We had the good fortune of connecting with Chris Shoemaker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
A business’s brand is their public image. A well branded business clearly presents what it has to offer, engages its audience, and draws positive connotations so that potential buyers or clients maintain favorable impressions. The best brands are the ones that come instantly to mind when a consumer has a need. I wanted to create a strong brand, and I wanted to scale awareness quickly. The most important factor of my success in doing this is deciding to, and followed through on, going all in. 100%.

I did not rush into branding. Honestly, it can be a little intimidating to try to brand yourself or your business or idea. It feels a bit personal, almost like you’re making yourself vulnerable. Everyone has seen spectacular branding failures from corporate America, especially on social media. My going “all in” started in the preparation phase. I studied brands that I noted as similar to what I wanted to define mine as. I even contacted some of the folks behind the brands I admired to ask questions. The cool thing was that they were all happy to be able to lend a hand. I read books about branding. I listened to podcasts and watched YouTube, including countless hours of Gary Vaynerchuk, Tim Ferriss, Malcom Gladwell, and others.

Once I had outlined the similarities in branding strategies of those I had been following, I felt I had found common denominators. Successful branding efforts by small businesses tend to have these things in common. A strong social media presence, but not a pushy one. Generous and genuine posts, not salesy or corporate feeling. A trendy logo that compliments the message you’re trying to send, but isn’t too loud or too complicated. Well branded entrepreneurs who had scaled their brand’s presence quickly had gone all in. They do not nine to five their brand, they attach it to who they are. On top of that, it seems to come completely natural to these entrepreneurs because they obviously loved what their businesses and consumers and felt they were providing a real value to them.

It’s more than business cards, a logo, and handing out swag items. It’s offering real value to people. It’s letting your consumers see a little bit into your life to understand who you are and what drives you. It’s relating to your consumers and marketing relevant, helpful, or even funny campaigns to stay top of mind. You know the junk mail you through away yesterday? Don’t be those companies. Be the brand that people want to tell people about because they know you are a genuine, helpful, grateful for the opportunity type of small business with a real person on the other end of the transaction that has a passion and skill for what they do. That is what I wanted to achieve, and to do so, I went all in.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
One of the things I find interesting about my job is that no one really goes to college to get a degree for it. To my knowledge, no degree program even exists to become a residential home loan professional. To enter the field, it’s mostly on the job training. In my role specifically, there’s both federal and state licensing requirements that come with required formal classes, though these classes are through private providers, not colleges or universities. As I see it, there’s a significant and unintended benefit here. The individuals that have somehow landed in this career have all followed fairly unique paths in doing so. Instead of a cookie cutter education or promotion path, the folks working in residential mortgage finance tend to have past careers, various educations, and different skill sets. I am partial to believing that this is good for the industry. I’ve met so many people with such great insights due to their various paths into the field. I myself am degreed in Political Science, as in college I thought I might want to end up in politics. Then I went into the US Army where I was a Engineer Officer. After all that, I ended up in the home loan business by happenstance. In fact, at several points in my career I considered leaving the field entirely. It could have easily gone the other way more than once. It’s been so far from easy that most of my family and friends who actually know the extent of the work I’ve put in think I’m crazy. But at nearly 10 years deep in this wild, aggressive, and deeply rewarding career – they’re beginning to understand. I’m now able to hire employees. I can share stories of families I helped that others couldn’t. I can document wins upon wins for my clients, my team and myself. There’s been constant challenges, and I’ve really learned how to embrace learning the hard way. When it gets tough, I lean in. I believe people appreciate that.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Dallas has made me look like a super host because it has something for everyone who comes to visit. Living in uptown, it’s easy just to walk about and have a great time, to eat great food, and see some of the best things about living in Dallas. But I also have to take everyone to places like Bishop Arts, Deep Ellum, and White Rock Lake. My parents were recently visiting and I took them to the Star in Frisco, to eat at a couple great restaurants in Highland Park, we saw the stadiums in Arlington, and even spent a day over in Fort Worth visiting the stockyards. Had they stayed another week, I would have easily been able to entertain them with more fun and unique things. Dallas is incredible in that way.

Website: rdhloans.com/chris

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechrisshoemaker/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-shoemaker-6136a676/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thechrisshoemaker/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR9xjwK367IabJUbeDs7qCA

Other: Nextdoor – https://nextdoor.com/pages/shoemaker-mortgage-team-dallas-tx/ Google (with all reviews) – https://g.page/rdhloans_chrisshoemaker?gm 360 West Profile – https://360westmagazine.com/mortgage-professionals-directory/chris-shoemaker/

Image Credits
Photos by Adrean Indolos

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