If you’re one of Nikki Reed’s three million Instagram followers, you’re already well aware of her passion for the environment. Her feed is a reflection of her love for nature, filled with images of wildflowers bending in the wind, sun-dappled and dusty Los Angeles landscapes, and even the chickens she’s raising in her backyard coop. So it should come as no surprise that her lifestyle brand, Bayou With Love, was created with sustainability and regeneration in mind.

Launched in 2017, Bayou With Love started out as a line of sustainable fashion and clean beauty products and has since expanded to include ethically made homewares, fine jewelry, and more. Ahead, the actress, entrepreneur, and founder tells Create & Cultivate what inspired her to launch her eco-conscious business, how she handles failures (spoiler alert: she treats them as wins), and why it’s so important to slow down in a fast-paced world.

What was the lightbulb moment for your business, Bayou With Love, and what inspired you to launch the company?

I have always loved animals, and in my early twenties, I began to piece together the connection between how animals are treated and how the earth is treated. The lightbulb moment probably happened somewhere in there; at the beginning of my pregnancy when I began researching deeper into how products are made, who makes them, and the human and environmental toll of consumerism as a whole. I was looking for things like organic undergarments, and asking questions about what was going on my body, with the quality, materials, and process behind the products I loved being at the forefront of my curiosity. From there, I decided to launch Bayou with Love with the desire to create products I couldn’t find in the marketplace. I guess while I was creating life, I was also feeling like I was in a very creative space.

What career mistake has given you the biggest lesson?

I didn’t grow up with a lot of money, and in many ways, I had to make film choices out of necessity. I moved out at 16, and while I had wonderful supportive parents, I was still completely financially responsible for myself at a very young age and had to find work in order to live. I didn’t have the luxury of staying at home and being selective with projects like so many of my peers. As a kid, I was embarrassed by this, but it is actually something I have now come to embrace. It is part of my story, it is why I work so hard and appreciate what I build with my own hands. It is a huge part of who I am today.

2020 presented everybody around the globe with new, unprecedented challenges. How did you #FindNewRoads + switch gears toward your new version of success?

Success to me has never meant money, fame, or career. Success is defined by how you feel about your life, your happiness, and your surroundings. It’s true, 2020 has come with tremendous challenges. This has not been an easy year for anyone and most people’s lives and businesses have been affected. But there’s also a silver lining that deserves recognition as well. It has been an opportunity, for lack of a better word, to reprioritize and restructure and many homes are seeing more togetherness than ever before, and many businesses are re-evaluating how they want to operate. There’s a chance here to pause for long enough to get on the right side of history in how companies choose to produce. I know for Bayou, it’s made us research going a step further and figuring out how to go from sustainable to regenerative, because sustainable is no longer enough. 

When you separate yourself from your job title and the bells and whistles of your business or career, who are you and what do you like to do? How do you remain authentically you?

I’m a nature girl. I’m a writer. I’m a gardener. I’m a chicken lover. I’m a Mama. I’m a simple gal who likes fewer things, a small home, time with my family, and my bicycle.

It’s easy to celebrate the wins, but how do you handle failure or when something hasn’t worked out for you?

Failures ARE wins. They are the moments that teach us to be resilient. To believe in ourselves and to find the path that is right.

If you could go back to the beginning of your career journey—with the knowledge you have now— what advice would you give yourself? 

I’d tell myself that life is long but it moves fast. Slow down. Don’t push so hard. Ambition is beautiful but so are the moments of nothingness in between. 

Fill in the blanks:

When I feel fear, I… 

Slow my breath.

The best career advice I always give is… 

Do not let anyone do your job for you. Keep learning. When you grow, your work grows. 

I turn bad days around by… 

Looking at my daughter’s smile and being around animals. 

If there were more hours in the day, I would… 

Paint more.