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Nicholas Piva, a 20-year-old communications major from Mattapoisett, MA, is an entrepreneur involved with industries as diverse as book publishing, wine and kitchenware, and clothing. Nick is the founder of Candleworks Publishing and Xtrend, and is the chief financial officer of Driven Activewear.
Nicholas has always wanted to be an entrepreneur. His inspiration came, in part, from having a family full of successful business owners. His grandfather, in particular, has taught him many valuable lessons about being innovative. One of the many lessons Nicholas has learned from his grandpa is that “an entrepreneur is diagonal, not vertical.” Nicholas has interpreted this to mean that the most prosperous of businessmen have interests in many industries. “An entrepreneur does not reside in one business venture, but has multiple sources of income from different industries,” Nicholas said.
Never forgetting what his grandfather told him, Nicholas set out to make his mark on the business world. About a year ago, he and one of his mentors began a book publishing company called Candleworks Publishing. This business was built almost entirely via the Internet and is currently run through different online platforms, including Amazon.com. Nicholas met his mentor online and has virtual assistants to whom he delegates work. To date, the company has published 22 fiction and nonfiction books. This would not have been possible without the help of the entire team that, as he puts it, works cohesively and fearlessly no matter what obstacles come its way.
The inspiration for Xtrend, a wineware company, came from Nicholas’s attraction to the finer things in life. “And what is finer than wine?” he said. This industry requires much attention, as Nicholas is responsible for managing employees, dealing with freelancers, testing market strategies, augmenting product pages, and locating other products from overseas.
Most recently, Nicholas was invited to join the Driven Activewear team as the company’s CFO. Driven Activewear is a growing clothing brand that focuses on athletic attire. Nicholas was quickly enamored by the company’s message and didn’t hesitate to accept an opportunity to expand his horizons. According to Nicholas, “Driven embodies every successful person – no person has reached their accomplishments without drive.” He would like to be more involved with Driven, however, since the company is based in Cape Cod, MA this isn’t entirely possible.
Nicholas’s mornings consist of waking up early and drinking a lot of coffee to stay alert for the next six hours while he takes care of business (literally!). When he’s not crunching numbers and being an all-around boss, he loves to read. His favorite books are mostly biographies. “To see into another successful person’s life and see the similarities to my own and others is a great insight towards future success,” Nicholas said. In fact, aside from his family, Nicholas cited books, movies, and his mentors as the main reasons he became involved in entrepreneurship.
The best thing about running his own business is that nobody tells him what hours he must work or what to do, Nicholas said. He really is his own boss. The hardest part about being an entrepreneur, according to Nicholas, is getting your foot in the door. “My goal is always the same with any business: define a structure of automation and work towards it everyday. Soon, I will be able to have multiple streams of income, all automated by managers. But developing that system, through trial and error is where the hardships are found,” he said.
Although he is only a sophomore, Nicholas has big plans for his future. Upon graduation, he hopes to become involved in real estate and franchising. HC Drexel has no doubt that this budding businessman will continue to achieve great things.