Get to know Nicolette Gavino de Sousa of Gecko Yoga
If you constantly find yourself yearning for balance in the fast-paced world of corporate life, know that you are not alone!
Nicky, founder of Gecko Yoga knows that feeling all too well. After experiencing burnout in her marketing career, she turned back to her yoga practice, which ultimately sparked the creation of a brand offering sustainable and ethical yoga products.
Gecko’s products are made entirely from eco-friendly materials sourced within Portugal, their yoga mats offer both comfort and performance. The naturally breathable and non-slip cork surface provides excellent grip, while the lightweight, foam-like rubber backing ensures stability and support throughout your practice.
Nicky's story is an inspiring tale of resilience, entrepreneurship, and her commitment to living a life aligned with her values. Let's dive into her journey!
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VW: From your burnout experience to finding solace in yoga again, what did you learn about yourself and the importance of wellness in the corporate world?
NGS: I love this question, because it truly was a powerful self-discovery opportunity for me. I think when many of us picture burnout, we imagine someone having a very negative, resentful relationship with their work. But this wasn’t the case for me. I loved my job all the way up until the moment that I left.
Anyone who has worked in a marketing agency knows that no two days are alike; there are always new challenges, new clients, new tech to learn or competition to outperform. I’ve always had a lot of fire inside, so I found this fast-paced, sink-or-swim environment to be exhilarating.
Also, because I was trained as a yoga teacher, I didn’t think that I could experience burnout. I was still practicing yoga asana on the weekends and bringing my little jars of chia pudding to the office, but I wasn’t nurturing myself on a deeper level.
Only once the pandemic came, and this opportunity to pause was forced upon us, did I actually realize how tired I was. It was then, in this scary and uncertain time, that I came back to my mat. And not in the half-hearted way I had been doing before — I truly surrendered to the practice. And the practice began to fill me up and show me just how depleted I really was. I started to slowly recognize how much my identity and sense of self worth relied on my professional accomplishments (something I am still working on to this day).
That’s why I am such a believer in the power of yoga for professionals, and weaving it into the corporate world to prevent burnout, not just treat it. Yoga may start on a physical level, but it sparks this journey of self-inquiry. Yoga challenges us to bring awareness to our behaviors and our unconscious patterns.
And let me be clear — I’m not advocating for people to start practicing yoga and then quit their jobs, or suggesting that a corporate lifestyle is incompatible with wellbeing. Fire can be motivating, invigorating, and incredibly empowering. But it can also burn you if you don’t know how to control it. Yoga can show us how to recognise that fire within, and temper it before we get burned.
VW: What were the biggest challenges and rewards you faced when transitioning from a corporate career to becoming an entrepreneur?
NGS: There’s a common saying amongst entrepreneurs that when you work for yourself, the bad days are worse, but the good days are so much better. Even though starting a business requires a lot of planning, preparation, and risk calculation, transitioning from a corporate career to an entrepreneur can sometimes feel like trading a life of security for a world of uncertainty.
But I think if the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that nothing is ever truly certain. And there’s a huge sense of freedom when you decide to jump eyes wide open into the unknown.
VW: Building a business in a new country like Portugal must have come with its own set of experiences. What surprised you the most about the business environment here?
NGS I’m from the US, which is much more business friendly than Portugal on many levels. However, I had worked in a Portuguese company before starting Gecko, so I already had a general understanding of the complexities of the business landscape here.
So while it didn’t come as a surprise, something that I grew to appreciate about doing business here is the value that the state and the culture put on workers’ rights. Things like safe working conditions, adequate breaks, access to training, and vacation days are considered fundamental here.
Since our mission at Gecko is to make yoga mats that uphold yogic values, we need to be sure that the human beings who are making those mats are treated with dignity. And because every part of our supply chain takes place in Portugal — from the growing of the cork trees, to the harvesting of the bark, to the actual manufacturing of the yoga mats — we can be confident that this is the case.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for most of the yoga mats circulating around the world. Typically, production is outsourced overseas to the cheapest supplier, and there’s a lot of opacity around working conditions, where the raw materials come from, the environmental implications, etc.. Of course, by doing it this way, other brands are able to have better profit margins, but to us it’s not worth it.
VW: What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who are passionate about building businesses that align with their values?
NGS The same way that doing a few yoga poses doesn’t necessarily make you a yogi, launching a business doesn’t necessarily make you an entrepreneur — it’s coming back to your business week after week that does.
With AI and so many resources available on the internet these days, just about anyone can launch a brand. But contrary to what a lot of “business experts” on TikTok might say, you do not start a business and then sit back and wait for the money and praise to roll in.
Businesses are living entities, and in order to be sustained, let alone grow, they need to be nurtured. They need constant tending, trimming, watering, and sometimes even restructuring. If you approach your business from a superficial intention, or are seeking quick results or external validation, you will likely lose the motivation to keep coming back. Longevity in business requires clear intention and a steadfast commitment to your purpose.
But also, you can’t pour from an empty cup. Make sure you are nurturing yourself as well so you have the strength and energy to persist.
VW: Other than yoga, how do you approach finding a balance between work and personal life in your entrepreneurial journey?
NGS: Time in nature is absolutely critical. Even though some of my work takes place on a yoga mat, the majority of it happens behind a computer screen. I can feel a noticeable difference physically, emotionally, and energetically when I don't compensate my office time with outdoor time.
Nature also has this incredible power to put life into perspective. As I mentioned before, I often struggle not to conflate my personal value with my professional accomplishments; identifying with the ego structure as it’s sometimes referred to in yoga philosophy. But nature is humbling, and has a way of reminding us what really matters (and what doesn’t) in life.
Plus, nothing washes away a difficult day of work like a sunset dip in the ocean.
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We can certainly agree that everyone deserves to feel their best, both at work and beyond.
Our mission is to help your company create a culture of well-being, offering a variety of programs and services to support your team's physical, mental, and emotional health. With the best selected practitioners and partners to accompany your journey.
