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4/09/14

16: Preston Smiles – How To Create A Movement

“There’s only one way to learn, to really illuminate our lives, and that’s to jump”

Today’s inspiring shoptalk radio guest is Preston Smiles. Preston is a heartfelt, intelligent man who is a leader in the world of conscious media. He’s a brilliant writer, thought leader and co-founder of this awesome thing called the Love Mob – basically a flash mob with the message of Love, which we’ll hear more about it in this episode. We also get to hear where the “Smiles” in his name came from.

Through a heavy wakeup call, Preston went from being in a gang, beating people up, angry at life to going to a prestigious school, transforming and becoming full of love. He is an amazing, full of life dude, and has a powerful story. We get deep, we talk about life, perspective and much more.

In this episode, we talk about how thoughts shape and shift what we attract in our lives. Some thoughts even hold us captive even when we aren’t thinking about it. Preston is an inspiration and has many thought provoking concepts, so lets jump in!

“All growth comes on the edge of un-comfortability”

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/prestpreston-smiles-love-mob” title=”Preston Smiles – How To Create A Movement” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/16_PrestonSmiles_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]

Some things we learn in this podcast:

  • The hilarious origin of Preston’s name (involving granola bars)
  • All about the Love Mob and where it came from
  • Organized acts of love: flash mobs through education and entertainment
  • How to Co-ordinating simultaneous flash mobs across LA, New York, San Diego, Netherlands, Portland
  • Overcoming the challenges of growing up with dyslexia
  • Breaking free of a past filled with gangs and getting kicked out of six different schools
  • About a massive wake up call
  • About being saved after the death of all one’s friends
  • The shift from a school with no books to the best in the state
  • How to graduate with straight As and still get in fights
  • Responding to a diagnosis of heart palpitations and permanent prescriptions
  • Transitioning to deciding to become the best version of myself
  • Redirecting thoughts and letting go of pain
  • How to attain goals
  • Preston Smiles Vision for the future: current projects, public speaking and book publishing
  • On the importance of coaching and how successful people utilize them
  • Cultivating creativity from within
  • The power of meditation: forms and application
  • Plus much more…

Links mentioned:

Connect with Preston: Instagram | YouTube | FacebookTwitter | Website

 

LET'S CONSPIRE & CREATE

CULTIVATING YOUR VISUAL UNIQUENESS AND STREAMLINING YOUR BRAND'S EVOLUTION

“There’s only one way to learn, to really illuminate our lives, and that’s to jump”

Today’s inspiring shoptalk radio guest is Preston Smiles. Preston is a heartfelt, intelligent man who is a leader in the world of conscious media. He’s a brilliant writer, thought leader and co-founder of this awesome thing called the Love Mob – basically a flash mob with the message of Love, which we’ll hear more about it in this episode. We also get to hear where the “Smiles” in his name came from.

Through a heavy wakeup call, Preston went from being in a gang, beating people up, angry at life to going to a prestigious school, transforming and becoming full of love. He is an amazing, full of life dude, and has a powerful story. We get deep, we talk about life, perspective and much more.

In this episode, we talk about how thoughts shape and shift what we attract in our lives. Some thoughts even hold us captive even when we aren’t thinking about it. Preston is an inspiration and has many thought provoking concepts, so lets jump in!

“All growth comes on the edge of un-comfortability”

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/prestpreston-smiles-love-mob” title=”Preston Smiles – How To Create A Movement” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/16_PrestonSmiles_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]

Some things we learn in this podcast:

  • The hilarious origin of Preston’s name (involving granola bars)
  • All about the Love Mob and where it came from
  • Organized acts of love: flash mobs through education and entertainment
  • How to Co-ordinating simultaneous flash mobs across LA, New York, San Diego, Netherlands, Portland
  • Overcoming the challenges of growing up with dyslexia
  • Breaking free of a past filled with gangs and getting kicked out of six different schools
  • About a massive wake up call
  • About being saved after the death of all one’s friends
  • The shift from a school with no books to the best in the state
  • How to graduate with straight As and still get in fights
  • Responding to a diagnosis of heart palpitations and permanent prescriptions
  • Transitioning to deciding to become the best version of myself
  • Redirecting thoughts and letting go of pain
  • How to attain goals
  • Preston Smiles Vision for the future: current projects, public speaking and book publishing
  • On the importance of coaching and how successful people utilize them
  • Cultivating creativity from within
  • The power of meditation: forms and application
  • Plus much more…

Links mentioned:

Connect with Preston: Instagram | YouTube | FacebookTwitter | Website

 

4/09/14

16: Preston Smiles – How To Create A Movement

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BRAND INTELLIGENCE

CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE

LIFE INTELLIGENCE

“There’s only one way to learn, to really illuminate our lives, and that’s to jump”

Today’s inspiring shoptalk radio guest is Preston Smiles. Preston is a heartfelt, intelligent man who is a leader in the world of conscious media. He’s a brilliant writer, thought leader and co-founder of this awesome thing called the Love Mob – basically a flash mob with the message of Love, which we’ll hear more about it in this episode. We also get to hear where the “Smiles” in his name came from.

Through a heavy wakeup call, Preston went from being in a gang, beating people up, angry at life to going to a prestigious school, transforming and becoming full of love. He is an amazing, full of life dude, and has a powerful story. We get deep, we talk about life, perspective and much more.

In this episode, we talk about how thoughts shape and shift what we attract in our lives. Some thoughts even hold us captive even when we aren’t thinking about it. Preston is an inspiration and has many thought provoking concepts, so lets jump in!

“All growth comes on the edge of un-comfortability”

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/prestpreston-smiles-love-mob” title=”Preston Smiles – How To Create A Movement” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/16_PrestonSmiles_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]

Some things we learn in this podcast:

  • The hilarious origin of Preston’s name (involving granola bars)
  • All about the Love Mob and where it came from
  • Organized acts of love: flash mobs through education and entertainment
  • How to Co-ordinating simultaneous flash mobs across LA, New York, San Diego, Netherlands, Portland
  • Overcoming the challenges of growing up with dyslexia
  • Breaking free of a past filled with gangs and getting kicked out of six different schools
  • About a massive wake up call
  • About being saved after the death of all one’s friends
  • The shift from a school with no books to the best in the state
  • How to graduate with straight As and still get in fights
  • Responding to a diagnosis of heart palpitations and permanent prescriptions
  • Transitioning to deciding to become the best version of myself
  • Redirecting thoughts and letting go of pain
  • How to attain goals
  • Preston Smiles Vision for the future: current projects, public speaking and book publishing
  • On the importance of coaching and how successful people utilize them
  • Cultivating creativity from within
  • The power of meditation: forms and application
  • Plus much more…

Links mentioned:

Connect with Preston: Instagram | YouTube | FacebookTwitter | Website

 

4/09/14

16: Preston Smiles – How To Create A Movement

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read the latest

Elevated Realism portrait demonstrating visual translation where a personal brand client's identity is fully expressed through intentional photography direction

Most personal brands skip visual translation entirely. They jump from identity straight to content. But brand identity before website, before content, before the sales page is the order that actually works. Here’s the layer you’re missing.

Elevated Realism portrait of a personal brand client embodying visual authority and brand coherence

Most personal brand strategy frameworks skip the foundation. Brand intelligence is built in four layers: Identity, Visual Translation, Content, and Business. Here’s why starting at layer three is the reason your brand feels off.

Personal brand client photographed by Nick Onken demonstrating complete brand coherence where styling, environment, and presence are intentionally aligned

Your personal brand feels off but you can’t explain why. It’s not your logo or colors. It’s a coherence problem, a structural gap between who you are and how you’re seen. Here’s what to do.

Three levels of authority showing progression from visible to credible to recognized

Authority isn’t binary. You’re not either an authority or not an authority. Authority exists in levels, stages, and progressions. Each level has distinct characteristics, distinct positioning, distinct challenges, and distinct requirements for advancement. Most people get stuck at Level One. They’re visible, active, creating content, showing up regularly. But they’re not building actual authority. They’re […]

Embodied authority showing installation through repetition and practice not insight or understanding

You had the insight. The breakthrough moment, the realization, the epiphany, the profound understanding. Deep knowing about who you are, what you offer, and how you’re different. Life-changing clarity about your positioning, your value, and your authority. Then what changed? Actually changed? Behaviorally, practically, visibly? In how you show up, how you speak, how you […]

Authority upgrade system showing comprehensive alignment between established expertise and brand presence

You are established. Actually established. Years in business, real results created, genuine expertise developed, actual clients served, tangible transformations delivered, proven value demonstrated. You’ve built real authority through real work over real time with real outcomes. But you don’t look established. Your brand doesn’t show it, your presence doesn’t reflect it, your positioning doesn’t communicate […]

Connor Beaton brand photography showing shadow work concept with half face illuminated half in darkness

Connor Beaton leads men into their shadows. Not the surface-level masculinity work. Not the “alpha male” performance. Not the toxic patterns disguised as strength. Shadow work. Carl Jung. Integration. The parts men hide. The parts they fear. The parts that control them when unexamined. His brand needed to reflect that depth. That willingness to look […]

Brand structure framework showing five pillars foundation stopping rebuilding cycle permanently

You keep rebuilding. New brand, new colors, new photos, new messaging, new positioning, new website, new everything. Every six months, every year, every time it feels wrong and stops working. Hoping this time fixes it, this time solves it, this time creates the authority and positioning you need. It doesn’t. It never does. Because you’re […]

Transformation from hidden expert to recognized authority through claimed expertise and positioning

You know things. Real things. Earned through years of experience. Patterns most people miss. Insights that could transform how your audience operates. But nobody knows you know them. You’re the hidden expert. Competent. Skilled. Valuable. Invisible. The shift from hidden expert to recognized authority doesn’t start where most people think. Not with better marketing. Not […]

Daily creative practice and disciplined devotion building mastery through sustained commitment

Devotion isn’t soft. It’s the hardest thing you’ll ever practice. Most people think devotion means passion. Excitement. The feeling you get when inspiration strikes and everything flows. That’s not devotion. That’s infatuation. Devotion is showing up when inspiration is gone. When the work feels mechanical. When no one is watching and there’s no immediate reward. […]

Elevated Realism client portrait showing subtle misalignment between inner presence and outward visual expression

You redesign your logo for the third time. Still doesn’t feel right. You hire another designer. Try different colors. New fonts. Different aesthetic entirely. Still wrong. So you conclude: “I just need better branding.” But the crisis isn’t your logo. It’s not your color palette. It’s not your website design. The crisis is deeper. You […]

Comparison showing personal brand visibility versus recognition and coherent identity building

You can be visible without being recognizable. Most people confuse the two. They post constantly. Show up everywhere. Maximize exposure. They think: “The more people see me, the more my brand grows.” But visibility isn’t the same as recognition. Visibility is being seen once. Recognition is being remembered. Visibility is impressions. Recognition is identity. You […]

Emma Reicher embodied leadership brand photography transformation mixing streetwear qigong Wales landscapes

Emma Reicher was hidden. No real brand. No photos of herself. Just lofi graphics that looked student-made. She had the credentials. Maturation coach. Qigong practitioner. Psychotherapy background. Real expertise. But nobody could see her. Nobody could feel her. The gap between who she was and how she showed up publicly was complete invisibility. The Fear […]

About the Blogger

I was born in a low middle class conservative religious family in the suburbs of Seattle. Art was and always has been my passion, and more than that a way of life. Starting as a graphic designer, I taught myself photography, built a commercial/editorial business shooting for the worlds biggest brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Adidas and more. I've also had the opportunity to photograph the world's biggest celebrities like Justin Bieber, Usher, Jessica Alba and more. I've curated a lifestyle around creativity and have learned a lot along the way which I get to share here. 

I was born in a low middle class conservative religious family in the suburbs of Seattle. Art was and always has been my passion, and more than that a way of life. Starting as a graphic designer, I taught myself photography, built a commercial/editorial business shooting for the worlds biggest brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Adidas and more. I've also had the opportunity to photograph the world's biggest celebrities like Justin Bieber, Usher, Jessica Alba and more. I've curated a lifestyle around creativity and have learned a lot along the way which I get to share here. 

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