When faced with the option to pursue a career in sports broadcasting or move to Hawaii, Nikki Schenfeld decided to follow her dream.
The Chicago native has called Hawaii home since 2011.
Nikki graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in broadcast journalism. One of her most memorable moments occurred as an intern for Comcast SportsNet.
“They had me cover a local basketball kid who was announcing he’d be going to University of Kentucky to play basketball. They gave me the name Anthony Davis, and I did a great interview with him. Who knew two years later he’d go on to be the No. 1 overall draft pick in the NBA?” she says.
Nikki most recently worked as a reporter and writer on Maui, covering major events for both Maui and Hawaii counties. Watching the murder trial of Steven Capobianco unfold was an experience she’ll never forget. “It was very time-consuming and grueling to hear all the different testimony and witness accounts, but it was so interesting and I loved covering it,” she says.
Nikki also understands first-hand the impacts of severe weather. When a powerful storm triggered an island-wide outage on Maui, “I was up at 5 a.m. with no power and no cell reception, and raced to the studio where the generators were working. Driving there, I saw downed poles across Hana Highway, and my email and texts were blowing up. It was such an adrenaline rush.”
Nikki now lives on the North Shore of Oahu and loves going to the beach with her boyfriend, Jason, and their two dogs, Nalu and Nico.
“I have a huge shell collection and love looking for shells after a good swell,” she says.
