Heidi Nicolle is an entrepreneur with a dream to make Love go Viral. Her strong sense of self helped her create her popular brand, Heidiisms, along with a community for like-minded creatives. She believes in self-acceptance (especially the quirky bits), eradicating hate in the world, and showing up to get the job done. With a dedicated path, she beat the odds and naysayers to come out as a leader and voice that speaks loudly on the need to not only love yourself but one another.
Tell us about yourself, your drive to build a community, and what “Heidiisms” are all about?
Heyyy! My name is Heidi and I run a company called Heidiisms. A lot of people ask me about Heidiisms. I think the best way to describe them is by looking at your personality traits — especially the quirky, weird ones. So say you’re on a first date, you say. “Wow, I’ve got to hide this side of me for at least the first couple of months…” Those are your quirky “isms”.
What I’ve learned in life is that in order to truly be happy and go after your dreams you need to believe in yourself, completely. You need to believe in ALL of YOU.
Yes, I know, the weird quirky things we do can be scary to expose, but trust me once you do, you’ll never look back.
So a little bit about me. My past is kinda like Goldilocks. I tried a bunch of things, but then finally realized I needed to pivot to find true happiness. That’s when I moved to LA. I got in touch with myself and what I wanted to build. I knew deep down that a creative community was my purpose. I wanted a community that was filled with people who believed in each other and spread love, not hate.
How did you start the brand? What did you envision? Did it play out how you expected?
I started my journey in the social media world through photography. When I moved to LA, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do. so I took pictures for friends when I had free time. My love of photography dates back to my parents who were both professional photographers. They taught me everything I know, along with a couple of classes in school I managed to sneak in as electives.
It was around this time LoveLustLA was born. LoveLustLA showcased everything I loved & lusted after in the city of LA. I worked with a lot of local businesses and events. I helped by showcasing them through my photography & writing. I learned so much about myself during that time and knew that to be truly happy I needed to believe in myself. That’s when Heidiisms was born. 💗
Can you tell us more about your community and how it inspires you? How does your business earn money?
Heidiisms is a community of dreamers, creatives, and other amazing people who want to make “Love go Viral” and who believe in themselves & each other. I’m still a small content creator but I have big dreams. Right now, how I make money is by working with brands to create products I love. In the future, I would love to have my own merchandise line and create collaborative lines with brands I adore. On a side note, It’s also my dream to travel around the world to inspire, speak with, and meet my “ISMS” family.
Explain the challenges you went through as you created your brand. Was it a long process, or is it more small everyday things that challenge you?
Going after your dreams can be scary. It can cost a lot of money. And new business takes time to grow, but you have to be willing to put in the time & effort if you want to be successful. I remember living off ramen noodles for the first year while trying to save money. I was working crazy hours and didn’t have a lot of support. After about 2 years, things started to really change…
I saw my dreams coming to life. The reason I’m successful today is that I woke up every day, showed up, and didn’t quit when it was hard. I gave it everything I had, even when I had nothing left to give.
There will always be challenges in life, but start living for the little moments, sparks of energy, the creative flow, or even a smile on a stranger’s face. Suddenly, the challenges don’t seem as hard.
How will you grow your revenue streams?
Every business is different. As a social media creator, I’m at the stage of pivoting from solely working with brands to create a revenue stream, to venturing into how to create a stream of income from my brand Heidiisms. I’m excited to explore the opportunities that come along with creating my Heidiisms lines through branded merchandise.
What is your future vision for your business? Where do you see your dream taking you?
I don’t want to stop growing until we reach a point in the world where we have a complete day without one ounce of hate. Then my goal becomes about seeing a full week, and then a month, and then a year…until we truly make Love go Viral.
What advice would you offer other creatives?
I’ve got two. The first is, don’t give up. And the second, because there’s a lot of hate on social media right now, “No one will ever put you down, that is doing more than you.”
Those two pieces of advice have really stuck with me. And, if you know what your dream is and are ready to give up everything for it, to really throw all yourself into it, don’t get weighed down by insults.
I’ve been told that I would never make it on my own and my personality wouldn’t be enough, but last year I was flown to NYC as one of the Top 50 streamers in the world.
Everyone will have an opinion (which they have a right to have), but only let your opinions affect your thoughts & dreams. 💗 Cheers my fellow dreamers, creators, and lovers 💗
Xoxo Heidiisms
Company name: Heidiisms
Email Address: info@heidiisms.com
Website URL: www.heidiisms.com
Instagram URL: www.instagram.com/heidiisms
