From Pain to Power: What I Found When Everything Fell Away

By Gina Dunn, Founder of OG Solutions

It’s funny what clarity really looks like.

You think it’s going to be a neat business epiphany. A breakthrough in your brand strategy. A moment of genius in the shower.

But mine came in the middle of grief.

When COVID hit, everything in the world felt like it was falling apart. Business slowed. Clients paused. And worse—my father passed away. Suddenly, the man who built our house with his bare hands—the most determined, resourceful person I’ve ever known—was gone.

And with that, something cracked open in me.

I realized I’d been holding together a version of success that looked good from the outside. I had the experience, the results, the reputation. But I felt numb. I was doing what I was good at, but not what lit me up.

So I stopped everything and rebuilt from my core.

Not from ambition, but from resonance. I started with my own voice. My story. My origin, my values, and the deep belief that what we build should sound like us—not like everyone else on the internet.

That’s when I created OG Solutions. Not just a brand consultancy, but a space where clarity means remembering who you are—not inventing a persona to represent you.

I began helping other founders do the same. Women who had always led from the background, ready to step forward. Visionaries who had never been able to find the right words. People tired of being told to sound like someone else.

We didn’t start with logos or color palettes.

We started with truths.

What do you really stand for?

What are you tired of pretending not to know?

What would happen if your brand sounded like your real self?

The answers weren’t always neat. But they were real.

That’s what I’ve come to believe: real clarity doesn’t come from marketing tricks or “endless tactics”. It comes from stripping away everything that doesn’t feel true, until the signal of who you are comes through loud and clean.

Losing my dad taught me that. He never needed to convince anyone of his value—he showed it. Every nail, every fix, every act of service. He built our house from the ground up, without blueprints. Just grit, instinct, and love.

That’s how I want to build. That’s how I help others build. 

From the ground up. From the inside out. From pain to power.

And now, when a founder sits across from me and says, “I don’t know what I sound like anymore,” I hold up the mirror. Not to reflect what they’ve lost—but what’s still there.

Because sometimes when everything falls away, that’s when we finally see what matters most.

About Gina Dunn

Gina Dunn is a brand strategist, founder, and marketing mentor who helps founders and teams move from confusion to resonance. She’s the founder of OG Solutions and host of the BrandedAF and Morning Cup of Brand Spark podcasts. Gina believes clarity is a form of power and when women reclaim their voice, everything changes.

Connect With Gina

www.ogsolutions.nl

Instagram: @brandwithgina 

www.linkedin.com/in/ginadunn