Branded | Innovative Real Estate Moguls, The Lugos

For the rare indulgent late afternoons, you'll find Stefanie in her midcentury kitchen. Slowly mixing a lemon and rosemary bourbon sour together for a *friendly* game of exploding kittens, savoring it on the couch with Bryce, and Frank Sinatra playing in the background.

Most days, you'll find these two who were named Scottdale Area Association of REALTORS® (SAAR) 40 under 40, jetting around town to appointments, checking up on a remodel, or at their office clicking away at their laptops. The real estate moguls left their cushy finance jobs after a whirlwind office romance bloomed into love and a startling realization that they wanted to build a life together that offered them both more freedom and flexibility.

After months of both of them feeling unsatisfied, Bryce came home one day with a real estate textbook and a cocktail napkin plan for what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. His grandfather was an agent after all, and his finance degree didn't hurt, and if he took night classes after work for the next ten weeks, he'd have an activated license before Christmas. All he needed was his new bride's approval. Would she join him?

Two weeks before Christmas, Stefanie and Bryce were handing in their two weeks' notice at their corporate jobs. But it wasn't all smooth sailing for the entrepreneurial pair. Like any transition, it was tough. The move from corporate life, where each step you take is choreographed by management, to the shift towards entrepreneurship where every element of your success or failure lies on your shoulders was a shock the newlyweds weren't prepared for initially.

In real estate class, they learned absolutely nothing about what it took to run a business. They knew legal jargon, basic math, and how to write a contract but couldn't answer questions like Where will our business come from? or How can we leverage our strengths to connect with the right people who will become buyers and, eventually, sellers?

But with time, they did learn what it took to run a business and how to answer those questions. They learned how to wear many hats-one of them being "therapists" since much of what they do is stewarding a buyer or seller through the emotional process of transacting real estate. One day it's helping a young couple find their first home to start a family in. Another, it's selling a 70-year-old woman's house as she transitions into long term care. And yet another time, it could be understanding why a problematic client is obstructing every part of the transaction process because they don't want to let go of the emotions and experiences associated with the property. Real estate agents don't do a great job of conveying the depths of emotion that are involved with the cycle of homeownership, but Stefanie and Bryce know it's quite profound.

And they built a thriving business full or ravenously loyal clients on that foundational knowledge. Their clients feel like family, and they routinely "go to bat" for them to make sure they get exactly what they need. The kind of impeccable concierge service that will get them on the Valley's top 1% this year. But it's the personal connections that they're forming and getting invited to things like client baby showers that they find the most rewarding...

Along with the cliche answer of getting to work with each other.

"So, how's it like working with your spouse?"

I ask Stefanie this with a quizzical brow and a little prod expecting a fountain of complaints. She pours an extra glass of the cocktail and slides it across the island slab motioning towards me.

I sip.

Stefanie smiles and answers, "Truth is, it's pretty awesome working with Bryce. We get to work together towards a common goal, with the plan to create this life we desire together. I get to see first hand how his strengths come into play to help others in stressful situations, and he gets to see my creativity up close when I create things for our clients or colleagues. When we experience failures, we have greater context because we are both involved in the situation and can help each other find the best way to grow from them."

She stirs the ice cubes in her bourbon and finishes, "I think we have greater empathy in our marriage, and we are forced to have more communication around things we struggle with. It's truly been a blessing to our marriage. So ya..it's pretty awesome working with Bryce."

Like the Lugos, I wear many hats in my profession. And when Stefanie emailed me, I wanted her to know that I wasn't just a headshot photographer, but that I'm a story taker. I knew Stefanie and Bryce had a story to tell, and I wanted to get to the heart of what that story was going to be.

As a brand photographer, the bedrock of what I believe is that you have something unique to offer to the world. My job is to provide you with images that tell your story so that you can post them to attract the people you dream about to your brand.

Together with Stefanie and Bryce, we worked through the initial introductory consultation and creative brainstorming and conceptualization for their branding session with me. We co-designed the perfect story branding sessions to represent their brand and add depth to who they are, and I guided them through session strategy and planning.

From the beginning, I sent Stefanie my Feeling Camera Confident PDF, and I worked to make Stefanie and Bryce comfortable in front of my camera.

"We do not respond well to 'Look cute and snuggle!'" Stefanie joked in our email correspondence, but as you can tell from these photos, the two are complete naturals. No direction was necessary ;-)