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7/12/17

125: Anna Bulbrook – How To Transition To A New Creative Career

You can come for a really sick lineup and know that you’re getting some feminism mixed in there.

Being a woman in the music scene is very different from being a man in the music scene. Playing classical violin is very different that playing rock violin. And Anna Bulbrook knows a lot about these differences.

Anna has been the violinist for Airborne Toxic Event and Edward Sharpe and Magnetic Zeros. She grew up playing the violin classically, but everything changed after college when she realized that she loved to play her instrument in a less traditional venue.

Years later, after touring with some great bands, she found a new passion: creating space for women in the world of rock and music festivals. Her new venture GirlSchool, is just that: a music festival by, for, and in support of women. Listen into this awesome episode as she talks about the life of a career musician, what it’s like being the only female in the band, and the moment that lit the spark for her latest project.

In the process of letting that classical violinist go, I was free to be open to what it would look like for violin to be valuable in other ways.

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/anna-bulbrook” title=”How To Transition To A New Creative Career” artist=”Anna Bulbrook” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/125_AnnaBulbrock_NIONradio-1.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]

Some things we learn in this podcast:

  • What it’s like being a rock violinist [3:45]
  • Her band Airborne Toxic Event [5:00]
  • When she played with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros [6:55]
  • What it’s like being a woman in the rock music scene [8:20]
  • Why she started GirlSchool [9:50]
  • Who they’ve had at the festival [12:15]
  • The festival is inclusive [13:20]
  • When she started playing violin [14:30]
  • What is screamo music [16:45]
  • It all changed when she played violin behind Kanye West [21:00]
  • How playing amplified music is different [23:40]
  • How she grew into her role as a rock violinist [27:15]
  • How she learned the creative process in the rock world [28:30]
  • Learning to fail upwards [32:50]
  • The challenges of starting Girls School [34:45]
  • How Anna deals with uncertainty [38:30]
  • The importance of personal development work [43:35]
  • How she built a routine [46:15]
  • Anna’s vision for GirlSchool [48:20]
  • What issues she cares about [50:40]
  • The power of salad [51:15]
  • Anna’s advice for women [52:45]
  • What it takes to be a kind loving person [55:10]
  • What she is learning from different kinds of creativity [57:00]

Links mentioned:

Connect with  Instagram | Twitter | Website

LET'S CONSPIRE & CREATE

CULTIVATING YOUR VISUAL UNIQUENESS AND STREAMLINING YOUR BRAND'S EVOLUTION

You can come for a really sick lineup and know that you’re getting some feminism mixed in there.

Being a woman in the music scene is very different from being a man in the music scene. Playing classical violin is very different that playing rock violin. And Anna Bulbrook knows a lot about these differences.

Anna has been the violinist for Airborne Toxic Event and Edward Sharpe and Magnetic Zeros. She grew up playing the violin classically, but everything changed after college when she realized that she loved to play her instrument in a less traditional venue.

Years later, after touring with some great bands, she found a new passion: creating space for women in the world of rock and music festivals. Her new venture GirlSchool, is just that: a music festival by, for, and in support of women. Listen into this awesome episode as she talks about the life of a career musician, what it’s like being the only female in the band, and the moment that lit the spark for her latest project.

In the process of letting that classical violinist go, I was free to be open to what it would look like for violin to be valuable in other ways.

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/anna-bulbrook” title=”How To Transition To A New Creative Career” artist=”Anna Bulbrook” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/125_AnnaBulbrock_NIONradio-1.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]

Some things we learn in this podcast:

  • What it’s like being a rock violinist [3:45]
  • Her band Airborne Toxic Event [5:00]
  • When she played with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros [6:55]
  • What it’s like being a woman in the rock music scene [8:20]
  • Why she started GirlSchool [9:50]
  • Who they’ve had at the festival [12:15]
  • The festival is inclusive [13:20]
  • When she started playing violin [14:30]
  • What is screamo music [16:45]
  • It all changed when she played violin behind Kanye West [21:00]
  • How playing amplified music is different [23:40]
  • How she grew into her role as a rock violinist [27:15]
  • How she learned the creative process in the rock world [28:30]
  • Learning to fail upwards [32:50]
  • The challenges of starting Girls School [34:45]
  • How Anna deals with uncertainty [38:30]
  • The importance of personal development work [43:35]
  • How she built a routine [46:15]
  • Anna’s vision for GirlSchool [48:20]
  • What issues she cares about [50:40]
  • The power of salad [51:15]
  • Anna’s advice for women [52:45]
  • What it takes to be a kind loving person [55:10]
  • What she is learning from different kinds of creativity [57:00]

Links mentioned:

Connect with  Instagram | Twitter | Website

7/12/17

125: Anna Bulbrook – How To Transition To A New Creative Career

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You can come for a really sick lineup and know that you’re getting some feminism mixed in there.

Being a woman in the music scene is very different from being a man in the music scene. Playing classical violin is very different that playing rock violin. And Anna Bulbrook knows a lot about these differences.

Anna has been the violinist for Airborne Toxic Event and Edward Sharpe and Magnetic Zeros. She grew up playing the violin classically, but everything changed after college when she realized that she loved to play her instrument in a less traditional venue.

Years later, after touring with some great bands, she found a new passion: creating space for women in the world of rock and music festivals. Her new venture GirlSchool, is just that: a music festival by, for, and in support of women. Listen into this awesome episode as she talks about the life of a career musician, what it’s like being the only female in the band, and the moment that lit the spark for her latest project.

In the process of letting that classical violinist go, I was free to be open to what it would look like for violin to be valuable in other ways.

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/anna-bulbrook” title=”How To Transition To A New Creative Career” artist=”Anna Bulbrook” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/125_AnnaBulbrock_NIONradio-1.jpg” color=”#de4b9b” ]

Some things we learn in this podcast:

  • What it’s like being a rock violinist [3:45]
  • Her band Airborne Toxic Event [5:00]
  • When she played with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros [6:55]
  • What it’s like being a woman in the rock music scene [8:20]
  • Why she started GirlSchool [9:50]
  • Who they’ve had at the festival [12:15]
  • The festival is inclusive [13:20]
  • When she started playing violin [14:30]
  • What is screamo music [16:45]
  • It all changed when she played violin behind Kanye West [21:00]
  • How playing amplified music is different [23:40]
  • How she grew into her role as a rock violinist [27:15]
  • How she learned the creative process in the rock world [28:30]
  • Learning to fail upwards [32:50]
  • The challenges of starting Girls School [34:45]
  • How Anna deals with uncertainty [38:30]
  • The importance of personal development work [43:35]
  • How she built a routine [46:15]
  • Anna’s vision for GirlSchool [48:20]
  • What issues she cares about [50:40]
  • The power of salad [51:15]
  • Anna’s advice for women [52:45]
  • What it takes to be a kind loving person [55:10]
  • What she is learning from different kinds of creativity [57:00]

Links mentioned:

Connect with  Instagram | Twitter | Website

7/12/17

125: Anna Bulbrook – How To Transition To A New Creative Career

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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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For founders, creatives, and leaders who want a trusted long-term partner. This isn’t coaching or traditional consulting.

It’s an ongoing creative partnership focused on bringing your personal brand identity to life.

Your brand. Your website. Your visuals.
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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A Brand Brain is one authored source that holds your identity, voice, and frameworks so every AI tool writes like you. Here is what it is and why you need one.

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Being great at what you do doesn’t automatically turn into income. Here is the expertise-to-income gap, why it exists, and how to start closing it.

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A real brand team runs $30,000 to $70,000 a year. Here is the full breakdown of what each role costs, and the engine I built to replace it for $997.

Elevated Realism portrait of a confident founder, illustrating a brand voice that sounds like a real person rather than generic AI.

Your AI sounds generic because it reads the whole internet and returns the average. Here is how to make AI write in your actual voice instead.

Elevated Realism portrait of a recognized personal brand, the kind of coherent identity behind the Brand Intelligence Engine.

For two decades I made other people’s brands coherent while my own waited. Here is the Brand Intelligence Engine I built to finally close that gap.

Elevated Realism brand portrait demonstrating the visual authority that results from building a complete brand through the Brand Intelligence Engine's three-phase AI system

The Brand Intelligence Engine is an AI personal brand system that builds the complete infrastructure of a premium brand in three phases. Here’s exactly what happens inside, what it produces, and who it’s built for.

Elevated Realism portrait of a personal brand client whose content strategy works because identity and visual translation are built underneath it

Your content strategy is not working because the problem isn’t content. It’s what’s underneath it. When your brand lacks identity and visual translation, posting more just amplifies incoherence. Here’s the trap and how to escape it.

Elevated Realism portrait of a personal brand client who has passed the coherence test where identity, visual translation, content, and business all align

This personal brand audit takes two minutes and reveals exactly where your brand is broken. Four questions, one for each layer of brand intelligence. Most people fail at least two. Here’s the diagnostic.

Elevated Realism portrait demonstrating how personal brand identity is a deliberate translation of the person rather than an unfiltered copy

Your personal brand identity is not you. It’s a translation of you. When you confuse the two, you either freeze up or perform. Neither builds authority. Here’s the distinction that changes how you show up online.

Elevated Realism personal brand portrait demonstrating the visual authority that comes from investing in brand photography at the level that matches your expertise

The biggest personal brand photography investment mistake isn’t underspending on photos. It’s investing $50,000 in coaching, ads, and masterminds while spending $500 on visual identity. Here’s what that costs you and how to fix the order.

Nick Onken Elevated Realism portrait of a personal brand client demonstrating the visual authority that comes from closing the gap between expertise and brand presence

I spent 20 years photographing personal brands. I watched brilliant people stay invisible because they skipped the layers nobody talks about. So I built the Brand Intelligence Engine to fix it. Here’s the full story.

Elevated Realism portrait of a personal brand client whose authentic voice and identity can't be replicated by generic AI content

Your AI content sounds generic because the AI doesn’t know who you are. It’s not a tool problem. It’s an input problem. Without your identity, voice, and brand intelligence loaded, every AI produces the same bland output. Here’s how to fix it.

Elevated Realism portrait capturing the moment where creative direction becomes self-construction and a personal brand client meets their next identity

Creativity as intelligence is the idea that creative work isn’t about expressing who you already are. It’s about constructing who you’re becoming. Most people treat creativity as output. It’s actually architecture. Here’s why that changes everything.

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. 

NICK'S STORY