The Nudi Point team. L-R: Delwyn Rumsey, Josh Kitchen, Jill Coates and Blair Coates (Founder).
The Nudi Point team. L-R: Delwyn Rumsey, Josh Kitchen, Jill Coates and Blair Coates (Founder).
A passion for natural therapies and delicious smells has led to a highly successful business for one Takahue Valley local.
Thirty-nine-year-old Blair Coates is the founder of Nudi Point, a health and wellbeing company specialising in 100 per cent natural, organic beauty and wellness products.
Nudi Point currently supplies products to 65 stockists around the country, all of which are made lovingly from a renovated cowshed at the back of Blair's Takahue Valley property.
Together with mum Jill, partner Josh and friend Delwyn (production manager), the Nudi Point team create everything from facial serums to essential oil blends to body butters.
Blair and his family moved from Auckland to Takahue Valley when he was 10 years old to escape the rat race and 'get back to basics'.
The name Nudi Point is actually a nod to a secluded watering hole the family discovered behind their property more than 31 years ago.
Blair said the watering hole was named 'Nudi Point' after an impromptu skinny dip at the site and the name had stuck ever since.
He said the name also made sense for his brand, as Nudi stood for 'naked', which is natural, and represented the all-natural ingredients in his products.
"People usually have a giggle when they hear the name, but the name has become so significant to me now, I sometimes forget its funny origin," he said.
Blair's path to creating health and wellness products began as a result of his own struggles with ill health.
He said it was his disappointment in mainstream medicine that forced him to look into other healing modalities.
"I was about 3 years old when I was diagnosed with Perthes Disease, which meant one of my legs was shorter than the other," Blair said.
"It meant I always had a bit of a limp, which caused really bad cramping and made it very painful to walk.
"I also developed asthma, digestive issues and headaches and despite going to a number of doctors, I always felt disappointed with the result."
Blair said the chronic pain continued to plague him for many years and it wasn't until he turned to natural therapies that his body started to heal.
"I started to visit naturopaths and other holistic medical experts and finally started seeing results," Blair said.
"That convinced me of the power of healing my body with what's already available in Mother Nature and I haven't had a sickness since.
"If I should get sick, I'm clued up enough now to know how to deal with it, without any nasty side effects."
Being in nature, eating fresh vegetables from the garden and clean living were also heavy influencers in Blair's path to holistic wellness.
It was also his love of lovely smelling products that led him to obtaining a Certificate in Aromatherapy at 16.
He said it wasn't until he was in his 20s he started to think about the toxins in his everyday essential items.
"I have always put product in my hair, be it gels or waxes," Blair said.
"When I was about 24 I began thinking about what those products would do to my hair when I was older, so thought about creating a product I liked and what would actually be good for my hair.
"I mixed up a bit of beeswax, shea butter, coconut and essential oils and nailed it first go.
"From there I was hooked and spent the next seven years researching and developing my products into what you see today."
Blair said he gave away his day job as a bank lender in 2015 due to the exponential growth of his business both in New Zealand and abroad.
Entrepreneurship wasn't completely foreign to Blair, however, with parents Bob and Jill Coates the former owners of the popular Kaitaia restaurant, Bushmans Hut.
He said watching them work hard had shown him what was possible when you do something you love.
Nudi Point's rapid growth recently caught the eye of Chooice, which featured Nudi Point as one of 25 New Zealand businesses included in a range of Lumo Digital billboards around Parnell.
Nudi Point was selected as one of 25 businesses to feature on a range of Chooice billboards in Parnell recently. Photo / Supplied.
Blair said he was humbled by the decision and was grateful awareness around harmful chemicals in everyday products was gaining traction.
"Thousands of skincare products promote themselves as natural, organic or plant-based, but because it's not a regulated industry, that's not always the case," Blair said.
"Quite often a product might just contain one ingredient that is natural, so they're playing on the marketing of the product, even if it's not 100 per cent accurate.
"I always say skin is the biggest organ we have and is porous, so whatever we put on it will be eventually absorbed into our blood.
"I think it's weird we're not more educated about the impact of different chemicals on the body, so I'm proud to be part of a movement to help educate people."
Looking to the future, Blair said he hoped to expand into more stores across New Zealand and to eventually run wellness retreats from his Takahue Valley home.
