Episode 13: Nic Collins & Advance

Feb 13

Nic Collins, overlooking the Badlands National Park

In this powerful episode, Anne Brinkman sits down with Nic Collins, author of Advance: Discover Alignment and Authenticity by Living in Concert with Your Situation. Nick shares his transformative journey from wearing masks in every aspect of his life to living authentically. The conversation explores his cross-country van trip that sparked deep self-reflection, his decade-long therapy journey, his decision to stop drinking, and the importance of meeting people where they are in their struggles. Nick's message is clear: we already have the answers within us—we just need permission to trust ourselves and live life on our own terms.

Find the transcript here

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

1. The Power of Solitude for Self-Discovery How disconnecting from daily distractions through experiences like Nick's cross-country van trip can lead to profound personal insights.

2. Reframing Therapy and Mental Health Why seeking help isn't weakness—it's a tool for growth—and how to overcome the stigma around mental health support.

3. Meeting People Where They Are Why presence matters more than advice, and how to support others without trying to "fix" them.

4. The Real Story Behind Sobriety How years of internal work prepared Nick for lasting change, and why overnight success is rarely overnight.

5. Advancing vs. Retreating Redefining progress on your own terms and creating intentional space for what truly matters in life.

Noteworthy quotes in this episode:

On Authenticity: > "I wore a mask in every aspect of my life for a long time, and that wasn't working. And so how can I …make that into something that worked? And so that was showing up as myself."

On Meeting People Where They Are: > "We have to meet ourself where we are, and if we're the helper, we also have to meet that person where they are... Your presence is all that's required. We don't have to fix it."

On Survival: > "Whatever gets you to tomorrow, do that thing. Whatever that is... We gotta meet ourself where we are and start at that place, and sometimes it's a really, really bad place."

On Retreat vs. Advance: > "I go there to get to reality... My time in the mountains by myself, that's what life is about. My interaction with these men that we create connection and community and growth, that's life. Not all this other stuff that we fill our head with—that's distraction."

On Internal Answers: > "We all have our own makeup, our own skills, personality sets. We also have our own challenges... I think we go in search of people to tell us what to do or where to go... but we already have so many of the answers within us. And we don't trust that a lot of times."