Waking Hours

Nicola Connolly (40) is the founder of skincare range Nunaia and is a social entrepreneur. After working in the corporate world, she travelled to South America and found her calling. She lives in Tipperary with her partner, Pierre

Nunaia skincare founder Nicola Connolly shares her routine

Isleep with the curtains open, so the natural light wakes me up. I live with my partner, Pierre. He’s French. Since the start of coronavirus, Pierre has worked with me full-time with my superfood skincare company, Nunaia. I needed more help.

I have a degree in languages and we speak a hybrid of French, Spanish and English. It’s 65pc French, 15pc Spanish and the rest is English. We got into the habit of speaking Spanish when we lived in South America. Sometimes you can only express something in one language — the word isn’t the right word — so you have to say it in another language.

We live very close to Lough Derg. On an ideal day, we get up and swim in the lake. It’s like a wake-up dip. The water is quite warm at the moment, about 17 degrees. You feel so alive afterwards.

Breakfast is one of our key moments of the day. We enjoy a leisurely breakfast. There are a lot of local organic farms here and we grow our own veggies. We have a smoothie full of kale, spinach, a banana, an apple, seeds, grains, almonds and maca powder from Peru. We love really good bread and coffee.

After the swim, I jump in the shower and I cleanse my face with our Nunaia Nourishing Radiance Serum. The lake swim, the balm and the meditation that I do before I start work — I build these little rituals across my day. Our idea is that you pause, rest and reset. It’s about taking those little moments, becoming mindful as you apply the products.

As an entrepreneur, my days are so varied. I could be speaking with the suppliers in Peru, working on new product developments or talking to our online customers. I started Nunaia in 2015 when I was living in Peru.

I’ve always loved travel. I worked in Ryanair’s marketing department in London for two years. I was in charge of their Spanish market and it was an insanely busy life with huge responsibility.

On average, I’d be flying six times a week around Europe. It was extremely aggressive but brilliant experience. I thrived in the environment and enjoyed the fast pace. It gave me the belief that I could do anything. Corporate life suits many people but it just didn’t feel right for me any more. I’ve always believed that life is short, and my soul wanted to do something else.

I saved and I decided that I’d go travelling for six months on my own. I wanted to work out the lifestyle that I wanted and I knew that I had to do it on my own. I’m quite an independent person.

The plan was to visit my favourite islands around the world — Polynesia, Tahiti, Easter Island and my last stop was to the Galapagos Islands. I was due to come back to Dublin to do a Master’s but I remember the boat pulling into this island and there was this beautiful turquoise water and fairy penguins playing on the rocks. I thought, ‘I have to stay here’. I stayed there for four-and-a-half years and overall I spent 12 years in South America.

Those years were life-changing. I’d come from south Co Dublin and suddenly I found myself in these pristine places with the most incredible nature around me. It opened my eyes to a totally different way of living. There was a lot of poverty and it brought out a desire in me to work in a way that had a bigger impact on people

I worked with indigenous tribes in the Amazon helping them to develop projects with what was growing around them. I worked in the Amazon rainforest with a women’s cooperative. They were making soap and I advised them on a strategy to sell it. I had this moment. We were sitting on the mud floor of their hut and one of the women took me outside. She had a machete in her hand and she hacked into a tree and red goo came out. She collected it and put it into a little pot. She showed me that it was their key ingredient in the soap — sangre de drago. It helps stop eczema, psoriasis and heals cuts on the skin. I was blown away that you could walk outside, take something that had such incredible properties and use it to heal.

I had no connection with nature and suddenly this experience ignited an interest in plants and how you can use them to look after your skin. I talked to herbalists and healers and all this formed the basis for our products at Nunaia. One of the plants we use is called sachi inchi. It knits the skin cells together and has regenerative properties and is anti-ageing.

In Nunaia, we work directly with the growers so that they have a sustainable business and it improves their quality of life. They get a decent wage and we fund educational scholarships. This is important to me. In the past, I had been

“I planned to travel on my own for six months. I stayed in South America for 12 years”

involved in sustainability projects where I was well paid but the money wasn’t going directly into the projects. I believe that the only way we can move forward as a planet is by becoming more sustainable and connected. I feel like I’m doing something good and I’m fulfilled.

Years ago, I changed my whole lifestyle to be based in nature. It suits me.

Before I do my wind-down ritual, I switch everything off. I do yoga and I work in the garden. I need to be connected to nature and that’s when I get my best ideas.

Some days I feel stress and overwhelmed and others times I am super Zen. But I have created this life for myself. I believe in it and it is my passion.