“Impossible tasks aren’t as hard as you might think they are. And that’s not to say they don’t come with a lot of hard work. But most things in life are obtainable if you’re willing to do the work..” – Nick Viall

If you’re fond of watching reality TV, you’ve probably heard of Nick Viall.  He joins us in this episode to talk about his journey from Bachelor Nation to entrepreneurship. He is widely known for starring in the 21st season of ABC’s “The Bachelor,” appearing twice on “The Bachelorette,” as well as on “Bachelor in Paradise.” Nick also had a stint on “Dancing with the Stars.” He has leveraged all this visibility to become a contemporary dating advice guru and host of the popular podcast, “The Viall Files.” Following his business instincts and the desire to contribute something meaningful to the world, Nick launched his own organic essential oils company, Natural Habits. Having used essential oils to help manage his own anxiety, he noticed a gap in the space for oils that were blended and USDA Organic Certified. Soon after, Natural Habits was born with the certification, resulting in a collection of high quality organic essential oils that are accessible and easy to use in daily life. Finding a way to marry all his skills, experiences, and passions, Nick was able to blaze a career path for himself that is authentic and strives to help others. Tune-in to hear how he’s pivoted his career multiple times in order to stay true to his passions.

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Listen to the podcast here:

TUNE-IN TO HEAR:

• Why Nick gave up the stability of the corporate world to become an entertainer and entrepreneur
• What factors he considered when deciding to launch an essential oils business
• What it takes to land a USDA Organic Certification and why having it was a priority
• About his own struggle with anxiety and how he handles it
• The reason why it’s better to us organic essential oils in your personal care routine and as non-toxic aromas in the home
• What advice Nick would give his 18 year-old self
• How he functions as an influencer and also as a brand that works with influencers
•  How being perceived as a controversial figure has helped him grow

Important Links:

• The Viall Files – Apple Podcast
• Natural Habits
• Salesforce.com
• NHOils.com
• The Viall Files on YouTube

• Here’s How »

• podcast.theshinestrategy.com
• The Shine Strategy Facebook
• The Shine Strategy Twitter
• The Shine Strategy LinkedIn
• The Shine Strategy Instagram

Show Transcript:

Nick Viall: Journey From Bachelor Nation To Entrepreneurship

It’s time for my favorite part of the show which is shout-outs. This is where we get to acknowledge you, the readers. Thank you so much for giving us ratings and reviews. It means the world to me and let’s go ahead and give a shout-out to Laura Michael. She says, “This is a must listen.” She gave us five stars. “Heather provides so much value and quality content in everything she does. I highly recommend you listen to her podcast and subscribe. I’ve gotten so much out of each podcast and I’m so grateful.” Laura, I’m grateful to you for listening and sharing the good vibes. We also have one here from Vilte Rooney, “Get Motivated.” She gave us five stars. “Listening to Heather is like listening to your best friend who is motivating and inspiring you to be a better version of yourself.” I’m so happy to read that. That’s what we are trying to do here is get people inspired, do the right thing, get positive messages and shine.

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We have an incredible guest with us here, Nick Viall. You probably know him best as part of the Bachelor Nation, having appeared on The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise. He’s also been on Dancing with the Stars. You’ve seen him everywhere. He’s been on other TV shows and national commercials. He launched his podcast, The Viall Files. We had the opportunity to do some work together with his launch and getting him in front of some press in New York and getting the show out there. He also has used his platform to raise awareness for a new business that he’s created, an essential oils product line called Natural Habits. He’s had a roller coaster of a ride as a nationally recognized TV personality. I thought it would be interesting to talk to him about how he’s leveraging this visibility he’s received into entrepreneurial ventures. Thank you for being here, Nick.

Thanks for having me.

As I told you, this is my first time doing this in person. I’m used to doing a lot of these interviews remotely.

What do you find it easier? Probably you haven’t done this yet.

It’s a little different in person. I am a behind the scenes person. Definitely, it makes me nervous to even do this. I’m stretching my boundaries by doing this show. Whereas for someone like yourself, I imagine it’s pretty much second nature to be doing your podcast.

There’s a natural feeling I had with it. Before I launched The Viall Files, I had been a guest on several podcasts. Like The Bachelor, they inundate you with doing a great deal of amount of press. The ability to talk and ramble is something I’m better at. I’ve always had the gift for gab. That was my motivation for doing the podcast. There are so many out there, but I had the confidence that I could do something that I was proud of and have some success in it. I decided to do it and so far so good. I think you’re doing great.

Did you always want to be in entertainment? Did you plan on being on camera or having your own show someday?

No, I can’t say it was a dream of mine. You hear a lot of stories especially people in the entertainment business. Ever since I was six, I always knew I’d be an actor or a writer or whatever. I can’t say that. I have always not minded the spotlight. A part of that, I was always in athletics growing up. The propensity for performing in front of a crowd started with athletics. I enjoyed athletics and I enjoyed the competitive aspect of it. I fell into the opportunity of The Bachelor through the traditional way of friends signing up for it.

Was it your friends that did it?

It went from there. The experience I didn’t quite enjoy, but through that experience, opportunities came my way and I tried to make a decision based off of these opportunities. My old employer is giving me permission to seek it out and try it. Once I did, I developed this passion for the creative aspect of my personality that quite honestly, I hadn’t used in quite some time. When I was younger, I was big into art and things like that. I wasn’t in the theater, but we had some like performance stuff. I always love that and got very creative in that. I didn’t use that in my professional career for a long time. Once I came out here and gave it a shot, I enjoyed that aspect of it and it’s been something that I’ve enjoyed tapping into. I fell into it that way.

You didn’t even see the opportunity with The Bachelor to apply to it. Your friends did it. It’s almost like you were pulled into it without even intending.

It’s changed a little bit with the introduction of social media and other spinoff shows like Paradise. For those familiar with the show, there are always right reasons question. I don’t think it’s ever been real because there’s this perceived playbook of what the show can bring to you. A lot of people when I first met on went for this experience. There are questions about “I wonder what this might be like or what it could bring.” There are way more questions than perceived answers, but it was about this experience to do this cool TV show, travel and go from there. That was the approach I took. After my first time going on the show, I went right back to work. It wasn’t until the second time that I went back on that I take a pause before I decided to go right back to my old life and started questioning, “Is this the right time in my life to take a leap of faith?” I chose the latter and here I am.

What was the old work that you were doing?

I worked for a company called Salesforce.com selling software.

Nick Viall: Try to be strategic and calculated in terms of the decisions you make and the opportunities that you not only say yes to but more probably say no to.

That’s a big shift. You went from the corporate world into the entertainment world and became this TV personality that everybody knows now.

It was quite the shift. It certainly had its challenges. There are a lot of great unknowns. When I made that leap of faith, social media still wasn’t what it was at this time. I had a bit of a platform, but not the platform I have now. Some of the opportunities that I have afforded to me now weren’t quite there. It was a calculated risk. I had the blessing of Salesforce at the time to say, “We support you seeing through these opportunities. If it doesn’t work out, we welcome you back.” I was thankful for that. When I made that decision, I had the benefit of knowing what I was potentially risking.

Every decision I made out here, I was comparing it to the wonderful job that I had and the salary that I was making. It wasn’t like, “I have nothing better to do. I’ll go out and roam in LA.” I tried to be strategic and calculated in terms of the decisions I would make and opportunities that not only I said yes to but more probably I said no to. There were always some risks. At that time, I wasn’t even planning on going back on the show and then I would do the Paradise and they asked me to do The Bachelor. I look back and sometimes it’s like, “Wow.” I didn’t know what I was doing, but I was trying to make smart decisions and see if there’s something I can make of it.

Would you do it all again?

Sure, why not? I had a great life before. My life now is exciting. It’s one of those things where it depends on what you value more. I don’t have a lot of stability in my life. I’m a very lucky person. I have a charmed life, but coming from someone who grew up in the Midwest whose lifelong friends are all settled down with kids and have the families in their 30s that I always assumed I would have when I was younger. They have these jobs that are great that there are no guarantees in life, but there’s a sense of stability, looking forward and plans. That can be great. It also can at times be mundane. I don’t have that. Sometimes my life lacks stability but it certainly also brings a lot of excitement and interesting opportunities and stresses. It’s a matter of what you value more. I’m taking the approach that you only have one life and with something like The Viall Files and Natural Habits specifically. I’m doing things now professionally and the opportunity to work as an actor and getting some opportunities.

I’m doing things for the first time I’m proud of. Not that to say that I wasn’t ashamed. I loved my job at Salesforce. It was a great job. It’s a job that many people would be lucky to have. It was lucrative. I enjoyed it as a job but felt like it was a job. It wasn’t like I was a sixteen-year-old kid and thought, “I want to sell software one day.” You’ve got to be in sales if you want to sell software. It’s a great company. I feel more proud to say I started and founded and I’m my own boss. I have my own company that I own. I’m growing it. I don’t know where it’s going to go and that’s exciting or I’m the host of my own successful podcast or I’m acting. I’m doing things

I have small bits. These are all things that if you told sixteen-year-old me that I would be doing, I’d be like, “I’m going to do that?” I have a long way to go. The Viall Files is new and Natural Habits is technically less new but both of them can still fail in a sense. Certainly, my acting career is a huge unknown but it’s exciting for me to be able to do that. Knowing that I’ve had at least a little bit of success in each of those spaces is something I’m proud of and a way that I don’t know if I would get the same fulfillment over being a regional vice president at Salesforce.

I love what you’re saying about that because I struggle sometimes with that as well. Having come from the northeast and a small town, I’ve been out here for a long time in Los Angeles. I’ve always said, “This is the City of Dreams, the City of Angels.” People come here to live a life less ordinary and pursue something different than what they know from where they’re from. It is a special opportunity to be able to be here and do that but it does come at a cost. I can relate. I’m in a similar situation where I thought I would totally have a family and everything as well. A lot of people blame it on LA, the lifestyle and attitudes here. Would you say that being in this city has a lot to do with it being a little harder to find that stability?

I don’t think in the way that people use it. A lot of people use that as an excuse. I always joke about, name me the city that people are telling you to move to because it’s such a great place to find your husband or wife. Everyone complains about the city and it’s like there are no men here, there are no women here or whatever. LA is a very untraditional place. It’s a riskier place and it’s a place where it’s easier to get lost in the shuffle. There’s just less stability. Even if you are a successful actor, you never feel stable because it’s not like having a pension or a 9 to 5 as a career path. There are no guarantees in that world and you can change.

There is certainly more structure in the traditional. That’s why people are settling down later. That can be harder in relationships, in general, to get set in your ways and grow as an individual. That can make a challenging settling down later in life. LA creates that situation. Anywhere you go, you can find genuine people. You can find disingenuous people. There are certainly a lot of both in LA but it also has just more people. I used to live in Milwaukee. I found a lot of disingenuous people in Milwaukee. There a lot of great people in Milwaukee. Home is what you make it wherever you are. People have different visions in LA.

Nick Viall: There’s a lot of behind the scenes and operational things that you have to do as a business owner that you don’t have to do as a salesperson.

Everyone is juggling a lot here because they are pursuing a lot of different ventures where most places in the world. You have your 9 to 5 or one jobs and maybe not LA. A lot of people everywhere are doing side hustles or entrepreneurial ventures, but especially I would say in a city like LA, there are a lot of people that are juggling three, four or five different things.

“What do you do?” is a harder question to answer when you’re in LA. It’s like, “I own an essential oil company. I have a podcast. I also act. “Does that mean you’re successful or does that mean you’re not successful at anything?” You’re putting a bunch of throwing darts across the barn. It can vary for each person. Even when I get asked, “Why do I sound like I’m doing all these things?”

You have to have a lot of irons in the fire if you’re going to be in this different world. Even Bob Saget was funny in the interview we had with him. Here he is, iconic comedian, one of the most successful people probably in the world in what he does and he said he doesn’t feel like he’s too much of an expert in anything. He’d say he does a lot of things okay. When you’re doing a lot of different things, that’s what happens.

I don’t want to say I can relate to Bob Saget, but in that sense, sure. Sometimes you wonder if you should be focused on one thing. I do feel fortunate that again, my ability to start a company, a lot of that is predicated on the first ten years of my professional life where I was in Corporate America working as a salesperson. A lot of what Natural Habits is for me is obviously marketing the brand and selling. There are a lot of behind the scenes and upper racial things that I have to do as a business owner that I didn’t have to do as a salesperson. A lot of that comes from that.

You’re in a perfect position because you had the sales or business background to know what it takes to run a business. You also have now entered this other world where you yourself have become known and essentially an influencer where you can use that influence and visibility to raise awareness for what you’re doing. Let’s start from the beginning. What inspired you to start Natural Habits? When did you discover the power of essential oils?

There are two different kinds of stories and questions. As a user, I started using essential oils about a few years ago. I’m someone who likes a lot of people, it’s not like I get anxiety. I’ve always been a fairly anxious person. My sister is a board, certified holistic nutritionist. I didn’t like the idea of “Fine, I have anxiety.” I’m knocking getting medicated for it, but that was the last resort for me. At times it felt debilitating, but it wasn’t stopping me from living my life, but I was trying to find ways to help mitigate it. My sister suggested essential oils. I was like, “Whatever it sounds like, maybe not.” I was like, “Yeah, whatever. I’ll try it.” I found it to be very beneficial. It helped me relax. There’s an aromatherapy element to it. It was a little challenging in terms with essential oils you can blend them. What should I use? I use lavender for relaxing. I use peppermint if I have a tension headache or what happens when I combine them or whatever. It was like, “You can talk to this aroma therapist specialists, but what do I use?” That was as user issues that I had.

Fast forward to me going on the show and having this platform, there was this thought in my mind that I’m very fortunate to do some of the things I’m doing in the acting space. This was before I started the podcast. When you say influencer, there’s no obviously a secret that if you have a sizable following you can be very fortunate to be paid money to promote things, which in the short run is a healthy salary you can live off of. In my mind, I like to mitigate risks. Technology is always changing. I knew this is being a technology salesperson. My space came and went. Facebook is not what it used to be. It’s like, “What happens when Instagram isn’t what it used to be the type of thing?” I don’t know the future of technology. My whole thought is I’m not going to rely on being an Instagram influencer. There was this thought and desire to start my own business. It was like, “What do I want to start my business in?” I wanted to have a business that my platform is predominantly women.

My platform was going to be what my company was going to be founded on. I wanted to grow it larger than that, but I wanted something that made sense to my audience because that’s where I was going to start. I also wanted it to be authentic and something I believed in. It had to be gender-neutral. They couldn’t be like an “eyelash business” or something that’s specific to women. It’s like, “Nothing is stopping me from doing that per se, but as a business owner, what’s the story I’d be telling?” There are probably a lot of straight male fashion designers. I don’t know a lot, but there are maybe some successful who don’t wear dresses. I’m not saying they can’t. They clicked. I was like, “I’m a heavy user of essential oils. I believe in them. They’ve been beneficial and helpful to my life.”

I also noticed in the essential oil space that for something that you are absorbing into your body, either aromatically or directly under your skin that’s ultimately ending up into your bloodstream and affecting your organs. It was surprising how few essential oil companies were USDA organic certified. You would see a lot of designations, like 100% pure or you’d see with some of the multilevel marketing companies a designation called therapeutic grade. If you google therapeutic grade, you quickly find that it’s not recognized by any third party. It’s their own designation that they’ve internally come up with. It’s not to say that they don’t have great oils, but I didn’t have the confidence of knowing why can’t they get this USDA organic certification? I felt that need of the average person who’s heard about essential oils but isn’t necessarily passionately into aromatherapy. The fact that there weren’t a lot of USDA organic oils, I found that space of I wanted to create a company that was both very user-friendly and safe.

Guys like myself or women who have heard about essential oils but find it to be confusing and cumbersome could try something that they took the work out of it and have the confidence that what they’re using not only was recognized by ourselves and our company is a great oil, but also a designated recognized third party that goes through rigorous testing to allow us to fly the USD organic seal. That’s how Natural Habits was born. We decided to specialize in blends and try to keep it very simple. We’ll grow, but we have four specific blends that use a variety of different oils to have certain needs.

Nick Viall: Essential oils are meant to be absorbed in your body so that you get these medicinal benefits.

We have Release that deals with anxiety, calming and helps you sleep. Center is if you’re prone to tension headaches. There is as a blend specific for that. Protect is for an overall boost of immunity. Rise is a blend for morning waking up, a boost of energy in the middle of the day that you’d use and gives you a little bit more of added focus. Those four blends take care of your overall breadth of what you’d use essential oils for. We wanted to make it simple. Take the guesswork out of someone like, “What essential oil do I use?” That’s how we started it.

I want to go back to what you said about this USDA organic certification and how important that is because I had mentioned to you that I had done aromatherapy product quite a few years back. It was important to me at the time that I have organically grown essential oils that I knew are pesticide-free, that I knew are nontoxic, healthy and not diluted with artificial fragrances. This is on your website for the oils. It says, “Our oils are 100 pure,” meaning they’re always free of pesticides, harmful solvents, fillers, synthetic adulterants and fragrances. The problem is that there are many products out there with all of these things in them and people don’t realize that they’re putting this stuff on their skin.

There’s sometimes a misconception what essential oils are. They certainly have the aromatherapy element to it. They smell fantastic and through the odors that come through them also have therapeutic and medicinal benefits to them, but they’re not a perfume or cologne in the traditional sense. They don’t have any added alcohol or preservatives to make this scent last through the day. It’s meant to be absorbed in your body so that you get these medicinal benefits. If you want to use it as a perfume you can, but you will keep applying it in order to maintain the aroma. When it has alcohol in it, those are chemicals you are applying to your body and choose to do that. I use cologne sometimes, but that’s not what essential oil is going to do.

There’s a difference between USDA organic certified. That’s designation especially in the farming and growing process of our oils is the farmers we partner with. There are no pesticides. The runoff in terms of how they water the plants and it’s very much restricted and how they grow those plants. Those are certifications and standards we constantly abide by that we are held accountable by the USDA to be able to do that. Where if you don’t have that designation, technically any company can call themselves organic. There’s no one enforcing, “We’re organic.” To get that seal, “Not only are we saying we’re organic, someone else is agreeing with us and we have to prove it to them.” It’s something that we’re very passionate about, that we are proud of. It’s something, for me it was important because it was like, “What does Nick know about essential oils?” It was the perception I wanted to maybe prepare for when I launched Natural Habits and my thought was as long as I know how to get USDA organic certification that offers the brand or level of credibility and knowing that we’re not the only ones out there that are, but we’re one of the few.

I remember for years looking for organic lines and it was hard to find them.

They’re not a lot. Some of the larger ones are not, doTERRA, Young Living and Sage. I can’t speak to their oils and the specific quality. I know that they’re not recognized by the USDA as organic.

A lot of them are organically-grown, which means they’re not using pesticides. I do think there is something to getting that seal in that approval that does take it to the next level.

I do believe generally that if you would, you could. Who wouldn’t want a USDA organic certification?

Congratulations on getting it. I remember seeing that and being very impressed because I remembered when I did my line many years ago, as I said, it was a very long time ago. That was something that was so important to me because there are many toxic products that people are putting on their skin, their hair and their makeup, everything every day. You’re also raising awareness on the importance of why it is important to be pesticide-free.

Your skin is your largest organ. For those of you who don’t know, everything you’ve put on your skin eventually goes into your blood and into the rest of your organs. I’m not living this totally clean life at times. We all have to make choices, but I tried to as much as possible be mindful of what I put in and on my body. There’s obviously overall health kicking in America these days. We’re happy to be a part of it. A lot of people have questions about essential oils. Some companies sometimes quite honestly over market what essential oils can do and that we’ve all probably seen the means out there mocking the essential oil space about like what they can do, how are they’re essential oil to get her to stop talking or him and her to stop talking to me.

Nick Viall: In addition to using essential oils for a specific health need, it’s also a healthier option to scenting your indoor air.

That comes from some of the larger essential oil companies that almost make some of these outrageous claims of if you’ve experienced this specific thing like traumatic situation in your life, there might be an essential oil and maybe they’re making some leap that like lavender helps you feel calmer and relieve stress. Maybe to see a therapist. When it comes to Natural Habits, we do believe in the power of the healing power of essential oils. We think it’s one part of an overall healthy lifestyle are like, for example, as a user of essential oils to relieve stress and anxiety. I also work out and try to eat right. Those are also things I’m doing as part of that.

Essential oils are a great thing but in addition to, if you’re using essential oils for a specific health need, which is great, it’s also a healthier option to sending your indoor air. A lot of people traditionally will send their indoor air with artificial air fresheners like Febreze, Glade and Plug-Ins. Those are all chemicals. Candles are aesthetically pleasing and nice. In addition to that being a fire hazard, they are filled with known toxins like toluene and carcinogens. You’re setting it on fire. You’re breathing it into the air. It’s at a smaller level. What would you rather have your family breathe essential oil that not only doesn’t have toxic carcinogen, but it also has medicinal benefits? Do I have candles at home? I have a more aesthetic thing. If I ever light them, maybe I’m trying to set the mood. I get that. More often than not, if you’re trying to scent your indoor air instead of spraying for Febreze or putting a Plug-In or Glade air freshener, diffusing essential oils is a much safer and healthier option. It’s not going to cure everything, but it’s certainly not going to kill you. Other things over time technically will. We also tried to get that message out.

What in terms of the products you have now? Is it the four blends that are roll-ons?

We have four blends. We have a roll-on line. We have what we call our diffuser line. The roll-on lines are those four blends in a roller ball dispensary system. They are diluted with organic jojoba oil as a carrier oil because for those of you who don’t know about essential oils, they are very poignant and strong. If you put a pure concentrated essential oil on your skin, you can break out a little bit because it’s so strong and poignant. You want to dilute it or spread it out. Not everyone, but you can get the same benefits. If you put it directly on your skin, you don’t need to put a concentrated oil. You’d want to dilute it with some carrier oil. We choose jojoba oil because it’s the closest thing as an oil base to the water where no one’s allergic. I can’t say any one but almond oil, for example, a third of the population has a nut allergy.

Castor oil has a strong scent to it where jojoba oil has no scent to it so it doesn’t affect the integrity of the properties of the sense that you’re trying to get from say lavender or wintergreen or frankincense and things like that. That’s why we use Hobo oil in our roll-ons. The idea is it’s ready to go. The blends are there. You can take with you wherever you go. If you’re going to a yoga class, meditation class or throughout the day, keep it in your pocket, your purse. I always have one with me and you put it on. If you’re feeling stressed, you want to apply some oils, maybe want to use it as a cologne or perfume. We have the same blend in a concentrate format that you could put in our diffusers that we sell or you could put a few drops in a warm bath.

You want to be mindful of your skin sensitivity. You don’t want to put three or four drops in a bath. You can always put more in. There’s other like other ways you can use essential oils. Instead of putting toxic dryer sheets that are full of chemicals, you could get a wool ball. You put a few drops on that and throw that into your dryer. It will give that dryer sheet. It’s like the size of a tennis ball. We don’t sell them. If you go to Amazon and Google wool dryer ball, you’ll find it.

You put a few drops on the dryer ball and throw that on your dryers, dryer sheet. You’re not getting the toxins that come from a dryer sheet. You can put a few drops of the concentrate with water in a spray bottle and instead of like diffusing it, missed it in the air, get that sent off the aromatherapy. There are different kinds of clever ways of using it. If you’re trying to like completely remove chemicals from your indoor living, but if it’s diffusing or putting it in a warm bath or rolling them on, you’re already ahead of the game in terms of creating a better, healthier environment for yourself and your family.

They are so dynamic. You can use them for personal care. A lot of women or people, in general, would say beauty care, personal care and household products.

We’re developing a skincare line. I’ve been using them to my skin as someone who has access to all the essential oils I can possibly want. It’s a simple routine of different essential oils. I’m not to speak to it right now, but I look young for my age as my sister. It’s using oils on our skin. We’re going to try to come up with it. We’re working on that and we’ll be launching that soon. In different ways, you can use essential oils. We’re growing and trying to grow as a company, but go at a rate that we can handle.

You also have your platform to get it out there, the company, the brand and also because of who you are and the people you know, there are a lot of influencers in your sphere. How has that played a part in helping you get the brand out there?

Nick Viall: Be very communicative with the people you’re working with and set expectations about what your goals for the company are.

I appreciate my friends in terms of their willingness to support Natural Habits. I’m fortunate obviously to have a network of friends, a lot of them are in Bachelor Nation. I think we can always do a better job of helping each other out. I’m not the only one who’s started a business and my friend, Ben, has a coffee company. I know Caitlin is doing some stuff. Ashley and Jared have a children’s book. Jade had come up with a jewelry line. We’re all trying to do things. We’ve been good at helping each other out and supporting each other, not only with our ventures but shows that we’re around and things like that. Obviously, my network has grown outside of the Bachelor Nation and thankful for my friends. That’s certainly an advantage that I have, I’m thankful for and don’t take lightly. That obviously is something that we rely on especially in the early stages as a company to try to get a jumpstart in our company so that we can grow and get into the more traditional ways of marketing.

This is a question that I love to ask and if you could go back to give advice to a younger version of yourself, how old would you be and what would you say?

Maybe 18 or 22, either going into college or leaving college. I would say impossible tasks aren’t as hard as you might think they are. That’s not to say they don’t come with a lot of hard work, but most things in life with certain limitations are obtainable if you’re willing to do the work. Once you start doing the research and you start looking into it, if you have a passion for it and you’re willing to do the work, it’s certainly possible. A lot of people dismiss their dreams because they assume it’s not obtainable so why try? That’s probably a mistake that people make. If anything, there are things that I wish I would have wanted and I did sooner. It was a matter of taking the risk and giving it a shot. I took the risk knowing that it took a lot of work. It’s not that it doesn’t come with a lot of ups and downs and stresses, but if you’re willing to do it, it’s possible. I would remind younger me of that.

Out of all that you’re working on now and all of the things that you’ve been doing, what lights you up the most? What gives you the most joy?

I have a hard time enjoying things like a blessing and a curse because I don’t often feel satisfied, which keeps me motivated. Sometimes it’s hard for me to enjoy things. If I’m being selfish and not trying to be a PC, selfishly, it’s when I accomplish something that at one point I doubted. When I surprise myself, it certainly gives a burning desire. Honestly, I’m always a big advocate in doing selfless acts and certainly encourage people to do that. If that lights you up, it’s not selfless. You’re doing it for yourself. When I proved myself wrong, that gets me going.

I will give you credit too. I know that you have sometimes have had a controversial persona out there in the media or with your fans. With your show, I’ve admired how if you’ve ever said or done something that you felt like maybe wasn’t the best, it could be. You own that. I think that’s admirable. For the people that don’t know that about you, I wish they would listen in to your show and hear how you are of your word and of integrity.

I was the traditional villain in the first season. It’s been like an arc before that. Looking back, I definitely wouldn’t change that. Quite honestly, that’s helped me have the sustainability that I’ve had because it makes the perception of me more interesting too. I thought this one thing about him and now I feel like this other thing and quite honestly, I’m confused and who is he and what does he mean? He says things. That’s helped me gain the perception of being interesting. I appreciate you saying that. I try to be authentic and I’m quick to say things. I try to be thoughtful, but I do like to go against the grain at times. Sometimes at first, that can be a bit surprising to people or shocked people or maybe even rubbed them the wrong way. Over time, if you stick with me, they’ll learn to love me.

Where can people get your oils?

The easiest way to get our oils is NHOils.com. NH for Natural Habits, go to our website. We work with some boutiques around the country. We’ll continue to grow that space, but I don’t know your audience or where they live. The easiest way is to go to our website and we offer free shipping domestically. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy them.

We do have a lot of entrepreneurs, business owners and early startup businesses here. What advice would you give them?

Who you work with is important and as a young company, that’s been something I’ve tried to figure out. Be smart by who you work with, even if it’s friends or family. A lot of people have good intentions. Ultimately people just want to get paid. You always got to be very communicative with the people you’re working with and set up for expectations about what your goals of a company are. Because often when you’re starting a business, there’s not a lot of money to be made in the short-term, especially if your goal is to grow the business and not pump and dump and grab a quick buck. Everyone who’s onboard needs to understand those expectations.

I want to point out that also for your show. If people are interested, there is the video format of it on YouTube. It’s available on all major podcasting platforms. Everybody, tune in to The Viall Files. Also on YouTube, you’ll get to see him talking to his guests. I want to thank you so much, Nick, for taking the time to chat with us and share your experience on going from high visibility into entrepreneurship and all that comes with it. Any parting thoughts for our guests?

Thanks for reading.

Thanks, Nick.

Thank you.

“I try to be very strategic and calculated in terms of the decisions I make—and opportunities not only that I say ‘yes’ to, but, more importantly, that I say ‘no’ to..” – Nick Viall