Staying fresh.
Good question. I’ll be doing a podcast on that in a while in my mini series. I was interviewing Usher, and the biggest thing he said that stuck out to me was Evolve or Evaporate. You’ve gotta keep re-inventing. Look at the greats that are still relevant. He is one of them. Madonna, U2, etc. They all have re-invented over the years.
The same applies to us. I think it’s the mindset. You have to stay hungry. Devour knowledge. Strive to be the best “person” you can be. I went through a time a couple years ago, probably around the same time we bid on the cruise line job where my sales dropped significantly. It was depressing. Emotionally downward spiraling. I went to a dark place. I realized that I was putting my self worth into who and what I was shooting. I ended up taking an emotional intelligence and leadership training in LA through 2013 and 2014 that reshaped the way I saw things. Helped me to be self aware of so many things personally that I was un aware of so I can change them for the better. It helped me to regain a new vision for my life and career. From there, it was about growing as much as I can personally because when we grow personally, it fuels our art. My hashtag, #CreateYourMoments is all about the mental decision to harness the power of CHOICE to create our lives from the smallest of moments. What we create stems from who we are as a person and who we are being first and foremost. This video, is an authentic representation of where I’ve come to “BE” in my life. I’ve done a lot of internal work to get to where I’m at today.
I’m humbled that MTV chose to feature me, my life, and all the projects I’m up to in this awesome video by LGTR Productions. Life is about Creating Your Moments, for moments are the only thing we walk away with at the end of the day.
Special thanks to Tyrrell Winston for making this happen! Also special thanks to the guys at BOTU for my favorite song, HULA HOOP on the soundtrack.
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CULTIVATING YOUR VISUAL UNIQUENESS AND STREAMLINING YOUR BRAND'S EVOLUTION
Staying fresh.
Good question. I’ll be doing a podcast on that in a while in my mini series. I was interviewing Usher, and the biggest thing he said that stuck out to me was Evolve or Evaporate. You’ve gotta keep re-inventing. Look at the greats that are still relevant. He is one of them. Madonna, U2, etc. They all have re-invented over the years.
The same applies to us. I think it’s the mindset. You have to stay hungry. Devour knowledge. Strive to be the best “person” you can be. I went through a time a couple years ago, probably around the same time we bid on the cruise line job where my sales dropped significantly. It was depressing. Emotionally downward spiraling. I went to a dark place. I realized that I was putting my self worth into who and what I was shooting. I ended up taking an emotional intelligence and leadership training in LA through 2013 and 2014 that reshaped the way I saw things. Helped me to be self aware of so many things personally that I was un aware of so I can change them for the better. It helped me to regain a new vision for my life and career. From there, it was about growing as much as I can personally because when we grow personally, it fuels our art. My hashtag, #CreateYourMoments is all about the mental decision to harness the power of CHOICE to create our lives from the smallest of moments. What we create stems from who we are as a person and who we are being first and foremost. This video, is an authentic representation of where I’ve come to “BE” in my life. I’ve done a lot of internal work to get to where I’m at today.
I’m humbled that MTV chose to feature me, my life, and all the projects I’m up to in this awesome video by LGTR Productions. Life is about Creating Your Moments, for moments are the only thing we walk away with at the end of the day.
Special thanks to Tyrrell Winston for making this happen! Also special thanks to the guys at BOTU for my favorite song, HULA HOOP on the soundtrack.
5/22/15
Staying Fresh: nickonken x MTV Breaks
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masterfully aligning perception and reality through personal branding
Staying fresh.
Good question. I’ll be doing a podcast on that in a while in my mini series. I was interviewing Usher, and the biggest thing he said that stuck out to me was Evolve or Evaporate. You’ve gotta keep re-inventing. Look at the greats that are still relevant. He is one of them. Madonna, U2, etc. They all have re-invented over the years.
The same applies to us. I think it’s the mindset. You have to stay hungry. Devour knowledge. Strive to be the best “person” you can be. I went through a time a couple years ago, probably around the same time we bid on the cruise line job where my sales dropped significantly. It was depressing. Emotionally downward spiraling. I went to a dark place. I realized that I was putting my self worth into who and what I was shooting. I ended up taking an emotional intelligence and leadership training in LA through 2013 and 2014 that reshaped the way I saw things. Helped me to be self aware of so many things personally that I was un aware of so I can change them for the better. It helped me to regain a new vision for my life and career. From there, it was about growing as much as I can personally because when we grow personally, it fuels our art. My hashtag, #CreateYourMoments is all about the mental decision to harness the power of CHOICE to create our lives from the smallest of moments. What we create stems from who we are as a person and who we are being first and foremost. This video, is an authentic representation of where I’ve come to “BE” in my life. I’ve done a lot of internal work to get to where I’m at today.
I’m humbled that MTV chose to feature me, my life, and all the projects I’m up to in this awesome video by LGTR Productions. Life is about Creating Your Moments, for moments are the only thing we walk away with at the end of the day.
Special thanks to Tyrrell Winston for making this happen! Also special thanks to the guys at BOTU for my favorite song, HULA HOOP on the soundtrack.
5/22/15
Staying Fresh: nickonken x MTV Breaks
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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 […]
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 […]
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.
