E20 From Photographer to International Yoga Teacher: Nicole Wild’s Winding Path🧘‍♀️🗺

Pollen: For Creative Entrepreneurs with Diana Davis

Pursuing a new passion after building a career in something else bring up A LOT. Most people are hesitant to leave something because they think they've spent too much time on it. Here's the truth: if it's no longer for you, you're free to move on!

In this episode of The Pollen Podcast, Nicole Wild shares her winding life from pursuing writing, to music, to photography, and finally, being a yoga teacher! Everything comes together — even if you don’t feel like it will just yet. Your past experiences will enrich how you shape your future like stepping stones. Keep walking, and who knows where you’ll end up someday.

Assess and reflect. If there are things in your life that no longer serve you, it may be time to shed old leaves to make way for the new.

Listen to this episode and be encouraged to let go and try something new!

Create your own creative entrepreneurship story of clarity, professional confidence, and profit. Join Diana’s 90-day group course Camp Clarity and learn everything you wish you already knew, like how to land dream clients, harness the power of social media, and make the money you deserve. Learn more here.

🔥Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode:

1. Understand how your life is a series of stepping stones and how past experiences will all come together to support your success.
2. Learn to shed your old leaves to make way for the new. 🍂
3. Remember that success takes time and that consistency is the path to getting there.

📘Resources

• The Collective Kula
• Connect with Nicole: Website | Instagram | YouTube | Email ([e-mail])
• Jade Alectra
• The Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran
• The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Sri Swami Satchidananda
• Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Sri Swami Satchidananda
• The Dhammapada: A New Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations
• Achieve the life, career, and clients you’ve always wanted (and fully deserve!). Sign up for Diana’s Camp Clarity Course now!
• Take a week off and join the first Diana Davis Creative Retreat in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, from August 29 to September 1!
• Attract your dream clients with my free masterclass!
• Access other courses from the Diana Davis Creative
• Connect with me: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram

🎧Episode Highlights

[01:58] Introducing Nicole

• Nicole is an international retreat and yoga teacher. She holds both in-person and online yoga classes.
• She describes herself as a feeler — everything affects her significantly. She used poetry and wrote music to express herself.
• When she was in high school, she started nannying for a family. The mother encouraged her to start her own fitness and health journey, where she eventually found yoga.
• While studying photography in college, Nicole was teaching yoga classes. When the pandemic hit, she started uploading yoga videos which launched her yoga business.
• Nicole's life is a winding road. She was able to follow her intuition and let go. Even as her path changed, Nicole was able to utilize her past experiences to her benefit.

[15:36] How Nicole Built Her Instagram Following

• Nicole’s Instagram blew up because of her professional poses and photography.
• These pictures started back when Nicole was studying photography. She often centered her assignments around yoga poses.
• Nicole notes that most of her traction on her Instagram came from her YouTube channel.
• Consistency in showing up is critical when building a social media following.
• Live your own unique story.

Nicole Wild: "You are unprecedented and unrepeatable. So you've never been before, no one has ever been you before, and you will never be again exactly who you are and how you are. Because of that, you are incredibly unique, and then simultaneously [you] weave the same fabric as everyone else's. So there are both sides of the coin, like you should own your uniqueness and also, you should care for others because we're all in some ways the same too.”

[20:57] Learn to Shed Your Leaves

• Imagine if trees never shed their leaves and instead held onto their dead leaves season after season.
• Like the image of a tree covered in dead leaves, we need to shed our old leaves to make space for new ones to grow.

Nicole Wild: “We need to shed the old layers and the old leaves and let them go so that we can make space for new things to grow.”

[22:01] Nicole’s Instagram

• Nicole was inspired by Jade Alectra’s Instagram account, where people need to request the page to be able to follow it.
• Similarly, Nicole’s Instagram account is free, although private. However, people can donate to her if they wish.
• Every morning, she holds lives for meditation and journaling prompts. She has since added a segment she likes to call Bedtime Stories.

[24:48] How the Pandemic Slowed Us Down

• Nicole shares that before the pandemic, she taught 20 yoga classes per week at around six different studios on top of doing photography.
• Despite her hustle, she knew that this was not her end goal. However, she was hesitant about quitting.
• The pandemic forced her to pause and assess what she wanted to do and what she had time for.

[27:15] Setting Boundaries

• Nicole's boundaries are primarily emotional. She doesn't want to be in spaces where she does not feel wanted and welcomed.
• She’s also honoring her schedule by separating work and life. She goes to bed at 8 pm.
• She also does not answer others immediately because she sets the time for herself.
• Your life will have different seasons. You may prioritize one thing over others, but it’s essential to have time to assess what you want besides your work.

[34:09] Nicole’s Stepping Stone Process

• Kula was started through a stepping-stone process. One significant stone was Nicole's meditation group.
• When the meditation group finished their sessions, people asked Nicole what was next. That's when she launched Kula.
• Nicole attributes her success on Instagram to a course about online media marketing. She spends 10% of her earnings every year on education and workshops.

[39:10] Nicole’s Challenges and Learnings

• Nicole shares that the most difficult challenge of launching the membership platform was pricing it. Some people tell her it's too expensive, while others say it's not enough.
• She shares the value of planning. She usually records months in advance so unexpected injuries won't harm her posting schedule.
• When deciding on a price point, go with your gut.
• Not everything needs to have a cost. You can have free content to cater to those who think your services are too expensive and make your content accessible to a broader audience.
• Among all the social media platforms, YouTube was the biggest driver for Nicole's success because it showed people a taste of who she is.

Nicole Wild: “In form of pricing, the person that is signing up for a $6 a month membership is a lot less likely to sign up for a retreat or a teacher training than someone who's paying the $40 that it costs. The…bigger question than just how do I price this one offering, it's how do I price this offering in the context of my long-term goals and in the context of the other things I'm putting out there?”

[46:44] What’s Next for Nicole?

• Nicole wants to pursue education for her yoga business. She’ll be doing her first teacher training in Montenegro through the Yoga Alliance soon.
• Moving forward, she wants to assess what to refine and how to improve her customer experience.
• She hopes Kula can be an exploration of our inner and outer worlds. Kula is the Sanskrit word for tribe or family.
• Nicole also wanted her brand to have a memorable scent. Since researching candle-making, she has put out two candles for the brand.
• In the episode, Nicole shares going to a cadaver lab open to all industries, not just medical. She hopes to collaborate with the lab for a training module in the future.

[56:52] Rapid Fire Questions with Nicole

• Nicole is a Gemini Sun, Cancer Rising, and Pisces Moon.
• For Nicole, humans are meant to create; being human is being creative.
• She feels aligned with what she's doing now. Her misalignments are typically about how much she's doing at once.

About Nicole

Nicole Wild is the founder and Creator of the Collective Kula, a space for yogis to deepen their practice physically and mentally. Nicole's approach is bringing lightheartedness and creativity to challenging sequences. Kula's membership includes yoga classes and first access to events and retreats. She also gives yoga flows through her Instagram and YouTube channels.

Want to learn more about Nicole’s work? Check out The Collective Kula

You can also connect with her on her website, Instagram, YouTube, and by email ([e-mail]).

Enjoyed this Podcast on Living Your Unique Winding Life?

It's hard to let go of narratives and labels we've long associated with or worked so hard for — but what happens when we realize our dreams have changed? Can we let go of past loves and move on, or do we cling to past dreams? Embrace your winding path. You don't need to stick to one thing for your whole life. Be free to live and grow.

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