Nick Nanton is a multi-Emmy-award-winning documentary filmmaker and the Founder and CEO of DNA Films, through which he’s produced countless works, including “Dream Big: Rudy Ruettiger Live on Broadway,” a sell-out one-man show he wrote and directed. His films include, “Dreamer, A New Leash on Life: The K9s for Warriors Story,” and the upcoming, “It’s Happening Right Here.” 

He’s the host of the Amazon Prime series, “In Case You Didn’t Know with Nick Nantont,” and the author or co-author of numerous books, including, “Story Selling,” “SuccessOnomics,” and “The Will to Win.”

In Nick’s words, he came from a childhood where he had more love than he could spend, but money was scarce. He soon learned that if he wanted something in life, he would have to be the one to make it happen. Learning a lifestyle of entrepreneurship from a young age, he’s gone on to enact an intentional life of spirituality and manifestation – at one point, he Googled “How to win an Emmy.” He’s since won over twenty of them. 

Among his many tenets are that we must learn how to lose, and lose to learn. He also believes that we never stop learning – and that that fact is one of life’s joys, infinitely exciting and fulfilling. 

Nick is also the CEO of the Dicks + Nanton Agency, founded to help celebrities, entrepreneurs, and experts in their field put their best selves forward to the world. In this edition of Gravity, we discuss how anybody at all can set about achieving their goals by addressing their branding. As Nick says, “Branding is storytelling” and sharing our stories is the central philosophy of the Gravity podcast.

He teaches us that a few tweaks to how we convey our image and what we’re putting out into the world, versus what we’re taking from it, is all it takes to conquer your goals, whether you want to direct documentaries, put on Broadway shows, or something else entirely.

What Brett asks:

• [01:30] Tell me about your childhood.
• [06:20] What was it like being a child in a family where money was an issue?
• [12:40] Do you think you’re a natural hustler?
• [19:00] Let’s talk tennis.
• [28:00] Tell me about going from law school into adulthood.
• [36:50] Why did you finish your law degree if you wanted to quit?
• [42:00] Connect how you went from graduation to present day.
• [52:10] How do you think you went and other people can go about gaining undeniable wisdom?
• [56:00] Do you have any advice for people doubting that they can achieve their dreams?
• [58:00] How do you continue to grow, learn, and provide value to the world?

Lessons for intentional living:

• From a young age, Nick realized that if he wanted something, he’d have to be the one to make it happen. This is an amazing mindset to have. Sure, other people can step up and make things happen for us, but that’s not something we should rely on consistently. Knowing how to manifest your own dreams is utterly invaluable.
• Even if we make it to the absolute top of our field, our time there is finite. We have to learn to lose. The sooner we’re able to do so with grace and spirit, the better armed we’ll be to go out and do. And doing is how we learn and improve. No one ever becomes the best without failing a lot on their way up. 
• As Nick says, “Branding is storytelling.” What story do we want people to hear about us and, more importantly, what story do we want people to tell about us? 
• School trains us to view learning as something we complete. We go on a course and we finish it. But this doesn’t reflect how life actually works. In reality, we never stop learning – and learning about new, fascinating things is one of life’s joys. It shouldn’t be a chore. The sooner we’re able to mentally reframe education as something positive, the sooner we’re able to live life on an even more fulfilling and intentional level.

Resources:

• Nick Nanton’s Website
• Nick on IMDb
• Nick on Instagram
• Nick on LinkedIn
• In Case You Didn’t Know with Nick Nanton