Mónica Gundlach—Licensed Real Estate Saleperson
Serving the families the market overlooked.
Mónica Gundlach is a licensed real estate agent, born in Bolivia. She has lived in New York for the past 11 years. There, she's built her name guiding Latino families through buying and selling homes, in one of the city's most competitive markets.
nearness
approachable
professional
trustworthly
Inside the project
Client location: New York, USA, North America
Project tasks: Strategic Advisory, Brand Creation and Squarespace website
Brand Creation & website development: María Fernanda Ayala, SAADLI® — Casa Creativa
Creative & Strategic Direction: María Fernanda Ayala
Copywriting & Animations: Sandra Voltinaer & Héctor Terreros
Mónica Gundlach—Licensed Real Estate Saleperson
Mónica Gundlach is a licensed real estate agent, born in Bolivia. She has lived in New York for the past 11 years. There, she's built her name guiding Latino families through buying and selling homes, in one of the city's most competitive markets.
→ INDUSTRY:
REAL ESTATE AGENTS
→ YEAR & LOCATION:
2024, NEW YORK- USA
→ SERVICES:
1:1 MENTORING MERAKI , BRANDING KIT & CUSTOMISED WEB DESIGN
▪THE CLIENT
Serving the families the market overlooked
Monica Gundlach is a Bolivian living in New York. There she began her career as a secretary, finding her vocation in the real estate sector. With effort and dedication, he became a certified real estate agent.
On that journey, she noticed that many Latino families with good incomes were not getting the attention they deserved due to market biases and decided to focus her work there.As a Latina, she understood her needs, but her personal brand needed to communicate not only that, but professionalism and trust.
* 01/ 1:1 MENTORING MERAKI
Building the real estate business model focused on growth and autonomy
Before starting the sessions, I began reviewing the information gathered and developed the "Situation Map" — the starting point for figuring out where she could grow, and the overall business plan that would let Mónica stand out among her colleagues.
In the first of the four sessions that make up the MERAKI mentorship.(a.)
a. The first working session — the two of us, going through it point by point.
I worked on the actions that would let her develop the ideas she envisioned, looking at competitors, opportunities and risks to define where to grow.
From the consumer's side, I explored her client's real needs and developed ways to offer personalised support, strengthening relationships built on trust.
SESSION OF DISCERNMENT
The business model had to reflect Mónica's own values and principles, while also letting her grow in stages. To do that, each stage focused on four areas — Financial, Positioning, Administrative and Strategic — covering the risks that come with her kind of growth. I also designed new business lines to generate income beyond buying and selling property, so Mónica wouldn't depend on a single source, but could grow in more than one direction.
I also brought in a social responsibility angle, given her interest in sustainable housing. I helped her communicate that clearly and take part in local initiatives, strengthening her ties to the community along the way.
MÓNICA GUNDLACH BUSINESS MODEL SITUATION MAP
* 02/ BRANDING KIT
The difference is found in the small details
WORD MAPPING
With the information gathered before starting the design, I began with a word mapping exercise to expand the key terms and find the best ground for the brand to grow in, aligned with the business model already in place. The dominant word was NEARNESS, and from it came Professional, Approachable and Trustworthy — all of it fitting well with the brand archetype: The Human.
As for the monogram, I knew from the start that, being a personal brand, a vowel or consonant from her name had to be the starting point. I went back and forth between the M, G and O, looking for whichever gave me the most freedom, and one with no existing monograms in her industry. That's how I landed on the G, choosing a serif typeface inspired by New York's newspapers, and sketching it from scratch. What I most wanted to convey was closeness, so I worked in a circle at the base of the letter's closed counter.
THE GENESIS OF IDENTITY
Where branding visualizes the idea linked to the business model.
From Sparse Signals to One Direction
Building her personal brand had to be honest, sincere and close enough to break the barrier between her client and the usual stereotypes of the real estate industry. She knows that feeling of not belonging, of not being a native speaker, better than anyone — and that's the key to all of it. I set out to find something that could tie Mónica's own adjectives, principles and values to the vision behind her business model, without losing that sense of belonging.
b. Fifth Avenue, New York, 1969. No name attached to the photographer — just a photograph old enough to have outlived whoever took it.
That's how I found, in a public archive, the palette and starting point the brand needed(b.), alongside New York's newspapers, still one of the go-to outlets for real estate listings.
For the verbal identity, I worked with language that steers clear of technical jargon, focusing instead on the dream: that owning a home isn't far-fetched, whether or not you're a native speaker.
That alone removed one of the buyer's biggest objections, building a brand anchored in something more than looks — in the why, and in how it feels.
SERIF TYPOGRAPHY
WHERE DIRECTION MEETS DETAIL
Stationery as an anchor — where belonging becomes tangible
BUSINESS CARD DESIGN
One of the great virtues of branding is to turn the intangible into something tangible.
In this case, the same idea can be touched throughout the stationery. The design of the business card breaks with the traditional. I gave priority to closeness, so I began with a sentence that forms part of his narrative, “I started answering phones in a language that wasn’t quite mine yet. Today, I open doors in the one that was always yours. Let’s find together the place where your story finally settles.’’ This isn’t just closeness, it’s real empathy — and that’s where a personal brand stops being a logo and starts to feel like someone.
Here is a sample of the external communications envelope design. Sobriety should not always be boring, it can have the fun that is part of Monica's personality and this is reflected in the graphic resources found on the flap.
As for the texture, no hand repeats the same stroke twice — so this texture can't be remade the same, even if you try. In this case, I decided to put aside the closeness and let Monica's judgment and professionalism speak for itself. A work where shading technique, blurred with the finger and cotton showed that although the process takes time, Monica will always be following from the first contact until the delivery of the house.
PRESENTATION OF THE APPLIED TEXTURE ON STATIONERY
* 03/ CUSTOMISED WEB DESIGN
The debut of the web -Where the criterion is continually built
A website focused on customer acquisition and facilitating the process.
In an industry where trust is everything, I built a website that does more than inform — it lets her commitment and professionalism come through. It turns her story, her values and her principles into something people can actually feel from the first click, helping them understand who she is, how she works, and how she can support them through one of the biggest decisions of their lives.
For those still deciding, I added a booking system that lets clients confirm home visits directly, along with a form that quietly filters serious enquiries around the clock — no ad spend required, just the site doing its work in the background.
01.3.1···
HOME PAGE - DESKTOP
BOOKING FORM
A form on the site quietly filters serious enquiries around the clock — gathering exactly what Mónica needs, while making sure every candidate meets the government's requirements before she even picks up the phone. No ad spend required, just the site doing its work in the background.
BLOG PAGE PRESENTATION
Her authority builds through consistency — showing up, day after day. The most reliable way to stay visible without depending on social media algorithms is a blog, where she covers topics based on what her clients actually care about, touching on the real doubts a buyer might have. The goal is for her personal brand to carry real authority, built through the judgement she's shown, case by case — that's what sets her apart from everyone else in the space.
YOUTUBE CHANNEL
When it came to social media, she decided to work with Pinterest for the organic reach it brings, and, as part of her business model, laid the groundwork for a YouTube channel — still under construction. Each part is organised to look clear, reliable and easy to use, reflecting her personal brand and speaking directly to Latino families, who look for clarity, guidance and confidence throughout the process.
Website features and techniques
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Developed on: Squarespace
Version: Squarespace 7.1
Type of plan purchased by the client: Business
Website type: Authority Framework (Signature Website)
Maintenance: The website is managed and updated by the client.
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Smooth Scroll Navigation
Hero Image Parallax
Lightbox Gallery
Hover Reveal en secciones clave
Fade-in Animations en contenido
Sticky Header minimalista
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Integrations: Newsletter with MailerLite, booking system with Acuity Scheduling, Analytics.
Optimisation: Basic SEO, optimised image loading, mobile-first design.
▪EVIDENCE
Real Estate Lead Generation through Website Design
Within two months of launch, the site had already generated 12 Open House bookings straight from the contact form — no chasing required, visits turned into real conversations on their own. With a clear structure and a warm tone, the site began building trust from the first click, something Mónica saw reflected in her own sales. More than a showcase, it became something that worked for her every day, freeing her up to do what she does best: close deals.
PHOTOGRAPHIC DIRECTION
NARRATIVE THEME
▪ BEHIND THE CURTAIN
Brand design & Website development: Creative House by María Fernanda Ayala
Copywriter: Sandra Voltinaer
Animations: Héctor Terreros
Creative & Strategic direction: María Fernanda Ayala
