This week, Ira Sternberg spoke with Ryan Nicodemus.
Ryan Nicodemus, along with his life-long friend, Joshua Fields Millburn, is one-half of The Minimalists. The two help their 20 million readers live more intentional lives with less through their website, books, podcast, and documentary film.
Nicodemus grew up in Lebanon, Ohio. Much like his friend, Millburn, Nicodemus's family struggled to make ends meet financially. After graduating from high school, Nicodemus worked with his father at his home improvement business for a few years before accepting a position with a local telecommunications company where he began climbing the corporate ladder.
In 2010, Millburn, noticing Nicodemus's growing discontentment with his corporate career and consumer-centric lifestyle, suggested he try incorporating the practices of minimalism into his life. Millburn had recently incorporated the same practices into his own life, and he was confident those practices would help Nicodemus find the happiness and fulfillment he was failing to find through compulsory consumption, substance abuse, and career obsessions.
In December 2010, the duo decided to share their stories of how the practices of minimalism had transformed their lives. It was then that the friends launched their website, The Minimalists.
Between 2010 and 2015, Nicodemus and Millburn released three books about living more intentionally with less: Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life, Everything That Remains, and Essential: Essays by The Minimalists.
In January 2016, they launched their top-rated podcast, The Minimalists Podcast.
In May 2016, Nicodemus and Millburn, along with director Matt D'Avella and design firm SPYR, released the documentary film, Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things (2015). The film explores the benefits of minimalism with professionals and folks practicing the principles of minimalism every day.