Today we’d like to introduce you to Jon Prophet.
Hi Jon, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I feel like the throughlines of my rather eclectic life come down to a few basic but transformative ideas; Creative energy and expression must be valued and guided by wisdom for an individual and a culture to thrive. Exploration and adventure are key components in maintaining a healthy sense of perspective. Connection and collaboration are always better than the competition, particularly when predicated on a sense of lack. The ability of humans to adapt and adjust to rapidly changing environments is part of our birthright. And we have let attribute atrophy within us much to our peril. Looking back upon my life, I realize that because I am comfortable in the mystery of life, I have often been the catalyst for change and transformation in others. I’ve often found myself a mentor-like figure for people experiencing either professional or personal life pivot. I feel driven by a strong sense of what’s possible in people and see in them potential they may not see, and a genuine disinterest in the status quo, and I think that, in some part, has been what keeps me going for so many years. The trick is to get them (my clients) to see that level of possibility and potential. And that’s where being immersed like creativity comes into play. I think there’s some stigma around comparing things, even though people do so unconsciously. People often say one shouldn’t compare yourself to others. But I find great value in comparing everything with everything else. That may not make sense for the average person, but we’re always looking for the best bits of a thing: situation, recipe, or product for an artist, and we’re always thinking, “what if we took the best bits of this and the best bits of that and mashed them together?” And that’s how the new thing emerges, two galaxies collide, and a new one is born. As you may infer, I’ve always had a vivid imagination and came from a creative stock. Not creative professionals by any stretch but the salt of the earth type folks who had an “art” within them, and it manifested in their work, their cooking, and their hobbies. I had my first guitar by age 9, Was jamming on a keyboard and drums by 11, and started working out song compositions on guitar by age 15. I would start taking classes on videography by 17, but the music was my focus for the greater part of my early adult years. I got a scholarship for a local Jr College to play jazz guitar but botched that in a few years because I had no interest in wasting time on subjects, I wasn’t interested in. So I moved from my mountain enclave in North Eastern Arizona to Phoenix, AZ.
I went headlong into the music world, working as a drum tech for a local band, slinging CDs at a local record chain, and playing in other songwriter’s bands until I eventually felt ready to lead my group. Eventually, putting out 2 records and touring regionally around the Southwest, my moment of glory came when my group was selected to open for the Foo Fighters in 04 during a campaign rally. At that moment, on a stage with a loud platform at my disposal. I could see the potential for influence and its impact. It would be the catalyst for the name of my marketing strategy company years later, The Alchemy of Influence. By then, I had already dabbled in filmmaking and felt the limitations of my current medium, music. I felt it limited my freedom and desire to travel and explore in a more involved and integrated way. It limited my income by relying on low-paying gigs for money, and it stifled my creativity to feel like the kind of music I could do may or may not be acceptable to my current fan base or even my band. I had the sense that I needed a bigger canvas and a new perspective. So in 2006, I moved with my co-vocalist and girlfriend to explore this new medium and perspective. That phase offered a wild world of experience and variety; I traveled to various parts of the world, filming travel promotional videos.
I lived in Australia and Mexico for a time. I worked on a few documentary and feature films showcased at various festivals, including SXSW. I studied yoga in India and Thailand, Dove some of the most amazing reefs and wrecks in Australia and Vanuatu, and wandered around New Zealand in a camper van. I worked the rodeo circuit with a championship steer wrestler KC Jones as a documentarian in the marketing department for a multi-million dollar s*x toy company. Made music videos, built YouTube channels, produced podcasts, shot for music festivals, and enjoyed an exciting career. But as I saw the world shift and how easily the system was to tip over, I knew the canvas had to expand again, that my vision could no longer afford to remain in entertainment. And that the art I made had to be functional too, like how my grandfather tended to his garden or my grandmother used to craft such delicious meals.
So I began to pivot yet again. I began to study and explore how to create systems that could support the most good for the most people, most of the time. I knew that my ideas weren’t new; I knew that people had been living a more grounded but fulfilling life for as long as civilization had existed and probably before. But something had happened around the 1940s that started to intentionally turn people away from deeper, more satisfying attributes of living and reoriented towards a more shallow and temporary type of gratification. The age of consumerism took hold of the American psyche and, by proxy, had planted its dubious seeds worldwide. And that has been, in my observation, to our collective detriment. So this next big pivot project for me is getting clear on the processes involved in deep and lasting personal transformation, not just as an individual but as a civilization. I’m always in it. I don’t represent or sell the notion of achieving some future goal, I think, the way other coaches, mentors, and teachers do. I help people rediscover what is possible in themselves and life generally. I help them sweep away the limitations imposed upon them by society, by past and current programming. The question is how to get better at helping others in that transition gap or even to recognize it when it arrives and how to scale that in a way that still meets people where they are. And when the systems of power and influence are doing their best to promulgate fear and division, help people see through that smoke screen and see the latent potential in themselves and their communities instead of seeing themselves as victims. It’s not to dismiss or excuse genuine perpetrators. The predator class is a real thing. But it is to reveal the multi-dimensional nature of reality, the nearly infinite ways to perceive a situation or circumstance, to alchemize it into something great. And once empowered by this new awareness, we find ways to reorient our compass and rebuild our communities in a way that optimizes our well-being and well-being in the context of our fellow beings. My fundamental question remains; Can we reorient “at scale” towards a more benevolent and biocentric set of values and maintain personal sovereignty? What are the guiding principles of a multi-dimensional universe, and how do we implement them within the dynamics of intentional, regenerative communities?
Because what we have been doing for almost 100 years was never a sustainable strategy anyway. If the notion of civilization is going to transition into something that will up-level the quality of life for those disenfranchised populations (not just materially but emotionally and spiritually) and be the thing so many of us know is possible. Then it has to come from the bottom up. It has to be grassroots and genuinely a movement “of the people” because historically, these things always end horrifically when thrust down from on high. This means that “influence” must be wielded not for the elevation of one group or individual. But for a series of ideas and values that prioritize individuals’ well-being who, once won to your cause, will trust that their perceived sacrifices for the sake of those in less fortunate positions are not some manipulative play by an elite class who sacrifice nothing. Or, worse yet, actually extract more for themselves, but an actual offering of faith in elevation in our shared human journey. And in that question was born the concept of my most recent project, the Pivot Project. This is an 8-week guided course coming up later this fall to help people pivot from whatever their current and unsatisfying life situation is into the one they imagine is possible and their hearts truly desire. And I have a group of amazing facilitators that I partner with who help and bring their specific expertise into the mix. It could be a big career shift you want to make; maybe you want to transition from city life to urban homestead or feel creatively stuck. Or your health is not where it should be, and you feel it impacts everything else in your life. Maybe you need a push to help transform a relationship or support ending it. Maybe your business needs a jumpstart or a remix to bring it back to life. I still work with select clients to make films, music videos, etc. I’m working on new music to release this winter. Building a profitable regenerative community model and the facilitation piece is what I help other people with a lot more these days. And what we’re doing in our 8-week Pivot Project Program is getting clear on what the “IT” is that needs to change and then creating a strategy and roadmap towards making the changes as effectively and efficiently as possible. The great part about that is that each project feeds into the other, and the community involved ends up being advocates and facilitators for each other as it progresses.
We all face challenges, but would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Anyone engaged in creative work that ignores trendiness seeks truth, and questions the dominant paradigm will struggle and face persecution, rejection, and censorship. In some cases, as has been the case throughout history, be eliminated for reminding us all of what our so-called authorities would have us forget. We never needed their permission to be the people we were meant to be.
But the more committed and clear one is about their cause, the less likely the so-called “sacrifices” required along one’s journey seem to matter. I’d say they become a vital part of the story. That’s what Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey is all about. Sure. I’ve had plenty of what one might call struggle. Being broke, homeless, a single dad struggling with childhood trauma from bullying, sexual abuse, inheriting learning disabilities, poverty consciousness, heartbreak, loss of those closest to me early on, loss of childhood to responsibilities not chosen by me. But required by a household with a single mom of 3. I mean, I think these are things many people deal with every day. And often far worse. I have had to learn not to bypass or deny these aspects of my life spiritually so they don’t metastasize into something ugly, but I am also clear that they do not define me. Only I get to define myself, not some group, not some government or corporate form, not some algorithm or set of standards meted out by people who died hundreds of years ago.
When I woke up, I realized that definitions and identities are tools for creating the world for yourself and your community you know is possible. My ego’s shallow ambitions no longer drove me. I was free of the guilt, the shame, the fear, and the dread of not being enough. It’s been hard won, but I feel like something called to me even from an early age. And once I became aware that by forcing my way through life, I was causing myself undue suffering and learned to harness conscious surrender, things changed dramatically. It’s like “the force” in Star Wars, the awareness that everything is energy, which is the precursor to everything we experience in the material world. And since the energy never goes away but merely changes form, a conscious person can begin to direct that energy. But being conscious and aware does not necessarily mean moral or benevolent. But “the force,” the energy, doesn’t care. It’s just raw material. The focused lens of consciousness is the architect.
I’ve had an amazing and adventure-filled life. I’ve been able to experience the world in ways often reserved for those with far more financial resources than I do. Some people may get lucky and fall into something and achieve things well beyond the effort they’ve put forth, but for most, it IS a struggle. But I have manifested those opportunities by being resourceful, creative, and thinking outside the box.
I realized early on in life that energy is our primary means of exchange in this world. And that energy can take many forms in be exchanged in many ways, well beyond that artificially created one (money), which generally dominates our thinking and life support systems.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As I referenced earlier, I’ve had many professional titles, including Musician, Filmmaker, Writer, Coach/Consultant, Photographer, Farmer, Tour Guide, Audio Engineer, Sales/Marketing, Entrepreneur, and Yoga Teacher. Still, in the end, I think of myself more as an artist, explorer, and philosopher. Because all that is raw material to tap into to create something new, that mindset is not limited to just the artist. Everyone can benefit from exploring life from an artist’s lens. The most interesting and influential artists have the broadest and most diverse life experiences or reference points to select from.
And that lens could be about realizing that if you’re not happy with your current life situation, you can pivot into a different one. Suppose you’re dissatisfied with something specific in your life, a job, a song you wrote, an art project, a relationship, a job, or a living situation. In that case, you can rearrange it, or if need be, you can scrap it and pivot it into something else that suits you. I used to take that thinking for granted, but now I realize what a gift it is when I see my clients access it and put it into practice. And how little it is given credit due in our culture. I think we suffer from a crisis of imagination.
But it’s also important to evaluate why something isn’t working for you because, more often than not, we create problems for ourselves by our lack of awareness of the subconscious forces driving us. These can come from our trauma and wounds hidden or suppressed or from our overexposure to manipulative outside forces whose whole existence is based upon re-orienting human consciousness and subsequent behavior en-masse. My musical background has given me what we call in the music industry “Big Ears”: the ability to listen deeply and hear what’s being said verbally and what’s being communicated non-verbally.
So I think that what sets me apart and the feedback that others have shared with me is my no-BS approach to dealing with challenges head-on and getting at the deeper, more eternal truths that often get lost in the distractions of daily life. My magic power is the power of perception, discerning energetics, and the ability to see the world and the human condition with all its external manifestations in a non-linear, non-materialist way. I guess that’s a convoluted way of saying I can read the energetic dimensions in people’s fields that will ultimately manifest their actual material reality. And I can shine a light on it so they can become the conscious director of their actions.
I think this permeates my work as a creative and a guide or facilitator when it is given full expression. Not everyone is open to that initially, but as I get clearer on my end, I find the people I attract to this work are more interested in going down the rabbit hole in a way that really gets at the root of our individual and collective challenges.
In the “normie” or the corporate world, I find that I’m good at helping my clients see resources in themselves and their immediate world, which have been there all along but that they could not yet perceive. And have remained neglected. Maybe I’m just the guy who pulls the curtain back for people so they can see that it is a play we’re engaged in. And we can decide what role(s) we want to have in that play.
We love surprises, fun facts, and incredible stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
In my early teens, I was determined to be in special ops in the military. I was considering the Army Airborne Ranger or Navy SEAL program and actively talking to a recruiter about it. At 15, I hired my mentor. He was an ex-Navy SEAL who had served in Vietnam. I had met him in an Urban Survival class he taught at my local Junior College. So working with him was me preemptively preparing myself for a life of combat in the cause of liberty. This is interesting because that sentiment, expressed radically differently, is still intact. But at that time, it was an excuse to form me into someone physically and emotionally untouchable. It was a way to turn my unrecognized trauma and rage into a career. Fortunately, my creativity began to open up through music and songwriting, just as I would be required to make critical and life-changing decisions like signing the dotted line and joining the military. I had second thoughts about it as I began to feel the catharsis of expression not through violence or combat but through art, poetry, singing, and music composition. And as someone who had experienced what they called then exercise-induced asthma, I realized I had a potential out without “losing face” on the day I was officially supposed to join the Army. So when the recruiter asked me if I had ever experienced the condition of “asthma,” I said yes, but it had been a while—not knowing how he would react or what protocol was in place for that situation. So I just surrendered to whatever the potential outcome was. If he’d said, ok, it’s been 3 years since your last asthma attack, you’re good, I would have moved forward with it. But instead, he stopped writing, put his pen down, and said, ” well, I can’t continue until you bring back a Doctor’s note.” I took that as a sign, you’re off the hook, boy. Now be an artist, and the rest that I would say was my first major pivot point in my life that I felt somewhat in control over even though I had surrendered that control.
Pricing:
- Pivot Project 8 Week Course-3k
- Your Life/Business is a Remix Strategy Sessions $180 per hour
Contact Info:
- Website: JonProphet.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejonprophet/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/thejonprophet
- Other: https://vimeo.com/547191452
Image Credits
1st Photo by Somsy Vejsiri fireside image – Richard Casteel Crystal Bowls – Chris Harvee
