What's Up with Tech?

How Gifting Pink Socks Sparked A Culture Of Human Connection Across Healthcare And Beyond

• Evan Kirstel

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A bright pair of pink socks walked into HIMSS and walked out as a global symbol of connection. We sit down with Nick Adkins to unpack how a playful gesture turned into 300,000 gifts, a nonprofit rooted in kindness, and a book that invites all of us to love more and fear less.

Nick takes us back to 2015, when he and cofounder Andrew Richards skipped the booth, packed a backpack with socks, and discovered the power of intentional gifting to break silos in healthcare. From viral photos and a TEDx talk to collaborations with hospitals, schools, and even astronauts, the Pink Socks movement shows how a small token can open big conversations. The new book, Pink Socks: How A Pair Of Socks Became A Symbol Of Love And Connection, weaves ten years of stories for three audiences: longtime community members, the Pink Socks-curious, and anyone craving a simple path back to empathy.

We go inside the moment that changed everything: a raw, post-talk conversation at Stanford’s MedX with a lung transplant recipient whose story turned socks into a practice of holding space. Nick explains why connection, not just connectivity, heals teams and cultures, and how leaders can model empathy in ways that shift entire companies—sometimes starting with a poem. Practical ideas abound: put down the phone, introduce yourself to the person next to you, use a small, visible token to spark dialogue, and watch a tense room—say, a long post office line—soften into patience.

If your heart is ready for a clear, human reset, this conversation offers a map. Explore pinksocks.life, discover how the nonprofit supports schools and community projects, and consider gifting the interactive hardcover with QR codes that bring stories to life. If this story resonates, share the episode with a friend, subscribe for more human-centered conversations, and leave a review to help others find us.

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SPEAKER_01:

Hi everyone, welcome back to our healthcare conversations here with me, Irma Ramesti Gandam, and my partner in Krama. Evan Christmas. Yes. We're happy to welcome Nick Atkins back on our show. Nick, welcome. How are you?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, it's good to see you, Irma and Evan. It's it has been a minute. The last time, the last time we did this was October of 22, and I was in Nova Scotia. I remember that. I was in the very tip of Nova Scotia up by Gampo Abbey where Pima Chodron lives, and was doing this from a small restaurant cafe.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, you get around that is for sure.

SPEAKER_00:

Right now I'm bouncing back and forth between Nashville and California. I'm currently in Nashville. So it's good to see you.

SPEAKER_03:

Good to see you. Well, take us back a little bit before the book to the very first pair of pink thoughts. What was the uh big idea? What was the proposition back in the day?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, yeah, you know, 2015, Andrew Richards and I were co-founders at a health tech startup in Portland, Oregon that had created some cool technology around how to securely handle video files in the healthcare environment. And we needed to, you know, like every startup, get up raise money. And one of the best ways to get on everybody's radar is to start going to the events, conferences where people who use your technology are going to congregate. So I looked up and found this conference that was like the Super Bowl of healthcare IT professionals. Called HIMS, you're very familiar with it. And that year in 2015, it was in Chicago. And so here we were in Portland, Oregon, trying to decide, you know, okay, we obviously don't have any money for a booth or any of that. So we just need to go in there. And you know, 2012, I started stopped wearing pants. I started wearing a kilt. You know, so here's 42,000 people are gonna descend on Chicago in suits and ties, and here's me and a kilt. And I told Andrew, he said, just wear some blue jeans and a brew pub shirt. Um, I'm gonna get a hundred pairs of these funky pink socks with the handlebar mustaches on them. Yeah, we're just gonna put 50 in my little backpack and 50 pairs in your little backpack and we'll go rolling in. And every time somebody says, Hey, what's your story with these pink socks? We'll say, Oh, Nick, this is Andrew, and we'll gift them a pair of pink socks. And if and we started using this hashtag at the event, pink socks, always one word, always plural. And you know, that's back in the day, 2015. Twitter was still fun, you know. So we had a really good time taking pictures of everybody in their pink socks and posting that on Twitter and using the hashtag, and and it went viral at that event. We met a lot of really cool people who are still great connections today. And you know, that's really how it began was just Andrew and me showing up in Chicago trying to meet people and make connections, and we did that by this ethos of gifting these pink socks. And as you know, you know, that kind of took off and had that that conference we went viral. We started to go to other conferences throughout the year, and it just kept growing and growing and growing, and it was like, oh, we're the pink socks guys, and we just kept giving away more pink socks and playing on Twitter more and having fun with it. And then in 2017, I got invited to go do that TEDx talk in San Francisco about pink socks and the power of connection and how we had by that point become a global movement around the world, and it just took off. And by 2019, we had incorporated as a nonprofit organization based out of Portland, Oregon. And then the next year we would get our 501c3 status as a tax exempt charitable organization because by that point we had started helping lots of other nonprofits promote the work they're doing. We got involved with schools along the way. I mean, I know we're limited for time, but all of this is kind of in detail in the book. And, you know, when when I wrote the book, it was it was difficult to decide what to include and what to leave out. There's just so many stories over these 10 years. April of this year is our 10th birthday. So, you know, 300,000, over 300,000 pairs of pink socks later that have been gifted all around the world. So many stories of connection and heart speak that have been shared along the way. So the book, you know, friends of ours, shared friends of ours.

SPEAKER_01:

Let's talk about the book. First of all, I want to show so this is this is a pair of pink socks that I am gonna be packing in my backpack as I go to as we head to CS in just a couple of weeks. So let's let's switch from the pair of pink socks to the book that describes how a pair of it's called pink socks. Let us see the book. Um hold it up. Pink socks, how a pair of socks became a symbol of love and connection. So, Nick, tech tell us how pink socks giving a pair of socks turned into a movement that it is now, and tell us about the book. Why now? Why the book?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so so for years people said Nick, you should write a book. And I'm like, no, no, no, no. And then uh, you know, so really the book is it tells the story of Pink Sox, how a pair of socks became a symbol of love and connection. So it tells that backstory. So when I wrote the book, there are really three audiences that I wanted the book to speak to. Circles, if you will. So this first circle, this first audience are you, right? So people that are already in the pink socks tribe, they've got their pink socks, they've been doing this, they know who we are. So I wanted a story that would resonate with you, that would help fill in some of the details of the backstory that you're like, oh, I didn't know that. That's cool. And stories along the way that you're not aware of. The second circle were people who have heard about pink socks, but they don't yet have them. They've seen us across the way, and they're like, what are these people in the pink socks? And then the third circle, that largest circle, the biggest audience, was I had to write a book for people that had never heard of this at all. So the book had to have a story, uh, and it is linear and chronological, but as it evolves, a story that resonates with everyone's heart. And it's really that third circle, that largest audience, that drove the direction of the book, the message of the book. That I wanted this message of what you and I already know, the magic of gifting and showing up with love and kindness in those moments and sharing space with people, what that can do in the world if we choose to do it. And it is a choice how we show up with loving kindness. So the book is really at its core, it's a reminder to do what we already know, and that's to love more, to love more and to fear less. And if we can practice that in each now in our lives, and each day how we show up, loving ourselves, loving each other one person at a time, um, there's magic in that. And the book is a collection of stories along the way to help us remember that path, you know. So because the come on, the world, it it sometimes feels so dark and fractured, that we're so polarized, that we're being gas-lit and fire-hosed with negative fear all the time. The message of Pink Sox is that it transcends all political ideologies and geopolitical boundaries. That once we share space with people, one person at a time, no matter what our backgrounds, if we allow ourselves to share that moment in that now, without any construct of judgment or fear to just show up in love and kindness, that what we see in each other is that we are more similar. We are more alike, more the same than we are different. And that is truth. And I hope the book helps remind everyone of that and speaks to your heart and lets you show up without fear and lets you show up with more love. And it's a reminder that you know, I have to practice every day. We all have to practice this. And like things that we practice, the more we practice, the easier they become. And so I hope the book, I hope the book speaks to your heart. I know it will. I know you guys.

SPEAKER_03:

I love it. And you have so many great stories. Um, what's one story from the book that still gives you chills?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, well, you know, I'm not I'm not gonna tell you the story that gives me the chills, although there is one chapter in the book that that most people come back and go, wow, I I was really on the edge of my seat there for that chapter on to know how that was gonna show up. But the one that really um they all speak to my heart. And so it was it was a difficult process to write the book because there's so much emotion in each of these stories that were shared along the way. Uh for me, I guess chapter two probably is you know, right in the beginning of the book is is where my I had my aha moment of what Pink Sox was really about early on. So we started in 2015. In 2016, I went to my first uh event at Stanford, which was called I think it was called uh MedX, right? And it was a patient conference, all patients driven, speakers were patients, it's all it was great. And after I did my little talk, uh I was out in the lobby of the building there and looking at the posters, and a man came up to me, and he was probably roughly my age, and he was wearing a surgical mask. And this is pre-COVID, this is 2016, so we weren't really used to people walking around in masks that was happening. But this guy was wearing a mask, and he came up to me and and we looked at each other just in the eyes, and he says, He goes, I really enjoyed your talk. He goes, Do you have time? I'd like to share my story with you. I was like, Absolutely, I'd I'd love to hear your story. His name was John, and John went on to tell me his personal story of how he is a lung transplant recipient that he had to have both of the lobes of his lung removed and replaced. And he tells me the story of of his donor. And you know, he's tears are coming down and staining his mask, and I'm crying. And it was in that moment that I knew what this was really all about. It wasn't about, you know, it was it was about a lot of things. But for me, what I really go, aha, this is what it is. It's it's more than us gifting pink socks at conferences and playing on Twitter and you know, sharing hugs and smiles and having fun. Yeah, it is that. But at its core, it's about people connecting and sharing space and holding space to listen to another person's story, to share space with that story, to feel that story. That moment of connection, sharing that is the true gift. The socks are they're awesome, you know, or the stickers or the hoodies or the t-shirts or whatever you have along the way. That's pink socks. Those are great, those are fun, but those are just tokens. They're just a memento, a reminder that once upon a time I met this really cool woman named Irma in Boston, and I was sitting there having coffee, and I commented on her pink socks, and the next thing I know, she's giving me some, and you know, we're having hugs, and it's just I felt like I knew her my whole life. And so these are just a reminder that once upon a time you met someone and had that connection. The real gift that you give each other is that gift of connection, of holding space with each other. And so that chapter two, and and the book, I'll tell you guys, you know, it's in it's available on Kindle and hardback right now. Audio and paperback come out in the spring. But the hardback version is cool because each chapter and then some of the pictures have QR codes, so it's interactive. And so if you'll click those QR codes, and there is one in chapter two, I believe chapter two is the first time we see the QR code, and it gives you an opportunity to go deeper into John's story in his own words, and hear from his side of how that went down. And so uh I encourage everybody to get the hardback just for that because it's interactive, it's also a nice tangible gift, and much like Pink Socks, how we've grown through the 10 years of this ethos of gifting, pink socks along the way. The book is also growing in that same manner, it's spreading and growing based on the ethos of gifting. So it's an organic movement that has has grown and continues to grow just because people show up and have a gift. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So this is uh this is so fantastic and so interesting. Of course, that goo goosebumps as you were telling that story. So um it's sharing, it's meeting people, it's sharing love and kindness, it's the power of vulnerability. Um, and um, you know, I was gonna ask you how in this hyper-digital world, how do these small acts of physical connection and being with people and physical presence and exchanging something tangible, how does it why does it resonate with people so deeply? So you can answer that question. And then also I love how you bring you know the digital back into the stories. You you make it interactive, people can can learn more, they can you know put the book down, go online, and and you know, kind of go back and forth.

SPEAKER_00:

So talk about that kind of the yeah, so real life world and and digital world and how they there's some cure codes in in the photo section, and and some of my favorite, I mean, I guess one of my favorites is the cure code that goes to Chris Hattefeld, Commander Hattefeld, the Canadian astronaut who's on the space shuttle and he played the David Boy Son with the guitar. Um, he has pink socks. And his original Instagram post, first time he wore his pink socks, he posted you can hit the cure code and go to his original post and boom, see a living color. That stuff's fun. I mean, we have five astronauts now that have pink socks. Deepak Chopra has pink socks. I mean, it's just been fun to see who's been gifted pink socks along the way, and everybody's been gifted pink socks by another person, right? It's a one-on-one uh gifting experience. I mean, we especially I mean, forget the digital age now or this AI age. I mean, we're this thing, it's so you know we're this people confuse connection, this thing, with connectivity. This is connection. We're drowning in connection, but we're all craving authentic connection. We're doing that right now. We're using connectivity, this platform, to have a connection, to have something that's real. And you know, those moments of of true authentic connection, they happen in real life every day if we will allow them to happen, if we have some intention around it. And and how do we do that? Well, let's take out our AirPods, let's put this down, let's look at the person next to us on the bus and say, Hey, I'm Nick. How's it going? What's your name? Shocking, right? Start a conversation. I mean, get off of this for a minute. Allow ourselves to let the algorithms have a rest and just come out of our minds and back down into our hearts where we know the way, where real people exist and have that connection. I mean, it's when I say we crave it, it's humans, it's hardwired in our brainstem back here. It's in the code of our DNA. We crave connection with other humans. And when you realize that and accept that, you say, Well, hey, you know, the person sitting next to me, they want to connect as bad as I do. Just one of us has to make the first move here. And as you know, your pink socks have been a catalyst, have been something that helps you have that connection because someone sees them and says, Hey, those are cool, that's fun, that's funky. What is it? What's the story? That's an opportunity for you to connect with someone. And you've been doing that through the years over and over and over. So you know how this works. And, you know, what I say to people, maybe pink socks isn't your thing. That's okay. Great, it doesn't have to be. Find what is your thing. You know, maybe it's a hat, maybe it's a flower, maybe it's a pen or sticker, whatever that thing is that sparks a connection with someone so that you can have this shared space of a further conversation. That is the gift. You should lean into that as much as you can. And the book is, again, just a reminder of how you can continue to show up in each now. Easy time. I always say, you know, what's the easiest place if you want to really spread some loving kindness? Go to the post office, stand in line at the post office. I mean, there's if you want to see an opportunity for you to show up and change the dynamics in a in a room, because there's always that at least that one person who's losing their shit at the post office. Because you can't believe how long the line is. And somebody up front's paying with pennies, and I've got to be at a meeting, and oh um, so thankfully, I always have my my little backpack, and if I'm out of socks to gift, I at least always have these stickers to gift. And I'll just say to the room, I'll turn around, look at people online, I'll say, Hey, this is a really good opportunity for us to practice patience. So let's be grateful for this meditation opportunity we have here. And all we have to do is show a bit love and kindness. Each of us already doing that. I go and I hand each person a sticker and say, It's good to see you, let's keep doing this, let's love more. And boom, just changes the whole room. And we never know those little moments of connection, how how something so small can be so large in someone's life. You know, they you know, they may be like us at times having the worst day of their life. And something small like this can be so, so big.

SPEAKER_03:

No, that is huge. And many people don't realize behind the warm and fuzzy Nick, you know, the kilt, the beard. Um, you you are a suit-wearing MBA, uh, you know, chief operating officer with two healthcare companies, uh, health tech startups. I mean, you have a long industry background. So, you know, beyond the warm and fuzzy side of the pink socks movement and culture, there is actually uh a a sort of a a business uh utility angle on this. I mean, you've seen Pink Sox change cultures inside organizations, inside healthcare settings in a meaningful way. Talk about that if you would as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And for most of my adult life, I was a suit and tie guy. Custom suits, the cufflinks, the whole deal.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I didn't need a beard.

SPEAKER_00:

And then I in 2010, I went to my first Burning Man and came back and decided, you know, hey, I I was kind of done with the suits and ties and wanted to kind of lean into more of a you know showing up with love and hugs and see where that would go. So um, you know, when I I've been through the years, I've been very grateful to be able to speak all around the world, you know, be keynote speaker at all kinds of events and pre-COVID, it was great because it seemed like I was going to Europe four times a year to speak. And uh I guess one of my most memorable things was I and I'm not gonna name the company because we all know who who I'm gonna be talking about with the CEO, but he invited me to come in and say, Look, I'd like you to speak to our whole company. And we're gonna have a company-wide meeting, and we're trying a culture shift here of making this really, you know, a fun place to work and and get people out of the negative headspace of you know, the pandemic and politics and this and that. You know, we we really want to say, you know, coming here is a safe place for your heart. It is, you know, we are a community here at work and and and and go beyond just like, yeah, this is the place you show up and this is the place you get a paycheck from. We want it to be um, you know, have have a sense of community here. And we think pink socks is perfect for that. And because because he's you know, I've been wearing pink socks for for years now, and but we're gonna bring that culture in to the company. And what shook me the most was he goes, okay, Nick, before you do your talk, he goes, What I've started with the company is every time we have one of these company meetings, and and they get together routinely, I think every Friday morning they do a like a coffee break for the whole company, and the CEO is there, and he goes, I'll go first. I'll go, great, go first. And he gets up and he reads, he gets a book of poems, and he reads a poem to the company. A poem. And the poem was it was all about love and kindness. I was like, what a beautiful way to start the day. Your CEO is reading poetry to you. Yeah. And I was like, you know, my talk's gonna be easy. You're already doing this, you're already so ready for this to be able to show up with loving kindness and empathy. I mean, come on, let's let's let's get real. You know, what's happening in every now, guys, is love and fear that they coexist. Love and fear. And so we love more, we fear less. Love and fear are always here. Let's think of attributes of love. Kindness, empathy, like a T T account. Let's list some attributes of love. Kindness, empathy, compassion, sympathy, cooperation, anti-bullying, inclusion. I mean, we can go on. Those are those are great. Attributes of fear, I mean grief, shame, judgment, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, bullying. I mean, we can go down that list. But these things coexist in each now, and they show up over and over and over. So we have to make this choice of what we want to focus on, of what we want to put our energy into these ideals of love. And they're not just ideas or ideals. These things are the glue that hold us together as humans. These are the things that keep us connected. And the book is simply like I say, it's just a reminder of what we already know to be true. Maybe we've just forgotten through all the chaos, the permacrisis that we find ourselves in each day. You know, give yourself the gift of stopping, sinking back into your heart, grounding, breathing, seeing yourself and someone else, that shared humanity of how we're all in this together. Wonderful.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

You um was this example about the CEO, you kind of gave me a perfect segue to my next question because you talked about the human-to-human, one-to-one connection. But what have you personally learned about leadership through this journey of connecting individually to people? Because you've been talking on stages, you've been, you know, helping CEOs change cultures. What is it about the nature of leadership that you've learned?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well, I I think I probably knew this before pink socks, but um, you know, I'm gonna go back to that day one in Chicago, and what I said to Andrew before we rolled into the McCormick Center and gifted our first pair of socks to Eric Topel, which really, and that's also in the book. I know you guys know that backstory, but that really was like seriously, we just gifted a pair of pink socks to the number one guy and on the whole social media space and the digital healthcare world.

SPEAKER_01:

Good way to start.

SPEAKER_00:

It grew just like, thank you, universe. And he was so gracious and accepting the gift and tweeting it out, and like, oh my goodness. Um, is Andrew and I said, Look, we're just a couple of hippies, basically, from Portland. Nobody's heard of us. And we just want to work with nice people, you know, nice companies who who get it. You know, we don't want to work with a bunch of douchebags. We we want we want nice people. We've got a really cool thing going here, a cool little startup, but you know, it's fun. And let's not ruin that by you know having to work for or with someone who socks. And so the the pink socks, and we walk into a room, and you know, you'd see all these people going by in series of ties, rolling their eyes, like you know, some had that look like maybe they should call security and get us thrown out. Uh and and Andrew and I would just stand there, we look at each other and we'd say, Great, that's somebody we don't want to work with. So we were really grateful that these people would qualify themselves like that. The people who did come up to us, uh yeah, and those are the people that we were instantly day one having connections with. Hey, come meet with our CEO at Intel, come meet with our chief medical officer at Dell, come over here to Walgreens, meet the CEO. On and on and on. I mean, it was just day one like that. And so we were like, great, like is attracting like, these are the companies we want to work with, these are the companies we want to do a pilot with or partner with, yeah, not those folks. And then, you know, as Pink Sox became a thing, it was funny, you know, over time, some of those original people who were like, no, no, I'm not talking to those guys, couldn't come talk to us fast enough because they saw the value in being part of the Pink Sox tribe and how that we were all so connected and celebrating each other and lifting each other's work up that it wasn't, you know. So it was fun to watch some people uh change, if you will, from like get these guys, you know, get these bums out of here to hey, come come talk to us.

SPEAKER_03:

So that's wonderful. It's a wonderful story. And for someone listening who you know is empathetic to this vision and the the tribe and the mission, maybe who wants to make a difference, but feels maybe too small or isn't connected through big global uh tech events like him's. What's your advice? Obviously, buy the book. I mean, that's an easy, great start, but then what? Uh what's your advice?

SPEAKER_00:

Right. I I would invite you to come to the website, pinksocks.life, and and see what we're doing and see how this has grown and and navigate through the site, click up on the navigation bar, part the part says teachers, schools, and teachers, how we became involved with schools around the country. That's also in the book, two important chapters of the book, which are super emotional to write and super super emotional each time I even think about it. Um, and you know, if what we're doing, if if any of that resonates with your heart, you know, join us. I mean, donate. We're a 501c3 nonprofit. So all the all the donations are tax deductible, and you're helping an organization that's spreading love and kindness around the world. You know, there's that TEDx talk in San Francisco, which really goes into the backstory, the origin story of me going to Burning Man and how this all happened. Um but yeah, come to the website, pinkstocks.life, learn about what we're doing. If it resonates, donate. We have corporate friends. I'm glad you're down. That's the footer of our homepage. And um, you know, you can click through that, see what our friends are doing. So we exist on philanthropy, individual donors, family funds, corporate friends, grant money, etc. And if if any of this speaks to you, and you know, I've just invite you to listen to your heart. It knows the way. And we'd be grateful for we'd be grateful to see you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, it's wonderful to see you, and it's been too long. Can't wait to see you in person. Always better than online. Thanks so much, Nick, for what you do.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, thank you, Irma and Evan. I'm sorry I missed you in Boston last month. I know that things were just kind of short notice and everybody's busy, but uh, you know, everybody's got grandbabies now, so yay.

SPEAKER_01:

We'll see you next time, hopefully soon. Thanks so much for joining. Thank you everybody for listening, sharing, checking out more about our guests and and and the book in particular. And uh we'll see you all soon.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, happy holidays.

SPEAKER_03:

Happy holidays, everyone. Thank you.