“When we realize that we can easily GROW PARADISE right where we live, our power returns to us. Our children deserve a paradise planet – we simply have to create it.” -Anthony Anderson

For our April edition, we wanted to deliver a feature cover story that would honor our national Earth Day. Who better to feature than a man who is passionate about achieving what other earth-friendly individuals may feel they can only dream about: building a sustainable community.  His name is Nick Stern.

I admit that walking into the interview I did not really know much about Nick.  All I really knew were two facts:

• he is the co-founder of a nutritional company called “Sunwarrior”
• he has an interest in starting a sustainable community

I had no idea that I would feel so uplifted and inspired by Nick’s philanthropic and unity-minded philosophy of life, as well as his passionate mission to improve the health and vitality of individuals and the planet.  It is so refreshing within this age of consumerism to encounter an individual who can be the force behind one of the fastest growing nutritional companies, and yet still be so humble and motivated toward serving a greater good.  He is not simply a man of nice words or good intentions, but someone who knows how to translate those intentions into actions.  His website www.sunwarrior.com even offers a tribute to both humanity and Mother Earth. From his web site we read:

“The two men [Nick Stern and Denley Fowlke] combined their dreams, their savvy business personalities, and their environmental consciousness to create Sunwarrior, a company committed to making the best plant-based products while elevating humanity and preserving the planet.”

Nick’s passion with nature and health started during a time when much of the world was not buying organic foods or concerned about what was being eaten.  In fact, as early as 1968, Nick had acquired the nickname “Nature Boy” due to his interest in raw foods and juicing, which the benefits have paid off for him.  For, as one can tell by seeing his pictures, the more Nick purified his diet, the younger he became when it came to his health–despite advancing in years.  Nick now attributes his interest in a higher vibrational diet with his developing higher vibrational thoughts, confidence and ideals.  He states, “Superfoods gave me the knowledge and enlightenment I never had before. The more I ate healthy, the more I wanted to take it to a higher level, care for the planet, etc.”

When it comes to his nutritional company, Nick attributes its success—since it is one of the fastest growing companies in the world—to having been a labor of love and passion, rather than a means to financially survive.  Discussing why he feels his company took off so fast, he says that it was the natural result of his ability to be friendly, liked and sharing with others rather than cutthroat and competitive.  He explains, “When you work together and share together, you are stronger; you have more synergy.”

Nick further discussed how in his past he knew what it was like to work primarily for money. It would take losing everything for this mind-set to shift.  He stated, “I would lose everything when the real estate industry collapsed in 2008; I wasn’t really conscious back then, but into it for the money. I was a real estate broker and had a mortgage company.” He continued, “I thought to myself, ‘What am I going to do with my life when I have lost everything I have? How do I follow my path as a nature boy and make it a success?’  The only thing I knew about and loved doing involved health, anti-aging and nutrition.  The more I do it, the more conscious I become.”

During this same period Nick started learning about superfoods from David Wolfe who was the leading authority on this subject.  The more Nick learned, the more he knew he had to meet David.  As destiny would have it, Nick did, in fact, meet David. Soon after, Nick was introduced to his current business partner, Denley Fowlke, who at that time, owned several health food stores. Nick states, “I met Denley at the Raw Spirit Festival. I was trying to get David into business with me and David turned me on to Denley.” What set Nick apart from David and others in the health food industry at the time was that he was a former body builder.  As such, protein was an important part of Nick’s diet and important for building muscle.  However, finding a vegetarian source of protein was not necessarily easy; especially one that tasted good.  Undertaking the challenge to produce one, Sunwarrior was born: an ecofriendly nutrition company which spreads the word on health (see the Sunwarrior News at www.sunwarrior.com/news/) and offers vegetarian plant based protein.

As Nick continued to embark on his mission to help others get healthier, he discovered that one can achieve success without focusing on money or material gain.  He says his current attitude is one of “less is more.”  He further states, “I started from nothing and I became successful through the power of confidence, synergy and giving to people.  It was not about the money, but about the mission.  It was originally about doing good and feeling good; helping people.  Later, it became about helping the planet.”  As his company took off, the money he was making simply became a “vehicle to create something more.”

This would begin to transpire after Nick saw a documentary called The Fruit Hunters (www.youtube.com/watch?v=_osOLHjr27w).  It inspired Nick’s interest in creating a sustainable community, or as Nick calls it “a garden of Eden.” In Nick’s vision, this community would be one in which individuals could enjoy the best health, synergy and organic food picked straight from the tree rather than waxed and preserved.  Nick is determined to be a needed leader who can be part of this cause in more than just words but in actions as well.  He states, “When you have passion you can make things work, you can find people and find talent.  Some people have talent, but don’t have the motivation to make something happen.  I’m good at gathering people together and making things happen.” 

The ultimate goal for Nick is not only to create a community where like-minded people share together, but to make it affordable to be part of, as well as easy to learn from each other and to work together.  His ideal is that different individuals could contribute different talents to the community.  We even talked a little about unity consciousness and Nick states, “The perfect society is one where we work together versus every man working for himself.”  Nick terms this unity-mindedness “synergy.”

Nick is currently doing his research, learning about zoning laws and getting the buzz out.  He admits that he knows little about how to accomplish this dream but he is determined to learn.  He knows how to ask for help. There are three individuals who Nick considers an integral part of bringing his dream into a reality. He explained, “Denley Fowlke is both like-minded and he is as excited as I am. He also has a background in real estate and development. Dr. Robert Cassar was the main reason I went to the Big Island in Hawaii. He was a wealth of information.”  Nick visited Robert to see what he had going. When I asked Nick what he meant by ‘what he had going’ he stated, “Robert owns the company Earth Shifts Products, [www.earthshiftsproducts.com]. He also wanted to build a community but couldn’t get players.”

Robert showed him some property on the Big Island, and taught him about the 19.5 latitude (a significant latitude when it comes to sacred geometry, one on which certain pyramids have been built upon).  Nick added, “Robert knows how to grow stuff, is part of the puzzle, knows about free energy, and is experimenting with growing methods.”

Anthony Anderson, the founder of “Grow Paradise” (www.growparadise.com) is the third individual who has inspired Nick.  When asked about what Anthony’s role was, Nick replied, “Anthony believes in the mission, the dream to regrow paradise. He knows permaculture.”

Nick is going to visit Hawaii in June. He is currently looking at investing in a piece of land which is uncorrupted, has the purest soil and air, and which is located on the 19.5 latitude. I asked Nick why Hawaii, and he stated “You could feel the vibration of the land.” His goal is that this land will host ecofriendly buildings such as domes (see www.ecobuiltsystems.com/) that can withstand earthquakes and disasters.  He discusses the potential for hydroponic gardening, free energy, bee keeping and the collection and purification of water using rain barrels.

While writing this article about Nick and visiting his site which uses the term “Warrior,” I am reminded of the Hopi prophecy concerning the rise of a tribe of “Rainbow Warriors:”

When the Earth is dying, there shall arise a new tribe of all colors and all creeds. This tribe shall be called the Warriors of the Rainbow and it will put its faith in actions not words.

To me, Nick seems to offer a perfect representation of translating our love for our planet into more than just words but actions.  It is my sincere hope that individuals like Nick can become needed leaders to help and inspire more of us to think in new ways, believe in a different future and in creating a new and more friendly world (friendlier to both ourselves and our planet).  Nick offers us the hope that if we can use our strength and determination to believe in change, we can all be part of what changes our world for the better.

To find out more about Nick, visit his site at www.sunwarrior.com.  To find out more about how Nick started his Sunwarrior Company, visit www.sunwarrior.com/resources/about-us/. To receive free news, health information and healthy recipes, visit www.sunwarrior.com/news/.

If you would like to learn more about sustainable and intentional communities and off-grid living you can visit www.ic.org and www.off-grid.net.  To learn more about sustainable eco-friendly domes, visit www.ecobuiltsystems.com/.  Lastly, if you wish to learn more about growing your own paradise, visit www.growparadise.com/.

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