We’re looking forward to introducing you to Nick Courtright. Check out our conversation below.
Nick, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
Because I can’t help myself, I do begin the day by checking email on my phone. I know it’s awful, but I do like to know if anything burst into fire overnight. But after that, things get healthier, as I brush my teeth and sit down under a red light for twenty minutes of meditation. My current meditation streak is over 200 days, and it’s just the best, clearest way to start the day. It helps orient me and prepare me for what may be a long day of finding solutions and deep thinking. After that 90 minutes, I’m often heading out for a run and into the gym. After that, it’s time to get to work.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Nick Courtright, the Founder and CEO of Atmosphere Press, the only hybrid book publishing company that puts rewarding and meaningful author experiences above all else. I founded Atmosphere in 2015, and what started as a little side hustle—my day job was as a university writing and literature professor—kept growing and growing, and now we have a team of 60 and have published nearly 2000 authors. It’s an amazing privilege to be able to do work like this, helping writers see their work turn into something beautiful and lasting.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who taught you the most about work?
My grandfather was the exemplar when it came to work. He spent decades working at a steel mill, and I remember clearly getting yelled at by my parents for being too loud while my grandfather was trying to sleep during the day, because he had worked third shift at the mill the previous night. His dedication to his family, and that he was always willing to do the hard thing if the hard thing needed to be done, influences me to this day. Sometimes work isn’t pleasant, but that’s okay: if it’s something you need to do to provide for your family, then you must do it. And: complaining won’t make it any better.
What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
It took me getting laid off from a teaching job to really wake up to the possibility that there could be something better out there. Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, and in 2018 when I was laid off, it forced me to go all-in on Atmosphere Press. The rest is history, it seems, and I still look back on that experience as yet another proof that sometimes the “bad” things that happen to you can result in really wonderful outcomes, and the “good” things…well, they could be good, or they could end up not working out in the end. Because if I hadn’t gotten laid off, I’d still be teaching, and while teaching was fun, it wasn’t nearly as gratifying as building a team and helping authors with Atmosphere Press.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
I’m your classic writer—an introvert—so my “public version” is something I don’t post for on a daily basis. That said, I do think my *lack* of social media allows my public persona to be a more honest distillation of who I am. As in, I’m not trying to get likes on Instagram or present a perfect life. I do try to make my public persona similar to myself: honest, funny, self-deprecating, straightforward. If I do have a confession to make, though, it’s that the version of me that’s presented through Atmosphere Press is a *better* person than I am in real life. I always try to make Atmosphere represent the best of who I am and what I want the world to be: generous, kind, and helpful.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: When do you feel most at peace?
Outdoors, of course! When I have the opportunity to be out in nature, and can have one of those moments where I pause and just admire and appreciate the natural beauty around me…those are the moments where I feel most at peace. Of course, in daily life it can be hard to remember to access that, so I do try to make a point to find myself in nature or enjoying a tree or a river as often as possible.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://atmospherepress.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atmospherepress/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/atmosphere-press
- Twitter: http://x.com/atmospherepress
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/atmospherepress
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@atmospherepress
