Nick Lynch of Collidescope: I Survived Cancer and Here Is How I Did It

An Interview With Savio P. Clemente

Seek “normalcy” — The minute you hear your cancer diagnosis, nothing is the same. You feel that people treat you differently, the things you do on a daily basis change, and it’s easy to feel that the life you had before is gone. Find places, people, or even things that make you feel, “normal”. These moments helped me recharge and reminded me that there are things to look forward to after the surgeries and treatments.

Cancer is a horrible and terrifying disease. Yet millions of people have beaten the odds and beat cancer. Authority Magazine started a new series called “I Survived Cancer and Here Is How I Did It”. In this interview series, we are talking to cancer survivors to share their stories, in order to offer hope and provide strength to people who are being impacted by cancer today. As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nick Lynch.

In an ever-changing and evolving digital world, Nick Lynch has spent his professional career building solutions for brands to better identify and target their audiences online. Nick is more than a businessman: from personal experience as a former Make-A-Wish recipient who survived cancer at an early age, Nick is passionate about nonprofit organizations. When the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly forced many nonprofits into the digital space, it prompted Lynch into creating Collidescope.io, an all-in-one social media measurement and data analytics platform that empowers global causes, influencers, and organizations to collaborate and measure their cumulative influence and impact, bringing much needed transparency and measurement to the multi-billion dollar social impact and cause marketing sector.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! We really appreciate the courage it takes to publicly share your story. Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your background and your childhood backstory?

I grew up in a small town in northern California about 60 miles north of San Francisco called Sebastopol. When I moved to San Francisco for college, I had big dreams of one day heading down to Los Angeles and becoming a famous music producer. When the iPod came out and flipped the music industry upside down, I quickly pivoted to focus on digital marketing. I did eventually end up moving down to Los Angeles, but instead to work at MySpace, helping them launch and scale their self-serve advertising business — MyAds. For the last 15+ years, I’ve been working in the advertising technology space building solutions for brands and agencies to better target their audiences on social and digital media. I’ve helped sell and/or execute over $100M+ in social media and influencer marketing campaigns. I also went viral a few years ago for catching my son flipping out of his crib — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UCRI4bJeMs.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” — Mother Teresa

Growing up, I’d watch my dad make a list of all the small details required to accomplish the various projects he’d be working on. The running family joke has always been about his lists. I never understood how important those lists were until I started using them. They help you spend time focusing on the small things, stacking the small wins, and creating momentum for larger outcomes. It’s a repeatable formula that allows me to confidently tackle any challenge.

Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about surviving cancer. Do you feel comfortable sharing with us the story surrounding how you found out that you had cancer?

When I was three, I was diagnosed with a stage 3 Wilms Tumor in my kidney. Before my diagnosis, I had seen several doctors who continuously misdiagnosed me. The diagnostics always seemed to be the same vague “stomach issue” following with the same prescriptions to alleviate the pain and symptoms.

My mom truly never believed these doctors and would not stop searching for answers on her own. Finally, we found a doctor who recognized the symptoms and suggested we go to Oakland Children’s Hospital right away. By the time they had found the cancer, it had spread from my kidney into the main vein of my heart. At that point, the cancer was most likely weeks away from going into my heart and completely stopping it.

What was the scariest part of that event? What did you think was the worst thing that could happen to you?

About 7 years ago, I ordered all of my medical records from my cancer diagnosis and treatment. This included the operation report and all of the subsequent chemotherapy and radiation treatments. As a kid, especially as young as I was, it was difficult to grasp the gravity and seriousness of cancer. As you grow older, you piece things together based on the memories and reactions of the people around you. Reading these reports provided better context into my cancer, my treatments, and the various medical, physical, and emotional reactions. Reading these detailed doctors notes transported me back and I began feeling what my family probably felt; immense anxiety and fear. It wasn’t until I read these notes that the prospect of me dying became very real.

How did you react in the short term?

My cancer experience up until I reviewed my reports would probably be considered atypical. Growing up, I never felt like I had limits. My parents made sure I was active and never let my cancer history be an excuse to not try or do anything. If you didn’t see my scars, you’d never know I was a cancer survivor. But, when I was reading through my medical records and reports, I cried. It became very real in ways that I had never felt before.

After the dust settled, what coping mechanisms did you use? What did you do to cope physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?

After reading through the hundred or so pages of my medical records, and reliving this childhood experience, I moved from sadness to immediate gratitude. Rehashing these emotions enhanced the level of gratitude I had for my doctors and family. Thinking about the consistency and strength it took for other people to support me allowed the focus to be taken off of the cancer and more on the amazing people in my life. This created the space for gratitude as well as mental and emotional healing.

Is there a particular person you are grateful towards who helped you learn to cope and heal? Can you share a story about that?

I can not imagine how hard it must have been for my parents to hold it together, stay strong, and never show me how dire the situation actually was. It’s a true miracle that I had not known how bad my cancer was until reviewing the reports.They shouldered the entire burden of my illness, allowing me to heal and grow into a mentally and emotionally strong adult. For that, I am deeply and forever grateful.

In my own cancer struggle, I sometimes used the idea of embodiment to help me cope. Let’s take a minute to look at cancer from an embodiment perspective. If your cancer had a message for you, what do you think it would want or say?

Since my cancer, my mom has survived breast cancer and my dad is now in remission for prostate cancer. Cancer is the unfortunate, recurring theme in my life. However, I also look at it as a reminder of how strong we are individually as well as collectively. I never once doubted that either one of them would beat it. I knew they would beat it. Strength is made perfect in weakness, so for me, cancer would want me to know that I am strong.

What did you learn about yourself from this very difficult experience? How has cancer shaped your worldview? What has it taught you that you might never have considered before? Can you please explain with a story or example?

I have turned my cancer into a mantra. Whenever I am up against a huge hurdle or challenge, or when fear creeps into a decision I have to make, I remind myself, “You beat cancer to make a difference.” It’s an affirmation I use to help me push through, stay motivated, and get me to where I need to be in this life.

How have you used your experience to bring goodness to the world?

As part of my recovery, I was granted a wish through the Make-A-Wish foundation to go to Disneyland. I credit that experience as “the great equalizer” for my family and I. The power of a wish is very real, and it’s those moments I remember most; not my treatments. For the last 6 years, I have been deeply involved with the LA chapter of Make-A-Wish and was even able to grant my first wish a few years ago.

It’s through my work with Make-A-Wish and my professional experiences in digital advertising and marketing that I saw a tremendous need for better marketing solutions and technology for brands and advertisers to better work with nonprofits and causes. Then, when COVID-19 shut down all in person events, that need was only amplified. That is the inspiration behind why I co-founded Collidescope.io.

Collidescope.io is a social media analytics and measurement SaaS platform that allows brands, global causes, and influencers to collaborate and measure their cumulative influence and impact.

We provide third party validation and transparency into how a brands social impact marketing dollars are being spent, provide marketing and mission impact measurement, and identify campaign optimizations that increase donations and decrease costs. We also utilize the insights from those campaigns to build scoring that informs how they contribute to a company’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts.

As consumers demand brands to be more aligned with causes that positively impact the world, we aim to provide a solution that allows brands to scale these initiatives while ensuring value and especially, transparency.

What are a few of the biggest misconceptions and myths out there about fighting cancer that you would like to dispel?

When people hear, “cancer”, they immediately think the worst. There is no doubt that any cancer is serious, but it is by no means the beginning of the end. It’s important to remember the world is full of fighters and survivors. Reinforcing the reality that there are paths forward and past cancer, will help to dispel the doom and gloom myth.

Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experiences and knowledge, what advice would you give to others who have recently been diagnosed with cancer? What are your “5 Things You Need To Beat Cancer? Please share a story or example for each.

1. Breathe — Cancer turns peoples worlds upside down. It’s disorienting. Center yourself and seek techniques to silence your mind. Meditation can help guide you in finding this stillness. Don’t forget to breathe.
2. Acknowledgement — It is ok to admit that you are scared. It is ok to admit that, “this sucks’’. Acknowledging your feelings and confronting them will help you identify and communicate your needs whether that be to other people, your doctors, or yourself.
3. Seek “normalcy” — The minute you hear your cancer diagnosis, nothing is the same. You feel that people treat you differently, the things you do on a daily basis change, and it’s easy to feel that the life you had before is gone. Find places, people, or even things that make you feel, “normal”. These moments helped me recharge and reminded me that there are things to look forward to after the surgeries and treatments.
4. Build routine — No matter the size or kind of routine, it’s important to have them. It allows you to feel a bit of control, during a time when you can feel helpless. This could be a daily walk, 10 minutes a day to journal, or a weekly call with your friend to talk about the football games over the weekend. Routines become a foundation and a pillar to lean on when things feel out of control.
5. Give yourself permission — Give yourself permission to have a bad day, ask for help, be vulnerable, happy, excited, sad, to love, and to be loved. Be kind to yourself.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be?

I hope to inspire the 3 “T” movement. Getting people to understand that they all have the gift of 3 “T’s”: time, talent, and treasure. I believe that most people get stuck at the start; they want to do great things but don’t know how, where, or when to start. If more people realized that all they had to do was think about their own 3 “T’s”, it would get them off the starting block and progressing toward something amazing. The great part about activating our 3 “T’s” is that there is no minimum or maximum requirement — just give any amount of one or all and positive change will happen.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them. :-)

The Obamas! But if I had to only pick one it would be the former First Lady, Michelle Obama. As an entrepreneur, I seek out origin stories of companies, but mostly find true inspiration from female founders; primarily because the challenges these amazing women overcome to build successful companies are exponentially greater than what men face. Reading both Becoming and A Promised Land, provided additional context into just how special she is. It would be an honor to meet her.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

For more information about how we are helping brands better measure and scale their social impact and cause marketing efforts while supporting nonprofits build their digital and social media presence, check out https://collidescope.io/.

Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!