Meet Nora Schaper

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nora Schaper a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nora, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
This is an interesting question to me. In my mind this is most important trait that determines an enduring entrepreneur. Resilience is the ability to withstand and recover from difficulties, and the elasticity to go with the flow. I do consider myself resilient and consider this a key trait in my ability to run a fast growing start-up company. I have always been a positive, solutions based person. I am not sure if I was born with the trait and that is what drew me to the challenge of leading a business, or if this trait was nurtured and developed through enduring the rigors of running a business. I do know there have been many many stress filled, challenging episodes, both from fast growth and times of retraction and many times I have wanted to quit or give up … but somehow the feeling of responsibility and determination kick in and after a good night rest (or two), and I bounce back up and try again (this may also be the definition of crazy). Part of what enables my resilience is that I do not hold onto anger, bitterness and despair for long before my positive attitude resurfaces and I try again. Resilience is the reason that HiBAR has been able to eliminate over 5.5M single-use plastic bottles and saved over 1.25M gallons of water, and THIS is another reason to keep going.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
HiBAR is a mission based company inspiring the removal of single-use plastic by reformulating beauty and personal care products to be beautiful, effective and plastic-free. My husband, Jay, and I had a previous business making soaps and bath bombs and selling them regionally to coops, farmers markets, and events. We realized that we could create anhydrous (concentrated waterless formulations) that don’t need a plastic-bottle. We have kids and wanted to create a brand that disrupted the shampoo category and we did! HiBAR hit the natural grocery shelves in Oct. of 2018 with the world’s first Salon-quality solid shampoo and conditioner and consumers were thrilled. Since that time, a sub-category of solid hair care has been created (with HIBAR the best seller) and other brands are accelerating the movement forward. HiBAR, with the help of YOU and retail partners has eliminated over 5.5M plastic bottles and we are continuing to expand the product line with Deodorants in paper push up applicators, a line of soap-free facial cleansers, additional formulas for hair care and in 2024 a line of body wash will be coming out. HiBAR has a vision of the personal care aisle that is completely plastic-free.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Resilience is a very important trait, as well as the ability to not take things personally and to trust your vision and instincts for the brand. There have been many many well meaning people along the way that have given advice that is not right for my brand (one was to focus on men … we knew we would not achieve our mission if we didn’t convert women with complicated hair to HIBAR). Trust your gut … you know best.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
I am over 50 years old and times have changed since I was raised. But, one thing my parents did install in me and nurture in my growing up is to stay curious. This was done more easily through exposure to nature, camping trips and travels. Curiosity has led me off the path most traveled and revealed so many opportunities for joy and growth.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
all owned by HiBAR

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience is often the x-factor that differentiates between mild and wild success. The stories of

Productivity
Beating Burnout

Often the key to having massive impact is the ability to keep going when others

Leadership Development
Finding Your Why

Not knowing why you are going wherever it is that you are going sounds silly,