IMPACT

Together We Thrive (Not Just Survive): Neighbor Spotlight on Nicolette Rich

By

Alicia Briggs

– VOL. 4

Nicolette Rich is an entrepreneur, spiritual advisor, intuitive, free spirit and a lover of the arts. When she’s not roller skating around Kansas City, you can find her helping others deepen their connection to the world around them.

When Nicolette moved to Kansas City in 2011, she fell in love with it instantly. Originally from St. Louis, she thought she would only be in Kansas City for college before returning home. Ten years later, and she’s still here.

“I think one of the things I really fell in love with, with Kansas City, is how much it did match my personality,” she muses. “I really feel like there’s so much opportunity for people to be who they are here.”

Image of Kansas City Healer Nicolette Rich

Since launching her business in 2019, Nicolette has explored many ways to connect with her community from podcasting to the Venn app.

It was in Kansas City that Nicolette was finally able to explore her free-spirited side and connect with a like-minded community. Nicolette’s expressive, creative personality allowed her to fit seamlessly into Kansas City’s thriving arts scene.

What’s kept her here for so long though, is the city’s ever-evolving, always-changing nature. “This city has so much potential. I’ve seen a lot of growth in the last ten years and it’s been rewarding to watch that.”

Nicolette has always been a curious person with an emphasis on self-healing. This inspired her to start her own business, Nrich Yourself, in 2019. As a spiritual advisor, she uses various tools like reiki and tarot readings, to help people heal, and understand their connection to themselves and the world. She even started a podcast, The 511 Journey, to further connect to those outside of her neighborhood.

“I love how much of this entrepreneurial energy just resides here. So many people are just looking to do something different, do something new.”

Starting her own business introduced Nicolette to the booming entrepreneur side of Kansas City. “I love how much of this entrepreneurial energy just resides here. So many people are just looking to do something different, do something new. I feel like I’ve seen a lot of people who are looking for alternative ways to live and thrive. That’s so important in terms of community.”

For Nicolette, community is crucial. “Community is all about people living together who are somewhat like-minded but are also able to respect each other’s differences and boundaries.”

This type of community is what she loves about her own neighborhood in Kansas City. It’s also what attracted her to Venn.

“I thought it was really cool that this organization is here to bring the neighbors together and allow us to see value in each other. If there’s resources that you have, we can work together to figure out a way to thrive, not just survive. That’s what it’s all about.”

As a business owner, she uses Venn to highlight her services and meet Neighbors doing the same thing. “It’s nice to know who’s in your neighborhood or right next door, that might be able to help but you wouldn’t have talked to them otherwise… It’s been nice to know that Venn has your back.”

During the pandemic, Nicolette launched her podcast 511 Journey, which combines sincere spiritual guidance and a solid dose of real talk.

Living in a busy city and owning your own business can make meeting people hard. It can be tempting to just, “stay in your own lane, have your head down,” she explained. “When you bring a community app like this to a city, it allows you to remember just how important it is to have people watching your back.”

Nicolette spends much of her time building her business, but with Venn, she can easily find new things to do when she has time off. Whether that’s attending a seminar on women’s finances, joining a neighbor for a bike ride, or finding an awesome new pair of sunglasses for sale, Venn brings everything in her community together, in one convenient place.

“The thing I love about Venn the most is that it makes people feel comfortable with connecting to people who live near them…it’s been nice to know that that’s the community I live in and that’s what’s out there.”