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

Alright, Nichola thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I grew up eating charcuterie, though I didn’t know at the time that was what it was called. It’s commonly eaten in Britain and Europe where I grew up in the 80s and 90s traveling to visit my Mum’s family and friends. My eldest daughter, when she was little, loved going to Granmum and Poppa’s house to eat what she called “Mixed Up Dinner.” As it grew in popularity around the United States, and as we moved around the country in my husband’s service to the US Coast Guard, we began eating it and incorporating it more into our daily lives. There was a winery we would frequent in Port Angeles, Washington on our previous tour called Harbinger. They had an adorable farmhouse tasting area with a small fridge where they would have meats and cheeses for customers to make their own boards while tasting wines. From this sprouted the idea of The Goodie Bar. When we moved to Richmond Hill for our final duty station, my husband encouraged me to begin to plant the seed of a similar establishment in the Low Country area. While we are still waiting for our brick and mortar, we are continuing to serve Richmond Hill and the surrounding areas with boards and other goodies. It’s been a whirlwind of emotions, feeling disappointed in the loss of a potential location, anxiety of whether or not this business will succeed, and the feelings of pride and encouragement when customers love what has been created for them. All in all, it’s been a worthwhile endeavor, and still more to come, which is the most exciting piece of the puzzle.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

The Goodie Bar, Inc provides custom charcuterie boards, cups, globes, grazing tables, flat lays, and other goodies. As a graphic designer by trade for the last 20+ years, I am able to use the tenets of design to ensure the boards are pleasing to the eye, in an artful manner. I am a Bahamian of British decent and I typically use chutneys, pickled items, etc, that aren’t necessarily used in other boards. I am most proud of some of the larger grazing tables and boards we’ve created lately, and look forward to teaching some classes in the near future.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

In August of last year my husband and I thought we had found the perfect location for our brick and mortar. Everything was moving along smoothly, we were under contract, planning the build out, until I received a phone call, pulling the rug from under us, explaining that the HOA president was going to block us. Long story short, the contract was terminated and we are still back to square one. Since that time, I have been able to continue with the creation of the boards, building the brand, and I have also taken a full time job at an elementary school as a paraprofessional in special education. It has been one of the best decisions I’ve made and I am fully enjoying my time in elementary education while maintaining my small business at nights and on weekends.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Resilience is something that can be a character trait you’re naturally born with, but it’s also something that is strengthened and deepened by situations that occur in life. I can count on both hands in the last year times that I have had to lean on resiliency to keep my spirits up when orders were cancelled or when I found people had gone with another option than my company. I have had to learn not to take things personally when people “go in another direction.” Resilience goes hand in hand with determination and using them back to back can take you from good to great.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_goodie_bar_rh?igsh=MXI1cnQ5eWhlNm56Yw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090777547020