About Heritage
We help leaders tell great stories.
Who We Are
Heritage Brands is a team of strategists, producers, and guides, dedicated to helping leaders leverage expertise & increase impact in the digital age.
We help experts articulate and publish their thinking in ways that drive marketplace authority and revenue growth.
Our work exists at the intersection of expertise and storytelling. We unite the latest thinking in content marketing with proven strategies in sales techniques and deep expertise in platforming to help our clients “put themselves out there” better — in ways that help them stand out from their competitors, find better new business, and become more profitable.
Core Values
Story — What You Say
We believe that what you say about yourself and your business or brand matters. We believe in effective positioning, and in the articulation of your message and your expertise in media and formats that work for you and your audience.
“You contain multitudes.”
— Walt Whitman
Strategy — Why You Say It
Without an effective strategy guiding your efforts, your work will fail to achieve the desired impact. Creating the right strategy is always worth the investment.
“Begin with the end in mind.”
— Simon Sinek, Start with Why, 2009
Excellence — How You Say It
Our clients expect excellence from us, we expect the same in return. Our aim is tactical excellence in all of the actions that flow from our strategic thinking.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
— Aristotle
executive leadership team
Franklin McGuire, Jr.
Founder + Managing Partner
Franklin’s journey into executive visibility began when a leading public figure approached him for help crafting a digital persona and online reputation in advance of a major election. The project was a success, and Heritage Brands was born.
Franklin is a veteran of the US Army, with extensive experience in leadership, e-commerce, and entrepreneurship. He graduated first in his class from The Citadel, and is currently completing a JD/MBA from the University of South Carolina.
Johnnie Matthews
Partner + VP of Operations
Johnnie Matthews began his professional career early, starting a band in high school that later signed to Atlantic Records. He has helped run a recording studio and a record label in Charleston, SC, and served as Director of Marketing for a large multistate franchise group. In addition, he has led marketing teams for the Department of Defense and helped launch a successful branding agency.
Natasha Walstra
Partner + VP of Strategy
Natasha joined Heritage Brands as a senior partner in January 2023 after serving as the Senior VP of Business Development at Forbes Books, where she was responsible for helping business leaders and authors determine the best strategic methods for growing their industry authority through thought leadership, authorship, and executive visibility online. She is a native of Palo Alto, CA and has worked in tech, 3D printing, and LinkedIn consulting and coaching, and is an expert in book publishing and authorship strategy. She has lived abroad extensively, and has native-level fluency in Spanish.
Thomas McGuire
Operating Partner + Chief of Staff
Thomas left an active-duty Army career as an Airborne & Ranger-qualified infantry officer in 2022 to begin scaling CIVVIESUPPLY, a premium military and patriotic apparel brand he and Franklin launched in 2018. Thomas led the DTC e-commerce brand to achieve sales in all 50 states and multiple foreign countries, wholesale relationships with nearly a dozen major military museums, and official trademark licences from the US Army, US Navy, US Air Force, and US Space Force.
He brings expertise in leadership, management, and problem solving to the Heritage Brands team and enjoys working behind the scenes to ensure positive client outcomes.
Start with a personalized Strategic Roadmap™
We are here to help you define your goals, clarify the vision for where you want to go, and build a plan to get there.
The Strategic Roadmap™ provides you with a personalized, executable 12 month content strategy system that will guide your journey toward becoming a more Visible Executive™.
