyalty, trust, transparency, honesty, creativity, boldness, motivation and compassion).
In the backdrop of a world that feels like it is unraveling at the seams, Kulur Group to the contrary is building something new, sacred, magical, and purposeful–operating more like a tightly-knitted diverse community than the challenger brand titan it is destined to become. Together, with Nick calling the plays, Kulur Group is on a mission to help our society become the best version of itself by uplifting diverse-owned businesses that aren’t afraid of challenging the status quo to build a more progressive, prosperous and harmonious ‘kulture,’ that we all deserve to live in.
Optimized for Success
If you asked Nick about his current role, he would tell you that it is the manifestation of a dream he had as a kid. He always knew that he was destined to do something significant to contribute to society and those communities most marginalized. Nick’s past has taught him that the only way Kulur Group will achieve its vision is by ensuring every player on the team is operating in a way that allows them to be the most effective and successful. That’s why he has already taken bold steps to ensure each vertical within the organization has the right senior leader who is given everything they need to optimize their teams to succeed. “I pull from my family, time as a student at Grambling State University, ESPN, and Chicago Booth School of Business all of the time,” said Kulur Group CEO, Nick Love. “I’d like to think that I have mastered a special way to blend situational awareness, sports, business, and education in a way that gives me an advantage regardless of the scenario I am in. And I enjoy sharing these learnings with my executive leadership team so that they can also pass these skills along to their team members, and so on…that is how to seed a legacy,” said Love.”
It’s Love's sports mentality, cultural intelligence, and challenger mentality that serve as the main ingredient to Kulur Group’s secret sauce of success with its clients. “It really is how we manage our accounts more effectively and efficiently than the competition–always delivering big plays (opportunities), big results (data), and big wins (successful initiatives and ROI). I would hands-down put our diverse creative, digital, and PR teams up against any named giant within the industry because they are just that hungry, exceptional, and determined,” said Love.
Kulur Group is already making a big splash within an industry that seems to have lost its footing somewhat since the Covid 19 pandemic. Capitalizing on the opportunity to exceed the status quo, Kulur Group has emerged as a diverse challenger brand agency leader–creating its own unique lane and voice. “I’d like to think that is because Kulur Group embodies diversity in every sense of the word,” said Love. “We don’t need to create ERGs. Our entire company is a Diverse ERG. At Kulur Group, we always have a voice at the table that is reflective of the diverse communities we are touching, in partnership with the brands we serve. And it makes everything we create something meaningful and special for the audiences it is intended to reach.”
The Versatility Factor
Like any good coach, Nick is grooming Kulur Group’s executive leadership team to play various positions. A skill that they are also passing on to their own team members. Pulling from the many leadership roles he has held over the course of his career each included new and challenging responsibilities, Nick now strongly recognizes the important role versatility plays in success. As such, leaders of Kulur Group’s executive team are tasked with leveraging all of their talents to meet and exceed their clients' expectations and needs. “Take our Chief Communications and Kulture Officer role, for example, I selected a leader who has a background that includes not only television, healthcare, non-profit, and pharma but also government relations, marketing, crisis communications, and brand storytelling, which makes her a huge asset in that she can not only step in and provide additional Kulur to a strategic plan but also write if needed, produce and even call a few plays in my absence,” said Love. “We’ve been fortunate to have such a strong executive leadership team. Together, they bring more than 100 years of diverse talents and expertise, which is a powerful and vibrant force to tap into to help our clients change the world.”
Elevation all the UP!
When asked what elevation means to him, Love had this to say, “Achievement in every field of human endeavor has deep meaning to me for several reasons. The continuous pursuit of excellence as an identity is my default.” It is this mindset that drives Nick to keep fear up close and personal.
“If it doesn’t cause me to be nervous, to have that little knot in the pit of my stomach when you ponder what will happen if I fail, then I know I am not pushing myself, my leadership team, or the organization far enough.”
Love calls fear the Achilles’ heel of elevation. “I wouldn’t be in this role today if I had let fear win,” said Love. “It is Kulur Group’s boldness, creativity, curiosity, vibrancy, and thought leadership that attracts brands we work with who are definitely up for the challenge to elevate their game.” Love says Kulur group has an appreciation for any brand that combines purpose with a challenger mindset. “I believe what we have at Kulur Group is special and can be a key ingredient needed in the industry where the recipe requires brands that Lead with the heart to Optimize all their resources effectively and efficiently, making Versatile plays to reach their goals and Elevate as high as their imagination allows. “I love what we’re building, and I’m so excited to kulur the culture we live in.”
