Nadine Abramcyk and Jenna chat about Tenoverten’s founding story, from the first nine customers who came for services, despite the salon having no heat, to recognizing the opportunity to pioneer the natural nail care movement.
We spend most of our time together discussing key lessons Nadine’s learned on presence and fulfillment, including letting go of the need to be perfect in order to really experience your life, habits that help her focus on the essentials, and the power of letting your mind wander.
Key Learnings and Highlights
- On actively seeking advice: “Be open to getting advice wherever you can find it and make the time to seek it out.”
- On risk: “I am someone who believes that life is not worth living if you aren’t trying things for the first time, which involves risk…Life if so much more rewarding when you put yourself out there. I’ve been through periods in my life where I’ve played it more safe and it’s just not as much fun. I don’t get as much out of it nor do the people who I love and want to give my energy to. It’s just become part of my DNA.”
- On fast decision-making: “I became okay with not being perfect at everything. A lot of people become indecisive because they want to make the best decisions all the time. I was okay doing that 80% of the time and making mistakes. Once I was able to let go of the idea of being perfect all the time, which I was never able to accomplish even when I took the extra time with every decision, I was able to move through life in a very decisive way and experience a lot more.”
- On focusing on the essentials: “When you look at the big picture, letting go of things becomes easier…You have to really spend time with yourself and your thoughts to know where it is important to let go and where it is important to dive in…I look at my time as units of the day and how many I am going to spend on each task…When you stop worrying about how everyone perceives you, you will do a better job and be more focused. The people around you will feel that you are coming at things from a genuine place and you will feel more fulfilled.”
- On finding direction: “…You can go through life and think ‘Wow, I didn’t even do anything,’ even though you did so many things. If you aren’t really present and being mindful when you are doing it, what do you take from it? I believe as a human being that we are put on this earth to create community, to feel connected to each other and to do good for each other. If you have that in mind as you are making decisions and moving through life, for me, it helps me direct myself and decide where I want to spend my time. What an amazing place it would it be if everyone felt very directed in what they are doing and we can all move through our lives feeling very fulfilled.”
- On presence of mind: “The practice of presence of mind is something that I work on constantly…Just the notion that I am aware of it and thinking about it, even if I’ve forgotten for a few hours and come back to it. It’s like meditating for me, when the teacher says, ‘If your thoughts wander, don’t give yourself a hard time. Just come back to your breath.’ I just think, ‘Okay, I haven’t thought about being present in a couple of hours. My mind has been wandering and thinking about what I haven’t done. But that’s okay.’ We all have such an inner critic in ourselves. It’s good to be aware of that and know that you aren’t your thoughts – That’s not what your being is made up of – and be kinder to ourselves. In that kindness, it will come out and hopefully people will feel fulfilled. I certainly do but it is work every day.”
- On embracing your wandering mind: “…Letting your mind wander is actually good for your brain health. In the same way that you would go to the gym and lift a weight because it’s good for your bicep, it is good for your brain to not have to think in a very managed way and let your mind run through your thoughts without controlling them. That’s an exercise for your brain. As you get older you will be more sharp as you let that happen. Rather than being hard on myself when that happens, I think of it is an opportunity where I got to zone out for 10 minutes. I don’t know what I learned but maybe something emerged. That’s okay because it was good for me. It’s so important to not be in control of your brain all the time and to take breaks to sit down with and be connected to your thoughts.”
- On relationships: “I’m very thoughtful about my relationships in a way I haven’t been in the past in terms of: What am I personally getting from this relationship and what am I giving back to this relationship?…The beauty of getting older and knowing myself more is looking for friendships that are eyeopening. I try to be a curious person but when I surround myself with interesting people I become even more so.”