“You really have to listen to the person that you are and really dig to find what the source of your happiness is.”
Matthew Loyd is an old friend of mine, one that I’ve kept in touch with for so long as we have so many similar views in the world. One of the big things I’ve admired about him is his creative entrepreneur spirit where through the years he has used full time jobs as stepping stones to build his skills for creating his own company as he is doing now. He recently left his mid 6 figure job as the Vice President of Brand experience at Old Navy to start his own company.
One of my favorite things about Matthew is that he has “Fear Regret, Not Failure” tattooed on his arm which gives you an idea of how he lives his life. In this episode, we get deep into the mindsets of doing things that you fear instead of ending up living with regrets.
We also get into capturing people’s hearts and minds through a good brand and ways to do that. I’ve always been a big believer in branding and design. In fact, him and I met back in the beginning when we we were both starting out as graphic designers. Now he’s created brand experiences for huge companies, and is taking those methodologies to his own brand.
“The best thing a brand can be is a point of view.”
[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/matthew-loyd-branding” title=”Matthew Loyd – How To Create the Stepping Stones To Your Dream Job” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/09_MatthewLoyd_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”de4b9b” ]
Some things we learn in this podcast:
- You can do great things working for someone else, but you do the most meaningful and amazing things when you work for yourself.
- You can learn a lot about creativity by learning how a business functions.
- Finding the balance between Happiness, Talent, and the Market is the sweet spot.
- Fear regretting things that you haven’t done, not failure in trying them.
- You can’t teach people taste, you can teach them to learn how to live.
LET'S CONSPIRE & CREATE
CULTIVATING YOUR VISUAL UNIQUENESS AND STREAMLINING YOUR BRAND'S EVOLUTION
“You really have to listen to the person that you are and really dig to find what the source of your happiness is.”
Matthew Loyd is an old friend of mine, one that I’ve kept in touch with for so long as we have so many similar views in the world. One of the big things I’ve admired about him is his creative entrepreneur spirit where through the years he has used full time jobs as stepping stones to build his skills for creating his own company as he is doing now. He recently left his mid 6 figure job as the Vice President of Brand experience at Old Navy to start his own company.
One of my favorite things about Matthew is that he has “Fear Regret, Not Failure” tattooed on his arm which gives you an idea of how he lives his life. In this episode, we get deep into the mindsets of doing things that you fear instead of ending up living with regrets.
We also get into capturing people’s hearts and minds through a good brand and ways to do that. I’ve always been a big believer in branding and design. In fact, him and I met back in the beginning when we we were both starting out as graphic designers. Now he’s created brand experiences for huge companies, and is taking those methodologies to his own brand.
“The best thing a brand can be is a point of view.”
[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/matthew-loyd-branding” title=”Matthew Loyd – How To Create the Stepping Stones To Your Dream Job” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/09_MatthewLoyd_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”de4b9b” ]
Some things we learn in this podcast:
- You can do great things working for someone else, but you do the most meaningful and amazing things when you work for yourself.
- You can learn a lot about creativity by learning how a business functions.
- Finding the balance between Happiness, Talent, and the Market is the sweet spot.
- Fear regretting things that you haven’t done, not failure in trying them.
- You can’t teach people taste, you can teach them to learn how to live.
3/05/14
09: Matthew Loyd – How To Create Stepping Stones To Your Dream Career
infuse your vision with a fresh breath of creativity and vitality
BOOK A BRAND PHOTOSHOOT
GET THE DETAILS
GET THE DETAILS
infuse your vision with a fresh breath of creativity and vitality
PODCAST
BRAND INTELLIGENCE
CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE
LIFE INTELLIGENCE
masterfully aligning perception and reality through personal branding
masterfully aligning perception and reality through personal branding
“You really have to listen to the person that you are and really dig to find what the source of your happiness is.”
Matthew Loyd is an old friend of mine, one that I’ve kept in touch with for so long as we have so many similar views in the world. One of the big things I’ve admired about him is his creative entrepreneur spirit where through the years he has used full time jobs as stepping stones to build his skills for creating his own company as he is doing now. He recently left his mid 6 figure job as the Vice President of Brand experience at Old Navy to start his own company.
One of my favorite things about Matthew is that he has “Fear Regret, Not Failure” tattooed on his arm which gives you an idea of how he lives his life. In this episode, we get deep into the mindsets of doing things that you fear instead of ending up living with regrets.
We also get into capturing people’s hearts and minds through a good brand and ways to do that. I’ve always been a big believer in branding and design. In fact, him and I met back in the beginning when we we were both starting out as graphic designers. Now he’s created brand experiences for huge companies, and is taking those methodologies to his own brand.
“The best thing a brand can be is a point of view.”
[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/matthew-loyd-branding” title=”Matthew Loyd – How To Create the Stepping Stones To Your Dream Job” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/09_MatthewLoyd_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”de4b9b” ]
Some things we learn in this podcast:
- You can do great things working for someone else, but you do the most meaningful and amazing things when you work for yourself.
- You can learn a lot about creativity by learning how a business functions.
- Finding the balance between Happiness, Talent, and the Market is the sweet spot.
- Fear regretting things that you haven’t done, not failure in trying them.
- You can’t teach people taste, you can teach them to learn how to live.
3/05/14
09: Matthew Loyd – How To Create Stepping Stones To Your Dream Career
When you need a trusted creative partner in the room.
Take the Fit Check
Be seen at the level you’re stepping into.
Hey! I'm Nick.
PHOTOGRAPHER
BRAND ALCHEMIST
TEACHER
At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti quos dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint occaecati cupiditate non provident, similique sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollitia.
Build authority from the inside out.
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.
Take the Fit Check
Start Here
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.
Explore the Partnership
Quiet. Precise. Highly Selective.
read the latest
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The personal brand identity gap is the distance between your expertise and your visibility. When who you are doesn’t match how you’re seen online, it’s not a marketing problem. It’s a coherence problem. Here’s how to close it.
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.
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.
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 […]
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.
