In this interview excerpt, Nick Eubanks recounts the shock of suffering a heart attack shortly after turning 40 despite a disciplined fitness routine, describing the fear and disbelief he felt. He then reflects on his tumultuous upbringing—multiple school changes, divorced parents, and time in a military academy—followed by a brief, illegal entrepreneurship phase in college where he sold large quantities of marijuana, earning up to $30,000 a week in cash. At 23, he co‑founded his first legal agency, Atom Me, which was later sold for roughly $18 million, providing him with substantial financial comfort. Despite this success, Eubanks admits that wealth did not bring happiness, prompting deeper contemplation about his life choices and health.
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Right after I turned 40, I had a heart attack. What was that like? I mean, I thought my life was over. I was so convinced I was gonna die. Um, take me to that exact moment. What does it feel like to have a heart attack at 40 years old? Couldn't believe this, the idea that like I was having a heart attack, especially as like a reasonably healthy person. I mean, I run 30 miles a week, you know, I, I eat healthy. I— how did I get here? Like, how the fuck does this even happen? Was that the moment you decided to change?
Nick, Eubanks is an entrepreneur, digital strategist, and vice president at Semrush, a leader in online visibility. He's the founder of From the Future and co-founder of Traffic Think Tank, both of which were acquired in 2023. Before that, he helped grow Traffic Safety Store from 7 to 8 figures in revenue. Throughout his career, Nick has built and sold dozens of digital ventures across search engine optimization, lead generation, affiliate marketing, and e-commerce.
When was the first time you made a significant amount of money? I was making significant money illegally in college, selling a tremendous amount of marijuana and making cash that I couldn't do anything with. 21 years old, making $30,000 a week in cash. Like, what do you do? You didn't have the easiest road in childhood. Oh yeah, my childhood was, was horrendous. So my parents had been divorced. From each other 3 times. So I went to 9 schools in 12 years and, uh, including military academy twice. When did you go clean? Like, when did you make the switch from illegal entrepreneurship to legal entrepreneurship? 3 of us started my first agency when I was 23 years old. It was called Atom Me. We later went on to sell, to sell that off. It was kind of like a golden parachute. We got real lucky. That got sold to a company that eventually would get bought by Ziff Davis. That sold for 18-some million dollars. That was the first time I had like actual money. I got to a very comfortable place financially in life, um, and realized, uh, once I was there and once I had a lot of time, uh, to, to spend with my partner and, and look at my life, that I wasn't happy at all.
