Explore My Story
Over the years, I’ve had the honor of sharing my journey and hard-earned insights on numerous podcasts.
From navigating high-pressure corporate environments to building a purposeful life, I speak candidly about the challenges, breakthroughs, and tools that shaped my path.
Spoiler Alert: I don’t sugarcoat the realities of this journey.
For booking inquiries, visit my Contact Page.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in these interviews are entirely my own and don’t necessarily reflect those of my previous employers. If fact, they probably don’t.
Let’s just say, we didn’t always see eye to eye.
👇 Discover some of my favorite interviews below. 👇
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Purpose isn’t found—it’s built. Nicholas Whitaker dives into the art of mindful leadership, balancing resilience, authenticity, and a touch of nature to help people thrive in work and life
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Nicholas Whitaker shares his journey of finding his place in the world. He felt out of place in his hometown and decided to leave, which led him to Baltimore where he struggled with poverty and lived with a woman that was not a good fit. For years, he lived in unstable housing, including his car and squat buildings, while working in restaurants and coffee shops to make ends meet. During this period, he often turned to partying to escape reality. However, his perspective changed after experiencing hallucinogens, which sparked his interest in exploring consciousness and understanding his place in the world.
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Nicholas shares his insights on transforming the corporate world and equipping professionals with the tools needed to thrive in today's workplace.
🌟 Episode Highlights:
Discover the impact of fostering a human-centered approach in the corporate world.
Explore the importance of empathy, compassion, and psychological safety in leadership.
Learn why self-awareness is crucial for leaders to understand their impact and create positive outcomes.
Understand the value of being intentional about career choices, networking, and practicing mindfulness.
Gain insights into building supportive communities and embracing vulnerability to create a thriving work environment.
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Max and Josh interview Nicholas Whitaker, Executive Well-Being and Performance Coach, Conscious Leadership Activist, and the co-founder of Changing Work.
We hypothesize on the current cause of destructive work environments being largely due to laziness / inherited broken systems, our collective efforts to create and maintain conscious leadership, and how as our generations progress we seem to have a better handle on what we’re about and, therefore, what we should or shouldn’t be willing to tolerate.
Nicholas provides an overview about his process of self-awareness, leadership training, the courage to stand out as a different kind of leader, and the importance of creating environments where people actually feel comfortable being authentic.
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In this insightful episode, Scott Shute and Nicholas Whitaker, founders of Changing Work Collective, share their personal journeys and the evolution of mindfulness and well-being initiatives in corporate settings like Google and LinkedIn. From overcoming personal challenges to fostering a culture of compassion and holistic well-being, they emphasize the crucial role of leadership support and cultural alignment in prioritizing employee well-being amidst corporate restructuring and budget constraints. Through their shared experiences and practices for personal growth, Scott and Nick highlight the transformative power of mindfulness, collaboration, and living authentically. Their inspiring conversation resonates with the importance of investing in the human element and prioritizing holistic well-being initiatives to cultivate thriving and resilient organizations.
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The gift of listening is more than hearing someone else. It’s being radically present to what they are saying so that you can empathize with them, feel with them, and be with them.
This is an act of love and recognition. This is high art.
Nicholas Whitaker’s superhero power is the Art of Listening, it is a gift earned out of survival. And he turned it into a practice of thriving by giving himself fully to the moment, the other person, and himself.
And now he’s using that same superhero power to help thousands not just survive in the world, but to thrive in their world.
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(30 min) Imagine turning on your computer and being completely locked out of everything. Then you open your personal email and receive an message titled “Notice Regarding Your Employment” to find out that your position has been eliminated. This is precisely what happened to Nicholas Whitaker and about 12,000 other employees at Google. Nicholas graciously opened up about his experience to share the mental fitness that’s helping him navigate a significant career transition.
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(53 min) Escaping toxic teams and workplaces is just the first step towards building a thriving career path. The true work starts when you embark on the journey of recovering and rebuilding a new path of fulfillment and joy with wellbeing as a non-negotiable factor.
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(58 min) Join me at RightOffTrack as I talk about embracing vulnerability, how getting laid off from Google led me to reevaluate my career path, and the power of community. I also share practical tips to help you navigate career transitions and find the next steps on your own path.
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(30 min) Coping with layoffs can be a distressing experience, bringing feelings of uncertainty and fear about the future. However, they also present an opportunity for growth, transformation, and self-reflection. Mindfulness practices can play a key role in helping individuals process their emotions and maintain a sense of balance during this challenging period. In his discussion with Brett Hill, Nicholas Whitaker described receiving the unexpected news of his layoff from Google via email at 3 a.m. on a Friday. Through mindfulness and self-compassion, Whitaker processed his emotions, found support among friends and colleagues, and create a plan for the future.
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(28 min) Join me on More Than Our Story as I talk about my own story of layoffs, mental health in a toxic workplace, and the importance of psychological safety in the workplace.
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(41 min) Mindful Escape takes you on a journey of transformation and discovery, where you’ll meet individuals who once lived a fast-paced corporate lifestyle but decided to break free from the monotony of the rat race and embark on a quest for a more fulfilling existence.
These individuals share their personal stories of how they stepped out of their comfort zone to go against the expectations of society, the challenges they faced, and the lessons they learned along the way.
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(49 min) Join me and Jonathan Horowitz, PhD, from the San Francisco Stress and Anxiety Center as we talk about managing stress and anxiety through meditation, journaling, and good therapy. We also cover tips on staying healthy and sane in high-stress environments.
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(25 min) In these volatile times, leaders and employees need to skill up in emotional intelligence, mental health awareness, compassion, and empathy to help create healthier and more sustainable teams. Listen to this short interview on the “Nerd Out Learning and Development Podcast” with George Alyn Kinney, where we discuss the future of wellbeing, learning and development.
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(30 min) I sat down with Bryan Smith and LEON to talk about the importance of approaching organizational health from a holistic and intentional place, the challenge of scaling and measuring the impact of wellbeing programs, and why one size fits all interventions don't help diagnose and heal the root cause of poor team health.
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(45 min) Listen in with folks at Honest Field Guide as we talk about my journey from poverty to business owner, to working at Google, to recovering from burnout. If you’ve ever wondered how mindfulness and emotional intelligence really influence performance, this is a great place to start.
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(31 min) Join me on The Conscious Millionaire with JV Crum as we take a deep dive into what wellbeing means from a practical lens.
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(36m) This podcast guides tech newcomers through challenges, addressing imposter syndrome, mental health concerns, and burnouts. It explores the surprising impact of the gut on well-being and offers practical solutions for imposter syndrome. Recognizing toxic work environments and advising on decoding company culture during interviews, it empowers individuals to navigate the dynamic tech industry. The distinction between therapists and coaches is clarified, emphasizing how coaching contributes to achieving life goals.
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Nicholas has an incredible story of going from living in poverty, with housing insecurity and just scraping by, to changing his mindset and his entire life to ultimately be working at Google for the last 10 years.
For the past decade, Nicholas has leveraged the scale and resources of Google to support the journalism industry through high impact educational products, programs, and strategic partnerships, reaching more than half a million journalists worldwide.
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Dive into an enlightening discussion between Nick, Brad, and Scott Shute (co-founder of the Changing Work Collective).
What are corporations even for? What kind of responsibilities do they hold as employers? And how do compassion and culture weigh in?
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Nicholas shares invaluable insights drawn from his experience, offering practical tips and empowering advice to help listeners thrive in challenging professional settings. From building a strong support network to understanding personal values and boundaries, Nicholas emphasizes the importance of preparedness, curiosity, and self-compassion in achieving resilience and success.
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I remember the moment vividly. It was 3 a.m., and I received a ping on LinkedIn from a colleague asking if I was safe. Initially, I thought there had been some kind of emergency—a shooting or perhaps a natural disaster. But when I checked my personal email, I discovered the real reason for their message. I found a short, impersonal email informing me that my role had been eliminated…
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Discussions around mental health at the workplace reignited in the last few days when the death of two corporate employees made headlines. And it is no secret that without having a healthy mind, you cannot be productive. Ample studies in the last few months have pointed out the importance of mental health and it is important to talk about these issues.
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Google laid off thousands of employees in 2023 and many found their lives turned upside down with just an email notification. After all, when you have given your heart and soul to an organisation, it is never easy accepting the fact that you are being asked to leave at a moment’s notice. The situation becomes even more complicated when you have been with the company for more than a decade.
