Nikki Swarn believes that once a Spartan, always a Spartan. photo by Sony Calhoun
Nikki Swarn has mastered the art of being a TJ Spartan.
Thomas Jefferson High School is the alma mater to many accomplished alumni. From artists to athletes, TJ boasts an incredible lineup of stars who have graduated from the school. One of the many successful former Spartans is Nikki Swarn. To describe Swarn, one can’t just use one word. Since her graduation from TJ in 1994, Swarn has made a plethora of accomplishments. From opening radio stations to being a college professor, it’s a miracle that Swarn even has time to sleep. While she has accomplished a lot in her life, it all started locally in Denver, Colorado.
Swarn loves reflecting back on her experiences at TJ. “Back then, we had a ten minute passing period, and the school had a partnership with Taco Bell, so we had vegetarian burritos that we could eat on our way to class.” Swarn reflected on her own senior year: “For our senior prank, we put a car on the roof! Somebody had a junky car without an engine, so we took it apart then moved the pieces to the roof and put it back together again!” Whilst in school, Swarn juggled many different interests. She was a part of the choir, the soccer team, and was an AP student. While TJ is a very different place than it used to be, the community still carries the same values as when Swarn was attending as a student.
Swarn is most well known for her radio show alter-ego, “America Jones.” The persona originated from a personal blog. “It started because I began to notice I was the only black person in the room when I was having conversations that were really integral to my industry. I felt ‘othered’ and alone, and I started writing love letters to myself, which eventually turned into a blog.”
When her non-profit radio station ran out of money to pay for hosts, Swarn decided to step up. “I took over the midday time slot, and America Jones really bloomed there because of the programs I did, and that gave me an opportunity to transform my blog into a fully developed radio personality.” She began a segment on the radio station called “Desk Aerobics,” where she would lead workouts that listeners could do from their workspaces. On Thursdays, she integrated her blog with the radio program and started a segment called “Therapy Thursday.” She even won a Colorado Broadcaster’s Association Award for that show.
“The other reason for creating the ‘America Jones’ persona was because I was the GM, and people don’t always wanna tell the boss the truth.” Swarn had observed that a lot of employees or listeners felt uncomfortable talking to the manager, but everybody could talk to America Jones. “It worked out really well because people were authentic with me, not knowing that I could actually make the change they were looking for. They trusted America to talk to the higher-ups and advocate for them.”
Swarn has a great trove of wisdom to share. If she could give advice to the current Spartans, it would be this: “It’s important not to stretch yourself thin, and to take things day by day. Sometimes it’s okay to give yourself grace and realize you don’t have the bandwidth to accomplish everything you set out to do that day.” Swarn emphasizes importance in taking care of mental health in collaboration with work. She has learned the importance of not being a people pleaser. “It’s so hard to say no to people, but even harder when you don’t have the time to do the things you care about because you’re stuck doing things that aren’t serving you.”
Swarn isn’t even close to done with her projects, in fact she is just beginning. Swarn is working towards opening up college radio stations at a plethora of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the country, as well as teaching as a music and entertainment studies professor at CU Denver. Any Spartan at TJ could take notes from Swarn, but one thing anyone in the world can learn from her is to shoot for the stars, and if one doesn’t see what they’re looking for, they must be the one to create it.
