For me the biggest key to success is being able to master your mind.
Today I’m bringing you the first episode of NION Radio, formerly ShopTalk Radio. With the help of my girlfriend Stacy London, we’re turning the tables as she interviews me about how I got to where I am in my creative career, why I’m starting my own brand, and what NION is all about.
Starting from my childhood outside of Seattle, we are talking about all of the gritty details: my design career, when I first picked up a camera, how traveling has opened my eyes, the highs and lows of my career, how I found my own identity despite the confines of my environment, and how learning about emotional intelligence has helped me along the way.
Listen in to learn where the name of my brand NION came from, why I’m passionate bout living a vibrant life with your eyes open, and why I want to continue interviewing fascinating people that are creating great art and leading highly productive, rich, and fulfilling lives.
Thank you for your support of this podcast over the years. I’m excited to be continuing to push it to be helpful and inspiring for all types of creatives, entrepreneurs, and artists.
I definitely had to motivate myself to discover a bigger world.
[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/nick-onken” title=”How I Went From Struggling Artist To Where I Am Today” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/100_NickOnken_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]
Some things we learn in this podcast:
- What is the essence of this podcast [4:20]
- Common themes amongst creatives [6:25]
- The importance of giving back [8:00]
- The difference between success and fulfillment [9:40]
- What drives my curiosity [14:10]
- How I started questioning my religious upbringing [18:30]
- What opened my eyes to travel [22:40]
- When I first picked up a digital camera [28:05]
- The importance of practice [37:00]
- What influenced my hunger for experience [48:40]
- Why it’s important to build your career as a photographer in a big city [49:50]
- How I created an awesome network [59:20]
- Why you have to have a vision for where you want to be [1:01:50]
- How to find representation [1:04:25]
- Why I moved to New York [1:10:10]
- Where Nion came from [1:13:20]
- What happened when media shifted in 2011 [1:15:05]
- Why you have to separate yourself from your work [1:20:10]
- How NION came about [1:24:20]
- The role collaboration will play in NION [1:30:30]
- How to not be cynical about the world [1:38:10]
Links mentioned:
- Check out Freedom Podcasting
- Read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield and Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
- Check out Lewis Howes’ interview with Tony Robbins
- Listen to the podcast episodes mentioned today: Stacy London & Emily Fletcher
- Check out photographer Jim Garner
- Learn more about Pencils of Promise
- Get a copy of my book Photo Trekking
- Music Credit: Yeah by Itro
LET'S CONSPIRE & CREATE
CULTIVATING YOUR VISUAL UNIQUENESS AND STREAMLINING YOUR BRAND'S EVOLUTION
For me the biggest key to success is being able to master your mind.
Today I’m bringing you the first episode of NION Radio, formerly ShopTalk Radio. With the help of my girlfriend Stacy London, we’re turning the tables as she interviews me about how I got to where I am in my creative career, why I’m starting my own brand, and what NION is all about.
Starting from my childhood outside of Seattle, we are talking about all of the gritty details: my design career, when I first picked up a camera, how traveling has opened my eyes, the highs and lows of my career, how I found my own identity despite the confines of my environment, and how learning about emotional intelligence has helped me along the way.
Listen in to learn where the name of my brand NION came from, why I’m passionate bout living a vibrant life with your eyes open, and why I want to continue interviewing fascinating people that are creating great art and leading highly productive, rich, and fulfilling lives.
Thank you for your support of this podcast over the years. I’m excited to be continuing to push it to be helpful and inspiring for all types of creatives, entrepreneurs, and artists.
I definitely had to motivate myself to discover a bigger world.
[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/nick-onken” title=”How I Went From Struggling Artist To Where I Am Today” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/100_NickOnken_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]
Some things we learn in this podcast:
- What is the essence of this podcast [4:20]
- Common themes amongst creatives [6:25]
- The importance of giving back [8:00]
- The difference between success and fulfillment [9:40]
- What drives my curiosity [14:10]
- How I started questioning my religious upbringing [18:30]
- What opened my eyes to travel [22:40]
- When I first picked up a digital camera [28:05]
- The importance of practice [37:00]
- What influenced my hunger for experience [48:40]
- Why it’s important to build your career as a photographer in a big city [49:50]
- How I created an awesome network [59:20]
- Why you have to have a vision for where you want to be [1:01:50]
- How to find representation [1:04:25]
- Why I moved to New York [1:10:10]
- Where Nion came from [1:13:20]
- What happened when media shifted in 2011 [1:15:05]
- Why you have to separate yourself from your work [1:20:10]
- How NION came about [1:24:20]
- The role collaboration will play in NION [1:30:30]
- How to not be cynical about the world [1:38:10]
Links mentioned:
- Check out Freedom Podcasting
- Read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield and Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
- Check out Lewis Howes’ interview with Tony Robbins
- Listen to the podcast episodes mentioned today: Stacy London & Emily Fletcher
- Check out photographer Jim Garner
- Learn more about Pencils of Promise
- Get a copy of my book Photo Trekking
- Music Credit: Yeah by Itro
9/13/16
100: Nick Onken – How I Went From Struggling Artist To Where I Am Today
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masterfully aligning perception and reality through personal branding
masterfully aligning perception and reality through personal branding
For me the biggest key to success is being able to master your mind.
Today I’m bringing you the first episode of NION Radio, formerly ShopTalk Radio. With the help of my girlfriend Stacy London, we’re turning the tables as she interviews me about how I got to where I am in my creative career, why I’m starting my own brand, and what NION is all about.
Starting from my childhood outside of Seattle, we are talking about all of the gritty details: my design career, when I first picked up a camera, how traveling has opened my eyes, the highs and lows of my career, how I found my own identity despite the confines of my environment, and how learning about emotional intelligence has helped me along the way.
Listen in to learn where the name of my brand NION came from, why I’m passionate bout living a vibrant life with your eyes open, and why I want to continue interviewing fascinating people that are creating great art and leading highly productive, rich, and fulfilling lives.
Thank you for your support of this podcast over the years. I’m excited to be continuing to push it to be helpful and inspiring for all types of creatives, entrepreneurs, and artists.
I definitely had to motivate myself to discover a bigger world.
[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/nick-onken” title=”How I Went From Struggling Artist To Where I Am Today” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/100_NickOnken_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]
Some things we learn in this podcast:
- What is the essence of this podcast [4:20]
- Common themes amongst creatives [6:25]
- The importance of giving back [8:00]
- The difference between success and fulfillment [9:40]
- What drives my curiosity [14:10]
- How I started questioning my religious upbringing [18:30]
- What opened my eyes to travel [22:40]
- When I first picked up a digital camera [28:05]
- The importance of practice [37:00]
- What influenced my hunger for experience [48:40]
- Why it’s important to build your career as a photographer in a big city [49:50]
- How I created an awesome network [59:20]
- Why you have to have a vision for where you want to be [1:01:50]
- How to find representation [1:04:25]
- Why I moved to New York [1:10:10]
- Where Nion came from [1:13:20]
- What happened when media shifted in 2011 [1:15:05]
- Why you have to separate yourself from your work [1:20:10]
- How NION came about [1:24:20]
- The role collaboration will play in NION [1:30:30]
- How to not be cynical about the world [1:38:10]
Links mentioned:
- Check out Freedom Podcasting
- Read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield and Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
- Check out Lewis Howes’ interview with Tony Robbins
- Listen to the podcast episodes mentioned today: Stacy London & Emily Fletcher
- Check out photographer Jim Garner
- Learn more about Pencils of Promise
- Get a copy of my book Photo Trekking
- Music Credit: Yeah by Itro
9/13/16
100: Nick Onken – How I Went From Struggling Artist To Where I Am Today
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If your message keeps shifting, your brand feels inconsistent, or your presence doesn’t match your capability yet. This is where you build the foundation before you scale.
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It’s an ongoing creative partnership focused on bringing your personal brand identity to life.
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All shaped as a direct extension of who you are. The work also includes a bespoke process of identifying and aligning the right experts when needed, so nothing gets built out of sync with your core.
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read the latest
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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.
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.
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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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 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.
