Nichole Smaglick

Nichole Smaglick is the founder of Cooper & Kid, the first retail concept for men as fathers. Her background stems in African travel. Her first career venture was founding African safari company Another Land, which specializes in customized, authentic cultural safaris and develops fair-trade, exclusive cultural tourism programs with remote communities. There, she directed video and photographic expeditions throughout the remote corners of Africa and the world for National Geographic and the Travel Channel. Soon after, she founded the Amias Project, which promotes economic growth for Tanzanian artists through the design, production and retail and wholesale distribution of fair-trade fashion accessories. During her tenure in Africa, she was able to study African culture and how it differed from American ways, particularly male development. This led Smaglick to her current venture, Cooper & Kid. Nichole holds a bachelor's degree in African Studies and piano performance and a master's degree in business, arts, entertainment and media management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She speaks Swahili, is a frequent speaker on entrepreneurialism, warrior cultures and Africa, and plays the Uganda embaire xylophone.