Meet Nolen Sellwood

 

We recently connected with Nolen Sellwood and have shared our conversation below.

Nolen, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I find purpose in knowing that my music can connect with people. I have seen a lot of myself through music and the ultimate honor is to give someone that opportunity to find themselves through my music. Nothing fulfills me more than music and the idea that people can connect with those sounds I find myself to be an extension of myself.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I make modern folk music. The music I make is meant to connect to the old ways of British folk of the 60s and 70s. The music comes from the heart and when playing live I play with my middle school, high school friends, and now my college friends. The only time we get to be together anymore because of school is making music. But the blessing of being able to record at The Villa music studio with my producers John Wright and Steve Lehto has all been financed and supported by Bob McMenoman. This and my manager Ken Onstad, Krista Vilinskis, and photographer April Onstad have for just the kindness out of their hearts have agreed to help promote and organize my music to reach the audience they think it deserves. As broke college students, this has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

One of the qualities I feel like helped me make the music is not rushing it. All of my music comes from the heart and has been crafted from its most basic elements. Second was the fact that I’ve been able to surround myself with close friends who have created an environment for creativity to bloom and be accepted. Third was always trusting yourself and your taste. I always struggled in showing my music to people in the beginning but now I have understood that not everyone is going to like it but the people that will are the people that it is made for.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

The current battle I am facing is trying to break out in music and beat the algorithm whilst also being a full-time student who is working a part-time job. I have dedicated my entire free time to the music that I make and of course, some of it takes out of my studies if I could I would drop everything and pursue the one thing in this world that I truly love to do which is perform.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

April Onstad, Aaron Reichow

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience is often the x-factor that differentiates between mild and wild success. The stories of

Productivity
Beating Burnout

Often the key to having massive impact is the ability to keep going when others

Leadership Development
Finding Your Why

Not knowing why you are going wherever it is that you are going sounds silly,