Global Change Agent, George Olokun, Impacts and Leads Millennials to Live Their Best Life When Creat
George Olokun, widely known as “Mr. Opportunity”, is a global change agent that is connected to the core of humanity, a socially conscious humanitarian, entrepreneur, globally recognized and nationally ranked speaker, and life trainer and best-selling author (with 4 published books).
He’s one of America’s leading millennial trailblazers and impacts the way those creating change live their lives. George is the Founder and Executive Director of the Next Big Thing Movement, a global non-profit social movement that has become the voice and platform for millennials around the globe.
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing him where he chatted more about his movement. Check out the interview below.
Growing up and still presently who are your inspirations?
My close friend and brother, Charles Parker, has been my source of inspiration in life and even more since he was murdered at 25-years old in 2012. It was his death that gave me a more refined outlook on life and pushed me to live outside of the box. I’m also motivated by Oprah, Deepak and TD Jakes because of the connectivity of our thought processes. More than those that I’ve named, I am motivated by my mother, not only because of the accomplishments of her life, but because she has always overcome adverse situations with a remarkable level of perseverance.
What influenced you to create the Next Big Thing Movement?
All my life, all roads have shown me the strength and power that collaborations have. More importantly, how allowing others to operate in their innermost abilities together, results in building great things faster. I’m reminded of an HOV lane, in order to navigate through traffic quickly, you’re required to have at least one other person in the vehicle with you. Our movement creates a platform that magnifies the journeys of others and builds a collective collaborative.
Since the inception of the Next Big Thing Movement we have provided millennials with a forum, social capital and tools to move their ideas forward. Our local, national and international platforms have propelled our mission and vision to higher heights as the birth place of ideas, plans and also as a strategic hub for cultivating the next big thing.
How did the idea of the NBT talk show come about? Where did the premise of pushing the conversation forward start?
NBTTALKS is a mix of TEDtalks and Oprah’s Master Class; an inspiring presentation. NBTTALKS is one of short, powerful talks where someone that has either reached their Next Big Thing or is somewhere along their journey comes to share their first hand experiences. In 2014, we had a normal meet-up of our members and we invited a guest to discuss his living abroad. In the midst of the empowering dialogue NBTTALKS was birthed and its grown rapidly since that moment.
How did you go about choosing your producers and executives for a show of this stature?
Producers and a team are very crucial to the group a platform like ours, so after many failed attempts to build the perfect team, it literally just fell into place. The right people plugged into the vision and help to move it forward daily.
You’ve recently announced your top 35 millennial influencers. What process do you use for this selection?
In honor of those “Moving Ideas Forward” and “ Making Humanity Better”, millennial influencers from around the U.S. working in technology, media, politics, education, finance, health, government, the arts and in other industries— have been are nominated by people from around the U.S., then a nominations committee selects the TOP 100 nominees, then that list of those selected from thousands of nominees makes its way to another committee of judges that votes on the TOP 35. Recipients are chosen based on their overall reach, influence, and purposeful engagement.
What are some special events and projects we should look forward to hearing from you?
On August 3, 2018, in Atlanta, GA, the Next Big Thing Movement will celebrate its 5th Anniversary with a Summer Black Tie Anniversary Benefit. Also our annual national conference, FORWARD Conference will take place in Los Angeles, CA –January 17-20, 2019.
Conference uniting millennial’s to create innovative ideas, formulate a collaborative ecosystem and connect with the parallel social responsibility we have to humanity across the globe. Attendees come to build a collaborative ecosystem, network with like-minded professionals, hear from industry leaders through our diverse array of talks and workshops, spend an entire weekend taking action, and implementing what they’ve learned with others who are ready to build!
Personally, I recently published my 4th book entitled “WHAT’S NEXT: A Journey To Self-Actualization” and am currently on a book tour for that book. In June 2018, I will launch the GO Foundation, to serve as a platform to develop self-esteem and feed the creative development of children from 3rd to 6th grade (Age 8 to 13).
In the near future I plan to have a nationally syndicated talk show. I plan to have written another two books before 2020, to travel to a majority of the countries in the world with a focus on humanity.
Any words of advice and wisdom you can offer to our millennial generation?
My belief is that anyone that is focused on building an empire understands or should understand that the strength of what they build can only be tested if it stands even when they’re not there to hold it up.
“There is no mountain too high, no light too bright, no journey too long when your passion meets your purpose” –MrOpportunity
Believe in your work even when others do not believe in your work. Any structure that is not build on a solid foundation will indeed fall down!
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