As part of the new web series, The Role Model In You — here is the most recent interview. The Role Model In You series discusses how individuals were influenced as a child to lead a healthy lifestyle. It covers who influenced these individuals, the changes they made in their life to be healthy, and the message they would like to convey to the youth of today. Our guests include doctors, soccer stars, Super Bowl champions, NBA players, Olympic gold medalist, entrepreneurs, celebrities, and just regular people looking to share their story. We hope you enjoy it!
1. Your name, title, and age? What do you do (or did you do) for a living?
I’m Nicole Wright, a 30 year old entrepreneur, philanthropist and writer. I started my first company, Wright Financials, when I was 24 and I started three additional organizations when I was 28: Life Hypnotherapy, Wellness 264 Center, a therapeutic and community wellness space, and Food Body ME, LLC. Food Body ME is a lifestyle for the body and mind featuring Celebrity Chef Cooking Classes, Organic Juice Cleanses, Yoga, and Meditation.
2. Who was the person that inspired you as a child to eat healthy and stay fit? What was their relationship to you?
My mom was very much into health. Growing up meals were cooked from scratch with natural, whole ingredients and for dessert, an apple. When I was 8 she became a softball coach and I became motivated by sports. I was active in softball, weight training, swimming, and running; in high school being on a state winning softball team and continuing with running through college before becoming a cyclist.
3. What did they do to inspire you?
Food was important growing up. Peers would criticize “fat” in foods and my mom would say that fat is essential for growing kids and that our bodies had been digesting whole foods for thousands of years. That it was the processed foods that were foreign to us. She would take me and my siblings to farms for family field trips and she made a mini animal farm in our back-yard and garden in our front. Being well-behaved was also important to her and she’d point out the negative effects that sugar had on children’s moods and behavior.
4. How did their lesson change your life?
I was conscientious of what I put in my body and of exercise. I never shied away from eating fat even with all the low-fat trends. It instilled for me a love of health and nutrition which I’ve been grateful to share with others.
5. Do you convey their message to kids in your life presently?
At Food Body ME the Celebrity Chefs and hosts share healthy cooking and nutrition tips to the patrons, and when there are children, they LOVE the classes. Our juice cleanses include nutrition consults and its wonderful when a client thanks me afterwards saying that the nutrition information changed their lives, which they can pass on to their children.
6. What would be your main message to children today to lead healthy lifestyles?
Be creative and explore with food. Make food a game or a science experiment. My sister tried all sorts of food combinations when she was growing up and now she is an amazing and unique chef. Explore fruits, veggies, grains, cheeses, meats and have fun with it. Explore movement too – bring enthusiasm and excitement into what you do and do it because YOU want to try it out.
7. Do you have a web site you would like to promote….web address only?