Meet Nick Baga of Woodland Hills

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Baga.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
23 years ago I moved to Los Angeles from Boston, a kid with big dreams to be a dancer & actor in the city where all the magic happens. It’s definitely been a wild ride but somehow, someway I’m able to say that I’ve achieved many of those dreams and more. Through perseverance mostly but also I believe my love for life and a hunger to keep growing has helped pave the way.

Some major career highlights to throw in the mix would be performing LIVE on The Oscars, VMA’s, Grammy’s, Dancing with The Stars, The Olympics & SNL to television shows like Glee, Oprah, How I met your mother and many more. Along with major films like LA LA Land & Hairspray to even touring and dancing with artists such as Justin Bieber, Stevie Wonder, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez.

The life of artist is so interesting because we go from the highest of highs to the longest of lulls. So our actual job is maintenance and being prepared for the moment when it arises. Living this way for such a long time has given me enough experience to build a lifestyle that keeps me ready but also fuels my soul. Keeping me creative and in high spirits to help combat the constant ups & downs that come with this territory. Surfing, dancing, yoga, meditating, eating well and learning to sustain myself at the highest level has become my North Star. As when I feel my best and can truly love myself it shows up in every area of my life. And although being a part of these epic moments as a performer lights my fire and it’s all in hopes to inspire someone watching, there is so much out of my control. Which leads me to where I’m at now…

In 2020 I launched my brand Lykos. Lykos revolves around this lifestyle I’ve built. Meant to inspire people to take a closer look at the details of their lives which in turn will lead to making better choices and ultimately a better life. We started with a collection of hemp apparel, a uniform for the modern artist. This was a unisex capsule outfit that sold out fast. From there we started to add to our collection with some screen print designs sharing our motto “Dig Deeper. Love Harder. Vibrate Higher.” These were a hit which led to us releasing our Signature Fragrance. While this was happening there was a larger vision taking shape. We are more than products and I feel the best way to teach is through lifestyle. This motivated me to lead a Men’s Retreat in Costa Rica revolving around meditation, movement, surfing and brotherhood. This direction for the brand is an all encompassing Lykos experience. It being a huge success pushed me to further dive into the community direction by having Local LA Men’s Group meetings & the Lykos Movement Club. Movement was my gateway to this life that has given me so much but it has also been my medicine so this summer I launched the movement club as a space to help guide others to use movement as medicine as well. Recently with Lykos I co-facilitated a creatives retreat in Greece where I shared much of my practice and my heart with a group of artists & have also been doing pop ups at the Topanga Famers Market to build brand awareness.

At this moment our main focus at Lykos is to build community around a lifestyle we love. I see the brand in addition to having our collection of apparel to continue having events involving the outdoors, surf, wellness and movement.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
This has definitely not been the smoothest of roads. I’m someone who gets real excited and can be quite impulsive so the decision to start a brand came before having the proper knowledge of what it entailed.

For a long time I was modifying all of my own clothes and wanted to become less of a consumer so figured I should just make my own. No idea how big of an undertaking this would be I committed. Choosing Hemp because of its sustainability and durability was my priority however of course it’s the more complicated and expensive choice. I travelled to Toronto to shadow a designer friend of mine (Jonathan Shimoni) to learn a bit more about the process. The sourcing materials to finding a factory, all of this I can type in a sentence but was months of work to get it all done. Along with having patterns made etc. From there the real work began, learning to market, promote, make content which are all things I still have yet to master. Then when going into production knowing what sizes will sell, making sure things are made ethically and to the standard I want the brands ethos to revolve around. It’s a lot of work and coming from the world of an artist there were quite a lot of times I wanted to give up.

Then progressing to where we are now I’m faced with new challenges when it comes to getting people to sign up for the retreats or come to community events. And the thing is I get it, people are busy and wrapped up in life and although they know something may be good for them convincing them to commit is a challenge.

Truthfully I’m still learning and Lykos is still in it’s infancy, I’m trying to continue to practice what I preach as I build the brand and rather than be overwhelmed by the potential and to do list follow inspired action towards growth and making choices for that align with the overall vision.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a mover, actor and artist. What does that mean? I’m still trying to figure it out.

I’ve been dancing for 35 years and this has been the greatest gift of my life. The vessel that brought me to Los Angeles and introduced me to a life that I love. Through dance I’ve traveled the world, experienced many cultures, met the most amazing people and the best of friends. I mentioned earlier some of my career highlights but basically I’ve been a professional dancer in LA for 23 years and have done every type of job you can as a dancer from Films, TV, Awards Shows, company work, commercials, tours and music videos. I’m also an actor here in Hollywood doing more self-tapes then one can count and have been lucky enough to land a few cool roles on things like American Crime Story, Gameshakers, The Mindy Project and most recently Ryan Murphy’s latest show The Shards.

Aside from just industry work I’ve been traveling teaching dancers and young artists throughout my entire career. Nothing fills me up more than sharing what I love with those eager to learn from me.

When I’m not working I’m hopefully creating whether it’s concept videos or choreography or sharing my heart on social media. Not to mention pushing Lykos forward.

As of late I’ve been offering some lifestyle & performance coaching for select private clients. Over the years I’ve acquired a well of knowledge in regards to movement; workout, dance, yoga, calisthenics and surfing. By using and pairing that with meditation, visualization and some good honest conversation I believe I can help you to actualize your greatest potential. My plan is to train and be in the experience with you. This for me is another opportunity to teach through lifestyle.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Finding a mentor is sound advice. I actually think I could still use one. Honestly I don’t think I’ve had one specific mentor per say however there are so many wise people I’ve crossed along the way and I’ve just tried to take with me the gems they’ve dropped along the way.

Networking can be tough if we look at it from this business exchange perspective but if we are just out in the world being open and authenticate people we are meant to connect with and learn from will naturally gravitate our direction. Sounds cliche I know but it’s true, and really it also just takes time. The best I can relate this to is my career in the industry as a dancer. Yes when I moved here as a teenager I was a good dancer but so far from the working dancer I hoped to be. But it was those same dancers I took class with that then became choreographers and then directors… so the truth is to just always show up, be kind and do your thing. The more consistent you are the more people will see you and notice you and the kinder you are the more people will want you around. Yes, there are the anomalies who move somewhere and their project takes of on day one or they land the greatest career defining job but for most of us it’s about persistence.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lykos.life
• Instagram: @lykos.life
• Youtube: @BagaLove
• Other: @nickbaga

Image Credits
Main shot x Nicola Buck @lapicnic