Nick Gausling
| Nick Gausling | |
| Personal Details | |
| Birth: | 1987 Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Education: | University of Nevada, Las Vegas (B.A., 2008), Knox Theological Seminary (M.A., 2016), University of Pennsylvania (executive education), University of Chicago (executive education) |
| Occupation: | Business Executive & Consultant |
| Residence: | Houston, Texas |
| Party: | Libertarian Party |
| Media | |
| Website: | https://www.nickgausling.com/ |
| Twitter: | |
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Nick Gausling is a business leader who has been involved with the libertarian movement in multiple capacities over the years within both the Libertarian Party and the Republican Party, as well as with various non-profit organizations. He has also held executive positions in a multibillion-dollar specialty furniture retailer, an SMB specialty beverage company, and in consumer financial services & boutique venture capital. [1] [2] [3]
Gausling is presently Managing Director of Romy Group LLC, a consulting firm that optimizes specialty retailers to improve bottom-line profits. [1] [4]
Early Life and College
Gausling was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1987. He graduated high school at the Advanced Technologies Academy in North Las Vegas, where he studied pre-law for three years. He was a competitive public speaker and won multiple awards from the National Forensic League (now known as the National Speech and Debate Association), qualifying for the national tournament in 2005. [3] [5]
Gausling received a B.A. in History from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in 2008. [2] [3]
Political Involvement: Republican Party (2006 - 2018)
Growing up, Gausling long identified as a conservative, even though large portions of his mother's side of the family had been lifelong Democrats in the Kennedy tradition, and his father wasn't particularly politically-inclined. In retrospect, Gausling says he was a neoconservative. While in college and with no prior formal political experience, he served as manager for a friend's 2006 campaign for the Nevada Board of Regents. With the lowest name recognition, experience, and budget, the candidate achieved more than 18% of the vote in a three-way non-partisan race. [3]
During the 2008 Republican presidential primaries, Gausling first learned of Ron Paul but at the time didn't take him seriously. He caucused for Mike Huckabee in the 2008 Nevada Republican Caucuses, where his local precinct meeting chairman was a charismatic libertarian who supported Paul. Gausling became a paleoconservative later that year and eventually a libertarian due to multiple thinkers, but was predominantly catalyzed by the influence of Paul. [3]
Around 2010, Gausling connected with the Paul supporter who had served as his precinct meeting chairman during the 2008 caucuses; that individual subsequently got Gausling involved in GOP party politics. Gausling was active in both the Clark County Republican Party and Nevada Republican Party while also working on grassroots efforts to prepare for a potential Paul candidacy in 2012. In August 2011, he drove cross-country to Iowa with several other activists to informally support Paul during the Ames Straw Poll. He returned to Iowa a few months later, volunteering for the official Paul campaign on the ground during the 2012 Iowa Republican Caucuses. [3]
After Iowa, Gausling turned his focus back to Nevada, and was one of several architects of the 2012 takeover by the libertarian wing of the Clark County GOP board (which subsequently bolstered a libertarian takeover of the state party, as well). Gausling served as both a board member himself and also as a member of the Nevada Republican Central Committee. He also later became Chairman of the county party's Permanent Subcommittee on Bylaws and Rules and Vice Chairman of the Oversight Committee, and alongside several others led an effort to overhaul the party's bylaws and rules to decentralize power and streamline efficiency; the effort was aggressively opposed by the non-libertarian factions of the party, but nevertheless mostly prevailed. While on the county party's board, Gausling also negotiated a third-party vendor deal for a successful 2012 voter ID and registration initiative managed by Doug Pestana, supporting libertarian-aligned Republican candidates in target state legislative districts. [3]
During the May 2012 Nevada Republican Convention, Gausling was one of the major architects of the floor strategy utilized by the Paul campaign and libertarian delegates to successfully win a majority of Nevada's delegates to the 2012 Republican National Convention for Paul, and also to elect Paul supporters as Nevada's representatives on the RNC. He later attended the 2012 Nebraska Republican Convention in Grand Island as a consultant for the GOP's libertarian wing in that state. [3]
Gausling was considered a strong contender to became the next Secretary of the Nevada Republican Party, but ultimately chose not to run. He resigned from the county party board for business reasons in early 2013, but remained active on the county Central Committee and retained his position on the Nevada Republican Central Committee. [3]
Gausling also served as an early political mentor to Juan A Martinez and, alongside Pestana and others, convinced Martinez to run for North Las Vegas City Council in what became a watershed 2013 campaign with long-lasting grassroots impact, first in Nevada but eventually influencing other states as well. [3] [6] [7]
Sometime around late 2013 - early 2014, Gausling canceled his voter registration and left the Republican Party. He was unaffiliated with any party for several years until he briefly came back to the Republican Party and was re-elected to the Nevada Republican Central Committee. When he moved to Texas in 2018, he once again resigned from the Republican Party and canceled his voter registration, remaining unaffiliated with any party until 2023 when he joined the Libertarian Party. [3]
Political Involvement: Non-Profits (2013 - Present)
In 2013, Gausling was an unofficial founding advisor for the Synergy Opportunity Liberty Organization (SOLO USA). [3] [6]
From 2014 - 2018, he was a frequent volunteer and advisor to Juan A Martinez pertaining to the Nevada efforts of The LIBRE Initiative and Americans for Prosperity. As of 2023, he continues to periodically advise and support Martinez's national efforts. [3]
In 2016, Gausling was named the first Executive Director of the Libertarian Christian Institute, where he co-created the organization's flagship Libertarian Christian Podcast as well as the academic journal Christian Libertarian Review. He resigned as Executive Director around late 2017, but thru 2023 has remained on the organization's Advisory Board. [3] [8] [9]
Political Involvement: Libertarian Party (2023 - Present)
Gausling's wife had been encouraging him to get back involved in formal party politics for several years. She was registered to vote in Texas by a Libertarian Party supporter at a Mises Institute event they attended in Lake Jackson, Texas, sometime around 2019 - early 2020. Gausling himself declined to register. [3]
In early 2023, Gausling decided to register to vote in Texas. He and his wife joined the national Libertarian Party, the Libertarian Party of Texas, and the Montgomery County Libertarian Party (Texas). They officially affiliated with the Libertarian Party through the county affiliate in April 2023. [3]
In June 2023, Gausling was appointed to the 2024 Convention Memorial Committee, tasked with helping to compile research to honor at the National Convention 2024 libertarians who have died in recent years. [3] In October 2023, he was elected to fill a vacancy on the Bylaws & Rules Committee of the Libertarian Party of Texas.
Professional
Gausling's early career roles included facilities management, catering, public affairs, and financial services, as well as some dabbling in entrepreneurship. [3]
In 2013, he became Chief of Staff at Real Water, a nationally-distributed specialty beverage company, where he remained until 2015. [2]
Gausling co-founded Emerald Risk Solutions LLC (ERS), a Nevada financial services company specializing in life insurance, in 2014. ERS eventually expended into boutique venture capital across a variety of sectors and industries. Gausling served as Managing Partner until 2018. [2] [3]
In 2018, Gausling joined Mattress Firm, the largest specialty mattress retailer in the United States. He served in several executive roles over the years across brick & mortar stores, e-commerce, and innovation. He left the company in 2022. [2] [3]
Since 2022, Gausling has been an independent business consultant focused on optimizing specialty retailers to improve bottom-line profits. He presently serves as Managing Director of Romy Group LLC. [1] [2]
Writing & Media
Gausling is the author of Bots in Suits: Using Generative AI to Revolutionize Your Business (2023). [10]
He also authors the Customers, Costs, and Cash Flow business newsletter. He is frequently quoted in various media on business-related topics and has been cited by Forbes, CNBC, U.S. News & World Report, Entrepreneur, and TheStreet. [11] [12]
Personal
Gausling married his longtime girlfriend April in January 2019. They originally met online and their shared libertarianism was a major factor in them hitting it off. They currently reside in Greater Houston, Texas. [3]
Libertarian Party Positions Held
NATIONAL
Member, Convention Memorial Committee (2023 - 2024)
Member, Libertarian Party (2023 - Present)
STATE
Member, Bylaws Committee, Libertarian Party of Texas (2023 - 2024). See committee report at File:Libertarian Party of Texas 2024 Bylaws Committee Report.pdf
Member, Libertarian Party of Texas (2023 - Present)
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 NickGausling.com
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Nick Gausling's LinkedIn
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 Nick Gausling (first-hand source)
- ↑ Crunchbase
- ↑ Records of the National Speech & Debate Association
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 See relevant sections at Juan A Martinez
- ↑ See Synergy Opportunity Liberty Organization (SOLO USA)
- ↑ Libertarian Christian Podcast
- ↑ Christian Libertarian Review
- ↑ Bots in Suits
- ↑ Customers, Costs, and Cash Flow
- ↑ Nick Gausling Media