Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in coaching but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Christy Nichols, Founder, and CEO of Venture Within, located in Rivas, Nicaragua.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

My Nicaragua Retreats and 1:1 private Life Purpose & Legacy coaching sessions offer a fusion of immersive, purposeful travel and mindful, life-shifting experiences. I am an educator, adventurer, Executive Life Coach, speaker, author, purposeful travel advocate, leadership and personal growth expert, seasoned traveler, curator of transformational experiences, and serial ex-pat.

My objective through Venture Within is to cultivate deep learning opportunities that enable you to create more meaning and purpose in your life, which in turn, ignites more good in the world. By designing personalized and powerful experiences in transformation, I enable you to shift your mindset to create, re-align, connect and ease into an inspiring new direction.

My in-country retreats, private one-on-one coaching, online group coaching programs, or co-hosted retreats, create an opportunity for you to experience long-lasting transformative learning, inspiration, connection, and deeper personal fulfillment.

Tell us about yourself

Hailing originally from both Nashville and Southern California, I earned my Master's degree and Teaching Credentials while living in Sussex in the UK. Beginning my career as a high school English teacher, I learned the importance of versatility and the power of authentic connection. During my seven years living in Brighton, my passion for travel and teaching began to take shape and reveal my life calling – that of curating impactful experiences within education, leadership, mental wellness, empowerment, and personal growth.

I spent the next several years living in Melbourne, Australia delivering seminars on Personal and Social Leadership while lecturing in several universities, all of which further fueled my passion for blending travel, personal leadership, altruism, and education to create inspiring and life-changing experiences for others. Since 2011, I have launched my own company delivering leadership programs overseas by way of educational and conservation initiatives, working with professionals, students, educators, institutions, small companies, and non-profits internationally.

In Australia, I co-founded EDventure – a company with a dynamic international team that created and facilitated socially impactful personal development and leadership programs overseas for university students. For five years, I traveled extensively around the globe, delivering incredible programs that included collaborative projects such as:

Forming personal connections with local communities resulted in founding a school in Phum Oh, Cambodia. Learning from Xhosa farmers about their history, economy, and culture and working alongside them to build a mud-brick kindergarten in a rural village outside Chintsa Beach, South Africa. Trekking nighttime beaches to provide hands-on support for sea turtle conservation efforts in Playa Junquillal, Costa Rica, and recognizing the need for a shift in education about climate change and our environment. Harvesting cacao alongside local ranchers in the mountains of Mastatal, Costa Rica, and gaining greater knowledge of the nutritional benefits of the foods we eat.

Learning local rice and sugarcane farming techniques in Surin, Thailand, and the importance of community connection and contribution. Immersing in local rehabilitation efforts for injured elephants in Ban Taklong, Thailand, and experiencing the unmistakable human and animal interconnectedness. Exchanging and connecting with refugee monks in both Siem Reap and Chiangmai, Thailand, challenging and expanding our belief systems and life outlook. Delivering coaching and mentoring workshops for burgeoning entrepreneurs and remote workers hustling in Ubud, Bali. Creating and facilitating mindful personal growth retreats immersed in tropical, barefoot luxury on the beaches of Nosara, Costa Rica, and the Emerald Coast in Tola, Nicaragua. Outdoor adventuring– climbing waterfalls, hiking through jungles, walking epic beaches, encountering wildlife, enjoying horse treks, deep-sea diving, jungle zip-lining, bungee jumping, volcano boarding, volcano summiting, off-roading, yoga-ing, sound journeying, celebrating with cacao ceremonies, spending reflective and self-nourishing time with others and ourselves, and so much more . . .

In 2016, I became a solo entrepreneur and founded my current company, Venture Within. Drawing on 20 years of experience and leaning into my expertise as an international business owner, professional coach, educator, facilitator, and traveler, I create a fusion of immersive, purposeful, mindful, reviving, and life-shifting experiences.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Going solo - shifting from having a co-found and an A-star team to taking on a new business on my own. It's by far the biggest accomplishment and the most rewarding.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Keeping up with ever-changing marketing trends, haha. What I offer is something that humans need and always will. However, being on top of the best strategy to ensure what I offer is within sight of my participants - that has always been a challenge for me.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Surround yourself with mentors who are invested in YOU and believe in you.
  2. Stay educated on best business practices. Join entrepreneurial circles to create a community you can connect with and bounce ideas off of, especially if you are building your business on your own.
  3. Remember why you started. It will get you through the most difficult of challenges.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Enjoy the small wins on your way to the big wins. :)

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://venture-within.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/venturewithin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/venture.within/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Venture_Within
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christy-nichols-educator/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.