Mornings With Nikki Reed
In the series ‘Mornings With’ we begin a new day with inspiring talent in film, television and media, in an equally inspiring place. ROSE & IVY founding editor, Alison Engstrom sits down and chats about morning routines, exciting projects, New York and what inspires them and drives them to be their very best.
Actress, environmentalist and entrepreneur Nikki Reed is a gem of a human being; a person who is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. Truth be told, I could have talked to her all day about her animal advocacy, sustainability and running her business with a philosophy centered around the greater good. I met up with Nikki, when she was recently in New York at the Arlo Hotel, and chatted with her about how she begins her day, how she discovered her inner artist, her jewelry line BaYou With Love and how small changes can make a big impact. Plus, she shares some easy tips on how she incorporates sustainability into her family’s daily routine. - Alison Engstrom
Photography by Daniel G. Castrillon
NIKKI REED
Actress, Environmentalist and Entrepreneur
THE LOCATION
Nikki is wearing jewelry from her brand, BaYou With Love
Do you BEGIN YOUR DAY WITH coffee or tea?
I love coffee because I love the smell; I like to make coffee for other people, but after years of being on set and just spiking my adrenal glands, with like 10 cups of coffee a day, I kind of moved out of that two or three years before I got pregnant. Now I love tea. My morning ritual actually very much revolves around tea. I have a tea meditation practice—it's not a seven day week thing, I wish it was, but more of a luxury that happens on the weekend.
Do you have a motivating morning mantra or practice that helps to frame your day?
I usually have a meditation moment; I read a page or a chapter from a book that I'm already into and loving. I like to take a second to be with myself and set the intention for the day. I also try to get a little exercise in the morning, even if it’s just a little walk, sometimes I use the Alo Yoga app on my iPad.
Did you know from an early age what you wanted to be when you grew up?
When I was little, I was sure I was going to be a veterinarian. My mom's a beautician, so my first job, with any exchange of money, was cutting hair and doing makeup when I was 12 years old—to be honest, I was kind of good! I mean, I did the craziest of haircuts. I had a friend who let me cut her beautiful waist-length hair into this little pixie cut because we saw the movie Crazy/Beautiful with Kirsten Dunst. I was like, here's the cut for you, honey (laughs).
I grew up with a single mom, who made $16,000 a year, raising two kids in Los Angeles—we definitely didn't have extra money. We were very fortunate to have friends around my mom who really wanted to make sure that we were okay and that we had all of our necessities, but there was definitely some struggle in there. My mom did a great job of hiding that from my brother and I. I think with that way of living, you quickly learn that if you want things,you have to work for them and you also have to think outside the box. I was a third grader who was stringing beads on bracelets and selling them for three dollars at school, so I could buy an extra lunch because I was hungry. I didn't want to only wear my brother's worn hand-me-down Adidas shoes that were two sizes too big, so I would sing karaoke door-to-door to make five bucks with my friends. We were always hustling like that and trying to figure out how to live the best that we could through creative avenues.
How did you foster your creative talents?
I was definitely a creative kid and then I fell into writing; writing was the saving grace for me because my brother and I lived in a neighborhood, where I think the school was fine, but I don't think it was great by any means. Luckily through my writing, we were put in different programs at different schools. We ended up in a magnet school, where my writing was really supported and I ended up accidentally writing this film, Thirteen, that became a really special moment in time and through that, I fell into acting.
My acting career was put on this fast track—here's where your life is going to go; here is what your career is going to be. I spent a lot of time in my formative years fighting that path. I thought, wow, this is something that I enjoy and I did feel really passionate about it. I felt really uncomfortable with the word ‘artist’, until I launched my company. Ironically, being behind the camera, and sort of taking a step back and seeing myself involved in so many different creative aspects within the company, but no longer in the spotlight, had reconnected me to art and a path that I felt I was maybe always meant to be on but didn't know it. Actors are very much artists and I have so much respect for that art and craft, but I think I was on a path where I didn't feel like I was really pushing myself or my creative needs as hard as I could have or knew how to until BaYou With Love. You don't know that you're not fulfilled until you find the thing that fulfills you. I know that I was always searching; we were shooting all the Twilight films and in between each film, I was off traveling. I lived in Russia for a year, then Greece and Switzerland.
My brother went to Florence for his art. I kept thinking, wait, that's the life that I want to be living. Yet, I found myself on this path that can be at times so directionally influenced. You’re on that path and stepping away from it is really scary. I remember getting calls from my PR team saying, ‘Hey, you should definitely be at People's Choice Awards and not in Greece right now.’ And I'm like, you know what, I'm living my life; I’m figuring things out about myself. It's true, I made some really poor career decisions because I wasn't always capitalizing on that moment. I felt like I was learning so much about the world that I didn't care. I hadn't found my thing yet.
Being involved in so many initiatives and causes is an amazing but busy feat, how do you choose where to get involved?
Growing up, my mom would let me bring in and rescue anything I could find so like, rats, we even had a coyote at one point. I was allowed to bring them into our house because I have a mom who has a heart the size of the planet. She was like, if it needs a home, food or shelter, we can do that. So that started me on a path of very early fostering. But that type of grassroots connection to activism, where your home and your doors are literally open, I think it sets you on a path of personal connection to activism and that you can have an impact.
Everything you touch—if you're open to it—leads you to something else. Animal activism is actually completely related to environmental activism. I think that the hardest lesson I’ve learned after becoming a mom, is it's okay to say ‘no’ and to preserve your time. Activism, while it can be incredibly fulfilling, of course, can also feel very overwhelming and at times daunting. There's always more to do, especially for somebody who has a type A personality, where you like to see things come to fruition. Sometimes activism can be heart-wrenching because there's always more to do. At this point in my life, I've learned to say, I have this much energy and I'm one person, here's where I can put that energy to really be impactful, because if I spread it everywhere, then nothing gets accomplished.
How do you stay centered because you are involved in a lot of causes, which you can be very heart provoking and at times upsetting?
It's hard to not take it home with you and we have a very passionate household; we're also a very sensitive household. I think that it inevitably comes home with you. I try to stay focused on the positive, not the negative, and the good work that's being done, while also continually researching what works. We're living in such a transparent world now that it's really easy to see what the cause and effect is and what your impact can be.
You often use your social media platform to share thoughts and stories about manifestation, social justice, women-empowerment, and other things that are important to you—almost as an open journal or blog—how important is it for you to use your platform in that way?
I was told for so many years that I would not be able to launch a business or have an active social media platform without engaging in this selfie culture world. All I can say is I fucking did it. I stuck with what felt right to me, and that just never felt right to me. My husband is so good at mastering the art of engaging an audience with whatever imagery, yet giving a very important message that follows. He can get people to click on a photo and then absorb the important message underneath that photo. I think for me. personally, it just never felt right just posting imagery of myself. Every Instagram post is a novel, maybe only five people read it. I don't know how to write in two or three sentences, because to me, my soul has much more to say and I want to get deep. I wanted to find a way to connect with people, without opening up my personal life, instead my whole point of having a social media platform is to highlight the work of other artists, to talk about other female founded companies and the work that they're putting into not cutting corners and running a sustainable and ethical US businesses. I want to talk about writers that I love. I want to dig a little deeper.
Have you learned any easy sustainable tips or practices that you can share?
Small and incremental change is so important. Sustainability is a conversation that is inclusive, it's not exclusive. At this point in my life, I don't associate with labels. When people ask, how do you eat? I don't say vegan—even though I’m mostly plant-based yet, the only label I'm comfortable using is I'm trying to be a bit more conscious with my approach to life. I think for a long time there was this feeling of either you're in or you're out—either you're one of the good ones or one of the bad ones. We're living in extreme times, but extremism is not the solution. I think incremental change is something that I try to talk a lot about through social media or my company. Actually, the best thing we could possibly do with how many billions of people are on this planet is to encourage small change because it equals big change when you're talking numbers.
We just made a household pact to shop in bulk and reusable bags have been a thing for a long time in our life and that's something a lot of people are adopting, which is awesome. Convenience is a big deal, and there are also days where it's okay if you're going to buy your spinach in a box. You know, this is not about, shame on you or shame on me for feeling so guilty for not doing things perfectly. I still forget my bag sometimes and it's devastating because I have a two year old, so by the time you like load a kid in the car, go to the market and do the whole thing, you better believe I'm not going to turn around, put my kid back in a car, drive all the way home. I'm a human being, we're all just doing the best we can. Our entire pantry is made up of glass glass jars and everything's reusable. We also bring them to the farmers market.
I used to make a lot of our cleaning supplies, now I don't have the time, so I found a reusable dispensary at the farmers market where I bring my jars and I refill our soaps, laundry detergent and cleaning supplies. We're trying to go completely plastic-free in our house. We've already taken out garbage bags from our recycling bins—why use another plastic bag? I found a really wonderful compostable garbage bag from Seed and Sprout. The greatest thing I learned in our household was from an incredible writer Jonathan Safran Foer, he wrote a book called We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast. He talks about environmental impact, so I sat down with my husband and I realized our goals and our ability to change our lifestyle can be different. For example, he has a very hectic travel schedule, so flying less right now is not an option. But for me, flying less is totally an option. Or if I'm driving, I can make sure the car I'm driving is a hybrid or completely electric. Or two days a week, we're going to make sure that we are completely vegan or two days a week we're going to make sure we have a vegan breakfast. It really changed our family.
What was the inspiration for starting your brand, BaYou With Love?
I think the biggest catalyst was being pregnant and searching for products I couldn't find in the marketplace. It started with Googling organic underwear, which believe it or not, four to five to five years ago, wasn’t available. Now, there's more of an awareness of what we put on our bodies is as important as what we put in our bodies. I want to know and stand behind every decision that the company makes. I love producing our jewelry in downtown Los Angeles, because I can visit the facility a couple times a week. I know everyone that works there. I love having face to face contact.
What’s next for you and your brand?
We're moving back into apparel—we're launching loungewear and sustainable athletic-wear, which is very fun. We just did a really cool partnership BaYou With Love x 12|12, our new baby collection, which is all organic baby clothes. We launched our blog a few months ago and hopefully the work I'm doing on my personal social media page can transfer and then grow into creating a landing page for sustainable companies I admire and highlighting the work they're doing. Also, we’ll maybe have some organic, sustainable recipes and a place for people to go if they're curious about zero-waste or sustainable living.
What lessons have you learned about running a business?
I learn hard lessons every day. But the greatest lesson I've learned is that you have to watch your cash flow and accounting, because that is the core thing that everything else revolves around. And if there's a mistake, or anything that happens in that area, it can throw everything off. I have to be incredibly involved in all aspects of that.
as a fellow photographer, How do you feel when you are behind your camera?
I feel very present.
on a more holistic level, How do you stay present?
I just finished for the third time Pico Iris’ book The Art of Stillness, which has literally become my Bible. One of the concepts he talks about in this book is people think stillness is a luxury for people who can afford to do it. He talks a lot about how it is a total misconception, but also an excuse for inviting in the chaos. I think that I made that excuse for a long time. I can't afford to be still right now because I'm a young company. We're moving, growing and shaking and trying to make some moves. I'm forced to be in this position until we will have the luxury of slowing down and being still, and now I hear his words kind of resonating with me on a different level. People who can't afford that kind of stillness are the people who need it the most. If I'm in a place where I think I can't afford stillness, I need to spend extra time honoring stillness. My whole goal right now is simplifying everything, smaller everything, less everything. It’s stripping away and scaling back. We'll see where it takes me, but I'm making a very conscious effort right now to honor stillness.
Editorial Assistant Jane Dulaney; A very special thank you to Arlo SoHo