For our 150th episode of Logistics with Purpose®, we’re honored to feature a guest whose career spans Hollywood, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and even the future of space exploration.

Nadine Nicole Heimann — known to many as Clarissa Mao in The Expanse — joins us to share how her journey as an actress evolved into a mission-driven life centered on healing, ethical leadership, and human connection. Raised in a family of jewelers in Rochester Hills, Michigan, Nadine’s entrepreneurial roots run deep, shaping both her creative spirit and her commitment to doing business differently.

In this powerful conversation, Nadine opens up about founding True Connection, a nonprofit that uses healing arts to support young people navigating trauma, and Yari Designs, her ethical jewelry brand focused on sustainable luxury, recycled gold, and responsibly created diamonds. We also explore her advisory role with Space for Humanity, an organization working to democratize access to space and expand human perspective.

Throughout the episode, one theme rises above all: connection. Whether through storytelling, creative arts, ethical design, or space exploration, Nadine’s work is driven by a desire to empower others and help people rediscover their inherent worth.

Episode 150 is a celebration of purpose — and a reminder that impact can take many forms when courage, creativity, and conviction align.

Additional Links & Resources:

• Connect with Nadine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadine-nicole-heimann/
• Learn more about True Connection: https://www.true-connection.org/
• Learn more about Yari: https://www.yaridesigns.com/
• Learn more about Space for Humanity: https://spaceforhumanity.org/
• Learn more about Logistics with Purpose: https://supplychainnow.com/program/logistics-with-purpose
• Learn more about Vector Global Logistics: https://vectorgl.com/
• Subscribe to Logistics with Purpose: https://logistics-with-purpose.captivate.fm/listen

This episode was hosted by Enrique Alvarez and Kristi Porter, and produced by Trisha Cordes, Joshua Miranda, and Amanda Luton. For additional information, please visit our dedicated show page at: https://supplychainnow.com/nadine-nicole-heimann-from-expanse-ethical-impact-lwp150

Welcome to Logistics with Purpose presented by Vector Global Logistics in partnership with Supply Chain.

Now we spotlight and celebrate organizations who are dedicated to creating a positive impact.

Join us for this behind the scenes glimpse of the origin stories, change making progress and future plans of organizations who are actively making a difference.

Our goal isn't just to entertain you, but to inspire you to go out and change the world. And now, here's today's episode of Logistics with Purpose.

Good day and welcome to another exciting episode of Logistics with Purpose.

My name is Enrique Alvarez, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Vector Global Logistics.

And as always, I have my fearless co host here with me, Kristi.

Kristi, how are you doing today?

I am good.

We've been anticipating this conversation for a while now, so I'm delighted it's coming to fruition.

It's going to be an exciting conversation, a wide ranging conversation.

As with all of our guests, like we think they do one thing and then we learn so much about them in the process.

And so, so we have another one for everyone today.

And you know, I'm excited to introduce everybody to my friend Nadine, who has become a friend over the past year.

So Nadine Nicole Hyman, she is an actress, entrepreneur and impact driven leader.

If you know her from the Expanse playing Clarissa Mao, which is how I was first exposed to her.

She was an actress on the Young and the Restless, other major television productions.

But beyond all that, she's the founder of True Connection, a nonprofit that uses healing arts to support young people.

We will learn so more about that.

An advisor for Space for Humanity, which is an amazing organization.

Go back and listen to that episode.

And then most importantly, and most recently, the founder of Yari Designs, an ethical jewelry brand celebrating diversity and empowerment, which is a really cool mission.

There's a lot to learn about starting your own jewelry line, which she will definitely let us know more about.

But Nadine, thanks so much for your time.

Thanks for being here.

I'm so glad to see you.

Thanks for having me, guys.

I'm really excited to have this conversation and see where it takes us.

There's a lot to cover, so yeah, I'm excited for our guests to, to tag along.

Yes, thank you so much for rolling the punches with us.

And so first of all, before we jump into your amazing career and your incredible projects, I'm going to ask you some quick questions.

Just respond with the first thing that comes to mind.

All right?

All right.

So what is one thing you can't live without?

One thing I cannot live without is my Yoga mat first thing in the morning with it.

I have had a lot of injuries and my nickname when I was growing up used to be Extreme Nadine.

I would just like climb up anything and jump off, whatever.

And when we were growing up, we had a boat and we would go skiing and tubing.

And so we made up Mortal Kombat Tubing where I kind of made up Mortal Kombat Tubing where you try and knock the other person off the other tube and just, you know, life.

I've, I've had a lot of injuries and played hard and done a lot of sports.

I'm still very athletic and like to be in my body a lot.

But I kind of wish someone would have told me when I was younger, like, be very gentle to your body.

It's going to start giving out on you.

So I need my, my yoga mat with my roller every morning to stretch for, God, a good half hour to keep my body functioning.

That's awesome.

So you were doing your stunts, your own stunts, long before you became an actress.

What is your favorite hobby?

I know you have a lot of things going, but what is your favorite?

My favorite hobby?

I mean, I love hiking.

I go hiking with my dog all the time.

Pretty much being in nature and being in my body and then being kind of in a meditation place in the present moment with my significant other.

Yeah.

And what is one thing you do to stay productive?

I start really early in the morning.

I like to get my kind of big tasks or the.

More like the tasks that I'm anticipating that are going to be kind of heavy lifters.

I like to take care of Those at like 5am or 6am or 7am so by the time 9 or 10am rolls around, I'm like, I've had a fairly productive day.

I can, you know, get onto smaller stuff or go for a hike and then have another afternoon session.

But I like to get up early, have my morning stretch, get a couple big tasks done really early, and then I feel good throughout the day.

And then I can take breaks, I can work out, I can medit and walk.

Another thing is I use a standing desk when my body is starting to feel like I've been sitting too much at the desk or computer.

And I walk around my apartment while I'm, you know, come back to my standing desk just thinking, walking and breaks.

That's an excellent habit.

Yeah, what a great habit.

You're even more my hero now as I struggle to pull myself out of bed by 8 or 9.

What is your favorite book?

When I was little.

It was the BFG forever.

I absolutely walked the Big Friendly Giant.

I thought it was so mystical, and I just imagined being.

What's her name?

Like Sophia or.

Sophia.

Yeah, Little Pocket.

While he's striding over islands and going across continents.

I was like, that would be so much fun to explore with a big giant that can go really fast, really far.

But as an adult, I think my favorite book is west with the Night by Meryl Markham.

She is an incredible author.

Her prose will make you cry.

She's such a good writer.

And this book is about her growing up in South Africa and her father basically tilling the land there and her having to deal with, you know, animals, lions, herds, as a young girl, just running around in the desert, and then her being one of the first aviators to be able to track migrations.

When they started testing that, it's just a really incredible book.

Thank you for the recommendation.

Yeah, that sounds very exciting.

Very much in line with the action in you, and it sounds like a really good book that we'll definitely put the link to in the podcast.

As an actress, of course, you've always asked to be someone else.

You're always portraying someone else.

But as we will discuss in more detail later on, your nonprofit and, of course, your new company are probably all about you being authentic to yourself.

So whether you're playing a hero or a villain, what aspects of yourself always seem to show up or you're dulling sometimes because you're that good?

I think the parts of me that are always showing up in my work, in acting specifically, are very common to all humans.

And that's why we can take on these other roles and try and sit with them and live in them, is because we all have certain needs and desires.

Gets very basic when you start really going for, what is this?

What does this character need, and what is it bringing out of me?

And it usually comes down to whether you're a villain or a hero, you're needing love or support or to belong or to be seen and heard.

And I think that's one of my, personally, my biggest needs, is to feel seen and heard.

Just from the trajectory of my life and circumstances and how I've grown to become, that's one of my biggest needs, is to be seen and heard.

And I think it's so human, it's a lot of people can empathize with that, and it's pretty much in every character you're going to find is that they have a sense of belonging or a need to be loved.

Or supported.

It feels sometimes, especially these days, that we tend to forget that that is, that is the truth.

Right.

That's if we were to just really just understand or remember because we all know this, as you pointed out.

But I think there will be a lot easier and better to get along and communicate and there wouldn't be so much division between people.

Good.

Yeah.

Thanks for sharing that.

Yeah, thank you.

Yeah.

So before we jump into the projects that you're working on right now, tell us a little bit more about your background, where you grew up, what life was like, besides all the jumping and Mortal Kombat and just like Brad.

Yes.

So that's part of it.

So I grew up in a little town called Rochester Hills, Michigan.

So it's a, it's a small town, but it's very.

It's suburbia.

And I would always call it kind of like white suburbia.

I kind of grew up a Twinkie.

I don't know if a lot of people know what that means, but it's, you know, it has a lot of community.

Everyone kind of knows each other, says hi in the streets, you know, it was just really kind of an ideal way to grow up, I think.

We were a very active family.

My dad is third generation here from Germany and my mom is first generation here from the Philippines.

And they met in California and moved back here to Michigan where my father grew up.

And we grew up a very active family.

My parents were jewelers.

They started with the bead store and turned it into a fine jewelry store that they co owned for over 44 years.

We grew up with lake life, like I said, tubing and skiing, and had a little cabin up north where Michigan doesn't have big mountains but little hills.

So we would go snowboarding a lot.

I was always in a sport, basketball, volleyball, golf ball, track.

I grew up doing martial arts, taekwondo and kickboxing.

So it was always, it was.

We were always kind of having fun, you know, exploring together, doing a lot of road trips.

My dad loved to adventure, go to amusement parks, things like that.

So we had a pretty active upbringing.

Well, looking back to that early part of your life and your parents and family and is there any kind of particular story that you remember that kind of shaped who you are now and kind of what you do?

Well, going back to those sports that I played A lot of when I was younger, one of them was actually wrestling.

And it's because I didn't make the volleyball team in sixth grade in middle school.

And I was like, oh, my God, I didn't make the team.

This is crazy to me.

And what am I gonna do with my time now after school?

And so I was like, I guess I'll go try out on the wrestling team.

And there was no girls on the wrestling team.

It was all boys.

But my boyfriend in sixth grade at the time was on it.

He's like, why don't you just come practice wrestling?

Why not?

I ended up being on the only girl on the wrestling team in sixth grade.

And it was really interesting to see the reactions from the challengers that we would take on.

People, especially the parents, would be very upset that their boy had to wrestle a girl.

And I totally empathize that losing to a girl at that age is right.

It was hard, you know, it was emotional for a lot of guys, and then for them, it was kind of a lose, lose situation because they were taught not to beat up on girls and so.

But then they didn't want to lose to a girl either.

It was interesting just to see that go down.

But what I really appreciated from just learning about these challenging situations was that my father would show up at every match and get down by the court with my coach and coach with him and cheer me on.

Even with other parents being like, that's not right, or that's not okay, or people being mad at me for being the only girl on the team.

My dad was so supportive, and I went on to get, like, second in third in the city.

Like, I was really good.

I could throw my weight around.

And I just felt really supported.

You know, I felt like I could do anything I wanted to.

And that's kind of how my parents raised me, was like, you will be able to do anything you want to do.

You can, you know, as long as you put your mind to it and you work hard, you can do whatever you want.

And I've always kind of had that mindset that's kind of what created me, is that, oh, well, I can carve any path.

I don't have to take someone else's path that they've chosen for me.

I can always create my own and I'll feel supported.

And I think that's a really special thing that they have.

It's not like they were typical.

You know, they have high expectations.

Like, my mother is typical Asian immigrants.

But it wasn't like, you must Become a nurse or a doctor or a lawyer.

It was like, we believe in you for whatever you want to become.

That's amazing.

Yeah.

Very supportive, right?

Yeah.

Especially for your dad.

So I feel like.

Yeah.

Your next fun fact for Two Truths and Alive will be the fact that you were on a wrestling team and played in matches and won trophies.

Yeah.

That's incredible.

Incredible.

I love that.

Well, let's talk a little bit about your career.

It's been fantastic.

As I said in the intro, I first saw your name and knew your face from watching the Expanse on.

Well, first Sci FI Network, then Prime.

If you love space, then check it out.

It's fantastic.

You played Clarissa Mao, who probably had the biggest, like, change of heart and personal arc in that show.

So you did an amazing job on that.

But we talked a little bit about human emotion and understanding a minute ago.

But just being in the industry, how has acting shaped the way you understand people and emotion and just what it means to be human?

I think going back to what we were touching on a little bit ago about everyone having their own needs of whatever that is.

Yeah.

Basic human needs.

That understanding that it makes it a lot easier to forgive people who not even really care to fully have to understand everybody and their choices.

Whether it's not aligning with you or me or, you know, I'm not understanding someone's choices or I don't agree.

Or maybe it's triggering to me or maybe I, you know, I feel like it's wrong that there's always a history there of their own needs and wants, of certain kinds of belonging and being seen and so.

And that we'll never fully understand that.

But we each have our own to a very deep level.

And so I think that that's kind of helped me empathize with other humans and just trying to create.

For acting, you need a lot of self awareness to be able to have mastery over your body, over your voice, over your physicality, over your choices.

And if you don't have a lot of self awareness, it's hard to be able to do a lot of different things or have a lot of range or create different kinds of characters or go different places.

And so I think, you know, some of us have really worked on being aware of our own patterns and our own needs.

And some of us haven't really reflected on it as much as we could, you know, or maybe that's one of the things is like we don't go there for certain reasons, you know, self preservation or protection.

But growth comes in so many different forms, and it happens on a different timeline for everybody.

And so I think that's what it's taught me is.

Is try and to lessen my expectations of others and to allow them beyond their own journey.

I love that we need more of that.

It sounds like a lot of emotional learning and emotional intelligence as well.

Very cool.

Well, you've also been led through your career to Space for Humanity, which is where we met.

You were already advising and part of their circle before I was.

Incredible group who is trying to democratize space travel, which is just the coolest mission in the world.

So how did you become involved in their mission and what have they taught you in the process of just being around that circle of incredible people?

So such a special community, and I'm so grateful to have met you on there.

They are so special to my heart.

And I found them because someone asked me to speak at Yuri's Night during COVID because Yuri's Night's a really special event for Space Community.

And they would gather at the Southern California series Space center and different cities all over the world.

They'll have these Yuri's Night events.

But during COVID it had to be online.

So as a guest, they're like, will you come on Zoom and talk with us as a guest with Wes Chatham, who played Amos in the Expanse.

And we had a great dialogue with George and Loretta Whitesides.

George is the ex CEO of Virgin Galactic, and Loretta, his wife, does spacekind and throws Yuri's Night.

So dialoguing with them, I spoke a little bit about my nonprofit True Connection, and we connected on that.

And so Rachel, who was CEO of Space for Humanity at the time, was watching the Yuri's Night and was like, oh, okay, that might be a good fit to come on to advise for Space for Humanity.

And I was just so grateful and honored and surprised I was invited to be part of the community.

But I. I really appreciate their inspiration and their inclusivity.

To see them bring in women of all backgrounds from all over the world and help their dreams just manifest in ways that are.

Are beyond my comprehension.

To create vast ripples of transformation and change for STEM and for women in general across the planet has been ineffable to witness.

Fantastic.

Yeah.

Incredible organization, incredible people behind it.

And I know you love space just as a person and outside of the roles you've played, and it's just a personal and fun interest.

And Enrique and I love talking about space and yeah, it just feels like there's no limitation.

And they are certainly a group that epitomizes that.

Absolutely.

And I think it's exciting and intriguing and inspiring at the same time.

So that sounds like a really, really good organization.

And of course, we'll put the link so that everyone else that's listening, listening to the podcast can learn a little bit more about what the organization's about.

And as we mentioned, and this is very evident to me even after a few minutes talking to you, Nadine, that connection for you is very important, right?

You are someone that really comes across as a very connected individual and you feel like empathy is important and making sure that you're respectful to everyone.

The organization, of course, fosters deeper sense of interconnectedness with ourselves, one another, the planet.

But tell us first and foremost, what is True Connection to you, what is its core and what inspire you to build this organization?

True Connection isn't so much just an organization, actually your typical C3 organization.

It's more of an expression of my healing journey than anything.

The beginning of it, and I realized that I needed help.

And after going through a trajectory of self awareness and healing, I wanted to be able to share that with other kids.

And so I basically emailed a lot of different orphanages around Africa, seeing if I could bring art and volunteers for lessons and healing and trauma.

And I met this really incredible woman who had an orphanage in Sierra Leone, and she took me under her wing and was like, come out here.

You can take over the school.

We have.

I don't even know there's.

It was an entire orphanage and it was enclosed with tall, thick cement walls and barbed wire at the top, almost looking kind of like a prison.

Just because Sierra Leone has had a lot of turmoil and they wanted to make sure that the kids were safe and they lived there until they were 18 and could leave.

So me and a girlfriend wrote a curriculum on trauma and healing, expressing it all through creative arts and journaling and meditation.

And we took it to these kids out there and we had the most profound experience.

It was.

There was just so much love and appreciation and educational knowledge and healing.

These kids just soaked it right up.

They were just so eager to learn and they were so grateful for this kind of education, which I think is a little bit different than here.

You know, they.

They really soaked it in.

And when we left, everyone, all, everyone at the Orphanage was at the gates, just falling, just crying, like, oh no.

Like it was just a really beautiful experience.

We bonded so deeply and it took me two years to raise a little bit more money to go back and see them again and do it again.

And at this point some of the, the older kids were winning art competitions or submitted a book about their lives.

Like we had instilled in them a sense of self expression that built confidence.

And we were doing photography with them.

We, we got them a bunch of little cameras so they could learn perspective.

It was just a beautiful experience.

And I was like, this is a lot of time, money and management to go to Africa for a few weeks and once a year.

Like that's not sustainable.

It's like I need to, if I want to continue this work, I need to do it locally.

And so that's when I was decided to do this in LA and just refine the curriculums.

I moved into the social emotional learning world with some educators and we got into a bunch of different schools and after school programs we started working with the Los Angeles Police Department.

And then Covid hit.

So we've been on pause since then.

First of all, it was a really intensive love for me.

I put all of kind of my money into it, all of my time, all of my energy, which I absolutely loved.

And it was a deep part of my healing journey.

So I, I needed it.

But I was also on the verge of burnout all the time and I wasn't giving myself to the other places in my life that I needed to grow more.

And so we're, I'm, I'm pulling that back up, but it's in a different way now.

We're doing education online.

We're going to do a journal is about rewriting your narratives and your limiting self beliefs for adults in general with guided meditation.

So we're going to build out more of a digital online platform is the goal now.

That's amazing.

Incredible job.

Congratulations.

Well, not only that, but I think it's also very brave of you.

Right, because one, you're sharing this and those were, I'm sure, very challenging times for you.

And as you were healing, you not only tried to heal yourself, but then you saw that there was a need for other people that were probably dealing with the same thing.

And by the way, you were, you were struggling and dealing with ptsd, correct?

Yes.

And panic disorder.

So my question would be.

Well, first, once again, very brave and it's great that you're so vulnerable.

So we appreciate you sharing this with us for People that are listening that might be kind of facing similar situations or think that they might.

What was one or two kind of pieces of advice that you would give them now so they can kind of manage and heal the way you did?

I would say my, my adverse childhood experience that kind of affected me in this way.

I was about six years old and I didn't see the complex developmental trauma symptoms until they weren't like kind of full fledged happening till I was 13.

But at this time I still had no clue of what it was.

I was just existing with it.

I didn't have the light bulb until about, until I was about 26 years old.

And that's when I started the organization was like when I had this awareness that I needed help.

So my biggest piece of advice to anyone struggling with post traumatic stress disorder or regulation, emotional regulation issues that are very challenging, safety issues that are very challenging, feeling safe in your own body is that rewiring is possible and to take it very seriously and commit your life to it and it can happen a lot faster.

I think I had different forms of escapism mixed in with my healing journey, which a lot of us do.

But I, I think that if I would have committed to it, it wouldn't have taken as long as it did, which took over over 10 years.

I would say about seven to eight years in of intensive healing of being very self aware about it and taking a lot of different healing modalities.

About six to seven years in it, I was still having the same exact symptoms and I was scared.

I was like, oh, maybe this is just the way I'm wired for life.

Maybe this is never going to change.

It wasn't until about eight or nine years that it really started changing.

And then now, God, I don't know, it's been like 15 years.

I feel like your average stressed out human that emotional regulation, you know, daily and seriously and take self care into high consideration.

But it, I did rewire my brain and I did come full circle coming out of a place where I was very segmented.

I was very dissociated a lot of the times, especially in trigger situations.

And I've come into a place of wholeness.

That doesn't mean that I'm.

I never dissociate or I never get triggered.

It just means that I am very highly aware of when that happens and I know how to deal with it now and take care of it and it happens a lot less often.

And I can operate and function in a much more healthy, joyful, stable, balanced life.

And that was a really big ask before that was.

It was a really tall ask that I didn't know if it was possible.

And it is.

It's possible.

And rewiring can take 10 years or you know, shorter if you're if really committed and know how to meditate and regulate and find those healing modalities that work for you.

But it's possible and that you deserve it.

Then there's a lot of different modalities out there including you know, psilocybin and meditation or breath work or there's lots of different things that homework and it enhance that process now.

So that would be my biggest takeaway.

For no, thank you so much.

And the listen for all the listeners that are going through this, know that you guys are not alone.

You're not the only ones that are going through this.

There's a lot of things you can do and self awareness, as Nadine said, connectivity is important and rewiring as possible.

So no, thank you.

Thank you so much.

That's very important.

Thanks.

Yeah.

And just pointing out that everyone is worthy of it as well.

Thank you for that as well.

And thanks for your vulnerability and authenticity and you put a lot of care and heart and creativity in everything you do.

And that's certainly evident including with your new project which I just love so much and I'm excited to talk more about it.

And it's a completely different direction.

It carries a lot of these same themes but in new packaging.

And so I think it's really cool the way you've kind of evolved all your loves and are now working on Yari Designs, which is jewelry.

So why we've heard a little bit about your parents background but why did you decide to pursue a jewelry line and what is the story behind it?

Well, it's been a dream for a long time, ever since I was little, since I grew up up my parents had a jewelry store and I would work there during the Christmas season being their rapper.

I would like wrap.

Yes.

And then just run around the store and try in all the wedding rings and be like I think I want this one.

Still not married but just picking out the.

Picking out.

You know what you want?

No, I just always remember feeling so proud of my parents from them, you know, being entrepreneurs and building their own small business and I wanted to take that and kind of run with it at some point.

I knew I wanted to do a jewelry line at some point.

My mom was a designer and she's really good at drawing.

She's really talented at it and my dad Also was a drawing engineer in the Navy, so he could draw as well.

So I get my artistic capabilities from them.

And also, yeah, I've just learned so much from them and they're my partners in it and so it keeps us closer and working together.

And I just can keep learning from them, which has been really fun.

And we can do something creative together and business oriented together.

And I wanted also to do something that was about women and empowering women.

So I want to be able to highlight influential women.

So I'm starting to get those stories together now.

But I would, I would love to tell women's diverse women's stories that are creating ripples and making impact in this world in all their own different creative ways.

I think it's such an interesting time about how we see influencers and how social media is taking over.

So just to have a place where girls, women or people in general can go and read about women that are really trailblazing, really creating transformative impact that are transformative leaders and seeing that as power and beauty.

And tell us just about the jewelry you also have.

I mean people can go there and read inspirational story while buying gorgeous jewelry.

So you have also been very meticulous about your standards, what you want it to be, the design of it, how it's all put together.

So let's dive a little bit into that and people can go to it's Y A R I Yari designs.

So I encourage you to do that.

It's beautiful.

But yeah, I know you're very, you have very high standards for it and it shows.

So tell us about that.

Perfectionist.

So it's elevated everyday wear that we, I, we just slaved over the proportions and the measurements to make sure everything's durable.

Like we have our own custom clutches, the backings to the ears, our thick and durable and handmade.

So every little thing kind of feels high quality.

And it's recycled gold which is really important to us because we don't want to be part of the mining problem.

We wanted to use only that things that are recycled.

And gold is just appreciating like crazy.

It's.

It's going off, off on its own thing.

And I think that they're going to start creating new metals would be my guess like eventually.

And then we use sustainably created diamonds as well, the highest tier of that.

So it's, it's a lot.

They're luxury items but they are have a lot of thought behind them in their design and where they come from.

And they're classy and Edgy, but also refined and minimalist.

I love minimalism.

So all of these aspects of me are in the designs and I've been getting great feedback from them.

I absolutely love them.

They're fun.

But I do want to create a sustainable luxury brand.

And so these are the intro collections for elevated everyday wear.

Well, congratulations.

It's kind of almost full circle to your parents, and I'm sure they're very proud of you for being an entrepreneur as well and actually accomplishing what you have accomplished.

And I'm sure Yachty's going to be incredibly successful.

You briefly mentioned, like, how important it is to you the ethical sourcing.

Right.

You mentioned, like, recycled gold and sustainably sourced diamonds.

And so you must have learned a lot of things that you didn't know before, right?

Like supply chain and logistics.

Has any, any of that surprised you?

I mean, what was your initial reaction to.

To being exposed to.

To the worldwide supply chains?

Every step has surprised me.

I think it's more of a general knowledge and knowing that building your own business is extremely challenging and no one would, especially product development and no one would ever know until you start doing it.

And you're like, oh, well, there's an obstacle and there's an obstacle and there's an obstacle and another obstacle.

And you never, you don't know that these obstacles are going to come until you're in it.

Ye investing with prices.

Having anything sustainable has a price tag to it.

So trying to be competitive and ethical at the same time is, is extremely challenging.

And then also just being able to communicate with different people over the world because jewelry, gold, gems, vendors, everything is sourced from everywhere.

Like you, they might source it in Tanzania and then it goes to London and then it gets manufactured in New York and there's, there's all of these different bottlenecks and it's just very global.

So when the tariff started happening, that adds another level of challenges.

Tons of different bottlenecks.

But I think sticking to what you initially set out to, when you learn all of this is one of the hardest things.

And it's why it's also just taken so long to be able to find someone that can create the CAD designs the way that I want them and will work with me on this fine tuning and then actually want the, this 2 millimeters changed and actually want this changed.

Like, most manufacturers are like, you're done, I'm dropping you after.

Well, after, like, I just want to make this little tweak.

And they're like, it sounds you're hands on, right?

Very hands on in the product for you.

And the, the designs are unique, especially the earring jacket collections are something that is totally unique and new and no one knew how to make them.

Most manufacturers were like, no.

Without even trying, they were like, that's a lot of labor.

It's a lot of, you know, just unique.

Have to, we don't know how to do that well.

And if, if you extrapolate this a couple of years into the future, what is your ultimate goal for Yari and what impact do you want it to have in the long would say it's.

Probably going to take a couple years to build the business and get the awareness out there, get some influencers on that are aligned with our values and just our brand.

And I would love to be a sustainable luxury brand that is role modeling influential women, diverse women, women of color, women having their own businesses, highlighting influential women and just a place where girls can see elegance and power and juicy expressiveness in a place that has.

Is rooted in its values and its ethics and its morals and really sticks to them and, and highlights really beautiful, influential women.

And just to like see that as something worth aspiring to is something that should be our future, that we should be mindful about what we're buying, how we're making it, you know, slow design process, low manufacturing numbers so that we're not just throwing tons of, you know, scraps and waste away in fast fashion and then just, just.

Yeah.

Seeing what beautiful women that support each other kind of feels like.

Yeah.

Congratulations.

I'm sure a lot of business owners out there are going to learn a lot from what you just said and definitely inspired hopefully not only people in the supply chain, but around the world and definitely potential customers down the road too.

So congratulations again.

Thank you.

Yeah, it's a beautiful mission.

And, and as we have heard, you have a can do, determined spirit that has been long instilled in you.

So I know it will, it will be a huge success.

So as we kind of look into wrapping up here, I guess I'll ask you again for another bit of a reflection.

I love hearing you speak in this way and I know that it's very central to who you are as well.

So I guess when you think about your acting career and space for humanity and true connection and Yari, how do all these connect for you?

Do you have a sense of kind of the purpose that you bring to these projects into your life?

What kind of shows up for you?

What themes?

I think going back full circle to how I was supported by my parents at the beginning of carving your own path.

You know, I try and find purpose and intention in all that I do.

Even when I'm washing the dishes or vacuuming or working out, you know, how do I want to feel while doing that and how much presence can I bring to that moment?

But with all of these projects, I think that that's just an extension of that is is living in my ever changing purpose and trying to learn, explore, express, connect and to keep carving out my own path and hopefully while doing that, having fun, bringing more joy and health and balance into my and others lives and then hopefully lifting people up, giving them opportunities to learn more about social, emotional learning or women's issues or women empowerment or our stories and then just being bringing people together and having a little bit more sense of compassion and kindness within our communities.

I love it.

It's a beautiful expression.

Perfectly sums up who you are and who I've gotten to know over the past year.

And I look forward to seeing what's next.

Which, speaking of, if you could tell our aud a little bit more about what's coming up for you personally, professionally, what are some of your plans and what can we expect?

Well, I'm just recording the last guided meditations for the True connection journal that myself and a colleague wrote.

It's called the Centered Self, A journaling guide to rewriting your life's narrative.

So that will be coming out as a physical journal and an audiobook and you can actually use them together and it'll come with guided meditations and journaling work and self discovery exercises to use during the week.

So that's coming up soon.

I would, I'm trying to self publish that.

We're trying to self publish that within the next couple months.

So I'm gunning for that.

And I have, I don't know, about 30 more pieces, designs that I'm photographing to put up on the jewelry line.

So still building that out.

We're still in build mode very much for Yari Design.

So support on all of these endeavors and creative projects is always appreciated.

And then just trying to support all the projects around me with Space for humanity and any other projects and advocating for sustainability and all of these passions.

Nothing else is coming out right this minute.

It sounds, it sounds like that's a lot.

That sounds like a lot.

That sounds like a lot.

But no.

Nadine, thank you so much.

As we're wrapping up this interview with you, I just want to say it's been a pleasure interviewing you.

We wish you the very best.

It sounds like you are force of nature and nothing's really going to stop you from the goals that you have set for yourself.

So congratulations.

We need definitely a lot more people like you that think connection is important in this world.

And just tell us where could our listeners connect with you and learn more about your work from the true connection to Yard Designs and all the other initiatives that you're currently leading?

Well, truconnection is true-connection.org so t r u e-connection.org and yaridesigns.com y-a r I d e s I g n s.com and then I'm on Instagram as Nadine Nicole.

Thank you so much.

Can with our full support.

And of course, we're big fans of yours.

Thank you.

Yes.

Thanks so much for your time.

Yeah, it's been great.

I'm so glad to chat with you.

I'm so glad we were able to make this happen.

I know our listeners enjoyed it.

I loved getting to know you in a new way and I just keep thinking of little Nadine on the wrestling team.

That has just totally stuck with me.

I love it so much.

Thank you so much for your time.

And just, oh, you just show up here yourself.

And I love that about you.

And thank you for that.

And we of course, thank our listeners.

Thanks for tuning in.

If you enjoyed this episode, then guess what?

We'll have another amazing episode in two weeks.

So we hope you'll join us then on Logistics With Purpose, the only podcast focused on supply chains.

Positive impact packed.

So we'll see you soon.

Thanks and bye.