Your broker is wrong about what “professional” looks like in 2025.

While they’re telling you to stick to market updates and just-sold posts, the agents who are thriving are the ones showing up with coffee in hand, kids in tow, and zero apologies for being human beings who happen to sell houses.

In this episode, Chelsea and Kayla are tackling a question that keeps coming up over and over: “How do I add personality to my brand without looking unprofessional?” They’re breaking down exactly what personality means in marketing terms, why your “boring” small town actually has the best content potential, and how to handle pushback from brokers who think professional means playing it safe.

The Mental Blocks That Keep Real Estate Agents Playing It Safe

This question keeps coming up over and over in our community: “I’m starting to share my personality, but I’m feeling unprofessional. What’s the balance?”

Let’s start by getting clear on what personality actually is, because most people think it means being really funny or outgoing or having some big, bold energy. But here’s the actual definition: personality is the unique and relatively stable patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviors that characterize the way an individual interacts with the world.

Notice what’s NOT in there? Humor. Video skills. Being an extrovert. Dancing on camera. None of that.

The word that should jump out at you is patterns. It’s not about the one perfect post or the one amazing story. It’s about the patterns you create through repetition in your brand.

But here’s what we think is going through most agents’ heads when they hear “add your personality to your brand”: I’m not interesting. What’s interesting about me? This has nothing to do with real estate. I’m here to get clients, not to get popular or find friends. What’s the point?

Sound familiar? We get it. When “personal brand” feels like this massive, intimidating mountain you have to climb, it’s easy to talk yourself out of even trying.

But it’s really not as scary or complicated as it sounds! In this episode we explore various real-life examples of successful personal brands, some huge, others small, and break down exactly what you need to know in order to build your own.

Let’s start with one of the big examples.

The Taylor Swift Strategy

Taylor Swift is one of the biggest icons and singers of all time right now. But what if she only shared graphics about her vocal warm-up methods or songwriting techniques? What if she only shared clips of herself singing in concert?

Is that what people want? Absolutely not! We want the tea. We want to know what her cats are doing today, what lipstick brand (and shade!) she’s wearing, how are things with Travis, where they’re going.

And do any of those things make us take her less seriously as a professional? Not at all.

That’s what has built Taylor Swift’s brand. If she only showed herself in the studio or only appeared at concerts, she would lose so much of that fandom. The Swifties wouldn’t exist because they want to know what she’s like after she gets Lasik eye surgery.

We want to see the behind-the-scenes, real-life stuff. We don’t want the paparazzi photos that end up in E! News. We want the authentic content. After Travis won the Super Bowl, there was a TikTok video of them at a club in Vegas that people went absolutely wild over because it was authentic video from her camera. Her parents were even in it.

Here’s the key: You can be polished AND have personality. They’re not mutually exclusive. In fact, having personality can make you seem more polished because people actually know who you are. You’re not just hiding behind graphics or templates.

Think about food creator Olivia Noceda. She posted a video titled “Dinner for One” — just pasta poured into a bowl of cottage cheese. But her voiceover explained that this was her comfort meal growing up, something she and her mom would eat when her dad worked late. Then she mentioned she was going to watch Love Island while eating.

What if that content had just been a photo of noodles with cottage cheese and the recipe in the caption? You might screenshot it, but you wouldn’t think, “OMG, I love her. I want to watch the next video.” When Chelsea found her account, she spent 15-20 minutes binging all her videos because they had personality.

When we say personality, it can be as simple as showing yourself in the content. That’s personality because no one else can be you in a video.

How Sharing Your Personality Actually Builds Trust

The whole point of branding is to give people something to relate to, something they see themselves in. This is why it’s non-negotiable for real estate agents anymore. How many agents are in every community? Thousands. If you’re going to stand out, you have to do a lot more than send a postcard every month.

Having a personal brand doesn’t just start and end with social media. It includes your email marketing, how you present yourself at closings, how you show up at showings, where you meet people, the experience you give your clients…

If you’re thinking this feels daunting or “I’m not that interesting,” here’s a secret: You already have a brand. You’re already making people feel a certain way and connecting with them over certain things. You just need to pause, take note of those things, and figure out how to lean into them.

Take Kayla’s example. When she mentions reading books and watching football games, to her, it’s just a Friday night — no big deal. But those are the exact moments where you build connection and create talking points that people want to know about.

We have to stop believing the lie that no one cares. People absolutely do care.

Here’s another way to think about it: Show people what happens after they become your client. Paint the picture of what it’s like to work with you. Most agents create content about the “dreamy future” of homeownership, but they rarely show what literally happens right after someone decides to work with them.

What does the first week look like? Where do you meet them? If someone wants to buy a house but doesn’t have a go-to agent, they’re wondering: Do we meet at your office? A coffee shop? Do you come to their house? How quickly do things get going?

Take Bryann Buhl as another example. She often shares content about meeting new clients over wine, or she’ll say, “Do you want to meet for coffee or even better, a glass of wine?” She has posts showing two wine glasses while talking about listening to her client’s dream home needs.

In a world where everyone is templating and trending and trying to be the most polished version of professional, the agent who shows up with personality is the one we trust. The people we trust are the ones we relate to — the other mom with kids the same age, the person we love to golf with who’s in the same phase of life as us. Those are the people we want advice from because we feel like they understand us. They get it.

You Don’t Need to Live in Nantucket to Create Amazing Local Content

This brings up something that can really trip people up: sharing your version of local. A lot of agents get hung up on “What should I share that’s local? My town’s too small, too big, too boring, too whatever.”

Here’s the thing: Share the things you are actually doing. Don’t try to be the Google version of your city or the ChatGPT version of your city. Be the version of your city that you’re actually living.

Talk about where your family always goes for the 4th of July. Share what you love to do in the summer in your city. Show your date night go-to with your spouse. This can all be in stories — you don’t have to make your whole feed about local content.

For all the small town girls reading this who think there’s nothing interesting about where they live — small towns are actually the most interesting places sometimes! Kayla grew up in a small town and now lives in another small town as a transplant. Some of the things their community does crack her up.

Case in point: There’s a band in their town made up of some parents from her kids’ school and other locals who do really great cover songs. They play at this place called Portside Pizza by a tiny lake. The place is nothing fancy, but it’s packed every time this band plays. What do they do? Jump in the neighbor’s Suburban, get babysitters for the kids, and spend forever singing along to covers of songs. The band members are like their own small town celebrities.

This is what people who live there or people who want to move there want to know — where everybody’s going on a Saturday night in the middle of summer. They want to know about that place where they can hear music coming from.

Chelsea’s example reminds her of the Chicken Box from all the Elin Hilderbrand books — it’s this dive bar in Nantucket where everyone goes for late-night music. Even Nantucket, which is absolutely beautiful and would be an amazing place to create content, has a Chicken Box. Everyone wants somewhere to hang out at night, and it’s not glamorous or fancy or anything special. It’s the fact that it’s local. That’s what people forget.

Think about Chelsea’s grandma who lives in Guthrie Center, Iowa. There is literally nothing there — there’s a cemetery, a school, a gas station, and a pizza place called Bread-Oh Pizza that their whole family loves. They’re always like, “Can we get Bread-Oh pizza when we go there?” But even though there’s seemingly nothing there, Chelsea loves it. If she lived there, she would have so much content to create.

She wouldn’t feel like, “Oh my gosh, this is so boring.” She would constantly talk about the same places and lean into it. She would get Bread-Oh pizza for her clients and deliver it on closing day. She would go to the local grocery store for champagne to celebrate with clients.

You have to lean into what’s there and leverage it. Don’t feel like you need something more exciting or glamorous. The magic isn’t in having the most Instagram-worthy spots; it’s in showing your authentic version of the place you actually live and love.

Two Simple Exercises to Get Unstuck 

If you’re sitting there thinking, “But I really don’t know what to share about my town,” we’ve got two exercises that will completely shift your perspective.

Exercise #1: The 30-Place Challenge

This comes from BTL Copy: If you think there’s nothing interesting in your town, write down 10 content ideas for your exact location. If you can’t think of 10, write down 30.

Here’s why this works: If you’re trying to think of 10 and you can’t, you’re probably overthinking it. But if you literally cannot leave where you’re sitting until you think of 30 things in your town, you’re going to think of 30 things.

This exercise works for everything. If you ever feel stumped about what to put in an email, what should go in your bio, what content to create, write 30 ideas. Force yourself to get past the obvious answers and into the real, authentic stuff.

Exercise #2: The Camera Roll Audit

Open up your camera roll and look back, not just the last year, but the last two or three years. Look at the kinds of things you’re actually taking photos of.

When Kayla does this, she sees tons of photos by the pool in summer, getting ice cream, football games in fall, Disney trips in winter. When you start to see those patterns, that IS your brand. Through that process, you’ll notice local things too — how many times you take pictures of your kids at the park, going to Portside Pizza, whatever your regular spots are.

When you start looking at what you’re actually stopping to photograph, that’s probably a signal that those things should be included in your brand.

If you’re someone who doesn’t take many pictures, look at your calendar instead. What have you done in the last month? Where have you gone? What events do you always attend?

“But My Broker Says I Need to Be More Professional”

Let’s play devil’s advocate for a minute. What about agents who say, “My broker wants me to be more professional” or “My broker thinks I’m not being professional enough”?

Chelsea’s first response? “Tell your broker to come talk to us. I’ll give you my cell phone number.” (She’s kidding… mostly.)

But seriously, with anything like that, you need to bring them receipts. You need proof. Here’s what you tell them:

“What we think is ‘professional’ is actually alienating.”

Ask your broker: “When you’re scrolling on social media, what did you just stop on last? Was it someone’s message about how to hire an attorney or get your next insurance agent? Or was it a post about your favorite football team or the local band playing this weekend? And why did you stop there?”

Or try this: “In a different industry (not real estate) who did you go to when you wanted a financial advisor? Was it the guy you golf with, or was it the billboard you passed on the highway?” It’s typically never the billboard.

Social media was never designed to be a sales pitch tool. It is a marketing tool, but it’s designed to be primarily SOCIAL, as the name suggests. It’s designed for connection.

Here’s what Mr. Broker needs to understand: Most people we know aren’t moving right now, but everyone we know knows someone who is. So how do we get those referrals and make you, Mr. Broker, more money? It’s not going to be through alienating people with content that isn’t relevant to their lives.

The agents who are winning are the ones building relationships and trust through authentic connection, not the ones hiding behind corporate graphics and templated posts.

What Wendy’s Can Teach Real Estate Agents About Building Community

Here’s a perfect example of why personality in business works. In 2017, someone was trolling Wendy’s on Twitter, making fun of their “Fresh, Never Frozen” slogan. Instead of ignoring it or giving a corporate response, Wendy’s engaged like a real person.

The troll said, “We all know we laugh at your slogan, fresh, never frozen, right?” Wendy’s responded, “No, they really don’t. It’s how it is.” The guy shot back, “So what, you deliver it raw on a hot truck?” And Wendy’s replied, “Where do you store cold things that aren’t frozen?”

When he said, “You guys should give up. McDonald’s has you all beat,” Wendy’s delivered the perfect response: “You don’t have to bring them into this just because you forgot refrigerators existed for a second there.”

Everyone was retweeting it like crazy. Even the guy who was trolling them came back and said, “Okay, that was really good.” Through that exchange, they created a brand voice and community.

Here’s what’s wild: Wendy’s net income at that time was $129.6 million, but in 2017, it went up to $194 million. People started going to Wendy’s, retweeting them, engaging with them, keeping them top of mind because they responded personally and like a human instead of the typical “We’re sorry you were unsatisfied with our service” corporate speak.

Here’s what agents can learn from this: Wendy’s prioritized creating culture and community first, which is exactly what a personal brand does.

Agents should be sharing their day, their local finds, and relatable behind-the-scenes moments. Something as simple as showing a photo of your laundry basket and saying, “This will sit here all week.” People who relate to you will think, “OMG, me too.”

Mix real estate tips with personality. Build trust and familiarity so people think of you when they’re ready to buy or sell. This doesn’t mean you have to be funny. It means you have to be human.

Here’s a simple test for your next post: Ask yourself, “Would I actually say this? Does this build trust? Would I want to work with this person?” If you’re thinking, “Well, I don’t know,” then maybe it would be a good idea to redesign it.

The point is this: professional doesn’t mean boring, templated, or hiding who you are. Professional means trustworthy, reliable, and real.

And the most professional thing you can do is help people feel like they actually know you before they ever need your services.

Your Homework

We could honestly talk about this for another five hours, but let’s wrap this up with some homework that will actually change how you show up online.

Here’s what Chelsea wants you to do:

Open your phone and make a to-do list for tomorrow. Even if you don’t usually write things down, even if you think your day is boring — write down everything. If you have a dentist appointment, if you have a closing, if you’re picking up pizza for your buyers, whatever it is.

Some days are not glamorous, but there’s still something there. Maybe you’re going to swim lessons. Maybe you’re meeting someone for golf. Put it all on your list.

Then show the things from that list in your stories. Even if you go to the dentist, put it on there and tag them (or mention their name if they don’t have Instagram). But don’t just post randomly; give some context. Say something you like about it: “We love this dentist for our kids because they have TVs and make it really fun and play good music.”

This strategy will help you get out of your shell and take away the excuse of “I don’t remember to take content.” You’re going to do it tomorrow. Tomorrow’s Wednesday (or whatever day you’re reading this), and you’re going to take the content.

Maybe you’re making mac and cheese for dinner because you had a busy day with soccer. Take a picture at soccer and talk about how you’re doing an easy dinner because soccer goes until eight. Then share your mac and cheese: “It’s actually really good when you put sriracha on it.”

This will help you figure out what resonates because people respond to random things. You might notice people always engage when you share what you get at Trader Joe’s, or when you post from that local coffee shop, or when you’re at soccer practice.

That’s when you think, “Okay, I’m going to lean into that because I do it all the time anyway and it’s part of my routine.” You don’t have to force it to be part of your brand — it should feel natural.

If you’re still thinking, “But girls, I need clients. I need to sell houses” — listen up. We’re not telling you this to make you look cool on the internet. We’re telling you this because this is how it’s done.

If you want clients, if you don’t want to be on a hamster wheel chasing two-week closings and taking anyone who will hire you, if you want a business with systems and boundaries that allows you to have a life, this is how you do it.

It’s not fluffy. It’s strategic, and it’s the long game. This is how you get clients for life.

That’s how you build a business you’re obsessed with instead of one you dread. And that’s exactly what we’re here to help you do.

This episode was edited by Adrienne Cruz.