Eyes Wide Open with Nick Thompson

Over the past few months, I have gone through a lot of life-changing events. To help find my path forward, I've been relying a lot on my intuition and listening to the universe. I feel like I'm open to the universe speaking to me more than I ever have before. I'm really listening to it.   Today's guest, Ariana Vargas, is the founder of the mental health app STIGMA. This app is designed to help peo...

Today's guest, Seth David Radwell, is the author of the book "American Schism: How the Two Enlightenments Hold the Secret to Healing Our Nation." Not too long ago, we came out of the midterms, and I've been thinking a lot about what the results mean for the years ahead. Every election feels like a game of monkey in the middle between the two parties, with the citizens in the middle. It often feels...

This week on Conversations with Nick Thompson, we're featuring Ena Mazzilli, an anti-bullying activist who is doing a lot of great things in the world.  Since the rise of the internet, bullying feels like it's only getting worse. Children are being bullied at school as they always have, but now, social media has allowed it to follow them into everyday life. Bullying is going on in school, work, cu...

In this special episode of Conversations with Nick Thompson, we replay my recent Instagram Live conversation with previous Conversations guest Dr. Elizabeth Fedrick, where Dr. Elizabeth and I discussed the topic of boundaries and took questions from the audience. Join us for an invigorating conversation on mental health and relationships! Follow Dr. Elizabeth Fedrick here:   Instagram: https://www...

Today's episode is going to be a heavy listen. I'm speaking with Ashley Bitterman, who is an advocate for pregnancy loss, infertility, and host of the podcast "Unexpecting."   Ashley and I had been working with one another professionally, but also struck up a personal friendship in the process. When we met recently, she shared very openly about her podcast "Unexpecting," which focuses on pregnancy...

You may have heard that I am going through some tough times right now. I'm on a new mental health trajectory to help understand myself and work through a difficult, public divorce. I'm learning a lot about myself, and I think one of the interesting things about going through this publicly is that I get to share what I'm learning in real time and hope that it helps someone else out.   It's not alwa...

This week, we have an amazing guest - Dr. Stacie Barber. Dr. Stacie is a Physical Therapist and Founder of The Physio Fix. I've been following her work for a few years now and am a big fan.   As I was on a walk the other day, I passed a spot where I had fallen and injured myself during a blizzard in 2021. It was a herniated disk, and I immediately began doing physical therapy to try and repair it....

Today, we're going to have my personal friend and yoga instructor, Jonathan Villacres. One rainy day, I offered Jonathan a ride home after taking his yoga class knowing that he usually takes public transportation. I asked him on this ride how he got into yoga, not expecting a very in-depth, personal story as an answer. Instead, I got an incredible story about Jonathan's past, being angry with the...

Today's guest is Chris Schembra, the best-selling author of "Gratitude and Pasta: The Secret Sauce to Human Connection" and "Gratitude Through Hard Times."   When I first was introduced to Chris, I was astounded by his vulnerability. Chris is totally transparent about his mental health struggles, and shares some of his darkest moments in an open and honest way.    His vulnerability has gained him...

Today our guest is a Chicago Local, Kit Cabello. Kit is the Co-Founder of Hard Lens Media, an independent network that covers local and national politics. I discovered Hard Lens Media around 2018 or 2019 as part of my media journey. It's important to me to think about where I'm getting my news coverage, whether from local or national sources.   If you know me, you know I talk about economics, poli...

This episode is heavy.    Mental health has been on my mind a lot lately as I try to figure out how to regulate my own mental health to stay in a place that is operable for everyday life. Lately, I have been struggling with regulating my emotions, grief, loss, and feeling consistent. As a result, I have been on a self-care journey doing reading, listening to experts, paying attention to my emotion...

Today's episode is all about politics.   I've been thinking a lot about what will happen in this year's midterm elections, as well as what has happened in the past two years. Will this election be a referendum on Biden's first two years, are we going to see new populous issues come up, or are we still going to be voting against someone instead of for them?    There are a lot of hot-button, current...

Today, we'll be talking to Holistic Nutritionist and Fitness Instructor Amanda Carneiro. I wanted to have Amanda on the show because I find her approach to health and wellness interesting, as well as find her perspective on how other parts of our lives affect our health and her journey fascinating. I've felt for a long time that we need to have a broader conversation as a society about health and...

Today on Conversations with Nick Thompson, I sit down with neurologist Dr. Abbey Houde to discuss how the brain, mind, and body work together.   I've been thinking about well-being and holistic health a lot recently, including how we can regulate our nervous system using natural remedies. For a long time, I've been a very passionate advocate for holistic health. I often think about how our practic...

I'm very excited to share this episode with Jim McCann, the founder of 1-800 Flowers.   In prepping for this interview, I discovered a lot about Jim that I didn't know before . Jim has a bachelor's degree in psychology, and he was actually a social worker before building a multi-million dollar company. It's fascinating to see how Jim foresaw the rise of 1-800 numbers and built a business around it...

I've been thinking a lot about self-care and growth lately, and have really been focusing on finding time for me. A lot of the things in my life that were working for me in the past no longer do, and navigating this has been challenging at times.   After years of work and change, I can truly say that I am a completely different person than I was 10 years ago. Back then, I wasn't giving myself the...

Today's episode is all about dating.   I haven't been dating in the past year, but even before going on Love is Blind I was not very active in the dating scene. Like many people, I experienced burnout as a result of complicated social rules and other blockers that make it difficult to find someone you have a genuine connection with. This is rooted in today's app-based dating culture, where the sys...

I met today's guest, Sam Alex, while hosting a fundraiser for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. When Sam found out we were doing the fundraiser together, he asked me to come on his nationally syndicated country radio show to promote the fundraiser. In the process, we found out that our networks are actually pretty closely linked with many mutual friends and acquaintances.    Sam and I kept in touch,...

Today on Conversations with Nick Thompson, we're going to talk about a mental health phenomenon that I was previously unfamiliar with: ambiguous grief.    Ambiguous grief is loosely defined as being suffered when a loved one isn't as they once were but is still alive.    When we grieve a death, the finality of death forces us towards closure and pushes us through the stages of grief.    In ambiguo...

I've been thinking lately about how I can become healthier, improve my well-being, and be more self-sufficient and holistic in regard to what I'm putting into my body. This train of thought led me back to how this all got started: when I began making my own toothpaste. Those of you who know me from Love is Blind know that I've been making my own toothpaste for years. It began by falling down a rab...

For the first episode of Conversations with Nick Thompson, I'm excited to share one of my favorite interviews I've conducted for the podcast.    I've been thinking a lot recently about society's division and how we are missing each other in politics, social issues, wellness, and work lives. While walking around my home city of Chicago, I have noticed that the homeless population is growing in the...

You may know Nick Thompson from season two of Netflix's hit reality show "Love is Blind," but there's a side of him you may not know: The Storyteller.   Nick believes everyone has a story to tell and should shine as their authentic self. Nick's most passionate about building human connections to remove stigmas around mental health, holistic lifestyles, culture, free speech, and more.   As an activ...