“Every experience I have as a dancer is going to open my eyes to different things.”
Today I get to bring you my good friend, Rachael Markarian. She has a very powerful story, as she was born with her legs turned inward, barely able to walk, and now is a powerful, professional dancer for many big artists like Rihanna, Katy Perry, and Beyonce (just to name a few). Even this year, she danced with Beyonce at the Superbowl (which you’ll hear about). I’ve seen her dance, and she is incredible. On top of the amazing things she’s accomplished in her life, she’s a wonderful human being and a very inspiring individual.
On this episode, you’ll find what it takes to become a dancer and hear what is behind the scenes to the commitment, dedication, and discipline, as well as how having a strong vision for what you want will help you do whatever it takes to get there. We’ll also hear the story of how she moved to LA, went broke, and how she got her first break to go on tour with Rihanna. We get to learn about the sacrifice it takes to make it with art and doing what you love.
She talks about how running your career as a business, which a lot of dancers, actors, models etc don’t do, is so important. The things you need to invest into that will help you grow as an artist. How to market yourself as an artist and create and maintain the proper industry relationships that help you succeed.
Rachael is a powerhouse, and her dancing inspires everyone who she shares that with. So lets get into it!
“It’s not about you, it’s about the audience.”
[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/rachael-markarian” title=”Rachael Markarian – How to Overcome Struggle to Acheive Your Dreams Posted 3 years ago3 years Professional Dancer” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/08_RachelMarkarian_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”de4b9b” ]
Things we learn in this episode:
- A brief back ground on how Rachael moved to Los Angeles to become a professional Dancer for Rihanna, Katy Perry, Beyonce, Pink, Justin Timberlake, Cheyenne (big latin Artists)
- What it’s like dancing with Beyonce at the Super Bowl
- The experience of touring with Rihana and Katy Perry
- Understanding the effect that a top level dancer has on the audience
- Lessons learned from years of travel as a professional dancer
- What it was like working with Justin Timberlake on Southland Tales (2006)
- Becoming a dancer despite being born with physical restrictions
- The struggles of developing as a 15 year old living alone in New York
- Bringing commitment, dedication and discipline into creative work
- Overcoming rejection with the life skills developed from rigorous training
- The difference between a plan and a vision
- How to not take things personally when achieving your dreams
- How the business side of professional dancing works
- The mindset for excelling at auditions
- Strategies for signing with great agents
- The importance of networking and connecting with people
- How to pay it forward in the professional dancer career space
- Understanding rejection as a path towards success
- The sacrifices required to invest in where you want to be
LET'S CONSPIRE & CREATE
CULTIVATING YOUR VISUAL UNIQUENESS AND STREAMLINING YOUR BRAND'S EVOLUTION
“Every experience I have as a dancer is going to open my eyes to different things.”
Today I get to bring you my good friend, Rachael Markarian. She has a very powerful story, as she was born with her legs turned inward, barely able to walk, and now is a powerful, professional dancer for many big artists like Rihanna, Katy Perry, and Beyonce (just to name a few). Even this year, she danced with Beyonce at the Superbowl (which you’ll hear about). I’ve seen her dance, and she is incredible. On top of the amazing things she’s accomplished in her life, she’s a wonderful human being and a very inspiring individual.
On this episode, you’ll find what it takes to become a dancer and hear what is behind the scenes to the commitment, dedication, and discipline, as well as how having a strong vision for what you want will help you do whatever it takes to get there. We’ll also hear the story of how she moved to LA, went broke, and how she got her first break to go on tour with Rihanna. We get to learn about the sacrifice it takes to make it with art and doing what you love.
She talks about how running your career as a business, which a lot of dancers, actors, models etc don’t do, is so important. The things you need to invest into that will help you grow as an artist. How to market yourself as an artist and create and maintain the proper industry relationships that help you succeed.
Rachael is a powerhouse, and her dancing inspires everyone who she shares that with. So lets get into it!
“It’s not about you, it’s about the audience.”
[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/rachael-markarian” title=”Rachael Markarian – How to Overcome Struggle to Acheive Your Dreams Posted 3 years ago3 years Professional Dancer” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/08_RachelMarkarian_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”de4b9b” ]
Things we learn in this episode:
- A brief back ground on how Rachael moved to Los Angeles to become a professional Dancer for Rihanna, Katy Perry, Beyonce, Pink, Justin Timberlake, Cheyenne (big latin Artists)
- What it’s like dancing with Beyonce at the Super Bowl
- The experience of touring with Rihana and Katy Perry
- Understanding the effect that a top level dancer has on the audience
- Lessons learned from years of travel as a professional dancer
- What it was like working with Justin Timberlake on Southland Tales (2006)
- Becoming a dancer despite being born with physical restrictions
- The struggles of developing as a 15 year old living alone in New York
- Bringing commitment, dedication and discipline into creative work
- Overcoming rejection with the life skills developed from rigorous training
- The difference between a plan and a vision
- How to not take things personally when achieving your dreams
- How the business side of professional dancing works
- The mindset for excelling at auditions
- Strategies for signing with great agents
- The importance of networking and connecting with people
- How to pay it forward in the professional dancer career space
- Understanding rejection as a path towards success
- The sacrifices required to invest in where you want to be
2/26/14
08: Rachael Markarian- How to Overcome Struggle to Achieve Your Dreams
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
“Every experience I have as a dancer is going to open my eyes to different things.”
Today I get to bring you my good friend, Rachael Markarian. She has a very powerful story, as she was born with her legs turned inward, barely able to walk, and now is a powerful, professional dancer for many big artists like Rihanna, Katy Perry, and Beyonce (just to name a few). Even this year, she danced with Beyonce at the Superbowl (which you’ll hear about). I’ve seen her dance, and she is incredible. On top of the amazing things she’s accomplished in her life, she’s a wonderful human being and a very inspiring individual.
On this episode, you’ll find what it takes to become a dancer and hear what is behind the scenes to the commitment, dedication, and discipline, as well as how having a strong vision for what you want will help you do whatever it takes to get there. We’ll also hear the story of how she moved to LA, went broke, and how she got her first break to go on tour with Rihanna. We get to learn about the sacrifice it takes to make it with art and doing what you love.
She talks about how running your career as a business, which a lot of dancers, actors, models etc don’t do, is so important. The things you need to invest into that will help you grow as an artist. How to market yourself as an artist and create and maintain the proper industry relationships that help you succeed.
Rachael is a powerhouse, and her dancing inspires everyone who she shares that with. So lets get into it!
“It’s not about you, it’s about the audience.”
[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/nickonken/rachael-markarian” title=”Rachael Markarian – How to Overcome Struggle to Acheive Your Dreams Posted 3 years ago3 years Professional Dancer” image=”https://nionlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/08_RachelMarkarian_NIONradio_02.jpg” color=”de4b9b” ]
Things we learn in this episode:
- A brief back ground on how Rachael moved to Los Angeles to become a professional Dancer for Rihanna, Katy Perry, Beyonce, Pink, Justin Timberlake, Cheyenne (big latin Artists)
- What it’s like dancing with Beyonce at the Super Bowl
- The experience of touring with Rihana and Katy Perry
- Understanding the effect that a top level dancer has on the audience
- Lessons learned from years of travel as a professional dancer
- What it was like working with Justin Timberlake on Southland Tales (2006)
- Becoming a dancer despite being born with physical restrictions
- The struggles of developing as a 15 year old living alone in New York
- Bringing commitment, dedication and discipline into creative work
- Overcoming rejection with the life skills developed from rigorous training
- The difference between a plan and a vision
- How to not take things personally when achieving your dreams
- How the business side of professional dancing works
- The mindset for excelling at auditions
- Strategies for signing with great agents
- The importance of networking and connecting with people
- How to pay it forward in the professional dancer career space
- Understanding rejection as a path towards success
- The sacrifices required to invest in where you want to be
2/26/14
08: Rachael Markarian- How to Overcome Struggle to Achieve Your Dreams
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
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 […]
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 […]
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.
