Women who inspire us; Nina Pierson
Who is Nina Pierson?
I'm a person who is always motivated by the 'why'. Why I do what I do is so important to me. I really feel that inner fire burning and longing to contribute in a small way to society with what I do within the fields of sustainability and maternity care (from pregnancy to birth and postpartum). This resulted in SLA, an organic salad bar chain which I founded with my husband in 2013 and the publishing of the book Mama'en in april 2020 and the eponymous podcast series (with over 80.000 listens since the launch in June 2020). I am the mother of 2 beautiful daughters Ella and Bodi and pregnant with our third child. I also create content for my Instagram channel, from yoga series to IGTV live lectures on finance and everything in between.
Can you tell us something about your background?
My father was an entrepreneur who wanted to run a positive impact business without having a negative impact on the world. He was a Budhist (we lived in Thailand from 1986-1994 so he could start his business in mosquito netting there). My mother is a beautiful human being from whom I've also learned so much. She has been a yogi for over 20 years and still teaches a lot of pregnancy yoga at her boutique studio alongside the Amstel River. I have a younger brother Niels whom I'm very close with and learn a lot from (he's your typical filosofer and helps me think about life and develop myself mentally). I got my bachelor in Communication Science at the UvA and continued with a Master in Journalism at the UvA. My career started with a couple of internships at Ganbaroo and IDTV Docs and I had a lot of jobs at Models At Work, Veronica and MTV as a presenter. My first company was a fantastic creative agency called PUP. The sky was the limit in terms of creativity and we made a beautiful magazine called PUPMAG, a bit ahead of our times with brands that could buy artvertisements, a combination of art and advertisements (the creative advertorials we see today on influencer accounts and in magazines). I also founded the online health platform Bedrock in collaboration with a large Dutch publishing firm from whom I learned a lot. In between we started SLA and the last couple of years I've been working on project Mama'en. After all that I've done I finally feel that I'm doing what I was meant to be doing. I've come home!
Did you always have a passion for entrepreneurship?
Yes always! I just can't imagine working for somebody else. I'm too much of a butterfly who loses her shine when she has to work within the confines of somebody else's goals and dreams. I have to do it myself. But not all by myself. I love finding the right partners. I really believe in working together with people that lift me up and vice versa. For a short while I worked for a boss and even though he was fantastic (and became a good friend), working for somebody else just simply doesn't lift me up I concluded. My father was an entrepreneur so he is my biggest inspiration.
Why did you decide to write a book about motherhood? And can you tell us a little bit about the book?
I just had to! It was something I had to do, without really understanding why when I started. I love to follow my intuition and also follow the flow in which live takes me. This book had to be written and I was chosen to do it :-) Everything that I start and create is always born from a personal need/necessity. During my first pregnancy in 2015 I was missing a book which taught me more about what it meant to become a mother. Not only a baby is born, a mother is born too. A newborn mother needs as much attention and love as her newborn baby. I've read good spiritual books or really practical ones but couldn't find a book that combined both traditional wisdom and modern insights on the subject. Almost all books where theoretical but I also wanted something practical. The idea of Mama'en was born. A 440 page book written to empower the woman who is becoming a mother. From selfcare, introspection and personal development during pregnancy (of course also a lot of information about the immens changes that are happening in your body) to my absolute favourite subject of the book: childbirth. It's really time to modernise the childbirth system and give every woman a chance for an empowering positive birth experience. We are living in a very interesting time. Fear for birth is an all time high and woman seem to have lost faith in their bodies. A logical thing because for so many years the influence of patriarchy has been visible also in the birth room. A healthy baby is not all that matters, the mother matters too. It's time to change that and give women the confidence and respect they need.
What's the best advice anyone ever gave to you?
I think that must be my husband! He keeps me firmly on the ground with my both feet. When I for example can fuss about something irrelevant and small (for example that I think I don't get enough credits I desire because my favorite Dutch magazine didn't publish anything about my book) he reminds me of the fact that I already get so much credits and admiration from my followers. And he tells me to seek and find it within myself. So true. It's just a revelation to find out that you have it in yourself what you need.
What’s your mission in life?
My mission in life is actually really simple: to just be. Life in itself is a gift. We just sometimes forget that experiencing our lives is a goal in itself and get caught up in so many things we want to do and achieve and accomplish. Sometimes it's important to stop and realise what you are doing it all for. Is it giving me pleasure and happiness now (even though it's sometimes also challenging)? If the answer is yes you're on the right track. Maybe I learned this lesson the hard way because my father passed away at a young age. I can see that life can actually be over. That's why I live it to the fullest and also enjoy just being. Being with my beautiful daughters, my husband and the small group of loved ones around me. And then all the other things are a huge big plus! So my second mission apart from being and experiencing life is my work. I always love what I do (now more than ever) and I'm really passionate about my new mission, to change the birth system and improve the way women look at and experience their own birth. Then there is the passion around sustainability. I truly believe that there is a way of living possible where everybody flourishes (check out the documentary Biggest Little Farm around sustainable farming).
What are you most proud of?
Good question. Of course my beautiful daughters, it's funny to realise that I love and adore them more and more every single day. Watching them grow and become their own little personalities is so fulfilling. Even though motherhood is also challenging. It lays a big fat looking glass over your weakest sides. I think I do something everyday (even though it's something small) that I think I could have done better (in the way I react or speak to my daughters). Motherhood really is a huge learning experience for me as a person, from accepting my imperfections to putting myself and my ego (and needs) aside often to be the mother they need (without losing touch of who I am of course). I'm also proud of the Mama'en Podcast with 14 episodes and 104.000 listeners! Isn't that amazing? The conversations take over an hour but so many women listen to it! And my book is in it's 4th printing run (meaning 11.000 copies are being sold)!
Can you name four things that makes you truly happy?
1. My beautiful daughters. Sometimes I look at them and feel total bliss and at the same time feeling the fear of losing them or not being able to keep them safe. It's something so typical in life that when you feel happy, at the same time you want to keep it forever but life is always changing. That is a famous Buddhist practice to also learn to not be attached to happy emotions and feelings and understand that everything, good and bad, comes and goes. It's a little reminder to myself that all I have is the now so enjoy every moment (or as much as possible)!
2. Another thing that makes me happy is my husband! We've been together for over 12 years. Started as friends and really have a very strong connection. This doesn't mean that we don't fuss and fight every now and then. And that he can really annoy me and I him. But it's about having faith in us underneath all these quarrels.. and having the same life goals. Every now and then we go out for dinner to check if our life goals are still aligned and talk about our dreams!
3. Also my closest family and my dearest best friends make me happy! With some of my best friends we've been friends for over 25 years. That's really something special. It's great because even if we don't see each other for months (some of them live abroad) it still feels super familiar. We know each other trough and through and have each others backs no matter what!
4. Finishing a day of deep focus work where I really got things done (and wasn't distracted to much) :-)
Top 3 most annoying things?
My ego and inner critic. It's there every single day (who doesn't have an inner critic?). The life lesson is to not take it too seriously at times. Sometimes it brings me further but usually it's just there to make life more difficult. There is a difference between experiencing something negative and then letting it be just as it is or really making a fuss about it, thinking about it day and night etc etc. Then the negative emotion or experience becomes suffering. Don't get me wrong, suffering is something inevitable in life but knowing that you can also just experience emotions and that you have a choice in how you react to it really is empowering.
Another annoying thing is women not understanding the birthing system and trying to ridicule and bring down other women who feel empowered about their birth or take it seriously by preparing it and knowing what they want beforehand. By saying things like: it's useless to prepare your birth, or that birth is not something to look forward to if you are realistic etc etc. What these women don't understand is that they are blindsided by a system! A patriarchy in which for so many years the power in the birth room has been taken away from women in the hands of experts. It's really time to change the system for all future women birthing and it really starts with women supporting other women who are leading the way for more women to birth like feminists!
Last but not least mosquitos, people who are slow (my husband loves to do things even slower when I want him to hurry up..), itchy clothes and laying awake at night for no reason.
All time favourite places?
Our beautiful summer house in the woods of Sweden. My mother recently bought a small 'sommarstuga' (Swedish wooden house in the woods where you go to in summer and winter if you like) in the little town where she lived when she was 2 years old. When I was younger we used to go to Sweden every summer for over 5 weeks. I speak the language fluently so it really feels like home. Going barefoot, taking a dive in the cold lake, picking rasberries, red and black berries from our own garden. It's a real idyllic little setting there where the basics are enough to be happy.
Anything else you'd like to share with us?
I'm working on new projects! Three new books! Can't tell too much about it just yet but you'll hear more about it soon. One book is about birth of course. It's going to place birth in context (and also offer an explanation why so many women who know what they want (from candlelight to a doula to a birth plan) are being backfired. By media, by society, even by other women. It will also come with an explanation about how our bodies work and why our environment plays such a big role in the way we give birth (a hospital room is literally stripped from everything that supports the hormonal processes that take place in a woman's body when giving birth etc etc). It's such a fascinating and interesting subject and also sooo important that we modernise the birthing system so every woman gets a change to have an empowering birthing experience. At SLA we're working on some great new variations of the salads (... wraps..)! The third season of my podcast is coming out in december with fantastic guests such as Milli Hill, Susan Smit and Anna Verwaal. Can't wait to share all the valuable info. And of course, having a baby pretty soon so will be on a break too.
Make up & Hair: Georgina Hoppen
Clothing: Tess van Zalinge, The Five Studio, Sissel Edelbo, Grey Label & Khasto
Photography: Tessa Letort