Podcasts about when leigh

Welcome back to another episode with Dr. Leigh George. In the last episode, we discussed what branding is, why it's important, and some of the benefits along with Leigh's career, failure, and value-based pricing. In today's episode, we'll discuss the steps for creating a successful brand along with knowing when our brand is working, being in control of our brand, mistaking branding for visual identity, and some examples of successful brands.   Steps for Creating a Successful Brand   Here are two steps to create a successful brand.     Know Our Audience and Brand Narrative     The audience is arguably the most important part of having a successful brand. Leigh recently met with a startup that needed branding help. She asked them some questions and learned that they didn't have a problem they were solving for. They had a business idea, something they thought would be cool and useful, but they didn't know how it was going to make their audience's life easier.   “To be a successful brand, there has to be something at stake for your audience, some challenge that they're faced with that you can help them overcome,” Leigh said. We have to find the intersection between what is motivating the founders and what the audience cares about. That intersection is the brand narrative; it is the story of how our business can help our audience.     Create a Brand Manifesto     Once we know the narrative of how our business will help our audience, it is time to do our brand manifesto. A brand manifesto, purpose, or mission statement acts as an emotional representation of our brand purpose. It's a rallying cry that crystalizes why we're here and what we're here to do.    Nike has a great example of a brand manifesto. It reads, “Nike exists to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. Our purpose is to move the world forward through the power of sport—breaking barriers and building community to change the game for all. *If you have a body, you are an athlete.” (Source: purpose.nike.com)   Anyone who works at Nike could read this and be excited about what their company is doing. They likely feel like they are helping bring inspiration and innovation and are helping break barriers and build community.   Our manifesto should unify our company and our brand, so we're all working towards the same purpose. It should bring us together to accomplish the same goals. It should also resonate with our audience and be something they want to support.   How do we know if our branding is working?   To know if our branding is successful, we have to talk to people, customers, and non-customers alike. We need to survey them to learn what they think of when they hear our name. We need to ask them to tell us about their last experience with our company.    Through getting out there and talking to people, we'll be able to learn about the general perception of our brand. What do people think of us? How do we come off? What are we known for?   Once they answer these questions for us, we can determine if their answers are in line with the vision we had for our brand. Are we aligned with our manifesto? Do our customers see us working towards our purpose?   If their answers match the vision of our brand, great; we can keep doing what we're doing. If not, we likely need to do some rebranding. Rebranding must happen when there is a disconnect between how the company sees itself and how the world sees it. It usually happens when there is new leadership or a new vision for the company.   Do we want to be in control of our brand?   There are some people out there who think that branding doesn't matter. They think we can just throw some text up on our website without creating a real logo or thinking about the company's image. They think we can make just as much money without worrying about any of that.   Perhaps we can make just as much money, but that isn't the important part. Leigh said, “Even if you commit no resources to a logo or colors or messaging, you will have a brand. Because if you don't create it, the public will.”   The question then is do we want to be in control of the brand? It will be created regardless of what we do, so do we want to have a say in how our company is perceived? Do we want our brand to just be black text on a white background? If we're going for a minimalist image, then that might be a good option, but if we want to be known for something else such as creativity, it won't be a good option.   Our branding and our design choices create expectations in our audience's minds. If we don't control our branding, we don't control what our audience expects from us. We want to take charge of those expectations and tell our audience through our image and communication what to expect from us.   Mistaking Branding for Visual Identity   One of the biggest mistakes Leigh sees companies make is treating their branding like a cosmetic exercise. In 2021 many companies such as Pfizer, GM, and Burger King have come out with new logos, colors, typography, etc. This can make it feel like a fashion trend or a seasonal look.   To Leigh, branding is more about what you stand for. It can be expressed in visuals, but Leigh said, “You shouldn't reduce your company to a look and feel because then that sort of cheapens your value to a certain extent.” Instead, we should focus on the narrative behind our business and manifest that story in our design.    Examples of Well-Done Branding   Here are a couple of brands Leigh and I discussed that do their branding very well.   Uncle Terry Smells   Leigh recently got a candle from a company called Uncle Terry Smells. She usually doesn't buy candles because she isn't really a candle person. She doesn't like clutter, and she isn't sure what the point of candles is. However, when she saw Uncle Terry Smells' social media posts, she became obsessed.   The company has a blue and orange color palette and they curate images from pop culture, kitsch culture, and high and low culture with the same color palette. Leigh said, “The brand was so much about identity and appealing to a certain kind of person. And I was clearly that kind of person because I was just totally drawn to that imagery. . . . This brand ostensibly sells candles, but they could sell anything because the brand is so clear and so strong.”   This brand speaks to a very particular audience. They're not trying to appeal to everyone. Their voice is very specific, and it's like a beacon to their people. You either get it or you don't. We don't have to try to attract everyone into our audience. In fact, it is better if we focus on a specific group of people who we know will love our products or services.   Apple   Apple is all about creativity and innovation, and they just happen to sell computers. The strongest brands have a very distinct point of view and we're never going to confuse them with another brand. Apple is very distinct; they aren't afraid of being different. Just like Uncle Terry Smells, they've committed to who they are and they are never going to waver. They don't care that there's a whole group of PC buyers out there because they know who their audience is.   When Leigh was in college as soon as she could save enough money, she bought a Performa Apple computer. She's bought Apple computers ever since. To write her dissertation, she bought the Apple Cube computer, which she still has because she thinks it's beautiful even though it doesn't work anymore.   Apple has created an audience that may even be loyal to a fault. We're counting down the days until the next MacBook Pro comes out. We're willing to pay more even though we could probably get better computing power for a cheaper price somewhere else. Leigh said the number one reason to have a brand is that we can charge more. People are willing to pay more for the brand they love.   Key Takeaways   Thank you so much Leigh for sharing your stories and insights with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:   The first step to creating a successful brand is knowing our audience. A brand manifesto should unify our company and resonate with our audience. If our audience's perception of us doesn't line up with our vision then we may need to rebrand. If we don't actively create our own brand, it will be created for us and may not line up with what we want it to be. Branding is more than visual identity, but it can be expressed visually. We should focus on the narrative behind our business and manifest that story in our design. Many successful brands don't try to appeal to everyone. They pick a specific audience and focus on them.   Connect with Leigh   To learn more about or connect with Leigh: Connect on LinkedIn or Twitter Visit her website at Find-Freedom.co.    Next Steps   Do you want to take your digital monetization to the next level?   Get a free ebook about passion marketing, and learn how to become a top priority of your ideal customers at PassionMarketing.com.  Subscribe to Monetization Nation on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, our Facebook Group, and on your favorite podcast platform. Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/how-to-create-a-successful-brand/ 

A huge chasm has opened up between companies and consumers. Many businesses think we're still in the 20th century in an attention economy; they think they're competing for as many eyes on their company as possible. They think they can gain sales from simply blanketing the media with enough messages.    Technology, customers, and businesses have moved past that splatter approach to marketing. Instead of trying to catch the attention of every consumer we can, we should create a personal brand to target our products and services towards a specific niche audience. We need to be designing our products and services to bridge the gap between business and people.   One thing that can help us bridge this gap is branding. But what is branding and why is it important? In today's episode, we'll discuss this and other things Leigh George has learned in her career such as the small moments, failing forward, and value-based pricing.   Dr. Leigh George is the founder of Freedom, a strategic branding and marketing un-agency. She worked as vice president at Ogilvy for over 20 years, and she helps marketing teams eliminate noise, gain clarity, build consensus, and develop actionable strategies to reach and persuade customers. Leigh has a Ph.D. in branding, making her one of the very few people in the country with that distinction.    What is branding?   Branding is often confused with visual identity: logo, colors, typography, etc. Leigh explained that a brand is more than that. A brand is why we started our business in the first place, answering these questions: Why are we doing this? What do we stand for? What's the purpose of the business?   The reason we started our business can't be that we want to make a million dollars because our customers don't care about us making money. The purpose doesn't have to be a social purpose, but our customers should be at the center of our purpose.   Once we know the purpose, our brand should be the story around that aim. Our brand should show how our purpose relates to what matters to our customers, a central challenge that they face, so we can show the impact we can have in their lives.   Our brand should be there from the very beginning of the business. It isn't something we tack on later to make selling easier. Once we know our brand we can express it through things like logo, colors, tone, products, services, etc.   Why is branding important and what are the benefits?   “Your brand should act as a foundation and a touchstone for every business decision,” Leigh said. Should we develop a new product? Is it in line with our brand? Should we open an office? Is it in line with our brand?   A brand helps us differentiate from someone else who's selling the exact same thing. It sets us apart from the competition. Customers have many alternatives to choose from, including alternatives that aren't in the same space.    For example, if someone is shopping for a car, an alternative could be taking public transportation, riding a bike, walking, carpooling with someone, or living somewhere they don't have to worry about transportation. “If you don't have a brand, then it's very difficult for someone to weigh why and how you're valuable to them versus an alternative,” Leigh said.   Branding is also important for our company internally. If our purpose is just to make a bunch of money and our employees are making minimum wage, they won't have anything to believe in, and they'll feel like they don't have a purpose within the company. Branding creates something our employees can be excited about. It can give them a reason to wake up and come to work every morning. It can help them feel like they're making a difference because they have a greater purpose in their work than just a job.    Customers are the Disruptors   Sometimes in companies, we are so focused on our own products or services, but customers are the ones who are able to disrupt industries. “If you think about Apple, or Blockbuster, or any of these case studies that people tend to turn to as examples of big technology, innovation, or disruption, what's behind that is really a change in customer behavior that was just accelerated by technology,” Leigh said.   This is an idea that Leigh is super passionate about. In everything she does with the companies she works with, she strives to develop a deep empathy, understanding, and interest in her clients' customers to really understand how the customers' passion intersects with what is unique and special about the brand.   Leigh's Entrepreneurial Journey   When Leigh was in graduate school, she thought she was going to be a professor. However, over the course of her studies, she became fascinated with the branding work of the companies she was studying. She also felt that academia could be isolating and separate from the rest of the world, so she redirected her career towards branding.    Leigh made a big pivot, working at many different agencies, big and small. She got to a point where she felt the agency model was not keeping up with the needs of clients. Agencies were more interested in their awards, their egos, and talking about themselves. “To me,” Leigh said, “my job is to help clients improve their business, help them change the perception about the brand, help them get more attention, help them attract and engage and spur action among customers. So it's really more about clients than it was about me.”   One night, Leigh was complaining about this to her husband, and he said, “Why don't you just do something about it instead of just complaining?” So Leigh started her un-agency, using that word on purpose to show that it is different from traditional agencies. For example, unlike most other agencies, she doesn't bill by the hour so that she can focus on the value of the work and build strong relationships with her clients without either of them worrying about tracking time.   The Little Things   The moments in Leigh's career that she's most proud of are when she is able to see the difference she's made for her clients. One of Leigh's clients was a global company. One day, she was presenting to the company's president and board, showing them the findings and analysis from some customer research she'd done with the marketing department. The presentation went well, and as Leigh was leaving, the president ran down the hall after her. He had a look of wonder on his face, and he said, “Thank you so much. That was so valuable.”   Leigh also remembers a time when she was working with a different company, and a member of the marketing staff told her, “You've hit the nail on the head. It's like you reached inside our brains and you intuited exactly what makes us us. I'm already imagining how I'm going to be using this.”   For Leigh, these small moments are the best moments in her career. She can see that she's helping people and making a difference in their companies. Sometimes we get caught up in having big results or making big changes, but we need to remember to appreciate the small things too.   Failing Forward   Leigh believes in what she calls failing forward. She said, “Anytime something doesn't go as planned or goes sideways, to me it's a moment to reflect and say, ‘Hmm, why did that happen? What does that allow me to do or not do?'”   One of the biggest mistakes Leigh made was with managing her time and energy. Because she runs her own company, she has a lot more control over her time than many other people, but she often gets caught up in the needs of others.    She had to learn how to schedule things for her and her clients' benefit. Her creative thinking is better in the morning, so she blocks that time off. Her energy is lowest in the afternoon, so she tends to schedule meetings then. She doesn't have meetings on Mondays and Fridays because she knows she's either recovering from the weekend or exhausted from the week and getting ready for the weekend.    From her failure, Leigh has learned to not overpromise or overextend herself. Failure has been stigmatized in our society; it's viewed as negative and shameful. Failing forward is a concept trying to destigmatize failure. Instead of thinking of failure negatively, we can turn it into a learning opportunity. “Failure shows that you tried,” Leigh said. “It's about experimentation, and not every experiment will be successful, [but] it gives you feedback and input and learnings that you can apply next time.”   Value-Based Pricing and Customer Loyalty   Leigh's best monetization strategy is to use value-based pricing rather than billing by the hour. Value-based pricing is billing based on the perceived value of a product or service, no matter how much time it takes.   This kind of pricing helps maintain a stronger relationship with our clients because we're not having to nickel and dime them for every minute, and they're getting a great result. They don't have to pay a bill with perhaps not much to show for it.   It is a great way to create loyalty with clients and customers because it shows them that we care about them and that we'll be there for them. Being there for our clients, especially during the hard times, is one of the best ways to foster deep loyalty.    Key Takeaways   Thank you so much Leigh for sharing your stories and insights with us today. Here are some of my key takeaways from this episode:   Our brand should reflect the purpose and story behind our company, our why, and the reason we started it in the first place. Our brand should inform every business decision we make. A brand helps us differentiate between our competitors or alternatives. With a brand, our employees will feel like they are working for something bigger. Customers are the most important thing. They are the disruptors. Often the small moments are our biggest successes. We should look at failures as learning opportunities. Value-based pricing is a great way to build strong relationships with our clients.   Connect with Leigh   To learn more about or connect with Leigh: Connect on LinkedIn or Twitter Visit her website at Find-Freedom.co.    Next Steps   Get a free ebook about passion marketing, and learn how to become a top priority of your ideal customers at PassionMarketing.com.  Subscribe to Monetization Nation on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, our Facebook Group, and on your favorite podcast platform.   Read at: https://monetizationnation.com/blog/what-is-branding-and-why-is-it-important/ 

Lots of creators—especially young, successful ones—publicly admit to being emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted by their channels. Why is that? And while we know burnout is a real and serious problem, we have to wonder. How much burnout is true burnout, and how much is because many creators are new this: new to managing professional life, new to making art, and new to the notoriously demanding work of filmmaking. We look at creator burnout from many angles and even suggest ways to avoid it. Show notes: • Leigh mentions details about how the YouTube algorithm works "as far as we know." That paper she read that made her think YouTube's recommendations are so great? It's from 2014, from a Google research paper titled "Deep Neural Networks for YouTube Recommendations" https://research.google/pubs/pub45530/ • If you really want to understand the algorithm deeply, we recommend following Matt Glielen and the team at Little Monster's research https://www.littlemonstermediaco.com/our-research • "That original guy who wrote 'Burnout'" is a psychologist named Herbert Freudenberger, who coined the term in the '70s based on his own personal frustrations. He literally wrote the book on it https://www.amazon.com/dp/0553200488/ • Burnout isn't just a YouTube problem, either. Anne Helen Petersen wrote a great piece on why burnout is rampant among Millennials, not just creators https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/millennials-burnout-generation-debt-work • In 2018 there seemed to be a YouTube trend of young creators quitting because of burnout, overwork, and stress. The Guardian wrote a piece that covered a lot of the same angles we did in more depth https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/08/youtube-stars-burnout-fun-bleak-stressed • Soo Zee talks about the emotional difficulty that comes from getting instant feedback on your work. The fancy term for this is "emotional labor," and it has a long history of being an unacknowledged form of work, especially on social media platforms. https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebook-content-moderator-interviews-trauma-working-conditions-arizona • In fact, social media's impact on our mental health is well documented https://www.rsph.org.uk/our-work/campaigns/status-of-mind.html See also https://www.openculture.com/2013/08/why-social-media-makes-us-lonely.html • James Cameron on curiosity, and why he takes time between his films to explore areas of personal interest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVfd6fg7QsM • James Cameron did indeed head to the jungles for Avatar's sequels https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/mar/28/james-cameron-avatar-2-brazil goin' off to the jungles • When Leigh says she agrees with Adam Grant's definition of burnout, she's really agreeing with what he argues in this episode about burnout on his TED podcast WorkLife https://www.ted.com/talks/worklife_with_adam_grant_burnout_is_everyone_s_problem Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world’s largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website. When Leigh started to work with this team, he wanted to help them focus on improving their process without pushing Scrum or Agile on them. This was a startup team, they were already pretty “agile”.  Leigh started with a Futurespective, to help them get a sense of the direction they wanted to go in. Leigh then used different data sources to help the team improve, and the outcome of the Futurespective to help them prepare for some of the difficult situations they would have to face.    About Leigh Griffin Leigh is an Engineering Manager in Red Hat working with distributed Agile teams. His focus is on the Agile mindset through proactive Coaching and helping teams to grow. You can link with Leigh Griffin on LinkedIn and connect with Leigh Griffin on Twitter.

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world’s largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website. When Leigh was working on this project, he tried his best to keep all the stakeholders up to date, including traveling to headquarters to meet up and talk to his managers. Then, when the news came that the project was delayed, the managers denied ever having heard about any delays. This was a critical lesson for Leigh on how to work with stakeholders and manage their expectations.  In this episode, we talk about the book The Fearless Organization by Amy Edmondson.   About Leigh Griffin Leigh is an Engineering Manager in Red Hat working with distributed Agile teams. His focus is on the Agile mindset through proactive Coaching and helping teams to grow. You can link with Leigh Griffin on LinkedIn and connect with Leigh Griffin on Twitter.

We welcome to Scale Your Sales Podcast, Leigh Ashton. Author of iSell and founder of The Sales Consultancy. Leigh Ashton develops Sales Leaders and their teams to think and perform at a higher level to meet and exceed multimillion targets. I read the book, iSell, many years ago. I did not make the connection when I met Leigh. We were both speakers on the panel for International Women of Power in 2015. Leigh explains more about sales growth mindset her sweet spot. Many years ago, as a sales leader, she realised that skills and capabilities were only a tiny part of what made people successful. The primary catalyst for sales success is the sales growth mindset. Now not everybody has a growth mindset naturally, and it is relatively easy to spot the people that do have it. Because they are the ones that fall and get up again and keep trying different things all the time. Rather than 'I can't do that' it is 'I can't do that yet', they keep trying all different angles. Someone who's naturally growth mindset they account for the 10% top performers in every company. It does not matter how good the sales leadership is for them because they are going to do it anyway. Many people have a fixed mindset and some that will be a growth mindset in one context and fixed in another. Leigh hears people saying, 'I can't draw' or 'I'm not creative' because somebody laughed a picture they drew when they were a child, and that is left a lasting impression. But she says, if you did a bit of drawing every day, you would soon get better. Leigh was a successful salesperson with a growth mindset, and it was straightforward as a salesperson to be successful because I did not rely on anyone. She just did it. Then she got promoted to sales manager and honestly, Janice, I felt like a failure. Some of her team would go, that is amazing, 'I'm going to go and try that' and would go and do it. The second group would go, Lee, that is amazing, I will try that and then carry on doing what they were doing before. Then the third group would say that will not work for me, my clients, or my territory. Her manager said, 'you were so good at what you did as a salesperson, now you have to find a way of teaching it to others'. So, Leigh consumed so many books on sales and leadership and through her quest to try and figure it out, she realised that it was all about the way people think. As soon as she focused on the human being instead of what behaviours she wanted them to do. When Leigh concentrated on what was going on in their head just before they were going to do a specific sales activity, that is when the magic happened. Growth mindset so resonated with Leigh and she noticed that it had a positive impact on other areas of their life. If you think positively in one area, it is going to respect all the aspects, says Leigh, because the way you are doing one thing is the way you do everything. People get more confident in themselves generally and happier and more resilient. They give things a go and step out of their comfort zone. It was like a magic bit of fairy dust says Leigh who decided she wanted to spread that fairy dust everywhere and started her business in 1995. Leigh came from the sales context because fundamentally Leigh is a salesperson. She loves the whole arena or sales, sales leadership she does not think there is anything quite like it on the planet. Leigh believes it is what she was meant to do, helping people and get paid for it, is amazing she says. It is a ripple effect says Leigh and the good thing is when sales teams work with her on mindset once she has changed the way they think, they do not need as much ongoing training because they think differently. All the sales leader needs to do is to maintain it and notice when they are team is not their best and say, how is it going? She hears salespeople say that their sales manager would say, how are you doing? But they do not care about the answer. How are you doing? And jump to -  How's your pipeline? It is a segue to get to the question of the numbers.   Leigh says to focus on the client's map of the world. You must go at your prospects or your customer's pace because the minute it feels like pushing, they will back off. It is about how do you join, bringing an issue to the table that they want to resolve and how can the sum of the parts be greater than the whole? Working together makes it better for everybody. Buyers do not call you in for a conversation wanting you to fail. Buyers call you in because their thinking, is this organisational or person, the person who is going to take this problem away, take this pain away or stop us having the pain, resolved this issue, get buyers where we want to get to. Both sides do want the same thing. It needs to be win-win. And if you communicate with the buyer in a way that works of them. You cannot communicate with another human being in a way that works for you. You must be a bit like a detective and find out through excellent discovery questions what is going on for that person and what is important not just in work but how that would impact on there was a human being. When Leigh first got into sales, she would say to the buyer, what is it you want? And then the people would tell her what they wanted, and Leigh would say, that is great because 'I'd love to do that for you'. Leigh was good at asking questions, and she would chat with people. She would repeat what the buyer said even that was before she knew about matching and mirroring. It gave her a few minutes to collect my thoughts to listen and think, OK, based on that, what am I going to say next? Leigh says it always starts with sales leader. She was delivering training for an organisation recently, and some of the sales leaders said,  'I wish I could get my people to do X'.  Other agreed they had the same problem. Leigh replied, if this is a global problem, then you need to look in the mirror because if lots of people are not doing X, what is the reason they are not doing it? Are you focusing their attention on it? Are you finding out why they are not doing it? What is the thinking behind that? Most sales leaders are successful salespeople, and leadership in sales is always about numbers. Leigh believes that salespeople are more like athletes. They must be in their best state of mind to be good at what they do in the same way that athlete not in the best state of mind will not win that race or they will not score that goal. What she believes is missing, and it is the same in most of the countries she has worked in, they always focus on the numbers.  Sales leaders need training in is how to support a human being, and how to make them the best that they can be. Sale leaders need coaching skills so that they know how to coach. Leigh says, many sales leaders think they are coaching and there not, they are all telling. Have you done this? Have you done that? Well, this what I would do. You do not have to train sales leaders in managing numbers; they know how to handle numbers; what they do not know is how to manage human beings. It is vastly different. If you are on a desert island on your own, Leigh will take her audible app because she is constantly listening to something. Leigh is always an avid reader but my audible app because you can listen again and again to a book and get something new each time you listen, and you get energy off the author. When she is listening to two of her favourites, Simon Sinek and Brene Brown, she gets an energetic download almost of the way they feel about what they have written. www.sales-consultancy.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/leighashton1  

Welcome to episode 13 of Just Havin a CrackA GOD CALLED LETHALOur guest Leigh Mathews was voted the greatest AFL player of all time. From the outset, he had a steely determination to be the best he could. Joining the Hawthorn Football Club as a teenager and quickly establishing himself against men, Giants of the game. You look back in time and Leigh stood tall and learnt from arguably the greatest coaches the game has had.It was tuff and uncompromising game, Leigh and Hawthorne were the best. It was what it needed to be.We talk to Leigh about his playing days and then becoming a media personality and coach with Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions.Right from the start, his voice and how he carries himself is exactly how he played. It is how to become the best at what he did.When Leigh talks you listen, you buy-in and you want to be the best you can be.

Real Estate Profession | Prepare Yourself for Success in Real Estate By the age of twenty-five, Leigh Brown had already worked three different full-time jobs. She did stints as a bar manager, a salesperson, and a stockbroker before finally heading back to the drawing board to conjure up a long term play. Leigh’s father was in the real estate profession, and years before any of this, he made Leigh get a license in case she wanted to get into the industry down the road—that is exactly what she did! Twenty years later, Leigh is still thriving in the real estate business and loves every aspect of it. From the relationship building and client management to the countless niches in which you can build a career, this is the best place to be! Your Education Never Ends There is no profession that rewards people who are willing to put in the legwork and get creative like the real estate profession. You can come into this industry with any background, find a sense of discipline, and accomplish almost anything you put your heart and mind to. But you also need to be thoroughly prepared. When Leigh got started at twenty-five, her father made her sustain a rigorous education process before she got hands-on with clients. Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve success by learning as you go—it just means there is an immeasurable amount of value in mentorship and the process of learning by example. Get out there and find someone to talk to; take advantage of every resource that resonates with the goals you set for yourself. Your education never ends in real estate. Run Your Business How YOU Want to Run It Once we move our pride and egos aside, we have the potential to be amazing. But admitting that you don’t know something can be a hard pill to swallow. Being in the real estate profession means you are in a constant learning process, however, as you gain more experience, you can start to run your business how YOU want to run it. This whole thing can be fun and easy if you take the wheel and start acting like the CEO of your business! So, set boundaries and unplug once in a while, because you are not the employee of someone else’s agenda. If you are available 24/7 you can’t enjoy the freedom that drew you to real estate in the first place! But the best part is, you also have the power to change that.  About Leigh Brown Leigh stepped into the real estate world in 2000, joining forces with her father, Darrell Thomas, who had a successful residential real estate company. As a native of Cabarrus County in North Carolina, Leigh has a thorough understanding and knowledge of the Queen City and the thriving, unique communities that surround the fair city. Her business thrives on repeat business and solid client relationships, and she is not ashamed to tout that over 70% of her clients are referrals. Leigh lives in Harrisburg, a NE suburb of Charlotte, with her husband Steve and her two middle school children. In her (rare) free time, she enjoys running, playing piano, and volunteering for Meals On Wheels. A proud graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, Leigh feels that continuous education is of the utmost importance. Her current designations include: – ABR (Accredited Buyer Representative), AHWD (At Home With Diversity designation), CIPS (Certified International Property Specialist), CRS (Certified Residential Specialist), CLHMS (Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist), CIPS (Certified International Property Specialist), MilRES (certified to assist with military housing), CDPE (Certified Distressed Property Expert), ecoBroker (knowledge of green building options), ePRO (technology skills), FiveStar (foreclosure expertise), SFR (Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource), SRES (Seniors Real Estate Specialist). What You Will Learn: Leigh’s backstory and her journey into the real estate profession How Leigh overcame the challenges of entering the world of real estate at age twenty-five  Why Leigh chose to educate herself through conferences and mentors before working directly with clients How Leigh manages the constantly active lines of communication that come with modern connectivity The importance of setting boundaries and running your business how YOU want to run it How Leigh manage her energy to bring  the best version of herself to every interaction Additional Resources: Books: Outrageous Authenticity: You Are Your Best Sales Weapon The Seven Deadly Sins of Sales: and the Deceptively Simple Strategies to Solve Them Peeling the Onion (2020) Podcast: Crazy Sh*t in Real Estate  Twitter: @LeighBrown Facebook: www.facebook.com/LeighBrownSpeaker/ Instagram: instagram.com/leighsellsclt LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/leighthomasbrown Website: https://www.leighsells.com/ 5-Step Guide to More Referrals Book Recommendations: The Jackass Whisperer Insults and Comebacks for All Occasions Who Not How (October 2020) A Nation of Realtors A Man Called Ove 3000 Questions About Me

Disney took an old film of great acclaim / Can you imagine that? / And made a sequel that's more of the same / Can you imagine that? / New actors but a similar plot / In some ways charming but sort of not / There's decent choreography but also BMX / What was with those guys biking on the ramps? / When Leigh saw that sequence on a plane she said we had to chat / So we all watched this Poppins pic / Then we recorded this right quick / Can you imagine that? Continue reading →

It's November, and as all these posters of Keira Knightley topped in cotton candy indicate, the Christmas movie season has well and truly begun! When Leigh, Brendan, and Chris sat through The Nutcracker in 3D two years ago, they mentioned a Disney adaptation of the story currently in pre-production. Now, in 2018, this movie has somehow become The Nutcracker and the Four Realms and boy is it somehow both exactly what you'd expect and also not really at all. Fresh out of a screening, the crew try to gather their thoughts as best as they can to discuss the handful of things that did work (Keira Knightley's bizarre acting choices, the basic idea of the story, the physical production design) and the many things that did not work (uh, most everything else). Join us in two weeks as we dip back into some spooky Autumnal nonsense with a Dean Koontz adaptation and an odd drink. Très chic! Continue reading →

When Leigh takes a spontaneous trip to Palm Springs, things get hot! Jeff Graham, Taylor Gates, and DeAnJlio Friday have plenty to say about the show. Thanks for tuning in!

Summary: Early in Leigh York’s colorful career, an eventful sale involving missed medication, a fire, and a rolled pickup taught her to keep calm in the midst of craziness. She has learned that however she reacts to a situation is exactly how her client will react, so it is best to model level-headedness. Leigh is also working to at the National Association level to set industry standards for realtors and instructors that would keep them active in the field while teaching in order to stay fresh. Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or in the Podcasts App on your phone. Never miss a beat from Leigh by visiting The Leigh Brown Experience.  Time–Stamped Show Notes: 0:40 – Leigh York’s background 0:50 – The third–generation of her family in real estate, Leigh started “before the turn of the century” exclusively in farm and ranch. That morphed into development. Now, rather than drive over 5 counties, she covers half of one very large county in Fort Worth, TX. 1:40 – Leigh also loves to travel, teach, and speak to other realtors. She also does consulting on culture for other businesses. Got to do it all! 3:30 Leigh’s CSIRE story  3:34 While she was doing predominantly farm & ranch, Leigh sold a piece of property. She met with a sweet, wonderful woman selling her little house on a large piece of property––more or less the family farm. 4:40 – The seller explained that all of her kids wanted the property and if she died they would just fight over it, so she wanted to sell it. 5:00 – Leigh lists the property, gets it on the market, and communicates frequently with the seller. The lady mentions that her oldest son is upset, but he shouldn’t be a bother. 5:30 – Within about ten days of closing, Leigh’s husband, who happens to be the volunteer Fire Chief in the area, calls to say there’s a fire on the property. 6:40 – When Leigh arrives she sees that the grass from the front of the house all the way out to the road is blackened. But she’s got good real estate karma. 7:20 – The son had decided that if he couldn’t have the house, nobody could—and he was going to burn it down. He goes behind the house, sets a fire about 10 feet away, and leaves. The fire burns to within one foot of house, splits and burns around the house, then meets at the front of the house and burns all the way to the road. It never touched the house! 8:30 – Before Leigh can call the owner, her cousin, the City Marshall, calls to let her know that the son is en route to the hospital to be admitted to the psychiatric ward. 9:00 – The son apparently had mental health issues and had not been taking his medications for a few days. He had gone to a neighboring town, taken a pickup truck on a test drive without a salesperson, driven to his mom’s house to set it on fire, and on the drive back to the dealership rolled the pickup! 9:40 – So now Leigh has to call the mom/seller and tell her that not only was her place on fire, but that her son is in the hospital and on his way to jail. 10:00 – While she’s on the phone with the seller, the rep for the buyer is trying to call because of course the buyer has family in the area and has heard about the fire. 10:30 – Leigh keeps calm. She did not call the seller and say, “There’s been a huge fire and your kid is in the hospital.” She said, “You know, we’ve had an interesting day out here, and I want you to know that everyone is safe. Let me catch you up on what happened.” 10:45 – The seller’s response was calm. She replied, “OK, you go handle the buyers and I’ll take go care of the kid.” So they continued the negotiations. 11:00 – The house was OK and the grass was going to grow back, so they just replaced some fence posts. It didn’t even delay closing––everything was fine! 11:15 – The importance of keeping calm  11:35 – However you react to a situation is exactly how your client is going to react, so keep calm and let your client reflect that good behavior. 11:50 – This kind of calm behavior is what can set you apart as a realtor. If you fly off the handle to protect your client, it’s not going to help. So much of a realtor’s skill is reflected in the way they convey information. 13:00 – Real estate instructors can help their students by talking about the psychology of what they do. If Leigh is teaching a class on contracts, she doesn’t just teach people how to fill in the blanks. She also talks about who they’re representing, what they’re going to talk about with the client, and how that conversation might sound. 13:50 – They role play or talk it through so that they can know how to stay calm when the other party doesn’t agree with what goes in the blank on the contract. How do we train buyers to select the right representative? 14:20 – We have to coach consumers to interview their representative. Don’t just take whoever answers the phone. 15:00 – The need for best practices for instructors 15:45 – We need to pay more attention to who gets to be an instructor. They need to be active in the market. If you haven’t handled a transaction in 6 months, you don’t have as much credibility as someone who is on the phone with a client right before she comes to teach. The market changes day to day. 16:30 – Leigh Brown is a volunteer leader in the Residential Real Estate Council – a group of realtors who want to focus more on education and who carry the CRS designation. During her volunteer presidential year, they implemented new standards for instructors, and it was met with some pushback and angst. 17:00 – They had some instructors who had not sold anything in 40 years! While the mechanics of selling may have stayed mostly the same, the entire climate has changed, consumer expectations are different, and the legal side has moved dramatically as regards liability. 17:30 – Being active in selling makes Leigh York a better instructor and speaker, and being an instructor and speaker makes her a better seller in her market. Each aspect helps the other. 18:00 – In Leigh York’s volunteer role in professional standards in the National Association, she is working on the idea that there needs to be standards for instructors and all realtors. She started out as just once voice, but her voice is growing. She believes they will get there––just not at “Leigh speed.” 20:30 – It does seem like all of this begins with people being nicer to each other.  20:45 – Contact Leigh York at Leigh@LeighYork.com, or call 817-613-2420. She’s on Facebook and Instagram as well. 3 Key Points Stay calm and let your client reflect that good behavior. Consumers need to choose a realtor carefully—don’t just use the person who picks up the phone. Real Estate instructors need to be active in the business in order to be good teachers. Credits Audio Production by Chris Mottram Show Notes provided by Katherine Burke

When Leigh moved back to Nashville, she knew she needed a blogger bestie to help her navigate that industry. How that moment shaped Nashville's blogging community and more in todays episode.

In a day and age where there seems to be shortcuts for everything, Aaron reminds us to slow down and think. After all, as a client buying or selling a home you’re choosing a realtor, not simply tonight’s dinner! Tune in to hear how Aaron compares waiting tables to selling homes, and why choosing a realtor based upon likeability over competence can leave you paying more and getting less. Listen to Aaron’s advice on interviewing your realtor to ensure you don’t end up calling voicemails and wishing you had stopped to think. Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or in the Podcasts App on your phone. Never miss a beat from Leigh by visiting The Leigh Brown Experience. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:43 – Aaron’s background 00:50 – He lives on a small island off the coast of Seattle called Vashon Island; it’s an island of hippies and artists 01:01 – He’s been selling real estate for 5 years, has invested in it for 15, and has an entrepreneurial and art background 01:18 – He worked in food service, opened a bakery, got into a sales career, and found his way to real estate; he loves it 02:00 – Like waiting tables, being a realtor focuses on taking care of people and Aaron loves that 02:26 – You need to mirror and match and find out what they want 02:51 –The way people choose a realtor is insane; it’s with the same diligence that we use to choose dinner 04:35 – In residential, clients tend to choose likeability over competence 04:45 – His team sells for 5% more than average; he researched why people don’t ask questions about these statistics 05:10 – Aaron loves podcasts and learning, so he was listening to Freakonomics Radio and an interview with Michael Lewis, author of “Moneyball” and “The Big Short” 05:32 – Michael also wrote the “Undoing Project” and discussed behavioral economics and “mental shortcuts” 06:45 – As realtors, we always want to stay “top of mind” because the brain shortcuts to what is top of mind instead of having to think 07:28 – Aaron wrote a book on those shortcuts called “Shortchanged by Shortcuts” 07:45 – Aaron believes we are thinking less and less, but he battles it by pointing it out and slowing down 08:25 – Just slowing down a little bit can allow for some real thinking 09:30 – If someone is committed to using shortcut and not slowing down, he’d rather not work with them; they won’t see the value in truly thinking about the process 10:56 – Some sellers treat their real estate investments with a cavalier attitude when they should be choosing their agents and decisions wisely 12:09 – Realtors did this to themselves: There’s no apprenticeship program, no journeyman master, conversation, or framing for the consumer 12:44 – Real estate has the lowest bar to entry; the person who cuts his hair must do 1000 hours, a realtor only must do 90 13:26 – Consumers should interview and ask for track records to see who has done the best job 13:55 – The first question every consumer should ask their potential realtor: the percent over asking price that they’ve gotten for a home, this shows how good they are at pricing and advertising 14:49 – Other questions: Do you work on a team or alone? What is your commission? 15:00 – Someone on a team is usually better and if they can’t defend their own equity (commission), they won’t be able to defend yours 15:27 – Leigh disagrees with the anti-team approach and believes it depends on the individual’s structure, focus, and availability 16:20 – Many people complain about realtors not calling them back 16:40 – When Leigh was making phone calls for RPAC (Realtors Political Action Committee) investments for the year, the active and dialed-in realtors all answered while the others went straight to voicemail 17:27 – This a good way to tell who is active and professional; these are the only people she recommends in other markets 17:51 – One thing Aaron thinks will happen in 2018 17:59 – Two more interest rate hikes and a leveling off of the market as a whole 18:37 – Contact Aaron via email at aaron@eandgo.me and find his books here 3 Key Points Slow down and think when choosing a realtor; your property is one of your most valuable assets. As a consumer, you should always ask the percent over asking price that they’ve gotten over a home and their commission; if they can’t defend their own equity, they won’t be able to defend yours. Whether on a team or solo, be active and professional; you’ll be respected and referred by other realtors and clients.