A Conversation with Nathaniel Wood

Comfort to me means not having a care in the world.

Warmth emanates from Columbian born Nathaniel. Adopted as a child, his engaging personality reflects a lifetime of living life to the fullest and pushing himself to achieve his dreams. Competitive yet compassionate, Nathaniel is one of six and a huge sports enthusiast. Most weekends you can find Nathaniel lining up some recreational sport or jumping on his comfy green couch to cheer on his favorite Phily team. As part of the Vari line up, Nathaniel effortlessly sports some of the most popular unisex frames with super star style and shares his thoughts on life and comfort.

Q: Where are you originally from?
A: I was raised in Philadelphia and I am one of 6 kids and a die-hard Philly Flyer Fan.

Q: Where do you live now??
A: I spend a lot of my time in New York these days, acting and modeling.

Q: Vari is all about supporting the yin and yang of our lives and the multiple facets of who we are – you are an accomplished model and actor – if you weren’t either of these – what would have been your alternate career path or hobby turned passion 
A: I’ve always been into sports, in fact I had planned to be a professional athlete. I went to college at West Point and played special teams until I got sidelined with an injury and had to rethink my career.

Q: When you step outside of your comfort zone – where do you go?  This is kind of your alter ego…. 
A: When I was younger it wasn’t so easy for me to make friends. My sister was so out-going but I was more shy and reserved. Getting into acting enabled me to really step outside of my comfort zone. It is all about expressing yourself and has been such a life-long, ever continuing, growth process for me.

Q; What is your favorite comfort food?  
A: Can you say P I Z Z A – ever since I was little, there is just something so comforting about grabbing a few slices whether on the go, or watching TV. I honestly think to date, I haven’t met a pizza I didn’t like.

Q: When you are dressed in your most comfortable outfit – what are you wearing? 
A: Anything sports related, I just like kicking back and watching the game!

Q: Where is your “happy place” 
A: I’ve got this crazy “green couch” that I sit on when I am watching sports at home. 

Q: When you hear the word “comfort” what do you think of or feel? 
A: To me, being comfortable is not having a care in the world and being around people you love, and I try to do that as often as I can.                                                                                                           

Where brains & brawn meet

It’s not every day the woman of your dreams walks into a coffee shop, but for the Vari production team, one day in early 2015, it happened.In early discussions about launching Vari and based on the frames wonderful balance between trendy and timeless, we knew we wanted to target the line at people who for the most part, were a study in contrast. To get the creative team to visualize who we were looking for, we did a brainstorming session on the careers and personality types of our “would be’ brand ambassadors. We volleyed back and forth “they’ll be attorneys and chefs, rock stars and ballerinas, they’ll be public and private, intellectual and physical”. Our brand ambassadors would need to be right brain and left brain in equal parts, someone that challenges the public’s “known” perception of any one type of person. In our minds, and on paper we knew what we were looking for, and then one winter morning on 26th and Broadway, she literally walked into our lives.

Eva is a branding and corporate communications genius. Revered in her industry as the best marketer and headhunter for IT talent and the only person you want to speak with when you are running interference for crisis communication. With a background in Digital Advertising before most people even knew what it was, Eva has always been a trend forecaster, ahead of her time and poised to lead change. With this experience, she successfully created and launched a firm that combines Public Relations with Advertising. Her client roster is impressive and from Texas to Boston and now in New York, she reigns supreme as an executive with a long and respected reputation for being no-nonsense, direct, blunt, intense and passionate about everything she does.

When Eva walks into a room, her energy alone would make you stop and take notice, never mind her shock of hair, tipped in fire red, deep brown eyes, porcelain skin, full lips and freckled face. She is stunning and has an unconventional beauty and a style all her own. She owns it and you know this the instant you meet her. She is reserved, soft spoken but an intense and fierce fighter with a story of courage behind her.

“Eva is a woman that will not be replicated. She works hard. She plays hard. She is non-traditional yet timeless and classic. Wearing glasses is part of her personality, always has been, always will be and now, so is Vari.”