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

Valerie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes and across all industries, so we’d love to hear about something you’ve done that you feel was particularly innovative.

Founding the first Eco-Village in North America was an out-on-a-limb venture. I had been a costume designer for film and television beforehand and had no clue how to manifest an eco-village. With no examples to follow, innovation was essential. I researched up the kazoo and traveled to numerous communities and educational centers attempting to figure out the best way to go about it. I asked them one fundamental question: “Can you tell me what did not work?” That gave me pointers on what not to do. There were hundreds of issues to address. Where will the land base be located? How much land does a village need? How many agriculture acres and how much water do 150 people need to work towards sustainability? What about the legal structure, ownership, decision-making, membership, budget, timeline, meetings, etc.? The deeper I went, the more complex it became. Keeping the vision at the forefront of my mind kept the ball rolling.

Earthaven Eco-Village was an experiential endeavor that evolved through a lot of work. It took four years of stumbling up a steep learning curve to settle on a plan. After hundreds of meetings inviting anyone who resonated with the vision to join forces, we learned how to use soft consensus, tweaked the documents, and found the land. People came and went, and in the end, eight of us committed to the vision and took the leap.

Funding was an enormous issue to tackle. After researching alternatives to banks, I devised a plan called Earthshares. It was a group fund backed by the deed on our contracted land. We beseeched family members and those who wanted to support the vision to invest in us. Offering two percent higher interest than savings accounts or CDs was a way to make it a win-win investment. Between us, family members, and supporters, we raised enough to put a deposit on the land. As members joined Earthaven after that, their contributions paid back our supporters and the seller-financed loan. It worked, and the deed is in our hands, not held by a bank.

To motivate members to contribute their time and energy to the project, I started a community exchange called Leaps. Everyone had to contribute X monthly hours to the village instead of paying higher fees. If one contributed more time, they received leaps to use the next month, trade for land resources, or other member’s services like massages. I put in enormous time and used my leaps for timber and rocks to build my home. The Leap system is still working decades later, and we added skips and bounds for amounts lesser and greater than a Leap.

Earthaven was America’s first Eco-village and is still thriving after 40 years.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m an eco-village founder, ontologist, author, adoptee, singer, and story-songwriter. My #1 bestseller book, Mystic Masquerade, an Adoptee’s Search for Truth, was based on five decades of a search that took me around the world as I unraveled the mystery of my stolen identity. It’s available in all formats by clicking valerienaiman.com
I have a master’s in Art and worked as a costume designer and actress in film and theatre in N.Y., Miami & L.A. in the 70’s. I left the industry in 1980 and moved to Asheville, NC, where I opened the first costume company in the region. That led me to start another business I called Sacred Garments. From there, I visited numerous indigenous villages in the U.S. & abroad, learning about ancient garments. In turn, that inspired me to start the first eco-village of North America. Beyond that, I’m the President of the Spirit Foundation, a non-profit educational 501-C3 organization that supports disenfranchised children. Oh my … Can you tell I’m a Gemini? Maybe that’s what my branding is.

Presently, I’m working on my next book titled The Making of Earthaven Eco-Village. Also in the mingle of projects is an album of story songs about my search.

I now live on an organic farm in Asheville, NC, with my dwarf goats and honeybees.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

My favorite marketing story is from my business, Carolina Costume Company. It was the annual Easter parade, and I had the Easter Bunny and other costumed characters lined up ready for our float.

The Bunny, however, found himself an outlaw when police told him and his friends that wearing a mask in public was illegal. I thought it was a joke, but the cop was serious. My warrioress skills came into play when he said mask-wearing was a subversive activity. I gathered my crew to create a campaign to welcome the Easter Bunny to Asheville.

We started with a spontaneous photo shoot of Keystone Kops handcuffing the Bunny. The Easter Bunny, wearing giant red sunglasses over his mask, showed up around town pretending to hide. The large sign we installed on my shop on Broadway said, “Easter Bunny Wants to Hide Eggs, Not His Face.” The Bunny peeked out behind the sign while cars drove by, and people slowed down to gander at the shenanigans. The phones were ringing off the hook!

I invited the mayor to welcome the Easter Bunny to town. When it received no response, I planned a demonstration in front of City Hall and notified the media. Supporters donated an air-conditioned bus, and we utilized every seat. Numerous friends, along with my crew, costumed up and boarded the buses. When we arrived downtown, crowds, media, cameras, and police were already gathered.

Outside the city building, people were waving signs featuring our slogan. Cameras flashed, and videos rolled as we disembarked from the bus. The Easter Bunny in sunglasses, wearing a ball and chain, was the last to appear. As he peeked out of the bus, cheers from my crew and the crowd beckoned him to come out. The crowd chanted, “Free the Easter Bunny! Free the Easter Bunny!”

By the end of the day, the story had gone coast to coast, and we had to install more phone lines to answer the influx of calls and orders. The threat to my business turned into a massive amount of free advertising! We laughed our way to the bank on that one.

I don’t know if it was sheer embarrassment that compelled the mayor to come out, but along with the police chief, he ended up giving a brief but grand welcome statement to the media. The law, which was a leftover from an old Ku Klux Klan concern, now contains an exemption for people wearing traditional holiday costumes in season. The issue was dropped, and Asheville’s masked holiday characters were free.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think getting out of our own way can allow inspiration to flow better. My experience is that the universe will provide insight through synchronistic moments. Maybe that sounds woo-woo, but it works for me! It helps to think outside the box. It also helps to refrain from using the words can’t, would, could, and should. To me, those words are either wishy-washy or, in the case of can’t, it puts a stop to creativity. I use a propose, dispose method if I have to. I’ll let the wildest idea evolve until something better and more doable appears.

I suggest not limiting yourself and staying off the beaten path. You know the edge is where the most life is. For example, the place where a meadow meets a forest or the ocean meets the beach. Those are nitch areas. I’ve found that whenever I’ve started a business, I succeeded, partially because it’s a nitch business. If you have a company with many competitors, try adding some special creative touch that no one else has. Let your mind run wild, and your creativity shine!

Contact Info:

• Website: valerienaiman.com
• Instagram: : https://www.instagram.com/valnaimanauthor/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ValerieNaiman
• Other: linktr.ee/valnaimanauthor

Image Credits
Toni Brost and Zoe Bryant