{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Empowered Money Girl","title":"E01EP56 - From 9/11 to Entrepreneurship: Building Wealth & Independence | Dominique Cagle","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2029,"description":"Josette Mandela interviews Dominique Nika Cagle, an award-winning entrepreneur, author, speaker, and founder and CEO of Nika Corporate Housing. Dominique shares how the events of 9/11 pushed her to pivot from airline work into entrepreneurship, and how one bad corporate housing experience became the spark for a company built around better service, cleaner standards, and stronger systems.\nIn this conversation, Dominique explains how she built not just one business but a multi-company structure around corporate housing, software, furniture rental, and brand work. She also shares practical lessons on wealth, taxes, trusted advisors, and why she believes women should always have their own money and financial independence.\nKey topics:\nIn this episode, Dominique shares how 9/11 forced a major life pivot and led her to choose between graduate school and starting a business.\nShe explains how a dirty corporate apartment experience made her think, “We could do this better,” and inspired the launch of Nika Corporate Housing.\nDominique breaks down who her first clients were, including loyal military friends and early advocates who helped validate the business.\nShe discusses how Nika serves Fortune 500 clients, professional athletes, military families, government travelers, fima-related needs, and disaster survivors.\nShe describes the systems that keep quality high, including a detailed checklist with photographic evidence to prevent bad move-in experiences.\nDominique shares how Costa Genesis, her software company, was created to manage data, cloud storage, and API integrations for corporate housing operations.\nShe explains why she keeps each business separate, saying taxes and financial structure made it necessary to build multiple companies.\nShe talks about money leaks, cash flow, and how every business has hidden inefficiencies that must be identified and fixed.\nDominique shares the importance of family, noting that her business decisions are shaped by being a mother,...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/y4dfrZ1b49DBW4VeqLGW_z-FYgwFb0gF4_Rg8J7nrLE/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kM2Ji/NGNjMDE0NzNjNTkx/YTM3MGYyNDhlODE4/NDk1Zi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}