Nicole Simonek of Santa Monica on Life, Lessons & Legacy

Nicole Simonek shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Nicole, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
Drawing a parallel to my day job working in cloud infrastructure, I am most proud of building the invisible infrastructure behind my blog over the years. Most people only see the published posts, but the real work happens quietly (often in the middle of the night)-years of planting seeds through link building, refreshing and SEO-optimizing old posts, maintaining the website itself, and performing thorough, investigative research for future posts.

This compounding work has allowed my blog to grow its reach exponentially with a tiny social media following. It is a reminder that just like in the technology industry, long-term and sustainable systems require tenacity. The foundation needs to be patiently built, rooted in the principles of scalability, long before results are visible.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Nicole Simonek, a Principal Technical Program Manager by day and a blogger by night (and weekends). As referenced in my previous interview, I embody the modern Renaissance woman, writing across an array of niches including lifestyle, beauty, restaurants, travel, working in tech, and wine and cocktails. I am currently in the midst of my annual holiday gift guides stemming from years of creating starter packs for my best friends. I recently got back from a solo trip to Paris, with hopes of moving there one day. I am excited to share my travel experiences with my readers! Looking to 2026, I plan to focus on highlighting the great people and products behind small businesses across LA-if you or someone you know would benefit from a dedicated blog post, please reach out to me! I spent a lot of time in 2025 experiencing, researching, and testing-this upcoming year will focus on writing with intention. You can expect more consistency across my niches, further outreach to the LA community, deeper vulnerability on lessons learned as I approach 30, solo blogging retreats, and new additions (and completions) to my ongoing bucket list!

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who taught you the most about work?
I grew up surrounded by matriarchal figures, and their strength had an early and lasting influence on my understanding of women in positions of power. Alongside them, I had supportive paternal figures who modeled encouragement and steadfast belief in my potential. I strongly believe that this upbringing is part of why I naturally gravitate toward and thrive in some of the most male-dominated spaces. I was raised to embrace my softness and creativity while strengthening resilience and a regimen of self-discipline. I personally see myself as an empathetic, sensitive soul yet feedback I often receive is that I don’t crack under pressure-a balance of tenderness and toughness that I credit to the lessons and examples of the adults who shaped me.

What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
I have endured many periods of deep and prolonged suffering, but I think the issue nowadays is being promised a “cure” or being pushed to heal something that may simply never go away. The key is learning to work with your wounds-to become friends with them, to radically accept them, and to find ways to mediate their impact on your life. Putting such high expectations on yourself to be fully healed can deepen guilt and frustration, whereas building a relationship with your pain allows you to live fully despite it. It’s much less about ensuring it’s gone for good, and more about coexistence, self-compassion, and resilience. My major wound in the past several years was experiencing complete burnout. After years of therapy, doctor’s visits, and changing jobs, routines, and habits I still experience lingering symptoms that need to be managed. The good news is that it is not completely paralyzing for me anymore, and I am constantly working with and evolving my relationship with those wounds to ensure a well-lived, productive life.

Drawing a parallel medically, as mentioned in my last interview I have a rare condition called solar urticaria where I am allergic to the sun. I have had it ever since I was young, and was recently (finally) approved to start a treatment. There is no promise of it going away forever, but the key is to continue advocating for yourself to find treatments that can help manage the pain. I am extremely excited to document my progress for my readers this year, and it has been deeply validating to connect with other individuals living with solar urticaria through my blog!

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
I am very protective of my Japanese heritage, and growing up as a mixed child instilled an overwhelming sense of duality. Japanese Saturday school, KUMON, piano, karate, traditional Japanese cuisine, and celebrating Japanese holidays blended with singing, art camps, lefsa, corned beef and cabbage, Souplantation, and Disney Channel. Mixed-race children often face criticism for asserting their mixed identities-too much of one side for some, not enought for others- and yet, that tension becomes a teacher. It taught me to appreciate different cultures, languages, food, and customs with respect. My Japanese side instilled the importance of both gratitude and discipline which I carry with me in my daily life. I often remind myself that I am not only allowed but empowered to embrace both sides of who I am. People often misjudge mixed people as being “safe” or seek validation through our friendship, but that’s rarely the case. Our existence doesn’t automatically absolve others of their biases or assumptions. If anything, it deepens the awareness and protectiveness of the minority part of ourselves. Over the years, I have learned to channel this instinct for not just myself, but others as well.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What will you regret not doing? 
Lately, I have often pondered the question that most single women nearing 30 ask themselves. “What if I never find someone?” Truthfully, I feel rather content with it. Love exists in all forms, and I have been able to experience the rarest and purest form of platonic love from my family, closest friends, and most of all-myself. My biggest regret in life would be putting my dreams on hold for someone else, and I feel rather lucky that I can be selfish for once in my life and embrace my multipotentialism. My blog is my forcing function to chase everything that excites me-a new skill, language, city, product, service, cuisine, and more. I acknowledge the privilege of being in this position, and extend my title to not only be a sommelier to recommend wine but all things in life. What people are unable to try or experience, I want to be able to tell them firsthand, in my own voice. I hope my legacy makes space for people who don’t fit into a single box or identity. Most of all, I hope my work reframes success and provides an example of a legacy that is not built through constant visibility and certainty, but rather consistency, curiosity for life, and courage to follow an untraditional path. It would not just be blog content that I leave behind, but rather permission to be complex, keep evolving, chase both new and old dreams, and embrace every part of being a living contradiction.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nicolesimonek.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicoles_bloggie/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nsimonek/
• Other: https://shopmy.us/shop/nsimonek?Section_id=32761&tab=collections