Nicole’s personal platform is called “The Ripple Effect - The Positive Impact of a Drug Free Life” with which she hopes to inspire people of all ages to choose a drug free life, set goals for themselves, and aim for a better future. She also wants to affect real change when it comes to the opioid epidemic plaguing our country. Throughout her year as Mrs. Illinois-America, she has organized several community events and raised funds for the national charity of choice, Victoria’s Voice, as together they try to reduce drug experimentation, addiction, and overdose death. Nicole actually chose this platform after she lost a family member to a heroin overdose just this past year.