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URI communications alumna Nikki Noya \u201800 on the set of the syndicated travel show \u201cThe Jet Set\u201d with fellow hosts Gailen David, left, and Bobby Laurie.<\/p>\n
\u201cI absolutely love working on the show,\u201d Noya says. \u201cWe have the best team. I cannot say enough how lucky I am to work with such amazing people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noya joined industry veterans Gailen David and Bobby Laurie as co-host in episode 22 of the first season in 2016, replacing a host who had left earlier in the season. Noya had done fitness segments on the show, but the opportunity came out of the blue. \u201cIt actually was kind of serendipitously terrific,\u201d she says. \u201cI have to thank Gailen David, who originally asked me to do fitness segments.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was some turbulence at the start. So much was new \u2013 reading from a teleprompter, lighting, TV makeup. \u201cThe first few episodes were rough,\u201d says Noya. \u201cI felt like I was in TV boot camp. I really have to thank my team for letting me work through my mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n
David says Noya\u2019s positive outlook has been a great addition to the show. \u201cSince Nikki joined \u2018The Jet Set,\u2019 her presence has transformed the show,\u201d says David in an email. \u201cI\u2019ve learned so much from her just by witnessing how her enthusiastic approach to life manifests and touches everyone she meets and works with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with host duties, Noya continues to do \u201cFit to Fly\u201d segments and muses that her personal wellness clients are now the millions who tune into the show. She also has taken on the lion\u2019s share of in-studio interviews with guests.<\/p>\n
Recently, she\u2019s added the role of executive producer, helping shape and create future episodes. Noya and her family \u2013 1-year-old Samantha and husband Ken Fields, a real estate developer, entrepreneur and environmentalist \u2013 have relocated from Coral Gables, Florida, to D.C., where the show is produced by En Pointe Productions.<\/p>\n
But one of the big perks is the travel. Nearly every week, she\u2019s visiting a new destination. She\u2019s raced cars at Monticello Motor Club in New York; covered a cycling tour event through wine country in France; cruised the Baltic Sea visiting Germany, Estonia and Russia; done goat yoga (along with other farm animals, too) in Indiana; and in January will be headed to the rainforest in Belize. \u201cMy favorite thing is always the people,\u201d she says, \u201cgetting to know their traditions and having someone who is so proud of something that they share it with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noya gained her wanderlust on family trips as a child growing up in California. After high school, she crossed the country to attend URI on a full volleyball scholarship. (A four-year starter known for her leadership and hard work, she helped the Rams to the Atlantic 10 championship and NCAA tournament in 1996.) After URI, she was off to Germany to pursue a pro career, and then back home to play on the pro beach volleyball circuit in the U.S. for five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents were very adventurous,\u201d says Noya. \u201cBoth of them really encouraged exploring and learning about different places. I was lucky growing up in that kind of environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the travel that comes with \u201cThe Jet Set\u201d is just one of the reasons Noya seems to be in constant motion.<\/p>\n
Noya and her husband have numerous philanthropic causes. She is vice president of Dress for Success Miami, which empowers women to achieve economic independence, and helped start the employment skills program Vets for Success. She is also chairwoman of the Noya\/Fields Family Foundation, which supports environmental, educational and veterans causes.<\/p>\n
Also, after her daughter was born, Noya began competing in pageants as a way to push herself outside her comfort zone, she says. She\u2019s currently Mrs. Dupont Circle 2019 and will be competing for Mrs. D.C. America in April \u2013 after having been Mrs. Miami 2017\/2018 and first runner-up for Mrs. Florida. Her goal is Mrs. America. \u201cWhy not,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Even at URI, Noya set the bar high for her future. In a communications class her senior year with Professor Agnes Doody, Noya gave a 20-minute speech on her career plans, envisioning a future \u201cNoya Enterprises.\u201d Doody, known affectionately as \u201cHurricane Agnes,\u201d asked Noya to stay after class. \u201cShe looked me right in the eye and told me to be fearless, explore the world, listen to my intuition, move around obstacles and never stop learning,\u201d says Noya. \u201cShe was confident in me at 21, and I will never forget her smiling at me saying, \u2018I have high expectations for you.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving her as a strong female role model at such a young age has made a huge impact on my professional career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her communications degree, she says, has helped throughout that career. After volleyball, Noya used her knowledge of wellness, nutrition and fitness to build a 10-year career in the fitness industry. While working at Sports Club LA in New York, across from the \u201cToday Show,\u201d she got her first shot at doing fitness segments on TV \u2013 and a first step toward her current career.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s great about having that degree is it doesn\u2019t pigeon hole you into doing one thing,\u201d she says. \u201cHaving a communications degree makes everything accessible. You can do PR, journalism, marketing \u2026 When I was 20 I didn\u2019t really know what I wanted to do. But communications was broad enough to do the 15 careers and all the experiences I\u2019ve had since I left school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noya shares that knowledge as a member of the advisory board for the Harrington School of Communication and Media and in its mentoring program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s something that is very, very important to me,\u201d says Noya. \u201cI want to help women who are following in the footsteps I\u2019ve walked. Now it\u2019s my privilege to teach and inspire just like Dr. Doody did for me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nikki Noya \u201900 loves competing and setting goals. So when the chance to become co-host of a nationally syndicated travel show suddenly popped up, Noya took the gamble.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1338,"featured_media":6739,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,8,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-profile","category-front-page-big-thinkers","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1338"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/harrington\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}