We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alexis Papachristos. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alexis below.

Alexis, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Oh, naming a business? EASY. Said no one ever. 😆

For me, Brand New You wasn’t just a business name—it was me rebuilding my identity. A rebirth. A moment of stepping into who I was meant to be—and giving others permission to do the same.

Back in 2023, one day I was popping confetti in my office, and the next? I was quitting my dream job with no backup plan.

Why? Because LIFE happened. Divorce happened. The unprocessed grief of losing my father happened. And through it all, I just kept going—showing up for everyone else, smiling on the outside, while feeling completely drained on the inside.

Deep down, I was burnt out. Running on fumes. Living on autopilot. Ignoring my own needs while putting everyone else first. On paper, I had checked all the boxes of success, yet inside, something felt WAY off.

So I did the scariest thing—I walked away. Not because I had it all figured out, but because I needed space—to heal, to reassess my life, my goals, my dreams, and to figure out why I felt so misaligned.

During my time of FUN-employment, I started journaling:

What kind of work would truly light me up?
What environments would I love working in?
What would make work fun?
What am I actually passionate about?
What business do I want to create?
And every time, I came back to the same thing—creativity, personal branding, business development, personal development, social media, and storytelling.

Personal Branding Changed Everything for me Right before COVID, I was hired as a sales rep—and then the world shut down. No networking events. No face-to-face meetings. No traditional ways of building relationships.

So, I LEANED IN on building a personal brand. #ALEXISOPENESCROW

I used social media to generate business, build an online network, and earn trust from new clients—without ever meeting them in person. By showing up authentically, people got to know me personally, which led them to do business with me professionally.

That strategy not only grew my business, but it also landed me my dream job—leading a 300+ agent real estate office.

…The same job I eventually walked away from.

Looking back, Brand New You was literally built because I had to rebuild myself. It’s the result of everything I learned, LOVED, lead me to succeed a “top producer” status in my previous careers—blended with my passion for helping others show up confidently and authentically in their own industry. .

Now, my mission is simple: helping YOU create a personal brand that feels aligned, authentic, and powerful. Because when you step into your Brand New You, the right people will notice, trust, and want to work with you.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up in Stockton, CA, in a big, loud, proud Greek family—the kind where everyone knows everyone and Sunday dinners are non-negotiable. But if I’m being honest, I always felt like the black sheep. I was a college dropout who, at 26, moved to San Diego on a whim with no real direction in life. I didn’t have a traditional career path or corporate experience—just a string of jobs working in small family businesses for an hourly wage.

Then, something unexpected happened—I landed a sales rep position at an escrow company. No formal training, no background in the industry. Just a woman who knew how to connect with people and was willing to figure it out. My “interview” consisted of the company owner telling me:
“You’re cute. You’ve got personality. You start Monday—if you want the job.”

That job changed everything. It was my first salaried position—and my first exposure to the world of sales, business development, and personal branding (though I didn’t know it at the time). But despite the opportunity, I had zero training and no roadmap for success. I was flying by the seat of my pants, desperately trying to figure out how to build relationships and generate business. There had to be a way…

Fast forward to 2018, I moved back home to Northern California when my dad became extremely ill. I had no job, no plan, and no idea what was next.

Through my sister’s connection, I landed a sales supervisor role at PRADA—an environment that was fun, fast-paced, and full of energy. But after a year, I was recruited by a title company in Elk Grove and officially stepped into the world of real estate business development.

I started my new role at First American Title in October 2019—just five days after my wedding. And I made one thing clear from the beginning:

“I want training. I want to know how to generate business. I want to know how to be successful.”

And you know what I got? A laptop, some business cards, and a two-hour sit-down with my manager. That was my training.

I was terrified of being fired because I didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing. So, I did the only thing I knew how—I figured it out myself.

That hunger for knowledge led me to my first-ever business conference, where one sentence changed my life:

“BRANDING IS EVERYTHING.”
That one sentence led me to build my personal brand in 2020 when the world shut down.

With shelter-in-place orders, I had to find a way to generate business in a market I didn’t live in, with people I had never met, when face-to-face networking wasn’t an option.

So, I showed up online.
✔️ I shared both my personal and professional life.
✔️ I created content that let people know me first, before deciding to work with me.
✔️ I became KNOWN in a community I didn’t even live in.
✔️ I built trust, visibility, and engagement without ever leaving my house.

I wasn’t selling my services—I was sharing me. And that changed everything.

I became obsessed with learning about business, marketing, and branding.

I joined every virtual training, webinar, and workshop I could find—especially the ones hosted by Keller Williams. They weren’t just teaching realtors how to sell homes—they were teaching them how to build a business. And I realized:

📌 Business principles are universal.
📌 If realtors could generate leads, hold appointments, market themselves, and grow their business…
📌 So could I.

So, I took everything I learned, applied it to my career, and became a top producer in my company.

Then, an opportunity came that I NEVER saw coming: I was asked to run a Keller Williams brokerage with 350+ agents.

Keep in mind—I wasn’t even a real estate agent.

I built my career, my knowledge, and my reputation from scratch—all because I was willing to learn, apply, and share what I knew.

After two years in leadership, I found myself at another crossroads. I had gone through a divorce and still dealign with unprocessed grief of my father’s passing. And suddenly, my dream job didn’t feel like the dream anymore. My life didn’t feel like “mine” anymore.

I had to ask myself:
“What do I really want?”

So, I took seven months off to just BE. To uncover what the next chapter of my life would look like.

And in that space, I realized—I wanted to build a business around the things I LOVE.
✔️ Being creative.
✔️ Helping people gain clarity—personally and professionally.
✔️ Social media marketing.
✔️ Storytelling.
✔️ Photography.

And a few months later, Brand New You was born.

At Brand New You, I help entrepreneurs, business owners, and professionals craft an authentic, unique brand identity that helps them connect with their audience by being themselves to generate new business opportunities.

🚫 No more overthinking.
🚫 No more confusion on what to post.
🚫 No more hiding behind “business mode” and losing who you are.

I help turn your story into a brand that attracts the right people, builds trust, and generates business.

What I Offer:

🌟 Personal Brand Build
A deep dive into who you are, what you offer, and how to position yourself as a brand that stands out. I’ll craft your brand story, define your messaging, and create a blueprint so you can confidently show up online.

📸 Photography & Creative Direction
From professional headshots to lifestyle branding shoots, I capture the visuals that make your brand come to life.

📱 Social Media Management & Content Strategy
I take the stress out of social media by building a content system that works for YOU—so you can stay consistent without the overwhelm.

🚀 VIP Days
A full day of 1:1 intensive strategy and execution where we refine your brand, create content, and build out a business plan that ties it all together.

🎤 Workshops & Corporate Bootcamps
I lead live workshops and training sessions on personal branding, social media, and business growth. Perfect for entrepreneurs, real estate teams, and corporate offices.

💡 Consulting
For business owners who want ongoing guidance to refine their brand, marketing, and business strategy.

What Sets Brand New You Apart
Unlike traditional marketing agencies, Brand New You focuses on personal branding as a self-discovery journey—helping clients get intentional about:
How they show up.
What they want to be known for.
How they want to be remembered.
What they want to connect with others on.
What would excite them to create marketing around.
How can we tie in all of the elements of the human and business without friction

The goal is not to create a version of you that fits into a mold—the goal is to amplify who you already are in a way that naturally attracts the right business opportunities.

When you stop trying to “be” something and instead lean into who you already are, you:
✅ Attract aligned clients effortlessly.
✅ Stand out in your industry without forcing it.
✅ Build long-term trust with your audience.

Brand New You helps business owners turn who they are into their most powerful marketing tool.

What Clients Get from Working with Brand New You
🔹 Clarity on their brand identity—what they stand for, how they communicate, and how to position themselves in the market.
🔹 Confidence in their online presence—knowing what to post, how to show up, and how to make an impact.
🔹 A structured content plan—eliminating the overwhelm of social media by providing a roadmap that makes execution simple.
🔹 More business opportunities—from increased visibility, trust-building, and authentic engagement.
🔹An ally. A partner. A cheerleader. An advocate. A coach.

What I Want You to Know
1️⃣ You don’t need to have everything figured out to start building your brand.
2️⃣ Consistency is the real key to success—not perfection.
3️⃣ Your personal brand is your biggest asset—people do business with people, not just companies.
4️⃣ You can absolutely build a business and a life that excites you.

Six years ago, I was just a person with a someday dream. Today? That dream is a business I helping with people things I LOVE and designing a life on my own terms.

And I want to help YOU do the same.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I think as humans, we always need to be ready to expect the unexpected—the last six years of my life have certainly taught me that. As Tony Robbins says, “Problems are a sign of life,” and “Change your expectations for appreciation, and your entire world will change.”

I don’t expect the world around me to be perfect. Instead, I’ve learned that as a business owner, partner, friend, daughter, and human, my ability to adapt is what carries me through. Life doesn’t always go as planned. There are highs and lows, victories and setbacks. What I’ve learned is that I don’t have to control the circumstances—I just need to equip myself with the right mindset, tools, and resources to move forward in the best way I know how.

It feels like I’ve lived multiple lifetimes in the last few years since moving back to Northern California from San Diego in 2018.

Here’s just a cliff notes version of what’s gone down in the last six years:

From not having a place to live… to owning a home.
From getting married… to getting divorced… to dating again.
From watching my dad go from seizures to stability… to hospital visits… to living in a nursing facility—on repeat for three years.
From thinking my dad would be at my wedding… to realizing he wouldn’t make it.
From picking out my parents’ burial plots… to picking up my wedding dress on the same afternoon.
From burying my dad… to finding joy again in the midst of grief.
From being unemployed… to working at PRADA… to First American Title… to Keller Williams.
From making a $18/hr to making the most I’ve ever made in my life in 18month
From knowing NOTHING about business… to people asking me to RUN theirs.
From not being a real estate agent… to running a brokerage of 350+ agents.
From landing my dream job… to realizing I needed to quit to take care of myself.
AND that whole COVID & shelter-in-place thing.
Oh yeah, and I had to deal with a huge mold fiasco in two homes.

Phew. That was a lot.

But here’s the truth: I believe every single challenge happened FOR me, not TO me. When you learn to accept “what is” in the moment…there’s a peace within you.

Every twist, turn, and unexpected pivot has shaped me into the person I am today. And if there’s one thing I know for sure? Life will continue to throw curveballs—but I’ll continue to pivot, adapt, and move forward.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I showcased the real me—everywhere.

I’ve always believed in showing up authentically and consistently, whether it’s in a social media post, a workshop, a coaching session, or even an email. There’s no “online version” of Alexis versus the “real-life version.” Who I am in my posts is who I am in person, is who I am in my business, is who I am when I’m teaching. I type how I talk, so people will hear my voice in their head when they read my stuff. That alignment creates trust.

The real secret to building a strong reputation? Consistency.

You will build ANY reputation you are CONSISTENT with. So the real questions become:
Am I intentionally building a good reputation?
Am I unintentional building a bad reputation?
What do I even want my reputation to be?
Do I know what associations people even have with me?
What do I want to be remembered for?
How do I want to connect with others?

For me, it’s never been about “trying” to be something I’m not. My goal has always been to come from contribution, share my knowledge, and help others get results—whether in branding, social media, or business strategy.

When you lead with authenticity, serve with intention, and genuinely care about the people you’re helping, building a strong reputation in the marketplace becomes easy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thealexispapa.com
• Instagram: @alexispapa | @brandnewyou.byalexispapa
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apapachristos/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexispapachristos/

Image Credits

Viceth Vong
https://vicethvong.com