081 Anthony “Nippy” Ames – Escaping A Cult – Connecting Podcasts with Listeners & Subscribers From All Over the World!

081 Anthony “Nippy” Ames – Escaping A Cult

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Today we talk to Anthony Nippy Ames a former member of the NXIVM cult featured in the HBO documentary The Vow and co-host with his wife Sarah Edmondson of the podcast A Little Bit Culty Nippy shares his personal experience of being a member of the cult including his journey of realizing the truth behind the facade and ultimately leaving the organization We then talk about some recent cases of businesses that behaved like cults and how to spot corporate behaviors that may signal the use of manipulating techniques similar to the ones used by cults Finally we discuss the importance of questioning our beliefs and the power of love in driving positive change KEY TAKEAWAYS nbsp 00 55 – Dino introduces the show and guest Anthony Nippy Ames who escaped the NXIVM cult with his wife and played a crucial role in taking it down launching an FBI investigation that led to the arrest and conviction of the cult leader Keith Raniere They discuss the connection between cults and toxic organizations in the business world 03 55 – Nippy briefly summarizes his background and his involvement with the cult 07 14 – Nippy discusses the appealing traits and behaviors of cults and how they attract people and emphasizes the importance of acknowledging one s own susceptibility to these tactics 09 00 – Nippy explains why he personally became involved in one of these organizations and why he eventually left 13 56 – The vehicle to growth is through questions and if an organization is not allowing that it s already failing Nippy shares the red flags to watch out for that a mission-driven organization may be behaving like a cult and what to be wary of 16 28 – Love bombing reinforcing the mission and toxic positivity are all mechanisms used to keep people in cults or similar organizations 18 56 – When you find out that you re part of an organization that may not be aligned or find out that there s something nefarious there s an option just to walk away The other path is seeking justice for the world 19 24 – Nippy shares his personal experience with the NXIVM cult including his initial reaction to his wife Sarah being physically harmed and their decision to speak out against the organization despite potential legal repercussions 25 50 – Drawn in by a charismatic leader Nippy shares the early days of his involvement in the organization and Keith Raniere as a collector of souls 27 06 – How the A Little Bit Culty podcast is helping others by turning a negative into a positive and the duty Nippy feels he has to the human team and his hope to inspire others 29 27 – Dino and Nippy discuss how being in the organization robbed them of basic life skills and how they had to play catch up after leaving 31 35 The practical steps someone should take if they suspect something fishy is going on in their company and want to take action nbsp 32 23 – Nippy explains that when he and Sarah decided to leave the organization they started making decisions based on their own values and principles instead of running them through the organization He believes that having good principles and making decisions based on them can bring positivity into one s life just as having bad principles can bring negativity nbsp 34 28 -The power of love Nippy shares the most powerful moment from the first season of the HBO Series The Vow that ultimately led to saving a life 36 41 – Nippy speaks about the power of love Click here to visit this podcast episode