We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicola Nakase a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Nicola , so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
I wasn’t born with high self-esteem, but it was developed from my environment and experiences. My parents enrolled me in a lot of extracurricular activities as a child. From dance classes to art classes to piano, I got to dip my toe in everything. When my dad’s business started to become more successful when I was about 8 years old, he had more free time to spend with my sisters and I. That is when he started coaching us in playing basketball. Through playing sports, I feel like I developed very a strong sense of self. We trained very hard and played year around for many years. Learning that hard work and practice produces results gave me confidence. I’ve also had injuries and losses while playing which built up ability to be resilient and endure stress. These lessons early in my life have given me the temperament and personality to be a business owner.
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?
I have an e-commerce store called MyShelfie which sells plants, crystals, art and home decor items. I have my own website, but sell on 4 different channels (Etsy, Amazon, Instagram, TikTok).
This store evolved out of my real estate business. When I would flip homes, I stage them myself with my own decor items. Buyers would often ask where I would buy the items on the shelves, and that’s how “MyShelfie” was born. I started listing these items for sale on Etsy. Then during COVID, I started listing my dad’s little starter plants on Amazon and Etsy and sales started to skyrocket.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think being adaptable and creative is the most important in my business. The rules are always changing, so if you can’t pivot quickly you may be in the lose a lot of money. I would tell people early in their journey to be a part of facebook groups or networking groups, some kind of community that will keep you abreast of the changes in your industries. If you don’t know what’s going on or what is coming, you’ll end up getting really lost.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
The number one obstacle is scaling and how to go about doing it. I have outsourced some parts of the branding and SEO of my business. I need to hire an in-house employee soon. I also take many courses on business development to learn to improve the many different sales channels of my business. Because there are so many different facets to my business, I have to scale slowly and one step at a time which requires patience and is a characteristic that I lack.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://myshelfie.shop
- Instagram: my_shelfie_
- Facebook: My Shelfie.
Image Credits
Nicola Nakase
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