Success Story with Scott D. Clary
Published on Oct 30, 2025, 9:34:52 PM
Total time: 00:57:21
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Nicholas Thompson is the CEO of The Atlantic, where he has led one of the most successful turnarounds in American media—achieving profitability, record subscriptions, and three Pulitzer Prizes since 2021. Previously editor-in-chief of Wired (where he boosted digital subscriptions nearly 300%) and editor of NewYorker.com, Thompson co-founded two tech ventures sold to WordPress and Amplica Labs, edited stories that became the Oscar-winning film Argo, and authored The Hawk and the Dove, hailed as "brilliant" by The Washington Post. An American record holder in the 50K run with 2 million social media followers, he embodies the intersection of editorial excellence, entrepreneurial vision, and athletic discipline—bringing the same relentless drive to building media companies as he does to distance running.
➡️ Show Links
https://www.instagram.com/nxthompson/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasxthompson/
➡️ Podcast Sponsors
Hubspot - https://hubspot.com/
Truth, Lies & Work Podcast - https://truthliesandwork.com
ShipStation - https://www.shipstation.com/ (Code: SuccessStory)
Square - https://square.com/go/success
SurveyMonkey - https://www.surveymonkey.com/scott
Monarch Money - https://www.monarchmoney.com (Code: Success)
Claude - https://claude.ai/success
Incogni - https://incogni.com/success (Code: Success)
Think Big, Buy Small Podcast - https://link.chtbl.com/B2cH36AX?sid=SuccessStory
NetSuite — https://netsuite.com/scottclary/
Indeed - https://indeed.com/clary
➡️ Talking Points
00:00 – Intro
01:31 – Why Running Is the Purest Sport
02:28 – The Challenge of Being Alone with Your Thoughts
04:44 – Discovering the Need for Solitude
11:52 – Running with Awareness, Not Just Discipline
14:42 – Living with Conflicting Personalities
16:42 – Sponsor Break
19:27 – The Double-Edged Sword of Obsession
21:14 – How Cancer Changed His Perspective
31:50 – Sponsor Break
43:29 – When Simplicity Becomes Profound
48:40 – Running as a High-Performer’s Edge
49:30 – Nicholas’ Wildest Running Story
53:22 – Running as a Multifaceted Tool
54:43 – The One Takeaway for Readers
55:11 – Advice to His 20-Year-Old Self
Welcome to the Success Story Podcast, hosted by entrepreneur, business executive, author, educator & speaker, Scott D. Clary (@scottdclary). On this podcast, you'll find interviews, Q&A, keynote presentations & conversations on sales, marketing, business, startups and entrepreneurship. Scott will discuss some of the lessons he's learned over his own career, as well as have candid interviews with execs, celebrities, notable figures and politicians. All who have achieved success through both wins and losses, to learn more about their life, their ideas and insights. He sits down with leaders and mentors and unpacks their story to help pass those lessons onto others through both experiences and tactical strategy for business professionals, entrepreneurs and everyone in between. To get more of the Success Story podcast, go to www.successstorypodcast.com.