As it appeared in the Times Leader.
By Eileen Godin | egodin@timesleader.com
DALLAS — Nicole Farber didn’t let a setback early in her career slow her from reaching incredible heights.
Very early on she went from having a secure job at Candy’s Place to support her son to investing all her finances in an entrepreneurial endeavor that flopped.
She took a few weeks to mope about the loss but seized a new opportunity that lifted the 38-year-old Dallas resident out of her funk and onto a route that developed her online marketing firm ENX2 Marketing and grew it into a national firm.
“I left a job I loved,” Farber said. “I didn’t know what to do. I sulked for two weeks.”
The failure led to an opportunity to organize a seminar for lawyers for a friend, as well as be a presenter for a segment on social media. The experience gave Farber a chance to showcase her knowledge about online marketing which resulted in making business connections and clients.
“I learned to keep faith and keep going forward,” she said. “I have not looked back since.”
Five years later, Farber’s business, currently located in Twin Stacks Center and soon moving to Yalick Plaza, both in Dallas, specializes in social media, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, data interpretation, analytics, web development and design.
She is a Google partner and has clients that include nearly 50 nationally known law firms, such as Sanford Heisler Sharp LLP, as well as local law practices and business.
In 2016, ENX2 Marketing won the International Davey Award. In 2017, Farber was nominated for the North American EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women program.
All this led to the Times Leader honoring Farber as one of 20 Distinctive Women of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
“I am truly blessed with my team,” Farber said. “They work day and night. We have each other’s backs.”
Bumpy Road
Farber’s road to success had many bumps to which she attributes to her success.
“I tried things and failed at them,” she said. “Now I am thankful for these things in my life. I am able to lead my crew better because of these experiences.”
Farber, a graduate of Tunkhannock Area High School, trained as a nurse at Wilkes-Barre Career and Technical Center. Her desire to want to help people led her to be executive director at Candy’s Place in Forty Fort.
In 2013, she organized the R3 OPS, which is a mud obstacle course that benefited various community groups such as the Stephanie Jallen Paralympic Funds.
Even though she loved working in the medical field for 12 years, she was still looking for something else.
“Even as a little girl, I never knew what I wanted to be,” she said. “I had all these ideas. I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world. I felt like something was wrong with me.”
She knew she perceived things differently. For example, on her 45-minute bus ride from her home in Center Moreland to schools in the Tunkhannock Area School District, she passed many billboards and wondered how many people saw their advertisements, she said.
Farber’s thirst for knowledge and creativity inspired her to learn website building.
“I self-taught myself how to build websites,” she said.
Then, as a single mother, she went back to school to earn a degree in Information Technology through the University of Phoenix online program.
The stress of raising a child, working full-time, and taking college courses was tough to juggle, but “it was worht it,” she said.
“To get to this point took lots of hard work and team support form friends and family,” Farber said in a voice thick with emotion.
She hopes her son Nikolus, 15, will learn from her experiences.
“My son is very understanding and my biggest blessing,” she said.
Fast Pace
Farber and her seven-member team that includes Wendy Lindars, Mike Hollos, Logan Godfrey, David Arico, Jack Eilber, Stephanie Faughnan and Keith R. Stevenson draw on each other’s strengths to offer personalized service to clients.
“Technology advances so fast,” Farber said.
To keep her high level of service Farber treats and sees her team more as an extended family.
“When you take care of your employees, they will take care of your clients,” Farber said, noting that she has a program called Random Sunshine where she awards a bonus to an employee at random.
“Making a difference is the best feeling in the world,” she said. “I tell my son that giving is the key to success.”