Amber, tell us a little bit more about yourself and what you do.

My name is Amber Weghorn and I’m the team lead of The Weghorn Group. It’s a small, real estate team in Cincinnati, Ohio. We primarily deal with residential real estate as well as buying and selling investment properties.

How were you feeling about your brand and your business before the Brand Plan?

Overwhelmed to put it lightly. You could say disconnected. In this industry, there’s a lot of advice that’s given to agents about how to market and how to run their business. It just didn’t kind of sit right with me at the time. didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like that was the right way to connect with clients and potential clients. And not really the way that I wanted to run a business. 

So, what about the Brand Plan that caught your attention?

It felt much more like what I was after. I wanted to run A heart-centered business and not so much of a, ”hey, look at me” business. I wanted to put clients first and not necessarily numbers.

That was what drew me to you. The way that you brand yourself, but also the advice that you give, I think it comes from that place that I was searching for.

What stopped you from taking action when it came to your marketing in the past?

I was just confused. Confused a lot about how to do what I envisioned and from hearing the typical advice that was given, I wasn’t sure where to start and was very overwhelmed with like, how do I merge the two?

Mainly like a not let’s start until we figure it out mentality. 

It’s scary to start something when you’re not really sure what you’re doing. And you’re going against the grain of what has been done in your industry up until this point. There’s a real fear in the gut of like, am I crazy? Am I crazy for having this idea and is it going to work or am I going to look like a fool? Basically.

So thinking about that place of being overwhelmed, of being nervous and scared to launch your perspective into the world.

What were some other things before the Brand Plan that you tried to use to solve that problem?

I followed a lot of thought leaders in this kind of space for a little while. But none of them offered what the Brand Plan offered. It was just bits and pieces here and I was trying to piece it all together and I’m not good about being like, oh, that’s this idea, and over here’s this idea, and let’s put them all together.

It was difficult and just wasn’t working. I had ideas and bits and pieces, but I wasn’t able to really stick it together wherever it made sense. 

The Brand Plan gave me the whole puzzle. It forced me to put the pieces together, but it didn’t leave me to do it on my own, which I appreciated. It was a real guide on how to build what I wanted to build. 

The big aha: It’s okay to run a business on your core values

I knew that was what I wanted to do. That’s more of what resonated with me, my heart, and the vision I had for this business. But that’s not the advice that we were given. In the real estate industry, it’s actually quite the opposite. In a lot of ways, this industry doesn’t have the best reputation. A lot of us are trying to rebuild that, but it’s difficult. 

The Brand Plan helped me really hone in on what those core values were for the business, but also personally because I’ve never sat down and taken the time to think about that on the level that the Brand Plan asked me to.

What was the thing that caught you off guard about who you became throughout the Brand Plan and the transformation that you were able to receive?

So in the brand plan, there’s a section where you go through strengths. And I’ve always felt a little different from a lot of people because I have a very easy time seeing things five, ten, fifteen years in the future, but I have a hard time with the day-to-day.

Through TBP, I realized that one of my strengths is being a visionary. And that being okay, like knowing that that’s my strength and like I don’t have to be good at all the things.

It didn’t really make sense to me before then, that that was a strength. I always thought of it as a weakness because I could see the big picture, the forest, but I couldn’t see the trees. And if you can’t see the trees, you’re just bumping into things.

I felt like that’s a lot of what I was doing was just bumping into things and nothing really sticking until I was able to accept that that’s my strength and it’s okay.

It just felt validating.

How is The Brand Plan still impacting you and your business today?

It feels very much like I’m still doing the Brand Plan in some ways. Thinking back on the journey, so much growth. Not only in my business, but personally, has happened because of the Brand Plan. I love it. 

I refer to it all the time. I keep a copy of my Brand Plan workbook with me pretty much everywhere I go and it just helps me to think through decisions that I have to make in the business to make sure that I’m making them from a place that resonates with the business and with the clients that I work with and the clients that I’m trying to reach.

It still very much informs my daily decisions about where this business is going and the vision for it. I keep it very near and dear to my heart.

It’s been so helpful, like so insightful. What you have done with the Brand Plan is for anybody who’s trying to build a business and is feeling overwhelmed or in a rut or stuck or not sure where to go, I’m telling you, take the brand plan. Because it will force you to dig deep and get the answers that aren’t just going to solve your problems right now, but the ones you’ll use for the whole season of your business.

Okay, so a little insider look for those of you who don’t know, Amber. She’s currently in the process of launching the outward representation of her brand. Brand photos, website, copywriting.

How has the Brand Plan helped you in the process of establishing that visual brand with the new website, copy, and brand photos?

When I first got in touch with the copywriter she was like, tell me a little bit about your brand and I was able to essentially hand her my brand plan and say – here’s everything you need to know. And it was already so detailed out and she’s said “You’ve clearly done some work”. 

It definitely helps with vendors because I’ve already thought about the questions that I know they’re going to ask because of the Brand Plan. And it gives me the confidence to be like, no, that doesn’t resonate. Yes, this resonates. 

The Brand Plan forced me to really dig deep and think about core values, strengths, the vision and I try to use it to inform all of those decisions so that it’s cohesive, and that we’re sticking to the true vision and who we are as people, not only in the business, but as humans, because that’s super important to me. I never want someone to see my online business or my, you know, in person and be like, that’s not the same person.

I think that’s part of the deterioration of my industry is there’s a divide there and clients can feel it and I don’t think it feels very authentic for them and then the trust factor breaks down.

What would you say to someone who is on the fence about joining the brand plan?

Take the brand plan. Don’t pass go. Don’t collect $200. Take the brand plan. You will thank yourself after. It’s gonna be a wild ride if you fully commit, but I think it’s necessary work. And I love that it’s a guide for the whole journey. 

I’m super grateful for everything the Brand Plan has done, and for everything that you’ve done for my business. I really appreciate that you lend your gifts to my business. Not only with photography but with your branding advice and your guidance, it’s made a world of difference for me. It’s affected the way I show up as a team lead, the way that I show up for clients, the way I show up, really as a mom and a wife, and even on a personal level because it really forced me to think about the things that really matter.

They don’t just matter in business, they also matter in your personal life. It’s been a journey that I’m just super grateful for.