Christchurch entrepreneur Nic Gaviria's business idea designed to address binge eating has landed a new major supporter - and a cash boost.
Gaviria was selected from 16,000 business owners around the world to be mentored by Steven Bartlett, a Dragon's Den investor and host of the Diary of a CEO podcast.
She says it's been extremely 'validating' to have the business recognized.
"I saw this competition pop up in an ad on my social media and I thought - you know what, I could win that. I just had this gut feeling that what I'm doing in the world might be something he might get behind."
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks AB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Stephen Bartlett is an entrepreneur, Dragon's Den, investor, host of
the UK's Biggest podcast, and now the mentor to christ
Church businesswoman and counselor Nick Garby Rea. Nick was selected
from sixteen thousand entries to be named winner of the
Stephen Bartlett stand Store Challenge. So the win gives her
one hundred thousand dollars in prize money and the mentorship
(00:34):
of Bartlett. Her win was for her creation Binge Free
Bestie and Nick joins me now to tell me all
about it.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Good morning, Nick, morning Francesca.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
What is the reaction to all this being picked as
the winner of the stands Store Challenge? I mean, beating
sixteen thousand creators from around the world is pretty impressive.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I mean, yes, it's been a totally surreal past few weeks.
It hasn't totally sunk in yet. There's been lots of
big cris lots of walking down at the beach just
trying to come to terms with foot all. But it's
finally settling in feeling very very grateful. But yeah, unreal.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I mean Stephen Bartlett has been singing your praises on
the most popular podcast in the UK. It's got fifty
million monthly listeners.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Does that feel real?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
No? No, honestly it doesn't. But I'm just rolling with it.
I you know, I saw this competition pop up as
an ad or my social media and I thought, you
know what I could win that. I just had this
gut feeling that what I'm doing in the world might
be something he might get behind, and so I just
went all in through my hat in the ring and Yeah,
(01:43):
he recognized it. It's been extremely validating.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Tell me about Binge Free Bestie and why you created it.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
So Binge Free Bestie, It's yes, it's a business, but
for me, it's really a movement. It's like that I'm
creating very very impact driven. It's heart led and it's
it's really deeply personal because what I'm doing is I
have created an online community for women and it's all
about helping them to heal their relationship with food and
(02:13):
their bodies without having to go on another diet. Because
that is something that I've struggled all throughout my twenties.
I had binge eating disorder. Did every diet under the sun.
I've been every shape and size and I just felt
like I was broken, there was something wrong with me.
So what I've created is I've taken my lived experience
(02:34):
with recovery and then I've wrapped it up with all
of my qualifications and I've created a bench free bestie.
So it's giving women this roadmap, real tools they actually work,
and giving them a safe space to know, hey, you
actually aren't broken and there is a way to find
peace and freedom with food.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
How common are binge eating disorders?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
They're actually really super common. In fact, binge eating disorder
is the most common eating disorder of all of them.
So about one in five women and students experience being disorder.
Most of us maybe won't put that label on it.
We might say that we're emotional eaters or overeaters. So
it is very very common.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Are they good treatment and support options in New Zealand?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Well, to be frank and in my own personal experience,
I don't believe so. As I said, I've really been
in the trenches of that myself, and when I was
looking for support, it was very hard to find anything
that really resonated with me, that wasn't like overly clinical.
Everything that I tried was very much that old kind
(03:43):
of you know, all you need to do is eat
less and move more. But I already tried all of
that for years and I was still stuck. So all
I'm trying to do at benis free bestie, is bring
those evidence based tools, but I'm doing it in a
really approachable way. I'm really warm, relatable, down to earth
and yeah, just creating a safe space.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
What was it do you think about you and your
business that set you apart from the others?
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Well, I can only guess, but I think one thing
that I've heard Stephen talk about a lot is that
he wants to support entrepreneurs who are impact driven. They
have a purpose that they're leading from their heart, They're
leading from their passion. So I think when I went
into that challenge, I really honed in on that and
I wanted to make sure that he saw me, not
(04:34):
just the business, but me, so I shared a lot
of my story. I really made sure that I was
really bold and authentic and made sure that he got
on board with my vision. Really, and that's my goal
moving forward, is how can I get someone like Steven
to really see the value and what I'm creating.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
So what does the funding mean for you and your business?
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Well, I mean, at the moment, what I do is
I work full time as an acc trauma therapist. That's
my bread and butter. I work long days. It's pretty
hard work. Benfrey Bestie has been my passion project on
the side. But now that I've got this funding, it's
just going to give me some breathing room. Really, it
gives me that space to think about, well, how do
(05:19):
I want to invest my time and my energy. What
can I do to look after myself a little bit better.
Oh I'm a little bit burned out. I'll admit it's
not easy to kind of float a few different things
at once. So it's just a bit more head space,
more opportunity, and obviously connecting with someone like Stephen, I'm
very curious what he's going to suggest, what he's going
(05:40):
to like. I'm going in the interpect brains.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
I was going to say, how does the mentoring work?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
So I actually don't have all the info yet, which
is keeping me on the edge of my seat. But
as far as I know, I'm flying to LA sometime
in the next few months dates to TVC, but I'll
be off to LA and I'll be spending time with
him one on one, getting some mentoring sessions. Obviously, I'm
going to really get him on board and and see
(06:06):
if I can make this a long term relationship. But yeah,
I'm also going behind the scenes of divers CEO, which
is going to be pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
That's awesome. So what's the goal? Where do you hope
you can take this with the support exposure this has
given you.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
So I've always had big dreams anyway. I always felt
like I could create anything I wanted as long as
I'm really consistent and I'm working hard, and I think
I would have been able to achieve a lot on
my own anyway. But with this, you know, this powerhouse
guy stand beside me, the funding and all of that.
I want to take Bingeree Besty global. I want this
(06:44):
to be the go to platform for women who are
struggling with binge eating or body image. At the moment,
I've already developed a signature group coaching program, so I've
reready got all that down, but just want to expand
and make it more accessible, thinking about maybe an app
or something something cool like that, run retreats around the
world events who knows what is possible.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Really good on you.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
I love the way you're thinking big about it. Nick,
It's been really nice to talk to you. Thank you
so much for your time this morning. Nick Gabarea there
from Binge Free Bestie.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks A B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks AB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Stephen Bartlett is an entrepreneur, Dragon's Den, investor, host of
the UK's Biggest podcast, and now the mentor to christ
Church businesswoman and counselor Nick Garby Rea. Nick was selected
from sixteen thousand entries to be named winner of the
Stephen Bartlett stand Store Challenge. So the win gives her
one hundred thousand dollars in prize money and the mentorship
(00:34):
of Bartlett. Her win was for her creation Binge Free
Bestie and Nick joins me now to tell me all
about it.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Good morning, Nick, morning Francesca.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
What is the reaction to all this being picked as
the winner of the stands Store Challenge? I mean, beating
sixteen thousand creators from around the world is pretty impressive.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I mean, yes, it's been a totally surreal past few weeks.
It hasn't totally sunk in yet. There's been lots of
big cris lots of walking down at the beach just
trying to come to terms with foot all. But it's
finally settling in feeling very very grateful. But yeah, unreal.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I mean Stephen Bartlett has been singing your praises on
the most popular podcast in the UK. It's got fifty
million monthly listeners.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Does that feel real?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
No? No, honestly it doesn't. But I'm just rolling with it.
I you know, I saw this competition pop up as
an ad or my social media and I thought, you
know what I could win that. I just had this
gut feeling that what I'm doing in the world might
be something he might get behind, and so I just
went all in through my hat in the ring and Yeah,
(01:43):
he recognized it. It's been extremely validating.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Tell me about Binge Free Bestie and why you created it.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
So Binge Free Bestie, It's yes, it's a business, but
for me, it's really a movement. It's like that I'm
creating very very impact driven. It's heart led and it's
it's really deeply personal because what I'm doing is I
have created an online community for women and it's all
about helping them to heal their relationship with food and
(02:13):
their bodies without having to go on another diet. Because
that is something that I've struggled all throughout my twenties.
I had binge eating disorder. Did every diet under the sun.
I've been every shape and size and I just felt
like I was broken, there was something wrong with me.
So what I've created is I've taken my lived experience
(02:34):
with recovery and then I've wrapped it up with all
of my qualifications and I've created a bench free bestie.
So it's giving women this roadmap, real tools they actually work,
and giving them a safe space to know, hey, you
actually aren't broken and there is a way to find
peace and freedom with food.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
How common are binge eating disorders?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
They're actually really super common. In fact, binge eating disorder
is the most common eating disorder of all of them.
So about one in five women and students experience being disorder.
Most of us maybe won't put that label on it.
We might say that we're emotional eaters or overeaters. So
it is very very common.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Are they good treatment and support options in New Zealand?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Well, to be frank and in my own personal experience,
I don't believe so. As I said, I've really been
in the trenches of that myself, and when I was
looking for support, it was very hard to find anything
that really resonated with me, that wasn't like overly clinical.
Everything that I tried was very much that old kind
(03:43):
of you know, all you need to do is eat
less and move more. But I already tried all of
that for years and I was still stuck. So all
I'm trying to do at benis free bestie, is bring
those evidence based tools, but I'm doing it in a
really approachable way. I'm really warm, relatable, down to earth
and yeah, just creating a safe space.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
What was it do you think about you and your
business that set you apart from the others?
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Well, I can only guess, but I think one thing
that I've heard Stephen talk about a lot is that
he wants to support entrepreneurs who are impact driven. They
have a purpose that they're leading from their heart, They're
leading from their passion. So I think when I went
into that challenge, I really honed in on that and
I wanted to make sure that he saw me, not
(04:34):
just the business, but me, so I shared a lot
of my story. I really made sure that I was
really bold and authentic and made sure that he got
on board with my vision. Really, and that's my goal
moving forward, is how can I get someone like Steven
to really see the value and what I'm creating.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
So what does the funding mean for you and your business?
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Well, I mean, at the moment, what I do is
I work full time as an acc trauma therapist. That's
my bread and butter. I work long days. It's pretty
hard work. Benfrey Bestie has been my passion project on
the side. But now that I've got this funding, it's
just going to give me some breathing room. Really, it
gives me that space to think about, well, how do
(05:19):
I want to invest my time and my energy. What
can I do to look after myself a little bit better.
Oh I'm a little bit burned out. I'll admit it's
not easy to kind of float a few different things
at once. So it's just a bit more head space,
more opportunity, and obviously connecting with someone like Stephen, I'm
very curious what he's going to suggest, what he's going
(05:40):
to like. I'm going in the interpect brains.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
I was going to say, how does the mentoring work?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
So I actually don't have all the info yet, which
is keeping me on the edge of my seat. But
as far as I know, I'm flying to LA sometime
in the next few months dates to TVC, but I'll
be off to LA and I'll be spending time with
him one on one, getting some mentoring sessions. Obviously, I'm
going to really get him on board and and see
(06:06):
if I can make this a long term relationship. But yeah,
I'm also going behind the scenes of divers CEO, which
is going to be pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
That's awesome. So what's the goal? Where do you hope
you can take this with the support exposure this has
given you.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
So I've always had big dreams anyway. I always felt
like I could create anything I wanted as long as
I'm really consistent and I'm working hard, and I think
I would have been able to achieve a lot on
my own anyway. But with this, you know, this powerhouse
guy stand beside me, the funding and all of that.
I want to take Bingeree Besty global. I want this
(06:44):
to be the go to platform for women who are
struggling with binge eating or body image. At the moment,
I've already developed a signature group coaching program, so I've
reready got all that down, but just want to expand
and make it more accessible, thinking about maybe an app
or something something cool like that, run retreats around the
world events who knows what is possible.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Really good on you.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
I love the way you're thinking big about it. Nick,
It's been really nice to talk to you. Thank you
so much for your time this morning. Nick Gabarea there
from Binge Free Bestie.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks A B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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