Meet Nicole Foos of NVision by Nicole Foos in Brentwood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Foos.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
First of all, I want to start how by expressing how grateful I am to have been able to do so many different things and to explore so many aspects of myself.

I then went to Boston University School of Law and proceeded to practice law for 14 years in Los Angeles doing insurance defense litigation – primarily medical malpractice defense and fraud-busting of fake accidents and injuries. I stopped practicing law when it got too difficult to do so with my two small children, at which point I started studying Gemology through the GIA (Gemology Institute of America) correspondence course and worked part-time in a high-end jewelry store primarily selling diamond and platinum jewelry so that I could actually work with what I was studying. (I should add at this point that I have always loved stones and crystals as well as jewelry of all kinds and have been collecting both my whole life.) At this point, I was interested in potentially becoming an appraiser and had no thought whatsoever of designing. However the appraising plan eventually fell by the wayside as I wanted to really spend time with my kids as they were growing; nevertheless, I did get very involved in leadership in their schools and spent a lot of time and energy volunteering.

In 2006, I formed an event planning business with a friend doing all kinds of private social events as well as non-profit events which I was engaged in for ten years; it was fun and satisfying to some extent, but I came to realize that I really wanted to explore my creative side but had no idea to engage with it. Finally, around five years ago, I started taking a sculpture class in which we primarily sculpted nude women working with live models.

And then around three years ago, I walked into a metaphysical shop in Ojai and saw some crystal massage wands and thought “I could make statement piece jewelry out of these!”

I knew where I could go to take silver-smithing classes and have absolutely loved it from the moment I walked in there. I formed my business, NVision by Nicole Foos, soon thereafter and developed the concept of making jewelry Power Pieces for my clients for not only adornment purposes but also to empower and heal them.

As time has gone on, my Power Pieces have evolved to become even more raw and elemental, and I have developed some pieces made from Sterling Silver without crystals as well. I have also been led to studying and implementing a variety of complementary healing arts such as crystal healing, pranayama breathing meditation, reiki, tarot card reading, Ayurveda and yoga therapy and offer private sessions incorporating a variety of those modalities as well.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not a terrible struggle by any means but not smooth… I was lucky with practicing law in terms of working with wonderful people for the most part, but it’s a stressful profession, to say the least, and very difficult to do with the excellence required with small children at home.

Event planning was quite stressful as well, although at least you’re dealing with happy people for the most part! Nevertheless being on call to the extent one really needs to be in that profession became challenging as well.

I did struggle for such a long time finding my creativity. It was somewhat painful to know it was in me but not be able to access it. But I’m so deeply grateful to have finally got there and found what I love and what I believe I was meant to do.

NVision by Nicole Foos – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I chose the name “NVision by Nicole Foos” as a sort of umbrella under which I felt I could eventually accomplish a lot of different things. My website started out just showcasing my Power Piece jewelry but was recently augmented to include the healing services I offer as well.

I’m really proud of all of it, and I think what sets me/my company apart is how multi-faceted it is. I look at a lot of other people’s websites and offerings all the time, and I don’t know of anyone else who offers jewelry not only as adornment but as a healing/empowerment tool as well.