Nicole J. Church

I grew up with very driven parents - my dad was a very successful business owner who grew a multi-million dollar electrical business in California, so work ethic was really instilled in me from a young age. I've always been a worker bee ever since I was young. I always had like two jobs and then an internship, so I've interned under the design team at Billabong and worked at Anthropologie while nannying for a special needs child. It's kind of instilled in me, like, work ethic and kind of drive, but I've always just had a dream of mine to have my own empire. Part of it is also that when I was navigating early motherhood in Arizona without any support system, feeling really isolated after getting pregnant the day after my 21st birthday, I went through a lot of postpartum depression. My husband worked nights and I felt really alone, especially navigating a child who ended up being special needs. Work and my creativity and my passion really continued myself on. I had moments of depression and like, am I... do I belong here on this earth, and all the things, and so my creativity - that's when I really started my Heart of Life vintage business where I would thrift and post on social media. Even though being a stay-at-home working mom was still hard to this day, it really helped me be me again.

It was from one of my first marketing jobs, and I had the best boss ever. She always told me to use your voice, and it's something I actually tell my team now. No matter what you look like, whatever that looks like, use your voice and tell it boldly, because you're always going to regret something that you didn't say. My boss always told me this because I used to be very timid and just not say something, but I would have all these great ideas and creativeness. It was always the people who were the quietest in the room, who didn't say anything, who had the most brilliant ideas. She also taught me that no idea is bad, especially in marketing or creative. I've been there, I've had a really bad boss who told me no, no, no, and it's so limiting. Using your voice and being able to practice that muscle, because the more that you do that, the more you're going to get comfortable with yourself and your words and how you present yourself.

Don't try and be like anybody else. I know that social media and everything is so saturated, and the more that we consume, we can sometimes copy people without really realizing it and want to live a life that other people have. Try your best to be your full, authentic self, because that's what people buy into. Also, just try and not listen to what people say, because for me, I had so many roadblocks in my life that I could have been like, oh, I can't do it because I have kids, or I can't do it because of X, Y, and Z. You have to make investments towards yourself and your career in order to get ahead and grow. Sometimes there's the money aspect, or just the confidence aspect, and sometimes you just have to say yes without fully thinking about it. Don't overwhelm your brain. The more that you consume, we can sometimes copy people without really realizing and wanting to live a life that other people have, so just try your best to be your full, authentic self.

I would say balancing motherhood and work is a huge challenge. Even though there are a lot of moms that become moms later in life, there are a lot of us who, like me, had to navigate being... having kids, and it doesn't fit the 9 to 5. The other challenge I've noticed is that the higher up that I get in terms of some clients that are mainly male-dominated, being kind of a woman powerhouse in this field can be difficult. My husband is kind of my unpaid COO and CFO, and when he tells clients they need to pay their invoice or do X, Y, and Z, they take him seriously. But when it comes to me, it's like, oh, you're a woman. I'm also too nice sometimes, so I would say those two things - balancing motherhood and work, and dealing with male-dominated higher-ups who don't take women as seriously.

I would say one thing is integrity. I'm also very giving, and I'm very willing to just help people out. I know sometimes that bites me in the butt a little bit, but integrity is one thing. I also just am very real, I would say, throughout everything. I never want to just show the highlights of my life. I always try and tell people the truth in raw, vulnerable side, because that's the human connection. Even though AI is huge right now, you can never lose the human connection, so I would say authenticity. Kindness is also really important to me. I was very heavily bullied when I was younger, and even with my son and autism, it's a tough spot for me, but I try and just not care what people think nowadays. I try and just be kind and also not care what people think now.