We recently connected with Nicole Haring and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Life is all about the unknown, as the only thing we really do know is the present moment and that moment is just a blip of time along the broad spectrum we call the timeline of human life. If we only know now, shouldn’t we all be taking risks, well aren’t we all taking risks? Some greater than others, I suppose, but living is a risk as we live surrounded by unknowns. If we only live for what is expected how do we actually grow, how do we find inspiration to try something new. We would be trumping our own ability to explore new grounds of being and in my eyes, actually living. I was offered opportunities that would pay larger sums of money but the desk life is too predictable, too many knowns about the mundanity of what I consider “robotic” work of the prepared lifestyle driven by monetary means vs glowing with the bright riches of inner means. I took a risk on doing what I am most passionate about and surrounded myself with art and yoga, making both function as my sources of financial “stability” while maintaining them as passions vs calling them my “job”. Life is short, if you are not passionate about what you are doing, why would you be doing it, unless you were stuck in the grind of doing it because you expect the expected, therefore losing any room for inspiration and challenge. I thrive in challenge, I thrive in beginning new projects, new mediums, even my yoga classes are taught in this very fashion, I do not set a sequence up before hand. I have no idea who or what will walk into the room for that class, what right do I have writing a sequence and delivering something that was preconceived to people whom may not have any need for that space. I write my sequence based off of observations of body mechanics and mannerisms, based off of requests they ask for in that moment, based off of what I observe as they begin to explore their body. The body tells so much more than the mouth will ever be able to articulate, we in ourselves are a risk but we try to as humans confine ourselves to a set core of needs, or know how’s which from what I have observed can actually be the very opposite of what is actually needed.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was raised in a family with positively split ideals under one roof which probably lead me to my open mind of exploration, seeing all ends of the mental and human spectrum. My father a business man and my mother an artist. I went to a private art school in Manhattan and studied under some of the most amazing and articulate in the field. I walked away with inspiration and tools but being me kept seeking and kept flowing with what glimmered on my path. I was a school teacher for over a decade and became a runner which ultimately lead me to the yogic realm. I never anticipated being a yoga teacher, however it landed so naturally for me and at the perfect time, as if it was meant to be. I did a 200 hour training and just kept going, there is always something else, another perspective another lineage another way of learning about the deepest space I had come across, like a never-ending rabbit hole of goodness. Then Covid shut the world down, with it all studios. This closure opened up my time and brought me back to my art. I taught myself silversmithing after a one hour lesson from a friend during “covid years.” I was teaching 11 privates a week and making jewelry to help provide for our family of 5 as we are rather blue collar and live pay check to pay check, just simple folks living that American dream;). Neither of us strive to make money the most important aspect, we prefer to keep things simple and felt.

I had been teaching yoga for 10 years when I was convinced to open my own shop, as all of the local studios were now closed. So with the unknown space of the masked atmosphere, I opened a 750 sqft studio in down town Cave Creek. The space was about heart, it was about offering my passion to others, without the the idea or desire of making it a money making business. It was a space to bring people back together, to breathe and move together. A space for people to be comfortable with others and still settle into themselves. At the first studio I opened, you walked right into the studio it was cute and cozy. I have a strong passion of hosting classes that offer a full array of human needs, we do not preach, we do not teach what is not necessary, we offer real classes for real humans that are looking to find a state of homeostasis. Spirituality is within the eye of the beholder we do not push anything on anyone in this studio.

Our yoga classes classes cover the full array, we have pranayama, yoga Nidra, yin, yoga all levels, meditation, stretch and renew, the great yoga wall, sound-bath, vigorous vinyasa, asana workshops, gentle yoga. Our teachers are all highly trained and passionate about what they do each one offering their own voice and feeling to their classes.

I always felt there should be a space that people could come into to feel better, no matter what. A space that did not segregate or hold a hierarchy. I named it Holistic Hollow with the intention of one day opening it up to be an all encompassing space of holistic modalities and well within 8 months we needed to expand, the yoga community had grown and it was time to open up a larger space to host an array of offerings, so someone could come do yoga and then get acupuncture, a space people could come to when they need help to balance their being without walking into a cold and uninviting drs office.

We have acupuncture, functional medicine, an apothecary, orthopedic and therapeutic massage, reiki, hypnosis, educational classes on herbalism, art classes, kids and teen camps, reflexology for hands, face and feet. The shop also is home to a refill station and sells my handmade jewelry and other artists work as well as fine teas in bulk. Everything in our shop feels personalized for our clients as everything we do is geared towards what it is they as a whole need within the moment.

Holistic Hollow is about comfort amongst the discomfort of healing self. It is hard to heal, challenges present themselves we may not even know or recognize we have. But when we heal ourselves we truly heal from the inside out, creating a wholeness that is ours to own. Holistic Hollow is a place for everyone, a place to recenter, a place to reclaim oneself. A place to heal self, we do not heal you but we offer tools for you to own the power of healing yourself. To me anyone who claims they will heal another person, is a thief. Someone who steals that power from another human is not healing the person in need, but rather stripping them from their own power in order to gain more power.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I almost did not open the business. This endeavor began when two clients approached me when I was offering private classes out of my home studio. She had been a client for years, her husband was a new client. They said to me ” Nicole we want you to be able to offer what you do to more people and want to help you do that, we feel all you need is a small amount of money to get your foot in the door.” I said no as I do not like taking any aid from others, I work hard and its mine has always been my way. They asked several more times saying; “no strings attached, Nicole you will owe us nothing, I have actually purchased and had to sell cars worth more than this.” I talked with my husband and he said don’t do it Nicole it sounds like charity, I exclaimed but they are super nice people they just want to help and said I owe them nothing. I told my husband how do I deny an offer like this what does that teach my children? I want to teach my children to take chances and that there are good people in the world willing to help you.

Well, I met with them and we decided to move forward with the condition that they would help me with the paperwork as I was homeschooling three children and teaching 11 privates a week and didn’t have time to do all the leg work. He said that’s perfect his wife needs something to do as they are both retired. The excitement begins to flow and we continue moving forward, they said something off putting about how I couldn’t teach privates out of the new studio space that it wasn’t good profitable use of the space, I said excuse me we discussed it and moved on, but it was a flag I kept in the back of my mind. A few other things that were odd transpired when I asked to view the paperwork and come to find out he was not trying to help me open my business but was rather trying to OWN half of my business. Never once was this discussed or even brought up, it was always Nicole we don’t want anything.

I questioned them on the paperwork and the wife reassured me they wanted nothing that this was just to help me offer outward what I do, they had the means to help and wanted to help. Then the husband said something to me that struck me as strange he said she couldn’t get her social security if she was making more than a certain amount of money. I couldn’t sleep that night wondering why would that matter she’s not making money from my business and began to google, the amount someone can make and still receive their social security check and if I recall it was upwards towards 19k, so I immediately realized he was trying to set them up to receive 19k or more of the studios funds.

So long story short as he put it “I wanted to attach my wagon to you Nicole, I thought the sky was the limit with you.” I told them I was done and that I no longer wanted to move forward as this was my business not theirs. She was supposed to help me not own me. I couldn’t believe that he was trying to swindle thousands of dollars from someone with nothing.He thought 10k would be fun kick around money where I think 10k is my life savings. I am beyond grateful I never signed anything with these people as they were clearly thieves.

After this long drawn out scenario happened I told my husband I don’t want to move forward it feels tainted. He said your passion is not tainted, they were. So I continued forward and opened the business on my own, redoing all of the paperwork and getting it up and running while finishing up homeschooling my three kids who are now in school.

The good news with funding a yoga studio, if you do it without all of the bells and whistles you yourself are the major overhead, there are not computers or furniture or anything that’s needed beyond a roof and a room that hosts a passionate teacher with a strong knowledge base.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Cave Creek is a small town that is growing at a rate that’s so fast, which is fantastic for business as but as resident too fast. Reputation in my industry builds from passion and ones ability to remain passionate about what they are offering others. I was teaching a class one night a few weeks ago and walked out of the class after it and into the lobby when a woman turned around and looked at me, her jaw dropped and she exclaimed “I found you”. It has to be the best experience when it comes to reputation. After I lost all of my teaching positions when COVID shut down all of the studios I also lost contact with 90% of my clients. She was one of my old clients from a gym I once taught at and had been looking for me since covid. I remain passionate about what I teach and how I deliver it, I grow with my clients. I read the room and offer out a perspective that is not confined by expectations or ego.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.holistichollow.org
• Instagram: theholistichollow and theharinghouse and nicoleannbellino and theharinghouseart
• Facebook: the holistic hollow

Image Credits
I need to get you guys some pictures of the studio