Meet Nicole Phillips

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nicole Phillips. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nicole below.

Hi Nicole, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I didn’t set out to build a career around kindness. It started because I needed it.

In 2011, I had everything I thought I wanted. I was married to a college men’s basketball coach, had three sweet small children, and had just been offered the opportunity of a lifetime to write about anything I wanted for a new section of the newspaper.
But life felt passionless and pointless. I was edging toward alcoholism, finding my escape in food, sleep, and alcohol. What could I possibly write about that would keep my attention, let alone anyone else’s, week after week?

Then one day, I met a teenage mom who taught me something that changed everything. She showed me that kindness isn’t about other people. It’s about you. The life we transform with kindness is our own.

I was so moved by her that I wanted to do something to brighten her day. I gave her enough money to fill her gas tank and take her toddler to McDonald’s. That small act gave me a high unlike anything I’d felt before, and I wanted to chase that feeling.

I went home and wrote about the encounter, sending it to my newspaper editor with a proposal. I wanted to write about kindness. I asked readers to share their own stories, moments when they gave or received kindness and how it made them feel. We called the column Kindness is Contagious, and I wrote it every week for the next ten years.

Within the first year of focusing on kindness, I quit drinking and smoking, lost 30 pounds, and fell back in love with my husband. The atmosphere in my home changed because I changed.

Kindness trained my eyes to look for what was right in myself, in others, and in the world. It became my survival skill. What began as a personal practice grew into a calling to help others navigate the heaviness of life with hope and humanity.

A few years later, during my battle with breast cancer, I learned how small acts of kindness could reroute a bad day and reset my mind. Kindness became a tool I used intentionally, like medicine.

That path led to The Kindness Podcast, five books, and Kindness is Contagious Conversations, a program that helps communities reconnect through stories and science-backed mindset tools.

Along the way, I realized my purpose isn’t just to talk about kindness. It’s to show how it can transform people from the inside out.

So how did I find my purpose? By walking through something painful, paying attention to what healed me, and choosing to share it with others.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

In 2011, I was a mother of three, married, and outwardly successful — but I felt empty, angry, and numb. Despite having everything I thought I wanted, I was self-medicating to fill a void I couldn’t name. I realized that many others felt the same: surrounded by comfort yet deeply disconnected. Today, that private struggle has become a collective one — our culture is fractured by anger, blame, and division. We’ve lost the simple human connection that makes life meaningful.

A 2024 Gallup poll found that 80% of Americans believe the nation is deeply divided over its most important values. This social division mirrors our internal struggles: according to the CDC, more than 40% of U.S. adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorders following the pandemic. And a 2024 Harvard study found that 21% of U.S. adults feel lonely or disconnected from others. Together, these figures reveal a culture fractured both emotionally and socially.

In 2025, I launched Kindness is Contagious Conversations — a program that helps communities reconnect through stories of everyday kindness. In each town, I gather local stories from residents, businesses, and organizations, then host a live event blending humor, science-backed tools for well-being, and shared storytelling. Each community receives a custom digital Kindness Storybook, press-ready materials, and a feature on The Kindness Podcast, named one of Oprah Magazine’s Top 16 Happiness Podcasts. Beyond the spotlight, participants consistently report leaving with renewed hope, pride, and belonging — proof that kindness isn’t just emotional, it’s transformational.

I love watching people discover the same life-changing power of kindness that I did!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. Self-Awareness
Learning to be honest about my own struggles was the turning point. I had to face the fact that I was numbing my life instead of living it. That kind of self-awareness isn’t comfortable, but it’s necessary.

Advice: Slow down enough to tell yourself the truth. Journaling, therapy, and honest conversations can help you see what’s really driving your choices.

2. Curiosity
My life changed when I got curious instead of judgmental — about myself and about others.

Advice: Stay curious about what people carry beneath the surface. Curiosity opens doors that judgment keeps closed.

3. Perspective
I learned that what we look for is what we see. Shifting my focus changed everything.

Advice: Notice your lens. When things feel dark, ask, “What else is true right now?”

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

For more than a decade, I’ve been collecting and sharing stories of kindness — in my Kindness is Contagious newspaper column and books, and on The Kindness Podcast.

Now I’m taking kindness on the road and I’d love to collaborate both with people who want to bring Kindness Conversations to their communities and with business who love to share their resources to make the magic happen!

Through Kindness is Contagious Conversations, I visit communities across the country to uncover local stories of compassion, hope, and connection. Each stop includes storytelling, community engagement, and a keynote designed to help people draw more kindness into their lives, shift their perspectives, and build unity — even in spaces divided by politics or opinion.

💖 Value for the Community
Local Spotlight: I’ll collect and write true stories of kindness happening right there in your community.
Custom E-Storybook: A beautifully designed, shareable collection of those stories for your residents, leaders, and local media.
Live Event: A heartfelt, humor-filled presentation that inspires hope and emotional resilience while celebrating your own community’s kindness.
National Exposure: One story from your community will be featured on The Kindness Podcast, bringing your town’s spirit to a national audience.
Communities walk away feeling connected, uplifted, and proud — reminded that kindness is alive and well right where they live.

💼 Value for the Corporate Sponsor
When your organization sponsors this project, you’re not just funding travel and speaking engagements — you’re helping kindness go viral.
Brand Alignment: Your logo and acknowledgment will appear on the community’s e-storybook, podcast episode, social media promotions, and press materials.
Positive Visibility: Show your commitment to unity, compassion, and community well-being.
Employee Engagement: Invite your own team to join a “Kindness Challenge” or attend a session on emotional resilience and positivity.
Storytelling Assets: Access real stories and moments of impact to share in your internal or external communications.

Together, we’ll create a ripple of kindness that travels coast to coast — one community, one story, one smile at a time.

Contact Info:

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