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Nicole Malachowski

Retired USAF Colonel, first female Thunderbird pilot, White House Fellow, and National Women's Hall of Fame inductee. Doubled her following in six months.

Timeline Oct 2022 – May 2023

Platforms Instagram · Twitter/X · LinkedIn

Context Bastion Agency

Role Social Media Strategist

The brief

A remarkable story that needed the right audience.

Nicole Malachowski is a retired USAF Colonel, the first female Thunderbird pilot, a White House Fellow, and a National Women's Hall of Fame inductee. She had a remarkable story and a strong public speaking presence — but translating that to social was the challenge. I built the strategy, captured her voice, and brought her brand to life online.

Goals

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Grow her following across all three platforms

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Build community around her message

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Establish thought leadership in aviation, leadership, and women's advocacy

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Support her speaking career

Content pillars

Four pillars that gave her something to say.

Each pillar served a different purpose: motivate, educate, connect, and inspire.

Teamwork & Goals

Motivational content built to give her audience something to act on.

Education

Lyme disease awareness and military education, drawn from Nicole's own experience.

Story

The highest-performing pillar. Real moments from her career that made people stop and respond.

Quote

Quotes from Nicole and voices that reflected her values, used as conversation starters.

The results

A community built around a message that resonated.

Over 8 months, Nicole's Instagram following doubled from 15K to 30K. Total impressions across all three platforms reached 5.4 million, with 230K engagements.

856K viral views.

A Women's History Month video post became the standout moment of the engagement.

856K Views

88K Engagements

8K Shares

7.4K Saves

New followers by platform

Instagram

18,657

Twitter / X

570

2,906

Cross-network audience growth: 19,227 net new followers, up 317%

Cross-network performance summary, Oct 2022 — May 2023

Natalie Zelezny

Social Media · Content Creation · Community

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