“If you do something, you’re passionate about it and you give all your energy to make it, it’s going to happen.”
Today we’re in the design studio of one of my really good friends who is a super talented Jewelry designer, Maor Cohen. His line is called M Cohen designs; he’s got a couple stores in LA, and is now in demand all over the world. Funny thing for me is that I never really even thought about wearing jewelry until I met Maor a few years back. He gave a sick bracelet to a mutual friend of ours for his birthday, and immediately when I saw it I said, “I’ve got to get me one of those.” Shortly there after, I’ve seen him go from making the pieces himself in his living room, to having a beautiful store on third street in West Hollywood.
He’s made some amazing pieces for people like Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and many other big celebrities. More importantly, he’s got an inspiring story of moving from a small town in Israel to LA, barely speaking english, to creating a big business in fashion with a cult following. He’s now doing collaborations with people like John Varvatos and leading the industry in mens jewelry. Not to mention, his accent is awesome!
I love the charm and charisma that Maor brings to the table, as its genuinely helped him to connect with people and build his creative business. He is a walking brand.
“Be aware that it’s not going to be an easy ride, but never give up.”
[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/maor-cohen-jewelry-design” title=”Maor Cohen – How To Build a Career as a Jewlery Designer” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/14_MCohen_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”de4b9b” ]
“If you do something, you’re passionate about it and you give all your energy to make it, it’s going to happen.”
Today we’re in the design studio of one of my really good friends who is a super talented Jewelry designer, Maor Cohen. His line is called M Cohen designs; he’s got a couple stores in LA, and is now in demand all over the world. Funny thing for me is that I never really even thought about wearing jewelry until I met Maor a few years back. He gave a sick bracelet to a mutual friend of ours for his birthday, and immediately when I saw it I said, “I’ve got to get me one of those.” Shortly there after, I’ve seen him go from making the pieces himself in his living room, to having a beautiful store on third street in West Hollywood.
He’s made some amazing pieces for people like Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and many other big celebrities. More importantly, he’s got an inspiring story of moving from a small town in Israel to LA, barely speaking english, to creating a big business in fashion with a cult following. He’s now doing collaborations with people like John Varvatos and leading the industry in mens jewelry. Not to mention, his accent is awesome!
I love the charm and charisma that Maor brings to the table, as its genuinely helped him to connect with people and build his creative business. He is a walking brand.
“Be aware that it’s not going to be an easy ride, but never give up.”
[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/maor-cohen-jewelry-design” title=”Maor Cohen – How To Build a Career as a Jewlery Designer” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/14_MCohen_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”de4b9b” ]







“If you do something, you’re passionate about it and you give all your energy to make it, it’s going to happen.”
Today we’re in the design studio of one of my really good friends who is a super talented Jewelry designer, Maor Cohen. His line is called M Cohen designs; he’s got a couple stores in LA, and is now in demand all over the world. Funny thing for me is that I never really even thought about wearing jewelry until I met Maor a few years back. He gave a sick bracelet to a mutual friend of ours for his birthday, and immediately when I saw it I said, “I’ve got to get me one of those.” Shortly there after, I’ve seen him go from making the pieces himself in his living room, to having a beautiful store on third street in West Hollywood.
He’s made some amazing pieces for people like Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and many other big celebrities. More importantly, he’s got an inspiring story of moving from a small town in Israel to LA, barely speaking english, to creating a big business in fashion with a cult following. He’s now doing collaborations with people like John Varvatos and leading the industry in mens jewelry. Not to mention, his accent is awesome!
I love the charm and charisma that Maor brings to the table, as its genuinely helped him to connect with people and build his creative business. He is a walking brand.
“Be aware that it’s not going to be an easy ride, but never give up.”
[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/maor-cohen-jewelry-design” title=”Maor Cohen – How To Build a Career as a Jewlery Designer” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/14_MCohen_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”de4b9b” ]

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Emanate is a creative-direction-led photography experience for entrepreneurs, speakers, and thought leaders in a moment of expansion. This isn’t about better photos. It’s about aligning how you’re seen with who you’ve become. For seasons of rebrand, visibility, and next-level leadership.
Magnetic Authority is a self-guided container for people who feel visible, but not fully anchored.
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.
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.
Quiet. Precise. Highly Selective.

Your brand photos lag behind you because you kept evolving and the images stayed frozen. Why the gap opens, how to spot it, and what closes it.

The kung fu school had rules: locked-in weekdays, dawn starts, push-ups for lateness. A month inside taught me that constraints you choose are what make depth possible.

A daily creative practice is making one real thing every day, however small, to stay in a proactive state. A working definition, and how to build one that lasts.

AI describes your brand by averaging your public record. How to codify one identity, repeat it everywhere, and get the machines to echo you back accurately.

I’ve photographed Justin Bieber several times and seen fame up close. His stripped-down Coachella set showed the thing I keep relearning about creative work: production amplifies, and only artistry carries.

You recover from creative burnout by treating it as a nervous system state: build real down-cycles, read your own signals, and return to the work you love.

A magnetic personal brand comes from coherence and one clear through-line. Here is how entrepreneurs build one, in order, and the trap that keeps most brands scattered.

I spent a month training kung fu in Wudang at 47, the oldest and slowest learner in the room. What being a beginner again in midlife taught me about pace, comparison, and starting anyway.

You develop taste through thousands of reps of looking closely and deciding what works. A photographer’s honest answer on how taste gets built.

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.

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.

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.
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.