Nicole Wright
Nicole Wright was having coffee with Megan Parmenter at Crumble one day in 2018 when Megan started talking about Tri Kappa.
She began her sales pitch with food.
“You’ve probably had our cheeseballs before,” Megan said.
When Niki said that she, in fact, loved TK cheeseballs, Megan began touting the sorority’s philanthropy.
“I didn’t have (daughter) Cora yet,” Niki says. “I really wanted something else to do to give back to the community.
“Plus, I feel like Megan is the best salesperson in the whole world, right?”
Niki is glad she took Megan’s offer and joined the Alpha chapter. The sisterhood is a good fit for her.
“It’s nice being out in town and seeing people from Tri Kappa,” Niki says.
Born and raised in Bloomington, Niki’s parents still live in the house where she grew up. The Bloomington High School North graduate went on to college at Indiana University, where she majored in elementary education and joined the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. She got a job teaching fifth grade at Grandview Elementary School and has been there ever since, finishing her master’s degree from Indiana Wesleyan.
“We have a lot of 4-H kids at Grandview,” Niki says. “One of my first years teaching, a student asked to bring a baby pig to school. Baby pigs are loud, and they poop everywhere! It was the worst experience – but a learning experience!”
Niki met her husband, Paul, a professor at IU’s Media School in 2014. They had been living in adjacent neighborhoods and didn’t even know each other. They married in 2016 and had their energetic daughter, Cora, in 2019.
Niki likes attending TK meetings and getting to know her sisters. She says becoming friends with Kati Hulls has been a special treat for her.
“I always sat with the same group of women at Tri Kappa,” Niki says. “But then we started mixing up who we sat with, and I realized I really like getting to know different people.”
While Niki admits cheeseball-making day is a special favorite of hers, she also likes to boast about the beautiful flowers Tri Kappa sells each spring.
“My neighbors thought I came up with the flower arrangements on my porch on my own, but then I told them, ‘No, I got them from Tri Kappa,’” Niki says.
That little ploy makes selling flowers almost as easy for Niki as selling Tri Kappa was for Megan!
More About Niki:
Traveled to Australia in eighth grade with the People to People Student Ambassador program
Has been skydiving twice
Participated in eight half-marathons
Her dirty little secret? She loves reality TV
Her grandmother, Mary Lou Veit, was a member of the Alpha chapter