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

Jessica, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I think I started my business at just the perfect time. I had been a teacher from 2010-2020 but decided to take time off to be a full-time mom. During an exercise class in 2022 with some other other moms, I was asked what was the most challenging thing I ever accomplished. At the time I had been thinking about starting this company as a hobby but I just needed a nudge to get it started. That next week I created the Instagram account and Nature Needs SD was born. I think it was the perfect time because coming out of lockdown from the pandemic, people were eager to get outside and have experiences in nature and I wanted to be a resource for them.

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?

I have 15 years of teaching experience, a master’s degree in teaching biology and teaching credentials in physical education and life science. I love teaching people. I created Nature Needs SD to help teach people about native flora and fauna, environmental stewardship and sustainable lifestyles. I created an Instagram account (@nature.needs.sd) and website (natureneedssd.org) as platforms to engage community members. I have an environmental stewardship calendar that I update every month with different volunteer opportunities and outdoor/nature events that are updated weekly on my Instagram page. With all that I have researched, I wrote a book: Intentional-A Holistic Approach to Building and Maintaining a Sustainable Lifestyle. The book will be available for pre-order in April and for purchase on Barnes and Nobel online.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I have built a reputation through networking and connections. Though I have two young children, I try to go to as many events as possible so I can meet with like-minded individuals. Through these interactions, I have been able to show people that I don’t just talk about sustainability and caring for the environment, I am actually living a life of proof.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

The best book has been: Switch-How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath. This book investigates best practices for making changes in your life. It has been very impactful because I am trying to educate people about living more sustainably and this usually requires a lot of behavioral changes. I’ve had to really think about my approach to convincing someone that they should care about how much waste they create and what are realistic exceptions that people are actually going to make changes. The biggest lesson is that the only behavior I can actually change is my own.

Contact Info:

• Website: natureneedssd.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nature.needs.sd/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/Nature.Needs.SD/