(lively upbeat music) (lively upbeat music fades) - Welcome to "A Shot of AG."

I'm a farmer, which means nutrition is important to me because I grow food.

But what is a nutrition club?

Well, today we're gonna be talking with Nichole Mills from Geneseo, Illinois.

- Hey, Nichole.

- Hi.

How are you?

- I'm doing pretty good.

For the people in Peoria that might not know, where is a Geneseo in the once great state of Illinois?

- So we're about 20 minutes east of the Quad Cities.

- Okay.

- About an hour and a half from here, not too bad.

- Up there on the old I-80.

- Yep.

- Most people think that anything south of I-80 is Southern Illinois.

- Hmm.

- Yeah.

So you're Northern Illinois.

- I guess you would consider that Northern Illinois then.

- Is that where you grew up?

- Yep, I grew up in Geneseo all my life.

- Um-hmm.

Did you grow up on a farm?

- Yep we live on, it's a grain farm, so we live about 20 minutes outside of town.

Lived there my whole life.

Went to Geneseo schools my whole life.

Yeah, it's a very nice small town.

- [Rob] Yeah.

Just corn and soybeans?

- Yep, we have chickens, but I don't really think that makes us livestock farmers.

- [Rob] Ah, well it depends on how many.

Is it- - Not enough?

- Four digits?

- No.

- [Rob] Okay, then.

No, it's just a hobby.

- Yep.

- Do you eat the eggs?

- Yep.

- Okay.

Do they have like the big yolks?

- Yeah, some of them.

- Do you like that?

I would say it's an odd taste.

I honestly, I prefer the Walmart eggs, 'cause I'm used to them.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- Hmm.

- The other ones are- - I think once you change you never go back.

- Really?

Is that what it is?

I gotta force myself to eat the over-yoked natural ones and then I'll never- - Yeah, they're much more rich in color and flavor and, um-hmmm.

- Okay.

I'll take your word for it.

(Nichole chuckles) Nothing wrong with Walmart eggs, though.

- Sure.

(Rob laughs) - Now, when you were growing up, did you help on the farm much or were you kind of aloof?

- We didn't really help a lot.

At that time my dad, when we were younger, he worked at a machine repair company.

So he was part-time farming.

Part-time working for someone else.

And so we just weren't as involved.

It was my sister and I, we were in school and we'd be around for tractor rides, but we weren't super involved.

And my mom's a nurse, so she worked in town.

So when she was at work, we were at my grandparents or somewhere with our cousins.

So there wasn't a lot of involvement on the farm until I got older.

- Gotcha.

Now you went to high school in Geneseo?

- Yep.

- Where'd you go to college?

- [Nichole] So I went to Western Illinois University, but I actually went to the Quad Cities campus.

- Oh.

- So it was 30 minutes from my house, so I just traveled for whatever classes I had and lived at home.

- What were you studying?

- So I actually went for Elementary Ed and I do have a degree in elementary education.

- But did you learn along the way that you hate children?

- I don't hate children, but I didn't agree with- - Much.

- I didn't agree with some of the things I was learning and would have to teach and just found a few better opportunities along the way.

- Really?

Okay.

I'll let that go.

But it was just that, that wasn't the way you would want to teach?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- Okay.

Fair enough.

Well, I mean I'm glad you realized it then instead of getting into a job, getting all that involved and then realizing that.

- Yeah, and I enjoyed where I was placed.

I was placed in Annawan for my student teaching.

So it was a smaller town.

I truly enjoyed it, but I also went to college.

- We're not a fan of Annawan on this show.

- Why not?

- Because they were bullies and they were good in sports and they're stupid.

How about that?

- It's hard when you don't come from there.

- Annawan, I do like that cupcake shop, though.

- Oh, yeah.

Everybody does.

- Yeah.

You were going to college during the COVID?

- Yeah, so that was my first year of college.

So I had one semester in before COVID hit.

- Yeah, you kind of got dinked.

- Yeah, I did.

But I don't think I would change it for the world.

- Why?

- It gave me all the freedom to be on the farm and experience something that I didn't even know I wanted.

So it really changed everything.

I think a lot of people would say that, too.

Because it was such a major event in the world, but it really changed the course of my entire life.

- Um-hmm, so when you were doing it online, you were more involved with the farm then?

- Yeah, so I did all my classes online for the next, I think, two years, honestly, of college.

And so then that fall my dad was like, "Well, I need your help and so you're gonna run grain cart."

And up until then, I really hadn't ran equipment.

Like here and there I would ride with him or he'd have me do something.

But that was the first fall that I ran grain cart the entire season and I did school from the cab.

- First of all, it's auger cart, but we'll let that go.

- Oh.

- And people that don't know, there is, in harvest time you have the combine that's harvesting the crop and then it dumps into the auger cart, which takes it to the semi or wherever, right.

The thing is the person that is running the auger cart can literally not do one thing right.

No matter how hard they try, because it's required for the auger cart driver to consider what the combine driver is thinking.

Even if the combine driver doesn't even know what he's thinking, or her, yeah, it's always the fault of the auger cart.

Am I wrong?

- No.

You learn a lot of hand signals.

- Do you have- - And a lot of yelling through the glass.

You just see it.

- You don't have radios?

- Oh, we do.

- But it was sometimes- - You just yell at me through the glass and just point.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- [Rob] And is the hand signals, I do this to my son too.

And I don't even know what I'm saying.

- Eventually, you get it down though.

- I get so mad when he doesn't know.

That's the thing.

I'll tell him like, "Hey, I want you at the end of the field."

And then he doesn't come, but he ends up being right.

I'm still mad at him.

- (chuckles) The combine driver's always right.

- Could you repeat that for our audience?

- It's a tough pill to swallow, but I've learned the combine driver is always right.

- Combine driver is always right.

Thank you, Nichole.

Now we can move on.

(laughs) So what'd you learn that fall?

- Well, I learned that there's people in the world that do not understand at all what farming is and that will never understand.

But I also learned that being in the tractor and in the fields with my family, 'cause it was my mom and my dad and I, I mean that's where I wanted to be and I didn't wanna do anything else.

And I wanted to have whatever I do in the future, I wanted to be able to still be in the tractor when I'm needed.

And so I kind of just, I finished up school but I still wasn't really sure on what I was gonna do in the future.

- Um-hmm.

Well, how did nutrition club come into it?

- So that was a summer job.

I had nannied for a few summers and I just needed a summer job.

And so I got a job at this new drink store that was coming to Geneseo and I was like, "It'll be a fun easy summer job, 'cause in the summer my dad doesn't need my help as much."

And so I applied and my dad was like, "What are you doing?

Like that is a fufu," his literal words were, "that is a fufu drink shop."

Like why- - Dippy dippy?

- [Nichole] Why do you wanna do that?

- Yeah.

I get it.

- And I was like, "It's just a job.

We'll see."

- And he's right because he's a combine driver.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- [Nichole] Um-hmm.

Well, he also comes in every day for a fufu drink now.

So he enjoys them.

- Still, he'd be right because, yeah.

So did you enjoy it?

- Yeah, I enjoyed it and I liked working with people and it kept me busy.

I mean I'm running behind the bar making drinks all day and getting to know people and it keeps me active.

It keeps me healthy.

I got to learn a lot about nutrition and what your body needs and I got to share that with my family too.

And so I really enjoyed it and, eventually, it turned into more than just a job and I was offered to take over the space.

- All right.

Oh, that's a big jump.

- Um-hmmm.

- So you're working there as an employee.

- Going to college.

- And then what?

Were they selling it?

- Yeah, the owner was moving.

- Oh, okay.

And they, I mean instead of just putting it on the market, they offered you?

- Um-hmm.

- That's pretty complimentary.

- [Nichole] It was.

I was very shocked.

I was still in school at this point.

I had one semester left to go when they offered it to me.

- Well, if there's ever a point in time where you're flush with money, it's when you're at the end of college.

(laughs) - Oh yeah.

Isn't it?

Yeah.

- So were you able to work it out?

- Yeah, it worked out great.

And I mean when they offered it to me, I was shocked, but there was no question of if I was gonna do it.

I was going to do it because it gave me the opportunity that I wanted.

I just didn't know this is the way I would get it.

You know I could take the time off that I need to farm with my family and that's usually fall and spring.

And then in the non-busy times, winter and summer, I'm in the club and I kind of get to do both and have something for myself outside of the farm until we get to the point where we can farm full time.

- So you were making drinks and that, but I mean were you involved in like the payroll, the insurance, all that other stuff you need to know?

- No, I was just an employee up until I was offered to take it over and then it was teaching myself how to do all those things.

And thankfully, I have a really good family and they're very helpful on everything.

They've kind of walked me through everything.

But it was a lot of learning to do.

the big kid things at, I was 21.

- Yeah, I imagine.

So you now own more than one?

- Yep.

- What are two that you own?

- [Nichole] In March, I opened Hometown Haven in your favorite town of Annawan.

- Yeah.

- So I have Reap & Sow in Geneseo and then Hometown Haven in Annawan.

- Why Annawan?

- They need it.

It's a good community.

They need- - They need a lot more than that.

- They do, but you gotta start somewhere.

- Okay and these are drinks straight from your place?

- Yep, I grabbed him from Animal this morning and- - Ah, okay.

So what do we have here?

- So this is a Carrot Top.

It's one of our energy teas.

All of our energy teas are made with B vitamins, herbal tea and then they're sugar free.

- Oh.

- So they're, actually, gonna give you some health benefits.

The B vitamins, that's obviously good for you and little bit of caffeine.

- But without sugar, they're just not gonna taste well.

- I think you'll be surprised.

- Okay.

- [Nichole] And then the herbal tea is a metabolism booster, which is also really nice.

- Oh, okay.

How about this one?

- That is called the Blue Lagoon.

That's actually off of our summer menu.

So that one's a little bit sour, but still has all the same benefits.

- Okay.

I do see a problem with drinking it, though.

They're sealed.

- Um-hmm.

So that is the best invention ever.

All of our smalls and mediums get a heat sealed lid.

So they're spill-proof until you pop the top.

- Yeah, are you supposed to stir them up?

- Yep.

- Okay.

How often does the top come off?

- It's very rare.

It never happens.

- I really want to put it to the limit, but- - You can.

- Okay.

It's kinda like when you buy a thing from Dairy Queen.

- Yep.

- They always do that.

I mean I'm guessing that's okay.

- Yep.

- So what?

Do we rip the lids off?

- No, all the straws have a little pointy edge on it, so you'll just pop it right through the top.

- Oh, like you're- Oh, that was very quaint.

I'll see if I can do it as well.

- Easy peasy.

- It's very satisfying isn't it?

- It is.

People love that part.

Well, now it's not quite so spill-proof.

- Yeah, but it makes me happy.

All right.

Should we try it?

- Yeah, I think you'll like that one.

You don't have to drink it all.

Do you hate it?

That one is melon, passion fruit and pink Starburst.

- That's what I couldn't get was the melon.

- Um-hmm.

- I knew I could taste it.

That's delicious.

- Good.

I'm glad.

- Huh, huh?

They get so happy when they get they get to... - Get to sample?

- Yeah, any day of the week.

- Yeah.

There you go.

- [Nichole] I should've brought more.

- Yeah, you should've.

Yeah.

- Coulda had a whole cooler full.

- All right.

- No sugar in here?

- No sugar.

- No sugar.

No sugar.

Yeah.

(straw squeaking) - [Crew] That pink Starburst does wonders.

- Pink- - Um-hmm.

- [Rob] Yeah, you like it?

Okay.

- So this one will be a little bit more sour than the other one.

- I like that one, though.

- Good.

- I don't know if I wanna- - Yeah.

- [Rob] We'll try.

Now, my daughter would love this one.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- [Nichole] The sour ones, the kids really love.

- Is that what it is?

- Um-hmm.

Yeah.

- Yeah.

It's not bad.

Yeah.

Huh?

Don't be shy.

Don't be shy.

There you go.

Yeah.

Oops.

it's okay that you drank after me too.

That's fine.

Yeah.

- That's good.

- [Rob] Do you wanna try this one?

- Absolutely.

- Okay.

What do you think?

- That's very nice.

I like the blue one more, though.

- Oh see, it's the young people like the blue one more.

- See.

Yep, yep.

- [Rob] Yeah, and Don doesn't want to drink any unless it has alcohol in it, right?

(laughs) So who's buying this stuff?

Who's your customer?

- So it really varies in age.

We have anyone from like age seven to like older people too.

And we have more than just energy teas.

So we have meal replacement shakes.

We have protein coffees and we have acai bowls, which those are always a hit too.

But we get, honestly, all ages coming in for a shake or an energy tea or we have caffeine free options too for the little ones.

- See, originally when Emily kind of line you up to be on the XM show, I thought it was like a place you go and you just get the nutrition shakes- - Oh, yeah.

- And the protein shakes.

- [Nichole] Like just the supplements?

- Yeah.

But is that a very big part of your business?

- Yeah.

So that's something we definitely can do.

I mean the whole purpose is to get customers in the door, get to know them, have relationships with them and have them in love with the product because everything we have can be made at home.

Everything we have is available for purchase at home.

So it's kind of one of those things that you just figure out what each person needs and the health benefits- - What do you mean?

You can sell them the stuff to mix this at home?

- Um-hmm.

Yeah.

- Really?

- Yeah, so I make them at home.

I have a lot of customers under me that they'll come in and try the new flavors and then they find something they love and then they get the ingredients and make it at home.

So it's just a cheaper option.

And really it's all about lifestyle.

Like I'm not just serving you a drink and sending you out the door.

It's how can this fit into your lifestyle and change your life for the better.

- But you gotta get them in the door and upsell them.

Have them get a candy bar and a magazine, when they're- - Well, we don't have candy bars but we do have some protein balls.

- Some what?

- Protein balls.

- [Rob] Protein ball.

What's a protein ball?

- So it's peanut butter, honey, we do oats and then our protein powder.

- Yeah.

- We sell a lot of protein balls.

- How many grams in a protein ball of protein?

- Um, I think it's 10 grams.

- Okay.

Just a little pick me up.

- Yeah.

Yep.

- Okay.

Because, especially, like the younger people that are into athletics and that, I've never seen a generation so aware of nutrition before.

- Yeah.

- Besides your generation.

- [Nichole] Yeah, you really do have to be mindful.

Because there's times that you don't realize how much you're truly consuming in sugar or anything like that.

- Yeah that Kennedy guy, he's gonna change all this.

- He is.

- Yeah.

- [Nichole] I mean things are already changing really.

- Yeah.

Okay.

So in one year you got engaged, you got married and you bought a house.

- Yeah, so the same year that I opened Reap & Sow, which was my first nutrition club, I also- - And opened it.

Okay, yeah.

- Yeah, I also got married and then we bought a house.

- Okay.

- Yeah, all good things.

- [Rob] Where'd you meet this guy at?

- We were set up.

I was 14.

- Was it arranged?

- [Nichole] No, well, people like to joke it was.

I used to babysit for a- - Him?

- A couple.

- Oh.

- No, a couple.

They were farm neighbors.

And he used to work, he was their farm hand and at 14 and 15 we were set up and the rest is history.

- Oh, really?

- Yeah.

- [Rob] Now did his family have to give your family like a certain amount of cows and stuff as a dowry?

- No, he doesn't come from a farming family.

- Doesn't matter.

- But they don't have cows and we don't want cows.

- A dowry's a dowry.

Chickens.

Is that where the chickens came from?

- No.

(Rob laughs) - And so he was from the area?

- Yep.

- Okay, well that makes things easier and that.

- Yeah.

- [Rob] Does he ever help with the shop?

- No, he tries to avoid.

I'll make him come in and help me with some things, but that's not his thing.

- Does he not like people?

- [Nichole] No, he does not.

- Believe me, I get it.

Yeah.

- Yeah.

- But you have to, to sell stuff like this.

- Yeah, you really do have to be a people person.

And I've learned a lot of confidence in learning how to speak to people even when they might not be speaking to you very kindly.

- Yeah.

Oh!

- It's taught me a lot.

- [Rob] Okay.

Well, and you're in smaller towns.

- Yeah.

- You need good people 'cause you can't work there all the time.

- Right.

- Do you have trouble finding that?

- So far I've been very fortunate to have really, really, really good help that I would do anything for them.

They would do anything for me.

It's incredible.

But I think that's the benefit of a small town is you get to know these people and you get to find the really good ones.

- How many employees do you have?

- In Geneseo, I have about seven.

In Annawan I have, I think, six.

- Wow, that's 13.

- So we just kind of rotate.

Everyone takes little shifts here and there.

- Which one do you like the least?

- I love them both.

They're both my babies.

- No, employees.

- Oh.

- [Rob] Which employee do you like the least?

- I don't think I can say that.

- [Rob] Yes, you can.

- I love them all.

- Believe me there's a lot of rules here that we're learning, but you can say that.

- They're all great and I can not be here today without them.

- Somebody popped into your mind.

(laughs) So you opened up the second store.

What kind of challenges did that bring?

- Yeah, that was a whole new ring of challenges I wasn't expecting, I mean in Geneseo I took over an already established location but grew it, I mean doubled our growth there.

But I was also from Geneseo so I had a ton of support of family, friends, people that knew my parents or whoever.

So that's been incredible.

In Annawan I feel like I've had a lot more challenges of just getting to know the community better.

Because I mean I student taught there so they knew me, but now I'm really trying to make those personal connections and bring people in the door.

Not even just in Annawan, but from the surrounding communities like Sheffield or Mineral or Kewanee.

Just bring people to there.

- Okay.

Is there plans for a third?

- Somewhere down the road.

- Really?

Do you want these throughout the country?

- That's the goal.

- Really?

You gonna take out Starbucks?

- Mmm, probably not.

- 'Cause they're ready to go down.

- I would like to say we have healthier options, but everybody has their own opinions and favorites.

- Yeah, their food's, I don't know if I can even say my opinion on their food because that'd be breaking some kind of rule.

(Nichole laughs) (laughs) The ambition to keep opening these because I put myself in your shoes and I would be really scared.

- Yeah, I don't know.

There's no fear.

And I honestly for the second store, it was there was a building available.

We looked at it and I said, "Let's go for it."

And within two months we had a store open.

- Where's it at in Annawan?

- Do you know where the Purple Onion is?

- No.

- So it's right on the main street, on Route 6.

- Yeah.

- Right near downtown.

It's the Purple Onion and then we're a building over.

- Okay.

- Across from the bank.

- [Rob] Because it has the main east and west and north and south.

- Yes.

You're on the east and west.

- [Nichole] East and west.

Yep.

- Okay.

All right.

- So if you get into town from Kewanee to where Paxton's sits on that corner?

- Okay.

- And take a left, we're down there.

- Okay, gotcha.

Is that their main street?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

Is it like an older building?

- Yep.

It's completely redone.

It's absolutely beautiful.

- And you've got internet and all that stuff?

- Yep.

we have a very large space, actually, that a lot of it is not utilized, so we actually rent it out for events and things like that.

- Um-hmm, how much does your faith help when you're making these big decisions?

- Well, I feel like everything I've done so far has been a leap of faith.

You know I finished education for something I knew I wasn't gonna do, but I just did it so I have it.

I jumped into owning a nutrition club with, honestly, very little of knowledge of what to do or how to run it.

And then I jumped into a second one.

And over and over again, I've just found that if you are faithful to whatever God has planned for you, that everything will work out and it really has.

And it's opened some doors that I could've never dreamed possible before.

- Um-hmm, what happened on TikTok when you were doing sweet corn?

- So there's this one time I went TikTok famous.

Seriously, I have like over a million views.

It's pretty legit.

- That's a lot.

- All I did was we were processing sweet corn one year and we had a really awesome setup in the machine shed.

We had like a big metal sink that we were dunking the corn in and then we had the turkey fryer for boiling the corn.

and like it was the perfect system.

And I just documented it and shared it as a video and people were like, they could not believe that that's how it happened.

It was hilarious.

- Why?

I don't get TikTok.

- I don't know.

- I mean you'll do some video that's like, man, this is gonna be huge or whatever, it goes nowhere.

- Nothing.

Well, and this was just, like it was my first TikTok.

It was just something funny.

Like maybe people don't know how they process sweet corn or how that becomes a thing.

- It was your first one?

- It was my first one.

- And it hit a million?

- Yeah.

It was wild.

- You're probably pretty disappointed in the second one, weren't you?

- Yeah.

- [Rob] Well do you utilize social media quite a bit for your nutrition bars?

- I do.

I do.

That's something I've really had to learn how to do well.

You know like everybody can do social media and have a following they want, but like it's a certain following that I want and I want good people and I wanna put myself out there as someone very professional and kind.

And I try to do that with my businesses too.

So I've learned a lot through that.

- That's not how you get views, though.

- No, it is not.

- You gotta rant.

You have to go on there, I'll tell you what you do.

I'll give you- - Just try to be more like you.

- A nickel's worth of free advice.

Next time you go on the TikTok, you talk about how bad Annawan is and whatever's bothering you about the town of Annawan, you just rail on it.

- I think that's just a you problem.

- You cuss a lot and you just throw everything out there.

Anything that'll like get people angry, you just say that and you'll go viral.

- Okay, good to know.

- I don't know if you'll sell any more of these.

- Yeah, I might not, but I would be famous.

- [Rob] There's money in TikTok they say.

- There is.

- Yeah.

- [Nichole] I haven't found that yet, but... - The house you bought is that in Geneseo?

- Yep, we're just between Geneseo and Atkinson out in the country.

- [Rob] Oh, okay.

That's nice.

- Yeah, it's very nice.

- Is that close to the family farm?

- Yeah, we're seven minutes away.

- Oh, you're kind of in the middle of everywhere.

- It's perfect.

I'm seven minutes to work, seven minutes to the farm and 12 minutes to Annawan.

So, it's great.

- Okay, again, you could probably just drop Annawan.

(both laughing) Does it take a while for a new store to get its legs under it?

- I would say, yes.

After this last opening in Annawan, I feel like I've had more challenges but it does take a while.

It takes time and getting out in the communities and even the surrounding communities to just put your name out there.

- They have that big auction there twice a year.

Do you get your little wagon and pull around drinks?

- We haven't so far, 'cause we opened the week that the sale was this year.

- [Rob] Oh, yeah.

- But we definitely might.

- Yeah, that'd be a good idea, another one.

If people wanna find out more about you or anywhere, social media, websites, where would they go?

- So we're on Facebook with Reap & Sow Nutrition or Hometown Haven and we're also on Instagram with the same socials.

- Okay.

All right.

And which store did you like the best?

Which town?

- I love them both.

- Okay.

All right.

Well, you know.

- That's just a you thing.

- I mean you were telling me before the show that you really don't like Annawan.

- I don't think I ever said that.

- Yeah.

Do they still have a high school?

- They do.

- They're not smart enough to co-op.

- Not yet.

- Look at you.

You won't bite on anything, will you?

Ah.

Well, Nichole, it's impressive at such a young age that you have been able to build so much.

I mean people go there entire lives without really trying to build anything like you have.

So congratulations on that.

- Thank you.

- Nichole Mills from Geneseo, Illinois, thank you.

- Thank you.

- [Rob] Everybody else, we'll catch you next time.

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