As the CEO of Dunn Pellier Media, Nicole Dunn has not only represented some of the biggest names in the fitness and wellness industry but also significantly influenced the industry’s landscape. Her work with celebrity figures like Tony Horton, Simone de La Rue, Brett Hoebel and Drew Manning, as well as renowned brands like Les Mills and Future, has helped these entities not just stand out in a crowded market, but also create a lasting impact in their respective niches. 

Nicole spent 14 years working in television before she started her own company. During that time, she was exposed to the incredible power of health and the transformations that can be achieved through diet and exercise. A serendipitous project that brought her contact with Tony Horton created a pivotal moment when she felt all her professional experiences and passions were pointing her toward wellness. She followed her instincts and jumped into business for herself, and that choice immediately paid off. 

Today, Dunn Pellier Media is a highly sought-after firm that offers various media services for health and wellness brands, including PR, consulting, event planning, and more. Coach360 caught up with Nicole, and she shared the most valuable resources while building a business, what makes Dunn Pellier Media different, and her advice for anyone building a business in health and fitness. 

What drew you into the health, fitness, and wellness industry? 

I worked in television for 14 years before I started my company. I had no real awareness of my own health and wellness journey and then I met my first PR client Tony Horton (P90X Creator).  I fell in love with transformation and seeing how people who were working out to his programs lost weight and transformed their lives.  I had my pivotal “why” moment when we were working together in Washington, DC raising money for journalism through fitness.  I saw just how powerful fitness could be and I was hooked! I love a good transformation story – and P90X had so many great one’s we could tell to the press.  At the same time I read an article by Richard Branson who talked about how the wellness industry was going to be a billion dollar industry and I never looked back.

What was the turning point or motivation for you to move from being a media executive to an entrepreneur in health, fitness, and wellness? 

I have been in media for most of my career.  I started working in television as a Producer and transitioned into helping to build fitness and wellness legacies in the media doing public relations.  About five years ago, I started to noodle in my head the idea of shifting my role into more of a leadership role and seeing how I could contribute to the space to take all of the knowledge I have gained working in the media and wellness industry and apply it to women entrepreneurs and business owners in the wellness space.  With a good team of 10, I was able to shift into that role and here I am.

What was the impetus for you to create Dunn Pellier Media? What was the journey of its creation? 

I really wanted to place more of a positive emphasis on health and wellness in the media. At the time when I started Dunn Pellier Media in 2009, there was very little emphasis on positive health and wellness topics for articles.  I saw a lack of coverage and set out to change that with the amazing clients we represent. It started with fitness, and over the years with trends we created we had more and more coverage for all things wellness.  Currently, I see a lack of research around women which also affects coverage for certain important women’s health topics, and our firm is setting our sites on changing that! Our client Dr. Mindy Pelz, is leading the way for wellness and lifestyle changes for women, and our firm is helping to get her messages out to the world.  Women love her messaging – she is changing lives one woman at a time. That is what we set out to do and are doing every day, helping people to live happier, healthier lives with our experts, brands and wellness legacies.

What void is Dunn Pellier serving within the health, fitness, and wellness industry?  What differentiates the brand?

We only service health, wellness and fitness brands.  We also have a competitive roster and we don’t choose just any wellness or fitness brand. Just as much as the potential client thinks they are choosing us, behind the scenes we are choosing them. The marketplace is full of competition and its becoming cluttered so we pride ourselves in choosing clients that are beyond trending – we look at the whole legacy and the lives they are affecting and changing to pick our roster.

What was the “aha” moment that made you decide to move forward with this idea? 

My ‘aha” moment was in DC as I mentioned above.  Tony Horton and I were walking down F St. in Downtown DC and there was a woman running down the street with a box. She saw Tony and couldn’t contain herself because she had lost 100 pounds doing his workout program.  I saw her excitement as Tony praised her for all of her hard work and working on her fitness and nutrition.  Then she said it was her birthday. She opened the box and his face was on the cake.  Mind you this was before selfies and Instagram and the whole social media boom.  It was then that I saw the power of what he was teaching and fitness and nutrition transformation. I just fell in love with the whole idea of transformation through small changes in diet and exercise. 

Working in television there were long 18 hour days of being on set – which meant no time for exercising or eating right for that matter. But during my days in television, I was producing television that had a lot of transformation intertwined in the programming, so it was only natural that I ended up, loving transformation and fitness and health.

What kind of support and resources did you find most valuable throughout your journey to becoming an entrepreneur?

My most valuable support and resources came from my husband, Val Garay, and business coaches and mentors over time. I currently have one amazing coach Karen Luniw that helps with building and scaling, and a PR mentor David Landis, owner of Landis Communications in San Francisco.  

What challenges have you faced on your journey and how did you overcome them?

The challenges I have faced were mainly around scaling my business as a female entrepreneur.  Now I have a go of relationships I have built that are my inner circle that support me in any direction my business goes. My best partner has been my relationship with US Bank, they whole hardly support women entrepreneurs.  I always recommend that you build up relationships in three areas – banking, industry contacts, and inner circle (coaches, mentors and your go to 5 people who will drop anything for you when you need them).

Now that you are a business owner, what aspects of your role bring you the most satisfaction? How do you measure success in your business?

I get so much satisfaction seeing clients grow, and I love it when they become so famous with the work they do that it makes me so happy.  I also love mentorship and being a part of someone’s growth knowing that I helped in some small way.

Based on your experiences, what advice would you give to professionals in this industry who have an idea for a product or service and would like to make the leap to entrepreneurship?

Believe in yourself and your idea.  Share with your inner circle to get their feedback and build it out from there. You got this!  Visualize it daily, meditate and it will become what you want it to.