Off The Collar

Nick’s fiancée Loren joins Off The Collar for a special episode about relationships, wedding planning, family, chiropractic, work stress, and what it’s actually like preparing for marriage together.

Nick and Sandy go guestless for a catch-up episode about overpriced haircuts, drinking less, recovery, supplements, creatine, food quality, golf, and trying to keep your body together as life gets busier.

Varun Hariharan joins Off The Collar to talk about growing up between cultures, moving from Tijuana to San Diego, remote work, constant travel, losing his mom, and learning why sometimes the best thing you can do is just keep going.

Nick and Sandy look back on the first 14 episodes of Off The Collar and talk about what the show has become: everyday people in transition, hidden stories, mental health, family, sports, pressure, identity, and the lessons they’ve taken from each guest so far.

Justin Hetrick joins Off The Collar to talk about living off grid in the California mountains, building his own setup with generators, solar batteries, Starlink, hauled water, and a worm compost septic system, plus skateboarding, photography, music, traveling the world, and choosing a life that does not look like everyone else’s.

Jeremy Sanders joins Off The Collar to talk about hobby maxing, knife sharpening, pickled jalapeños, wedding advice, bachelor party ideas, college stories, beer pong, and why some old stories never die.

Kevin Winn joins Off The Collar to talk about becoming 87th in the world in racquetball, transitioning into tennis, growing up between Hawaii and California, cold plunging, work stress, moving in with his girlfriend, and realizing no one really has life figured out.

Coach Rusty joins Off The Collar to talk about golf, sobriety, fatherhood, art, fasting, and rebuilding his life one decision at a time. Rusty shares his journey from golf coach to trick shot artist to full-time creator and artist, and opens up about the burnout that came with constantly creating content. He talks about his pivot into golf-inspired artwork, building the Coach Rusty brand, becoming...

Matt Cardis of GolfInYourState joins Off The Collar to talk about van life, photography, leaving a stable job, traveling the country, golf culture, streetwear, authenticity, and building a life around the things you love.

Nick and Sandy had a guest episode fall through because of technical issues, so they kept rolling. This quick freestyle episode turns into a conversation about getting older, random injuries, sore backs, knee pain, tennis tournaments, golf qualifiers, desk setups, office chairs, and the little things that somehow matter more with age. A shorter, off-the-cuff Off The Collar episode: everyday conver...

Nick and Sandy had a guest episode fall through because of technical issues, so they kept rolling. This quick freestyle episode turns into a conversation about getting older, random injuries, sore backs, knee pain, tennis tournaments, golf qualifiers, desk setups, office chairs, and the little things that somehow matter more with age. A shorter, off-the-cuff Off The Collar episode: everyday conver...

In this episode of Off the Collar , Nick and Sandy sit down with Alex Tolzhien — Sandy’s longtime tennis friend, tech professional, car enthusiast, newlywed, and one of the most technically obsessed tennis players Sandy knows. The conversation covers how tennis became a lifelong social cheat code, what it takes to build adult friendships through sports, Alex’s love of cars and Porsches, working Ea...

Nick Johnson takes the guest seat for this episode of Off The Collar . After a few episodes of interviewing others, Sandy turns the questions back on Nick to talk about his background, growing up in San Diego, playing college golf at the University of Redlands, chasing professional golf, working in the golf industry, moving to Austin, starting over, and eventually building a new life in Reno. This...

Dr. Jeff Ambrose joins Off The Collar to talk about food safety, processed foods, microplastics, allergens, GMOs, food authenticity, and what actually happens behind the scenes before food reaches the shelf. Jeff has a PhD in biomedical engineering and works in food science, helping companies with technical testing around GMOs, allergens, meat speciation, food authenticity, and more. In this episo...

In this episode of Off The Collar, Nick and Sandy sit down with Shawn Cox — a longtime golf coach, father, former college athlete, and one of Nick’s first coaches growing up. Shawn talks about his path from football and baseball to golf, what he learned from mentors in the San Diego golf community, and how coaching has changed with technology, launch monitors, data, and modern training tools. The...

In this episode of Off The Collar, Nick and Sandy sit down with Patrick Hallahan — a longtime friend, new dad, saxophone player, former lifeguard, and biotech sales professional. Patrick talks about growing up in San Diego, working in technical sales, becoming a father, keeping music in his life, managing stress, and learning how to communicate better with his wife and family. The conversation als...

Off The Collar is back. In this episode, Nick introduces his new co-host Sandy — a longtime friend, tennis player, corporate finance professional, and someone who brings a thoughtful, funny, and honest perspective to the show. This episode sets the tone for what Off The Collar is becoming: open, honest, improvised conversations with everyday people about life, purpose, health, work, relationships,...

Welcome to Off The Collar. This is not small talk. Off The Collar is a podcast built around real conversations with everyday people — conversations about life, purpose, work, stress, relationships, health, failure, success, and the things we are all trying to figure out. Hosted by Nick Johnson and Sandy Arami, the show is about learning from normal people, hearing real stories, and hopefully helpi...

This week's range session we explore the importance of feeling uncomfortable

Some good drills to do on the road, in the backyard

This week we are on the road with some recent life updates from Nick and Loren

This week we get Willy mic'd up and see if we can close out the back side bet

This week we go face on and down range with some wedge work

This week's Episode we head to the range!

This week Graham is on the mic while we play a couple of holes. Check us out on Instagram @off.the.collar