Into the metaverse from corporate stalwart to NFT influencer

Anyone who has been brave enough to wade into the alternative universe that is the NFT space knows that there are a multitude of different races, ethnicities, backgrounds, qualifications and professionals that make up the industry. In fact, the NFT space is often a place where professionals who want to do something daring, who want to reinvent themselves, often turn. Just as in traditional business, there are people of all skills who are paving the way forward and innovating in this relatively new world. Mr Wizard (WlZARDNFT) is such a person.

NFTs have the potential to change the way we trade in goods, services, cash and legal documents. For example, in Florida, there is already a push to NFT-ify the title deeds to houses and the legal documents associated with them. Currently, however, the vast majority of NFTs are art-related projects created by visionary designers, sold (or minted) to raise funds for various business and creative ventures. NFTs, like art, simply make sense. A token that one holds that acts as a stake in that project’s future – and it comes with a cool piece of art attached to it.

Mr Wizard, AKA Kal McKay, is one of those professionals who recognized an opportunity in the NFT space for some of his skills. In the NFT space, Mr Wizard is a senior visual designer and metaphysical creator. He is Senior Visual Designer at Legends.io, where he creates design solutions and experiences for brands and the public. He specializes in art, creativity, interface design and graphic design.

In real life, or IRL, as NFT executives would say, Kal McKay was creative director at Onica, a cloud computing solution. He spent his 20-year career creating design solutions for, but not limited to, Canadian projects, Onica, Rackspace, USA Politics and more. Not exactly the career path you might expect for someone who now calls himself a “metaphysician” who goes by the name Mr Wizard.

Now as Mr Wizard, Kal McKay has over 180,000 Twitter followers, 100,000 Instagram followers and a legion of diehards on Telegram. Mr Wizard is what you would call an influencer in the NFT area. He delivers NFT news, prices and showcases via his platform, NFT MAGAZINE, he organizes NFT design competitions, and organizes art competitions. All this while giving cash from his Twitter account to the tune of thousands of dollars.

In a burgeoning industry, where today’s nobody can be tomorrow’s superstar, there isn’t a person alive who can’t make his mark. Those in the creative fields have a distinct advantage over the competition (apart from the programmers) because the NFT space, as it is, is hyper-creative. Not only must visual art and written content be a staple of most new NFT projects, it takes a bit of a visionary to recognize the potential that lies beneath the tumultuous surface of this industry.

“My passion is to create beautiful things where nothing existed before,” Wizard said when asked about his role in this brave new digital world. This is probably the right attitude to have if you are a professional looking to make the transition to the blockchain. Be bold, be creative, be brave, be determined – and success will follow.

Editor’s note

I asked Kal what a metaphysician was. He told me, “a metaphysician is one who activates self-awareness through visual art and strategic enlightenment.” I thought it sounded pretty cool.