mac ryan

Rusty hired me with the intention that neither of us knew what we were doing but figured together, we could probably figure it out between both of our strengths. We did 2 calls a week for 8 months. I made a janky excel calendar we operated from until we moved to Asana to try to manage our own process better. It started off as homework and accountability to complete what he was tasked with. It didn’t always all get done, but it grew into both of us understanding what Rusty was really after – He wanted to be known in the video space, loves shining the light on others, and also wanted to have more interesting conversations with other entrepreneurs. But that started by developing ideas, together, and creating better content.

We figured out that challenges served best at pushing the envelope to “just create” rather than hyper focusing on each piece. Constant feedback meant that he finally had someone dedicated to looking at his work and seeing it for what it was. He focused on the technical, and I focused on the visual. He shot multiple angles and acquired more gear, while I taught color grading, developing a greater story and brand awareness.

the real shit

We did a Brand Refresh for Rusty Gates in a way that depended on typography and allowed long term growth by adding whatever new venture he decided to the end; always belonging to the greater Brand of RG. With that in mind we created his second company outside of Real Estate; Rusty Gates Media. With a photoshoot planned and shot, website guidelines, and brand growth plan; it meant we set a foundation to better visuals and accountability for him in this new space.

Completing the Media company venture and focusing on profitability for RGM meant we could gain room in a second wave of capabilities. Leveraging his sharpened skill as a videographer and desire to have “conversations with interesting people” (I need to relocate that quote) meant that we could bring the Houston Made Podcast to life. We advanced our ideas to creating a design brief for the brand, hire designers. Then elaborating on our long-term goal of sustainable profit, we created space in the site to support the ask of sponsorship; created internal collateral.

Through strategy calls and monthly challenges, 8 months of work to developing better habits on content creation, ideation, and looking at a quarterly goal view down to weekly tasks meant we were able to measure what was/wasn’t working and then adjust accordingly. Working with a smaller team meant our voices had greater impact when making changes.

results | outcomes

Brand Identity
+  Rusty Gates Media
+  Houston Made Podcast

Brand Photoshoot
+  Creative Direction, Hiring Team, Content Development

Rust Gates Media
+  Website Guidance, Outline, Updating with refreshed Brand Elements

Houston Made Podcast
+  Partnership / Outreach plan
+  Hiring design team + lead Podcast Graphic development
+  Social Campaign Launch: Plan, Content Creation, Priority Schedule

Outcomes | Deliverables

Understanding that having multiple creative passions can be liberating from daily tasks and 9-5 job titles; it also leads to fatigue without direction. The Rusty Gates brand hinged on “I have so many ideas and don’t know where to start…Doing so many things well with little effort, means I don’t feel I do anything GREAT”. He needed a partner to see the greater potential and glean an action plan that understood the multiple creative lanes he desperately wanted to explore.

Challenge

A Real Estate means to a Creative End

RUSTY GATES MEDIA

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