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3/18/21

One Of The Greatest Battles Of The Heart Centered Entrepreneur and Building A Personal Brand.

As I’ve begun polling a few heart centered entrepreneur friends of mine, I’m noticing a common theme in space of putting themselves out there in there in the world as they build their personal brand. It’s something I constantly battle myself as I’ve begun building my own personal brand and it’s a delicate line.

If you’re a heart centered entrepreneur with a big mission to help people change their lives for the better, you’ve probably struggled with this whole idea. As a result, you choose not to do anything for all the fears that come along with it.

What I’m talking about here is battling the delicate line of the ego. The feeling of looking egotistical by putting photographs and video of yourself out there into the world via your website and social media. In fact, if you feel this, you’re definitely not alone, but have perhaps also degraded your brand by trying to do the opposite and utilizing photographs and other media that is of low quality and telling the wrong story about you.

If you’ve gone through any sort of “identity alchemy” and moving through an internal space of dropping the ego where it’s not about showing off your money and riches, then this is a huge deal. I acknowledge you for even traversing this line.

Now, the magick trick is two fold. It’s alchemizing your perspective and intentions behind your brand as well as outwardly telling the story of who you are and what you’re all about in a humble yet aspirational and relatable way. A way that says to people that you can be their guide, letting them aspire to becoming what you have to offer while being relatable and attainable.

I am confident the internal pieces, takes a bit of deconstruction. We must deconstruct our belief systems and actual motives. The motives between truly and authentically wanting to help people better their lives and doing things for the external validation, the likes, and the attention. This all lies within your own perspective. If your motives are truly to help people, then part of that is internally purifying your intentions and getting to a space of your fullest expression. When you are living in your fullest expression, putting yourself out there into the world isn’t about the external validation, it’s about your true intent, and telling YOUR story. People connect with you and your vulnerably shared story.

The second piece, is creating congruence between who you are on the inside, and what you put out into the world. People connect with people. When reaching a greater amount of people that extends beyond your physical reach in a digital world, I believe that having the right story telling imagery is important. Imagery that tells who you are, what you’re all about, what’s important to you, and more importantly the soul behind your human avatar. It’s the personality, the gaze, the soulful connection that your audience can experience with the right imagery that is congruent.

Getting to this place may take some alchemy, some internal processing, and some perspective shifts. I know it has for me and it’s a constant daily assessment. I’ve gotten to a space where it’s become a form of creative play to create imagery of me in my world and telling the stories that align with that.

If you’re anything like most of my clients, what you want is to create a greater impact in this world and help other people move through their inner alchemy. You want to see and find what is important in life. Family, relationships, joy, experiences and things that aren’t showboating the riches.

We’re all wanting true wholeness, and that is something found by following our own white rabbit and discovering your own truth and living that in its fullest expression. Communicating that in a digital world is the act of stepping into that full expression and embodying it.

Learn more about building your visual personal brand here.

LET'S CONSPIRE & CREATE

CULTIVATING YOUR VISUAL UNIQUENESS AND STREAMLINING YOUR BRAND'S EVOLUTION

As I’ve begun polling a few heart centered entrepreneur friends of mine, I’m noticing a common theme in space of putting themselves out there in there in the world as they build their personal brand. It’s something I constantly battle myself as I’ve begun building my own personal brand and it’s a delicate line.

If you’re a heart centered entrepreneur with a big mission to help people change their lives for the better, you’ve probably struggled with this whole idea. As a result, you choose not to do anything for all the fears that come along with it.

What I’m talking about here is battling the delicate line of the ego. The feeling of looking egotistical by putting photographs and video of yourself out there into the world via your website and social media. In fact, if you feel this, you’re definitely not alone, but have perhaps also degraded your brand by trying to do the opposite and utilizing photographs and other media that is of low quality and telling the wrong story about you.

If you’ve gone through any sort of “identity alchemy” and moving through an internal space of dropping the ego where it’s not about showing off your money and riches, then this is a huge deal. I acknowledge you for even traversing this line.

Now, the magick trick is two fold. It’s alchemizing your perspective and intentions behind your brand as well as outwardly telling the story of who you are and what you’re all about in a humble yet aspirational and relatable way. A way that says to people that you can be their guide, letting them aspire to becoming what you have to offer while being relatable and attainable.

I am confident the internal pieces, takes a bit of deconstruction. We must deconstruct our belief systems and actual motives. The motives between truly and authentically wanting to help people better their lives and doing things for the external validation, the likes, and the attention. This all lies within your own perspective. If your motives are truly to help people, then part of that is internally purifying your intentions and getting to a space of your fullest expression. When you are living in your fullest expression, putting yourself out there into the world isn’t about the external validation, it’s about your true intent, and telling YOUR story. People connect with you and your vulnerably shared story.

The second piece, is creating congruence between who you are on the inside, and what you put out into the world. People connect with people. When reaching a greater amount of people that extends beyond your physical reach in a digital world, I believe that having the right story telling imagery is important. Imagery that tells who you are, what you’re all about, what’s important to you, and more importantly the soul behind your human avatar. It’s the personality, the gaze, the soulful connection that your audience can experience with the right imagery that is congruent.

Getting to this place may take some alchemy, some internal processing, and some perspective shifts. I know it has for me and it’s a constant daily assessment. I’ve gotten to a space where it’s become a form of creative play to create imagery of me in my world and telling the stories that align with that.

If you’re anything like most of my clients, what you want is to create a greater impact in this world and help other people move through their inner alchemy. You want to see and find what is important in life. Family, relationships, joy, experiences and things that aren’t showboating the riches.

We’re all wanting true wholeness, and that is something found by following our own white rabbit and discovering your own truth and living that in its fullest expression. Communicating that in a digital world is the act of stepping into that full expression and embodying it.

Learn more about building your visual personal brand here.

3/18/21

One Of The Greatest Battles Of The Heart Centered Entrepreneur and Building A Personal Brand.

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As I’ve begun polling a few heart centered entrepreneur friends of mine, I’m noticing a common theme in space of putting themselves out there in there in the world as they build their personal brand. It’s something I constantly battle myself as I’ve begun building my own personal brand and it’s a delicate line.

If you’re a heart centered entrepreneur with a big mission to help people change their lives for the better, you’ve probably struggled with this whole idea. As a result, you choose not to do anything for all the fears that come along with it.

What I’m talking about here is battling the delicate line of the ego. The feeling of looking egotistical by putting photographs and video of yourself out there into the world via your website and social media. In fact, if you feel this, you’re definitely not alone, but have perhaps also degraded your brand by trying to do the opposite and utilizing photographs and other media that is of low quality and telling the wrong story about you.

If you’ve gone through any sort of “identity alchemy” and moving through an internal space of dropping the ego where it’s not about showing off your money and riches, then this is a huge deal. I acknowledge you for even traversing this line.

Now, the magick trick is two fold. It’s alchemizing your perspective and intentions behind your brand as well as outwardly telling the story of who you are and what you’re all about in a humble yet aspirational and relatable way. A way that says to people that you can be their guide, letting them aspire to becoming what you have to offer while being relatable and attainable.

I am confident the internal pieces, takes a bit of deconstruction. We must deconstruct our belief systems and actual motives. The motives between truly and authentically wanting to help people better their lives and doing things for the external validation, the likes, and the attention. This all lies within your own perspective. If your motives are truly to help people, then part of that is internally purifying your intentions and getting to a space of your fullest expression. When you are living in your fullest expression, putting yourself out there into the world isn’t about the external validation, it’s about your true intent, and telling YOUR story. People connect with you and your vulnerably shared story.

The second piece, is creating congruence between who you are on the inside, and what you put out into the world. People connect with people. When reaching a greater amount of people that extends beyond your physical reach in a digital world, I believe that having the right story telling imagery is important. Imagery that tells who you are, what you’re all about, what’s important to you, and more importantly the soul behind your human avatar. It’s the personality, the gaze, the soulful connection that your audience can experience with the right imagery that is congruent.

Getting to this place may take some alchemy, some internal processing, and some perspective shifts. I know it has for me and it’s a constant daily assessment. I’ve gotten to a space where it’s become a form of creative play to create imagery of me in my world and telling the stories that align with that.

If you’re anything like most of my clients, what you want is to create a greater impact in this world and help other people move through their inner alchemy. You want to see and find what is important in life. Family, relationships, joy, experiences and things that aren’t showboating the riches.

We’re all wanting true wholeness, and that is something found by following our own white rabbit and discovering your own truth and living that in its fullest expression. Communicating that in a digital world is the act of stepping into that full expression and embodying it.

Learn more about building your visual personal brand here.

3/18/21

One Of The Greatest Battles Of The Heart Centered Entrepreneur and Building A Personal Brand.

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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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You make a personal brand more coherent by naming the identity underneath it, distilling a one or two word through-line, and bringing the four layers into agreement. The full path, in order.

Nick Onken travel image, Life Intelligence essay on travel as creative input that sharpens the eye

You cannot pour from an empty well. Travel is how I refill mine. Here is why new places are creative input rather than a break from the work, and why output without input runs dry.

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There is a difference between making something and performing the act of making it. Here is what I learned about the creative act, content, and why the resistance is the whole game.

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AI can generate endless brand content, but it cannot construct the identity underneath it. Here is the real line between what AI can do for your brand and what only you can.

Nick Onken portrait, Life Intelligence essay on nervous system regulation and creative recovery

Burnout is less a willpower problem than a nervous system running with no recovery. Here is what I learned about creative recovery from social media burnout and a reset in Costa Rica.

Elevated Realism brand portrait by Nick Onken, a subject looking unmistakably like themselves

Most brand photographers take good photos of you. Few capture who you actually are. Here is what to look for when hiring a brand photographer so your images match your authority.

Nick Onken portrait, Creative Intelligence essay on taste and the discipline of seeing

Taste is less a gift than a discipline you build through thousands of reps of seeing. Here is what twenty-five years behind a camera taught me about the art of seeing.

Nick Onken portrait illustrating visual frequency of authority, presence matching identity

Visual Frequency of Authority is the energetic signature your images transmit before anyone reads a word. What it means and why two people with the same credentials read so differently.

Nick Onken portrait, three gaps in a personal brand

Every personal brand stalls in one of three gaps: Identity, Signal, or Infrastructure. Most people have the third and spend years fixing the first.

Nick Onken portrait, Life Intelligence essay on martial arts as a daily practice

A month of kung fu training in Wudang, China taught me that the body learns at the speed of honesty rather than the speed of ambition. Here is what martial arts taught me about practice.

Nick Onken portrait illustrating creative coherence between identity and image

Creative coherence is when who you are and how you’re seen are the same thing. A short, clear definition of the term, its four layers, and why it makes a brand magnetic.

Nick Onken studio self portrait, magnetic through-line

A magnetic through-line is the one or two word idea your whole brand becomes associated with. What it is, why it matters, and how to find yours.

Nick Onken, creative coherence, brand portrait

Creative coherence is the state where who you are and how you’re seen are the same thing. Why it matters more than frequency, and how to build it.

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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