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Not long ago, I was convinced personal branding was just ego. I thought it would distract from what really mattered - building incredible properties and experiences for our guests.
Boy, was I wrong.
Today I want to share why building a personal brand as a hospitality founder has been one of the most game-changing decisions I've made. And why you should consider it too.
Like many, I was hesitant at first…
I was heads down building Onera.
My cofounder at Oasi, who's absolutely obsessed with content and the reach that founder-led companies were getting, kept pushing me to start posting and building my personal brand.
I resisted for months.
But he kept pointing to companies across every industry where the founder's story was becoming inseparable from the brand's success.
He'd show me engagement metrics, revenue numbers, views and the trust that gets built when people feel like they actually know the person behind the business.
Eventually, his persistence wore me down and I started making daily content.
But, it was more discouraging than I expected…
I was seeing minimal traction despite putting in work day in and day out.
Everyone goes through this phase, though that doesn't make it any less frustrating when you're posting consistently and seeing single-digit engagement.
But I stayed consistent and kept testing different approaches.
I shared insights from building Onera Fredericksburg and attracting the modern traveler through leveraging social media to drive direct bookings.
Then, as we built Onera Wimberley, I shared the behind-the-scenes of that process too. Though looking back, I wasn’t documenting nearly as much as I should have been.
The momentum started to accelerate…
As my audience grew, I began to realize the power of what I was creating.
I was getting asked to come on more podcasts and to speak at leading industry conferences. More potential projects were coming my way.
We even started to get way more inbound clients for Oasi, our revenue management and social media marketing agency for hotels (exactly what we set out to do).
But here's what really surprised me–the inbound clients already felt like they knew me from the content they'd consumed.
The calls flowed much smoother, and we easily got over that initial hurdle of "why should I trust you with my property?"
Trust was already built before we ever spoke.
And most recently, my personal brand helped me meet the partner for my next landscape resort.
After Steve Turk saw what I was building with Onera a few years back, he invited me onto his podcast “The Hospitality Mentor.”
We became fast friends who happened to have similar visions of a tropical landscape resort.
Fast-forward to this year, we’ve partnered up to bring that exact idea to life.
And when we started raising capital for the project this month, we leveraged both of our personal brands to attract passionate investors.
But the power of personal brands for operators doesn’t stop there.
Social media has become one of the most powerful guest acquisition strategies in hospitality. And when you put a founder's face behind the property experience, it becomes that much better.
Social media was designed for people-to-people connections, not business-to-consumer transactions.
When your content features you as the founder sharing authentic moments and your vision, you're no longer a faceless hotel.
You're a person your audience can connect with.
When potential guests form this kind of bond with you and your property, they're not price shopping anymore. They're not comparing amenity lists on an OTA…
They've already emotionally invested in the experience you've shown them.
And they’re ready to book a stay at a property they genuinely care about.
While I didn't leverage this as much as I could have while building Onera, here are some amazing operators showing the power of this approach…
- Devon Loerop, The Pacific Bin
- Kimball and Christine, The Cliffs at Hocking Hills
- Travis Chambers, Outpost X
If you're on the fence about building your personal brand, here's what I did to start:
1. Document your journey authentically.
Share the behind-the-scenes of building or running your property–the challenges, the wins, the lessons learned.
People want to see the real process, not just the polished end result.
2. Share your insights and expertise.
What have you learned about hospitality, design, guest experience? Your knowledge has value to other operators and potential guests
3. Be consistent but patient.
The early days will test you - minimal traction despite consistent effort is normal. Everyone goes through this phase. The key is staying consistent and continuing to test different approaches.
4. Put yourself in industry conversations.
Podcasts, conferences, social media discussions. The more you show up as yourself, the more opportunities will find you.
5. Leverage the tools available.
Putting out consistent content is hard. Don’t make it harder trying to do it all yourself.
Leverage the AI tools out there to help you organize your thoughts, structure your writing and take some steps out of your content creation process.
Claude for writing and Perplexity or ChatGPT for research are easy ways to start.
The founder-led companies with compelling stories are going to be the ones that win. Not just in hospitality, but across every industry.
Your guests want to know who you are. Your investors want to understand your vision. Your partners want to work with someone they trust.
The time to start is now.
Exciting news for your hotel!
We’ve expanded the Oasi team to bring you the same strategies and expertise that fueled Onera’s success.
From boosting your social media presence and marketing strategies, to optimizing pricing and offering full-service property management, we’re ready to help your property attract the Modern Traveler and maximize your returns.
Fill out an inquiry here and let’s explore how we can work together.
See you guys next week!
-Ben Wolff
If you found any value from the newsletter this week, consider sharing this link with anyone who might be interested in navigating the future of hospitality: https://stayoasi.kit.com/bwnewsletter
P.S. - A handful of you guys have mentioned that you are missing my emails and they are getting pushed to other tabs in your inbox. Here’s two ways to avoid missing the weekly action:
- Move/ drag this email into your “primary inbox”
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📸 Looking to Learn More? Check Out My Daily Content on Instagram
🎥 Check Out My Episode on The Bigger Pockets STR Podcast on Redefining Luxury Hotels and Outperforming Traditional Hotel Models
🎥 Check Out My Podcast Episode on the Action Academy about Making Millions Through Direct Bookings
Ben Wolff
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