The Hitstreak

Nick Hiter
  • 5.0 (21)
  • Entrepreneurship

“The Hitstreak” is a podcast hosted by the one and only Nick Hiter. Former professional athlete and serial entrepreneur, Nick has also recently been featured by CBS, NBC, FOX, The New York Times, and others. This show allows Nick the chance to meet, collaborate, and feature other successful individuals that have great stories to tell; whether it be personal or professional. This world is filled with too many people who are doing amazing things that haven't been talked about enough. This podcast is here to shed some light on some of those untold stories from some incredible people.

  1. 9h ago

    Episode 255: From Ballplayer to Ad Man to Portrait Artist, Inside One Creative Life w/ Tim Liddle

    Episode 255 of The Hitstreak, a podcast where we talk about anything and everything! This week we are on location with portrait artist Tim Liddle! Let us know in the comments what YOU want to hear about next! Episode in a Glance: In this episode of The Hitstreak, we leave the Hitlab and set up inside the Point View Gallery in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, the lakeside home, gallery and working studio of portrait artist Tim Liddle. Tim is a Nashville native from a blue collar Antioch baseball family, and I grew up knowing a very different Tim Liddle: the successful advertising man whose family name is front and center in Middle Tennessee baseball. We talk about the summer job crews and the day a car slid off its jack onto his chest at 17 before his father lifted it off with his bare hands, playing ball at Lipscomb while his brother went on to coach in the big leagues, four decades of catalogs, commercials and websites, and the whole time, quietly, he painted. Then the reveal: the long hair, the gallery, and the second act as a portrait artist at 66 years old, because as Tim puts it, I have casted my life a lot, and I am ready to start fishing. Plus the surprise portrait he painted of me that started this whole episode, the Psalm 42 landscape that means the most to him, and the interview he filmed with his 96 year old grandfather Otis and the one piece of advice that came out of it. Key Points: - You can reinvent yourself at any age. Tim is 66 and just getting started. - I have casted my life a lot. I am ready to start fishing. - Respect authority. If you want life to go well for you, respect authority. - Once you get the drawing accurate, the painting starts to reveal itself. - Kids need to be pushed into doing things outside their comfort zone. - You cannot get that time back. Be intentional as a father. - If you do not ask for something, you will not get it. Speak what matters out loud. - Better is not a place you arrive. It is a progression of improving your craft. - Being content is the key. Do not get the cart before the horse. - Life can turn on you in an instant. Do not take it for granted. About our guest: Tim Liddle is a portrait artist working out of the Point View Gallery, his home studio on the lake in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Raised on a small farm in Antioch in a close knit baseball family, he played at Lipscomb while his older brother Steve went on to play and then coach in Major League Baseball. Tim built a career in advertising, starting his own company in 1990 and spending four decades on catalogs, television commercials and later web work, and through all of it he kept painting, watercolors while the kids were young, always something on an easel. The second act is the reason for this episode. Tim rebuilt an old ranch house and its two car garage into a home, gallery and studio, let the hair grow, and introduced himself to the world as the portrait artist he had quietly been all along. At 66 he paints commissions for families, businesses and institutions, works three canvases at a time between Tennessee and the Gulf, and counts a Psalm 42 landscape among his favorite work. He interviewed his grandfather Otis at 96 so his family would keep his voice forever, and the advice from that film runs through this whole conversation: respect authority, honor your people, and be grateful. His portrait of yours truly hangs front and center at the Hitlab. Follow and contact: Instagram: @timliddleart Website: TimLiddle.com Subscribe to Nick's top-rated podcast The Hitstreak on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Spotify: https://spotify.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/NickHiter

  2. 3d ago

    Why Dreams Come True for People Who Act Like They’ve Already Won

    This week Nick is fresh off emceeing the Real Financial training event in Vegas, and the whole conversation comes back to one idea: the people dreams come true for are the ones who were already there in their mind. Let us know in the comments what YOU want to hear about next! Episode in a Glance: In this episode of The Nick Hiter Show, I unpack the training day event in Vegas where I had to open the show in front of the whole field force, and what it taught me about being in the room before you're in the room. I share how Brad gets ready for a big moment, why I didn't feel like I hit it when I walked off stage, and how watching him go next put me back in the room. We get into why you can't dream for a big house, you have to dream for a specific big house and know which wall the TV is on, why proximity through media counts when you don't have it in person, and what I'm on a mission to do with the HitLab over the next 90 days. We spend a while on Dolly Parton and how she took what she did seriously but never herself, why money is the outcome and not the objective, and why if you can't get a machine to do what you want you definitely can't get a person to. Then it turns to speaking things out loud: the business model Brad has said word for word more than twenty times, why manifestation and prayer are out loud for me, and the line I keep coming back to, that almost all doubt is silent. We close with the Podcast Team app, a portrait artist who reinvented himself in retirement, and the first thing Brad ever asked me: four a week? Why not 40? Key Points: - Dreams come true for the people who visualized it before it happened. If the room swallows you, you hadn't been there first. - Don't dream for a big house. Dream for a specific big house and know what wall the TV is on. - Proximity is everything. If you can't get it in person, get it through media until you can. - Take what you do seriously, not yourself. The world is better when we're that way. - Money is the outcome, not the objective. Master something first and the money follows last. - If you can't get a soulless machine to do what you want, look in the mirror. How great a communicator are you? - Real founders show you. Everybody has the idea, so show me and I'll help you. - Say it out loud. Almost all doubt is silent, and your brain can't tell the difference until you speak. - If you don't say it, it isn't your word. It's a thought. - Every tough stretch is a season. Give it a deadline and stay on pace. About Nick: Nick Hiter is the host of The Nick Hiter Show and The Hitstreak, the founder of HitLab, and Senior Vice President and COO of Real Financial, where he sits between the field and corporate and turns the vision into execution. Subscribe to Nick's top-rated podcast The Hitstreak on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Spotify: https://spotify.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/NickHiter

    Why Dreams Come True for People Who Act Like They’ve Already Won

  3. Sep 11

    Put Your Family Last to Put Them First

    This week it's just Nick and the camera. A short one on time, seasons, and the price of the life you said you wanted. Let us know in the comments what YOU want to hear about next! Episode in a Glance: In this episode of The Nick Hiter Show, I work through something I've been chewing on during my morning walks: right now I have a lot of responsibility to a lot of companies and a lot of people, and I'm not going to let them down. So how do I take the same 24 hours everybody else gets and invest them where each relationship and each company needs to grow? That means a season where my family gets less of my playtime, and I explain why that is not the same as putting them last. We get into time blocking and why anything in my life that isn't where I want it has too little intentionality behind it, why doing today what was decided yesterday is the ultimate skill set, and why most of my frustration comes from something I knew I should be doing and wasn't. I talk about auditing my circle with a short leash, why the last ten years have been a literal grind and why slowing down is a skill I'll have to relearn, and the deal my family and I made about where we're going. Every tough season is temporary. The question is whether you know exactly what has to get done to get out of it, and whether you gave it a deadline. Key Points: - Sometimes you have to put your family last to put them first. It's a season, not a lifestyle. - If you're not doing what you should be doing, it's called a distraction. Start by naming yours. - Everything in my life that isn't where I want it to be has too little intentionality behind it. - If you're living today and feeling it out as you go, you've already lost. Do today what was decided yesterday. - Time blocking and prioritizing who and what matters, and why, is the ultimate skill set in life. - When I'm stressed, it's usually because something I know I'm supposed to be doing is being mismanaged. - Audit your circle. Prioritize the people counting on you over the people holding you back. - Success is a combination unique to every person, and that goes for your family life too. - Every season needs an expiration date. Give it a deadline, then stay on pace. - There will be more shows, more concerts, more parties. Know the true value of where your time goes. Chapters: 0:00 Sometimes you have to put your family last to put them first 1:18 Name your distractions and invest the same 24 hours 2:42 Time blocks and intentionality 4:04 Why you get frustrated, and auditing your circle 5:33 The musician on tour and what success actually is 6:32 Ten years of grind and the deal with my family 8:16 Every tough season is temporary, give it a deadline About Nick: Nick Hiter is the host of The Nick Hiter Show and The Hitstreak, the founder of HitLab, and Senior Vice President and COO of Real Financial, where he sits between the field and corporate and turns the vision into execution. Subscribe to Nick's top-rated podcast The Hitstreak on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Spotify: https://spotify.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/NickHiter

    Put Your Family Last to Put Them First

  4. Sep 8

    Episode 254: The Wrong Money? Why Taylor Swift's First Manager Gave Up Millions w/ Rick Barker

    This week we are joined by speaker, author, entrepreneur and clarity architect Rick Barker! Episode in a Glance: In this episode of The Hitstreak, I sit down with Rick Barker, a former manager of Taylor Swift who started at his lowest possible point. Rick was Santa Barbara's number one DJ when he was arrested live on the air, went to jail three and a half years sober, and calls it the best worst thing that ever happened to him because what he got in jail was humility. We walk through the whole road: the mirror moment that ended a crack cocaine addiction with the shortest prayer he ever prayed, coming back to the same radio station to make coffee for the number two guy, the Cindy call that told him not to run, inventing the Nashville to You radio tour that gave Josh Turner his first paycheck as an artist, and the Scott Borchetta phone call that hired him because he was too dumb to know any better. Then the part everybody asks about: thirty days on the road teaching a teenage Taylor Swift the radio business, the liner notes that thanked the back of his truck, and the day in 2008 he walked away from the biggest payday of his life because the money was going to cost him his family. Plus the reinvention chapters, going all in on digital marketing, writing AI for Humans, the live AI workshop he runs on me in real time, and the one better question he asks every business owner. Key Points: - People want you for what you can accomplish, not for what you have done on paper. - Somebody can see something in you before you see it in yourself. - Do not hide from what you did. You cannot lie your way out of it. - Not asking for help is the weakness, especially when others are counting on you. - All money is not the right money. - Nobody cares where you went to school when you can solve their problems. - More information does not mean better. Find the real problem first. - AI will not replace you. The person who knows how to use it will. - Every AI agent should have a human boss. - If your business is not running the way you want, look in the mirror. You may want to fire the owner. About our guest: Rick Barker is a speaker, author, entrepreneur and clarity architect. He came up as a radio DJ, built a country station after 9/11, and created the Nashville to You radio tour that introduced developing artists to California audiences, giving acts like Josh Turner their first run. Scott Borchetta hired him at Big Machine Records, and for two years Rick managed a teenage Taylor Swift, spending thirty days on the road teaching her the radio side of the business. In 2008 he walked away rather than trade his family for the payday, moved to Tennessee, and rebuilt: consulting at Sony, founding the Music Industry Blueprint, going all in on digital marketing, and writing three books including The 150,000 Dollar Music Degree and AI for Humans. Rick is 34 years sober at the recording of this episode and tells that story straight: arrested live on the air as Santa Barbara's number one DJ, jail three and a half years sober, and the humility that rebuilt everything after. Today he is the chief marketing officer of Cool Springs Financial, speaks to corporations and students about using AI as a thought partner, and plans to spend the second half of his life equipping the next generation on five more continents. His whole thing is one better question. Follow and contact: Instagram: @rickbarkerspeaks Website: RickBarker.com Subscribe to Nick's top-rated podcast The Hitstreak on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Spotify: https://spotify.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/NickHiter

  5. Sep 5

    Rules Are for People Who Can't Follow Directions

    This week Nick is in the hot seat, breaking down his first months as Senior Vice President and COO of Real Financial. Let us know in the comments what YOU want to hear about next! Episode in a Glance: In this episode of The Nick Hiter Show, I break down my first months as Senior Vice President and COO of Real Financial. I just got back from the desert, where we rolled out the entire new business model in front of more than half the field force at a two day training event, and I share what I saw up close: a president and CEO who wakes up, has a cup of coffee and goes to the office until bed, a building with people everywhere, and a master class in handling problems without losing it. We get into proximity and why being in that environment felt like a big league clubhouse, the Tim Corbin line that separates rules from standards, the six core values that are all number one, the three KPIs that decide whether Real Financial grows, and why anything that does not check all three boxes does not get considered. We talk about what chaos does for character when a church goes from a couple hundred people to thousands in months. Then it gets personal: the Lincoln quote about chopping off a limb to save the tree and what I had to change about the Hitstreak, why I now ask "why would I put you on?", learning to be a distribution channel instead of a doer, the leader who does not negotiate with himself, and my son Ethan, 17, owning his calendar, speaking on stage and staying home alone for the first time. Key Points: - Proximity matters. You get fed in environments like that, and you have to add enough value to stay in the room. - Rules are for people who can't follow directions. Standards are for people who aspire to do special things. - Six core values, all number one: do what's right, own it, tell the truth, become more valuable, think bigger and move faster, protect the house. - There are only three things that grow the company. If an idea does not check all three boxes, it does not get considered. - Standards determine the rules and the KPIs. First you need standards, then you can build rules. - If everyone sells the exact same way, you rob the team of the next great idea. - You cannot chop down the tree to save a limb. There is no business to serve the people if you kill it. - Solving the problem, or getting it solved, is a valuable position. Be a distribution channel, not a doer. - The less you touch, the more you get to speak and think. That is the trade off of leadership. - When a young man owns his calendar and does not depend on anyone to map it out, that is freedom. Chapters: 0:00 Vegas, Brad and rolling out the new Real Financial model 10:26 Rules vs standards: Tim Corbin and the six core values 15:41 The three KPIs and learning to think 19:53 Pivoting the content and thriving in chaos 27:07 Chop the limb, save the tree: the Hitstreak and life as the integrator 35:50 Ethan: standards at home About Nick: Nick Hiter is the host of The Nick Hiter Show and The Hitstreak, the founder of HitLab, and Senior Vice President and COO of Real Financial, where he sits between the field and corporate and turns the vision into execution. Subscribe to Nick's top-rated podcast The Hitstreak on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Spotify: https://spotify.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/NickHiter

    Rules Are for People Who Can't Follow Directions

  6. Aug 28

    Why You Freeze When It Counts (And How to Fix It)

    The Nick Hiter Show — Why You Freeze When It Counts (And How to Fix It) In this one, I take you inside a high stakes call and break down what it actually takes to perform when the pressure is real. Comfort isn't a personality trait, it's a skill, and I walk through how I build it: eliminate the environment, lock in on the purpose of the meeting, and prepare until the moment can't shake you. I share the story of my first pro game, when I was so nervous I could barely throw the ball back to the pitcher, and what that taught me about how much the environment matters. From there we get into time management and the truth that we all get the same 24 hours, the Arnold Schwarzenegger "sleep faster" story, why anything holding you back is knowledge based, and how proximity, including the six to eight hours a day you give your screen, is quietly shaping your beliefs. Key Takeaways: If you're prepared, you're comfortable. Comfort is a skill you build, not a feeling you wait for. Eliminate the environment. Strip every meeting down to its purpose and the outcome it has to produce. If you've earned the right to be in the room, you'll stay in the room long enough to get another shot. When you pray for something, you don't get it. You get the opportunity to do it. Most of us are prepared for the work. The environment is what we've never felt before. We all get the same 24 hours. Some people build empires with them, some build nothing. The heavier the lift, the more intentional and consistent your time investment has to be. What it takes is what it takes. You just get to choose whether you're willing to pay it. Anything holding you back is knowledge based. If you want to change your beliefs, get new information. Proximity is everything you consume, including your screen. Remove the temptation and only give yourself options that serve you. Follow and contact: Instagram: @nickhiter Nickhiter.com Subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Spotify: https://spotify.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/NickHiter

    Why You Freeze When It Counts (And How to Fix It)

  7. Aug 21

    You'll Never Outlive Your Self-Image

    The Nick Hiter Show — You'll Never Outlive Your Self-Image In this one, I get into what really separates the people who perform under pressure from the people who fold — and it starts with pace. I break down why pace is the ultimate KPI, how streamlining communication turns weeks of work into minutes, and why the way you talk to yourself sets the ceiling on everything you do in public. I open up about a wild stretch of work across time zones, a massive faith-and-film project, and the lesson that keeps proving itself: you have to go first, stay calm, and remove the emotion so the message stays clear. We get into the Parable of the Talents and capacity-based trust, why comfort can quietly become a trap, and how studying the leaders I've been around — Troy, Brad, and others — taught me that nobody wins on accident. Key Takeaways: - Pace is the real KPI — but the right pace depends on the size of the deal. - Enrich communication first: clarity and speed beat volume every time. - To play at that level, you have to pay at that level. - Go first — you can't ask people to do what you haven't done yourself. - Emotion is a tool; the moment it overrides the message, you've lost the point. - Respond, don't react — process the emotion privately, then say the clean version. - You'll never outlive your own self-image, so talk to yourself like a hero. - The Parable of the Talents: burying opportunity out of fear is the real failure. - Comfort can be a calling — or a trap; know which season you're in. - Replicating yourself means building someone who can do it better than you. Follow and contact: Instagram: @nickhiter Nickhiter.com Subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Spotify: https://spotify.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/NickHiter

    You'll Never Outlive Your Self-Image

  8. Aug 21

    Episode 253: TikTok Fame, American Idol & His Genre-Bending Debut Album w/ Bryant Thomas

    Episode 253 of The Hitstreak, a podcast where we talk about anything and everything! This week we are joined by Southern crossover artist and American Idol Top 30 Bryant Thomas! Episode in a Glance: In this episode of The Hitstreak, I sit down with Bryant Thomas, a Southern crossover artist and American Idol Top 30 who is in Nashville recording his debut album. Bryant was a fire protection inspector in Alabama with no friends his own age and no drive, posting Christmas music in June and playing seven hour TikTok Lives for four viewers, when Alyona Palhof, the woman who would become his wife, found him and believed in him more than anyone ever had. We get into the leap of faith that ended his party band days, how Big Vinnie sent his picture straight to Luke Bryan, the audition where producers had to ask him to act excited, and the moment he got down on one knee on the American Idol stage and forgot to actually ask the question. Plus the album with no genre, nine instruments and a trombone on stage, the Blues Tavern jam family that shaped his sound, his sister beating a thirty percent survival rate as a little girl, and the prayer that took him from 20,000 to 275,000 monthly listeners in one month. Key Points: - TikTok Live takes the gatekeeping out of the industry. It connects you straight to the people. - Somebody believing in you can be the reason you start believing in yourself. - The dice do not work if you do not roll them. - Golden ticket or not, you can walk out of the room a winner. - Nobody can make your art better than you. - Serve the song. The genre is not the point. - You are a songwriter when you are writing songs, so always be writing. - There is no way to succeed following in someone else's footsteps. You will always be behind them. - Everything you learn in life applies to music, and everything you learn in music applies to life. - God does not give you things you are not ready for. About our guest: Bryant Thomas is a Southern crossover artist and American Idol Top 30 from the Gulf Coast, raised on Mobile Bay. Classically trained in music from middle school through college and in jazz band from sixth grade on, he plays nine instruments, including the trombone he brings on stage to set his shows apart. He spent his Monday nights jamming with the old heads of the Blues Tavern, a historic stop on the Gulf Coast blues circuit, and it taught him the thing his music still runs on: it does not have to be perfect, it has to be real. After high school he worked as a fire protection inspector in Alabama, and a TikTok account he started almost as a joke turned into the whole road: a viral Taylor Swift cover led American Idol to reach out, the auditions led to the Top 30, and at his audition he got down on one knee and proposed to Alyona Palhof, the woman who found him on TikTok when he was, in his words, nobody. Now based in Florida and recording his debut album Rock Bottom in Nashville, he has Shoulda Known, Drinking Again and Drunken Denial out now, with the big ballads still to come. Follow and contact: Instagram: @Bryant.Thomas.Band Website: BryantThomasMusic.com Subscribe to Nick's top-rated podcast The Hitstreak on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Spotify: https://spotify.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/NickHiter Follow and Rate us on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/NickHiter

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5
out of 5
21 Ratings

About

“The Hitstreak” is a podcast hosted by the one and only Nick Hiter. Former professional athlete and serial entrepreneur, Nick has also recently been featured by CBS, NBC, FOX, The New York Times, and others. This show allows Nick the chance to meet, collaborate, and feature other successful individuals that have great stories to tell; whether it be personal or professional. This world is filled with too many people who are doing amazing things that haven't been talked about enough. This podcast is here to shed some light on some of those untold stories from some incredible people.

Information

  • Creator
    Nick Hiter
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    267
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Hitstreak
  • Show Website
    The Hitstreak

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