Leigh Brown will be presenting her talk, “On Being Uncomfortable,” at Inman Connect New York on Wednesday, January 24, at 10:35 a.m. in the General Session.
Leigh Brown
We’re really excited to have you joining us as a speaker for Inman Connect New York, but tell us a little more about yourself. How did you arrive in your current role?
Depends on which role you’re referencing.
Realtor? Joined my dad in 2000 after having enough of corporate sales (he’s been a Realtor since 1978). I wanted the ability to have my compensation commensurate with my work ethic and results.
Broker? Daddy and I bought our franchise in 2003, and I merged that one with the larger Re/Max Executive in 2011 when Daddy retired. We had gotten aggravated with the broker we had been with and felt we could do it better.
Speaker? As a natural introvert (the rarely-spotted-in-nature INTJ), I never even considered public speaking until I was asked to present at a CyberStars event back in 2010 or 2011. Once I found I loved a mic and could wordsmith on the fly, it took on a life of its own.
Coach/Consultant? You start speaking and you resonate with people and they want more. It’s organic for me, or it’s not happening.
Author? Book no. 1 was an offshoot of something I had to say. Book no. 2 will be out in 2018.
Wife? Met Steve playing city league softball in Charlotte, and here we are 14 years later.
Mama? Played Roulette twice and got two kids … so, we stopped playing Roulette.
Tell us a little more about your session, what kinds of things will you be talking about in January?
If you know anything about Brad, he likes fresh content. I mean, look at the lineup at any of the Inman events! I think we’re all still talking about Platon from ICSF!
Since many of the attendees already know me, I can’t present the same old thing. (Not that anything I do is “same old,” but you get it!)
It’s my brand new piece, which I put together based on all of those roles I mentioned above and on my passion for bringing more humanity into our profession (and into our lives in general).
Many things make us uncomfortable, but we have to manage that for growth somehow — that’s where the title, ‘On Being Uncomfortable,’ came from. Getting comfortable is one of the few things no one can do for you.
I figure some people will get mad at me while others get busy thinking.
What does a typical day look like for you?
There is no typical day! Like most Realtors, every day is a new adventure, which is one of the attractions of the profession.
I typically get up at 4 a.m., exercise (usually running) at 5 a.m., shower by 6:30 a.m., then devotion, then digging into social media and emails around 7:30 a.m. with client stuff happening between 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m
I love being home for homework/kid stuff, cooking supper, and in bed by 9:00 p.m. (yes, I’m a grandma pumpkin); if on the road, I eat and go to bed as soon as I can skate from networking stuff!
What do you think the biggest challenges facing the real estate industry are at the moment?
As of this writing? Tax reform. We need tax reform, but the provisions proposed have so many potential negative repercussions and unintended consequences. And we won’t know the full impact for two to three tax cycles, in my opinion.
The other big challenge is how Realtors and associations will develop a way to improve professionalism and communicate what exactly the Realtors’ value proposition is.
The technology that is developing will make the best Realtors better, and hopefully cause others to turn in their licenses.
The brokerage model of the past is broken because consumers are paying a lot of money for a very inconsistent real estate experience. It blows my mind that an agent with no transaction experience can successfully charge the same thing as a very seasoned veteran. That effectively means we are using consumers as the training ground for new folks, which is just plain wrong.
2018’s shaping up to be a really exciting year, and as we look ahead, what are your hopes for the next 12 months, and what will you be working on?
I’m personally focused on creating better messaging for Realtors and better communication regarding advocacy efforts and professionalism.
In support of that, I’m personally working on a way to help new speakers get started in real estate. Our stages do not currently reflect well the membership nor the communities we serve, and I want to provide education and support to be a part of finding new stars and helping them shine.
My team and I plan to hold steady on sales — we are not in a place to change cars … we are just dialing it in to make the experience better for our clients, so we’re focused on that together.
Want to connect with Leigh? You can find her on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
