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SOMEBODY BROKE INTO MY CAR THIS MORNING < A SON IS NO LONGER ALIVE:

July 8, 2026

On my son’s 20th birthday. And I’m at peace about it.

Old me would’ve been on ten. That feeling of being violated, running the footage back in my head, ready to catch a case over a car window. But I couldn’t get there this morning, and I know exactly why.

Because there’s a family in Mississippi who will never hear their son say good morning again. Never kiss him goodnight. Their 18-year-old, Nolan, went out on a boat on the 4th of July with three of his nonmelanated friends. They came back. He didn’t. His phone made it back to land before he did. He was found unalived on that island two days later.

So no, I’m not crying over a car. My son woke up this morning. Twenty years old. I got to tell him happy birthday with my own mouth. Perspective will humble your problems real quick.

Now while I value experts and expert opinion, here is something I cannot rock with. I’ve watched degreed professionals, PhDs and all, get online and say we shouldn’t tell our Black children to be careful in certain company, that this is a “parenting problem” on the other side. That their parents just need to raise them to respect Black life.

Respectfully… make it make sense. You want me to wait on the very people who’ve shown us how they see us as disposable/expendable to teach their children that my son is human? Wait on that if you want to. While you’re waiting, another family is planning a funeral.

I stopped waiting years ago. I told Skyler a long time ago, watch who you hang around. Not out of hate. Out of history. Because we live under an administration that pardoned January 6th and villainized people who look like my son in the same breath. The legal system doesn’t lean our way. I’m paranoid, I do however understand data and recognize patterns.

This isn’t a parenting problem. It’s a societal one. And if we’re serious about fixing it, then these churches with the fog machines and the spotlights and the rock and roll praise breaks need to preach the humanity of Black people every single Sunday. Our government and community organizations need to hammer it home every single day. Not one sermon in February. Every day.

To Nolan’s mother and family, nothing about your baby’s life invited this. You did nothing wrong. I’m praying for you today while I hug my own son a little longer.

Somebody broke into my car this morning. And all I can think about is how blessed I am that everything precious to me is still here.

We not going back.

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Earned, Not Dyed

January 17, 2026

One time a former friend of mine, pointed out the grays in my hair and beard and asked me, in all deadassness… “You gonna do something about that?”

I told him “Nah. I’m gonna mind my business and keep aging successfully.” I told him I’m rocking with what God allowed me to earn. These aren’t flaws, they’re timestamps. Proof of survival. Proof I’ve been here long enough to learn something and not die doing it.

Then I asked him if he dyes his hair (because he’s older than me). He said no… he plucks his grays… Plucks…. One by one… Like a bonsai tree powered by insecurity. Why? Because his girl is much younger and he doesn’t want to “look old” next to her.

Aging isn’t the enemy. Pretending you’re not aging is exhausting.

That’s wild to me. Imagine being blessed with time, growth, wisdom, and perspective… and your response is pain and denial so you can catfish Father Time for somebody who hasn’t even lived long enough to appreciate it yet.

Aging isn’t the enemy. Pretending you’re not aging is exhausting. And painful apparently.

If you’re lucky enough to get older, your body is gonna change. Hairlines may relocate to another zip code. Knees start making announcements. Recovery time asks for PTO. That’s not something to be ashamed of, that’s progression. #life

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Learning How to Lead in the Life Leadership Academy

May 28, 2025

I’ve learned how to lead from just about everything life has thrown at me.

That might sound dramatic, but when I think back on the people, situations, and seasons that shaped me, the common thread isn’t always comfort or clarity. It’s learning. Leadership, for me, hasn’t come solely from formal titles or structured training programs… it’s come from real life. Unfiltered and uncurated.

Sometimes leadership looks like listening; first to life, then to yourself. Mike Nicholson reflecting on leadership lessons.

Adversity, for example, didn’t just show up to break me. It came to build something in me that success never could: resilience. When everything felt uncertain, I found out just how steady I could be.

Parenthood? Whew. That one’s a daily leadership bootcamp. It’s taught me patience, how to communicate at different levels, and how to pivot in real-time. You ever try explaining something complex to a child while you’re half-asleep? That’ll test your strategy and grace in ways a corporate setting never will.

If you find that life is throwing you a plethora of curveballs, then perhaps it’s due to not learning the lessons that you were supposed to.

Then there’s betrayal. That one cut deep, but it sharpened my discernment. It taught me how to protect my peace, how to respond without reacting, and most importantly, how to lead with integrity even when trust has been shattered. There’s strength in staying quiet, especially when you’ve got every reason to be loud.

Relationships, whether professional, platonic, or personal have shown me the value of vulnerability. They’ve taught me how to ask better questions, how to own my flaws, and how to listen without waiting for my turn to talk. You can’t lead people well if you don’t understand them. And you won’t understand them if you never risk being known yourself.

The Bible has been my blueprint in ways I can’t fully explain. It’s given me purpose when the path wasn’t clear, and principles when the pressure tried to make me compromise. It reminds me daily that leadership isn’t about power… it’s about posture.

Some of the best strategies I’ve developed came not from spreadsheets, but from sketchpads and soundchecks.

Mike Nicholson

I’ve taken notes from horrible leaders too. Not to mimic them, but to understand what not to do. They’ve shown me how toxic environments can mask themselves as productive, and how ego will always sabotage the mission if you let it.

Thankfully, I’ve also been blessed with mentors; leaders who believed in me before I had language for my own gifts. They pushed me, challenged me, and helped me see that the weight I was carrying wasn’t a burden, it was preparation.

Then there are the creatives. The ones who don’t wait for instructions, but create what they need. They’ve taught me how to dream with boldness, solve problems without a script, and lead with imagination. Some of the best strategies I’ve developed came not from spreadsheets, but from sketchpads and soundchecks.

The truth is, I don’t take any space I’m in for granted. Every room I’ve been occupied, every season I’ve survived, every conversation I’ve engaged; it’s all part of the story. I pay attention. I listen. I reflect. And when I’m called to, I lead. Not perfectly, but intentionally.

You see, leadership isn’t just learned in office spaces and books. It’s learned in the ordinary moments, the mess, and the situations we never asked for but grew from anyway.

If you find that life is throwing you a plethora of curveballs, then perhaps it’s due to not learning the lessons that you were supposed to. Once you learned from your prior misses, that homerun becomes inevitable.

Uncategorized

The Silent Takeover: How Meta’s Move to End Fact-Checking Fuels Digital Oppression

January 7, 2025

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?: Meta dropping fact-checking? Yeah, this is about to get ugly. Let’s be real… this isn’t just a tech shift, it’s an open door for racism, systemic oppression, misinformation, and straight-up corruption to run wild online.

Mark Zuckerberg is about to change Meta to X

If you think you’ve seen enough fake news, scams, and hate speech already, just wait. Without fact-checking, your feed is about to be flooded with racial slurs, lies, and shady schemes; but you know what the worst part is? No one will be stepping in to stop it. This isn’t by accident, this is by design. This is how control works now. They don’t need to show up in hoods or hold public office to oppress people… they’ll do it through algorithms and unchecked narratives.

This is the new wave of oppression; quiet, but loud enough to divide, distract, and destroy. And if we’re not paying attention, we’ll look up and wonder how we got here.

I know this might sound dramatic, but it’s real. The next few years are going to reshape the digital world and thus the world and if we’re not careful, that’s exactly how they’ll reshape us too.

#StayWoke #MetaMess #DontGetPlayed
Featured, Fighting With Wellness, The Hueman Races, Uncategorized

Redefining Success: How Misconceptions Fuel Mental Health Struggles

January 9, 2023

I just came from a meeting that focused on ways to address the mental health challenges amongst black men. I thought that the meeting was enlightening and much-needed. As I sat there, I began to hear the word success used in different situations. It got me thinking about what it means to be “Successful.”

I always say I’m not an expert on mental health. I have my opinions about it.

Mike Nicholson discusses how the need to be perceived as successful can harm one’s mental health.

If we were all to be authentic as to our understanding of what it means to be successsful, I believe most of the answers would resemble one another. Being deemed a success is often predicated on tangible attributes and assets that can be quantified. Most of the time, we use monetary value as a means to decide whether or not someone is successful, even though we may not have direct access to their bank accounts. Most of us often determine our financial success based on purchases and career titles. However, the measurement of how successful someone is doesn’t end there; notoriety plays a part in the “how successful someone is” equation.

I hope that black men began to attribute their success to their internal happiness rather than an external societal evaluation.

–Mike Nicholson

Clout is another way society has allowed to be a proper way to determine one’s value. How many people do you know and know you are acceptable to decide on people’s worth? Let me not forget that knowing the right caliber of people is also crucial in how the scales swing toward your evaluation of being a success; knowing the most “important people” in society and the amount that you get to rub shoulders with classifies you as a success.

It’s a lot of pressure in the world to be successful. I mean, the phrase “living the ‘’American Dream” is evidence of that; it pretty much states that there is a standard that you should either meet or exceed to be considered successful in this country. If you don’t meet the bar, you are a failure.

Black men in America have often sought to prove our value outwardly. Fashion, the type of car you drove, the people you surrounded yourself with, the places you were able to go, etc. were all important in factoring whether or not you were successful; this belief is still present. As black men, we have enough environmental pressures that the pressure to keep up with the Joneses can be highly detrimental to our mental health. Conjuring up feelings of not being enough due to competition can be deadly and contribute to the increased number of suicides in our demographic.

What if I was to tell you that I believe we have what qualifies us as a success all wrong? Would you believe me? Probably not, but here goes. Success should be predicated on how happy and healthy you are and the number of healthy connections/relationships you can establish and maintain. That’s all I got for you.

I hope that black men began to attribute their success based on their internal happiness and not an external societal evaluation.

Featured, Fighting With Wellness

Central Ohio’s Largest Outdoor Dance Fitness Event is Back

August 30, 2022

Did you miss the first Lifeline of Ohio + M. Nicholson Hip Hop Fitness live outdoor band class this August 29, 2022? If the answer is yes, no worries, you got three more chances to join us as we continue to spread Minority Donor Awareness.

Lifeline of Ohio and M. Nicholson Hip Hop Fitness outdoor Live Band Class Event.

Lifeline of Ohio has been gracious to provide the community with a way to safely workout as well as fellowship while at the sametime spreading awareness about Minority Organ Donation. Our event for this year is titled “We Outside” and will go over the course of four weeks. Our outdoor class event has brought out a great deal of people from the community and has done an amazing job with helping people with their mental and physical health.

Join us as we for the next ones.

Featured, Fighting With Wellness

Columbus, Ohio’s Largest Outdoor Dance Fitness Event

June 11, 2021
Flyer for the Upcoming Outdoor Dance Fitness event with Live Band and M. Nicholson Hip Hop Fitness

Columbus, Ohio Release: June 11, 2021. 

For Immediate Release

On June 22, 2021, at 6:45 pm, Polaris Fashion Place and M. Nicholson Hip Hop Fitness partner up for their Summer Sweat Series to put on the most prominent outdoor dance fitness event in Central Ohio. The location for the event will be 1500 Polaris Parkway, Columbus, Ohio 43240, at the Polaris Fashion Place mall parking lot in front of the main entrance. 

Register on Eventbrite

“Taking our hip hop class outside shows a whole  other level of how fun working out can be! The band is awesome! The class is FIRE”

Rebecca Billingslea

What makes this Dance Fitness experience different is that we are incorporating a block party feel. We have a 5 Person LIVE BAND with world-renown musicians, Food Trucks/Vendors, and the venue of one of Ohio’s largest malls, two front parking lots that are capable of accommodating 1000+ individuals. The event is FREE to the public; however, we accept donations to keep this going into the Fall months.

List of Food Trucks/Vendors

Last year was life-changing for everyone around the world on so many levels. I don’t think anyone could have ever imagined the whole country going into quarantine for almost a year, but it happened. People lost jobs, businesses, and time with their loved ones. All the things we typically take for granted because they usually are just there for us were all of sudden out of reach. Aside from losing our connection with the outside world, many of us suffered mental and physical setbacks; this is where our partnership with Polaris Fashion Place and LifeLine of Ohio last year became impactful for the community.

Together LifeLine of Ohio, Polaris Fashion Place, and M. Nicholson Hip Hop Fitness brought the community out safely and beneficially; we started a fitness event at Polaris Fashion Place entitled “The Movement,” in which we had 500+ in attendance. This event allowed people to get out for an hour and connect with the outside world working out. It also allowed for LifeLine of Ohio, another outlet for organ donor awareness and community involvement. Us doing these things allowed for people to get better physically and mentally. We’ve had an overwhelming amount of people tell us how doing these series of classes helped them out with their depression and get into shape. “The Movement” also enabled the various food trucks/vendors that we had out to benefit financially. We are looking forward to doing this again but even bigger this time around. 

Featured, The Hueman Races

First Episode of HUEMAN

January 14, 2021

Here is the first episode of The HUEman Races. I still have quite a ways to go but this is a start. I would love for you to feel free and check it out and to also let me know what you think. Much love and success in this New Year.

Faith

The Locked Door: Why People Are Leaving the Black Church and What a UX Lens Reveals About the Real Problem

May 14, 2026

If you have been following my Facebook page over the last several weeks, you have seen a steady stream of posts about choir directors, ministry members, dance ministries, musicians, usher boards, and the complicated and often painful dynamics that live inside them. You have seen coded stories about real people. Real frustrations. Real pain. And real leadership failures that are quietly driving people away from the Black church one Sunday at a time.
This was not random content. This was research.

Inforgraphic on the some reasons as to why people leave the church.

And this post is here to explain exactly what I have been doing, why I have been doing it, and where this project is going next.

Why People Are Leaving the Black Church: The Question That Started This Project

The conversation has been happening for years. Pastors talking about shrinking membership rolls. Music directors frustrated that they cannot get people to commit. Members quietly pulling back. Former members who stopped going altogether.

These are not abstract numbers. These are people.

According to Pew Research Center data, 46 percent of Gen Z Black Americans and 49 percent of Black Millennials seldom or never attend church. Gallup reports that Black church membership among adults has dropped by nearly 20 percentage points over the last two decades. The Barna Group found that the proportion of Black adults who describe church involvement as desirable fell from 90 percent in 1996 to 74 percent today.

These are not abstract numbers. These are people. People who were raised in the Black church, baptized in it, married in it, and buried their grandmothers from it. People who, somewhere along the way, decided the cost of staying was greater than the cost of leaving.

The question I set out to answer was simple: why?

It Started as a Graduate School Project
I am currently pursuing a Master’s degree in UX/UI Design at Columbus College of Art and Design. UX, or User Experience, is the discipline of understanding how real people interact with systems, products, services, and organizations, and using that understanding to make those experiences work better for everyone involved.

As part of my graduate program, I was tasked with identifying an organization or system in need of improvement and building a research-backed framework for addressing that need. I chose the church.

Not randomly. I chose it because I kept hearing the same conversation in too many different rooms, and nobody in any of those rooms seemed to have a clear answer for why people were leaving or what could actually be done about it.

So I did what UX practitioners do. I went looking for data.

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Cliques + Favoritism Kills Unity

June 11, 2025

Romans 2:11
For God does not show favoritism.

There are quite a few scriptures in which speaks about how God is against favoritism

I’ve never subscribed to clique culture or favoritism. Never have. Never will. It’s one of the fastest ways to stunt the growth of any organization or ministry. When folks feel like there’s a “preferred few” while everyone else is just filling space, it chips away at trust, morale, and momentum.

The only.clique I tend to show favoritism to is family..

Let’s be honest. People don’t always leave because they’re lazy, inconsistent, or uncommitted. Sometimes they walk away quietly because no matter how much they contribute, they’ll never be part of the group. And in community spaces where love and unity are supposed to be the foundation, that kind of culture can be especially damaging.

God doesn’t show partiality. So why do we? If you’re leading anything from a small group to an entire organization, check the culture. You might think you’re building something strong, when really, you’re just cultivating a private club with robes and responsibilities.

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All Together

January 19, 2024

A lot of changes occurred last year. A new #Nicholson #kid #newJob and #AlltheKidAreTogetherFulltime

All the Nicholson siblings together

I just gotta take a moment to appreciate the fullness of this house! As a father who’s ridden life’s roller coaster, the dips and twists shook my very soul. I’m now looking around at the faces of my three incredible kids, all under one roof, and man, my heart is full.

Like most people, life has thrown me a series of curve balls. There were days I wasn’t sure I’d make it through, but here I am. I got my eldest, at 17, navigating the edge of adulthood, a six-year-old with enough energy to power the city, and a four-month-old blessing who laughs and it’s like sunlight breaking through the darkest clouds.

You see, it’s not just about making it through, it’s about holding on to those tiny moments.

Uncategorized

Choir Directing

January 18, 2024

As folk in the choir could tell you…. The way we practiced the song in rehearsal… Ain’t the way we did it in rehearsal.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1h6LogREHB/?igsh=MXhoYXZ6OTI4aWRqbg==

After 16 years of leading choirs in Brooklyn, New York and central Ohio, I’ve found that being a gospel choir director has shaped me into a leader that has the ability to solve problems, not just within the realm of worship but as a thriving entrepreneur in the broader spectrum of the workplace too.

As a traditional gospel choir director, I tend to not direct the song according to the original recording. Almost every opportunity to worship, I go with the present benvelent energies. Meaning that while I have a frame of reference my problem solving skills allow me to make whatever adjustments necessary on the fly. Seconds matter, bringing that same energy to your business or office as I have to the altar.

Being an entrepreneur is about conducting your vision, rallying your resources, and navigating challenges with the same grace and control as guiding a choir through a Sunday morning or afternoon (depending upon your denomination.

Featured, Fighting With Wellness, The Hueman Races, Uncategorized

The Desire To Be Successful Can Lead To Bad Mental Health

January 9, 2023

I just came from a meeting that focused on ways to address the mental health challenges amongst black men. I thought that the meeting was enlightening and much-needed. As I sat there, I began to hear the word success used in different situations. It got me thinking about what it means to be “Successful.”

I always say I’m not an expert on mental health. I have my opinions about it.

Mike Nicholson of M. Nicholson Hip Hop Fitness fame shares his opinion of how the drive to be successful can be detrimental to mental health and contribute to the increase in suicide a in amongst the black male demographic is pictured in coffee shop.
Mike Nicholson discusses how the need to be perceived as successful can harm one’s mental health.

If we were all to be authentic regarding our understanding of what it means to be successful, I believe most answers would resemble one another. Being deemed a success is often predicated on tangible attributes and assets that can be quantified. Most of the time, we use monetary value to decide whether someone is successful, even though we may not have direct access to their bank accounts. Most of us often determine our financial success based on purchases and career titles. However, the measurement of how successful someone is doesn’t end there; notoriety plays a part in the “how successful someone is” equation.

I hope that black men began to attribute their success to their internal happiness rather than an external societal evaluation.

Mike Nicholson

Clout is another way society has allowed to be a proper way to determine one’s value. How many people do you know and know you are acceptable to decide on people’s worth? Let me not forget that knowing the right caliber of people is also crucial in how the scales swing toward your evaluation of success; knowing the most “important people” in society and the amount you get to rub shoulders with classifies you as a success.

It’s a lot of pressure in the world to be successful. I mean, the phrase “living the ‘’American Dream” is evidence of that; it pretty much states that there is a standard that you should either meet or exceed to be considered successful in this country. If you don’t meet the bar, you are a failure.

Black men in America have often sought to prove our value outwardly. Fashion, the type of car you drove, the people you surrounded yourself with, the places you were able to go, etc. were all important in factoring whether or not you were successful; this belief is still present. As black men, we have enough environmental pressures that the pressure to keep up with the Joneses can be highly detrimental to our mental health. Conjuring up feelings of not being enough due to competition can be deadly and contribute to the increased number of suicides in our demographic.

What if I was to tell you that I believe we have what qualifies us as a success all wrong? Would you believe me? Probably not, but here goes. Success should be predicated on how happy and healthy you are and the number of healthy connections/relationships you can establish and maintain. That’s all I got for you.

I hope that black men began to attribute their success to their internal happiness rather than an external societal evaluation.