I recently went one on one with Ivan Estrada, author of the book Brand With Purpose: Find Your Passion, Stay True to Your Story, and Accelerate Your Career. A real estate entrepreneur, Ivan has appeared on NBC’s Open House, HGTV’s House Hunters and Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Ivan: I was born and raised in the lower-middle-class neighborhood of Eagle Rock with my sister by Mexican immigrant parents. My parents raised me to have drive, passion, moral values, and a strong will. Most importantly, they taught me about the sacrifices you must make when pursuing something you want. These lessons led me to get signed to a record label as a singer and songwriter at 12 years old. I did that until I was 18, stopping right before going to USC. At USC, I studied accounting and finance, which enabled me to get a job at a top-tier firm in DTLA and my CPA license. After my time there was done, I was ready to do something more meaningful and enjoyable in my life, and I knew I had a passion for Real Estate, so I tried it. Thirteen years later, I am one of the top brokers in LA, author of a book, CEO of two companies, a coach, and someone with a newfound purpose to help people as they journey along their path. 

The experience that comes to mind as most influential to my growth was when I was let go of my CPA job. Even though I knew it was coming and that accounting wasn’t my passion, it was still a massive blow to my ego when I got fired. But, looking back, it gave me the freedom to start a career that I was interested in and could be passionate about - Real Estate. A huge lesson I learned from journeying into a new industry was that it changed my perspective of acquiring knowledge. As an accountant, I was only focused on numbers and learning how to be more efficient with numbers. However, early on as a real estate agent, I found that my background knowledge as a CPA gave me an advantage. This led me to realize that studying other industries to see what you can apply to your own can be beneficial, and that was the case for me.

Adam: What do you hope readers take away from your new book?

Ivan: First of all, I have interviewed a diverse group of leaders in my book and I want the readers to resonate with at least one of them. This is important because as I was growing up, it was hard to visualize a future for myself when there were no role models that matched my demographic. Secondly, I want people to become more self-aware. This book is a road map that shares the journey I went through to become more aware of who I am, which led me to be successful in my business. Of course, my journey may not make others successful, but learning how I worked on myself and was honest with myself will most definitely help others find their success.

Adam: What are your best tips on the topic of branding?

Ivan: The best tips I have for branding are:

1. Know Your Story. You must know what about you makes you different from your competition because your brand is your story. To do this you must practice personal development and be self-aware. 

2. Have Brand Pillars. Brand pillars represent and signify what you and your brand stand for. You need to have a clear understanding of what they are and how you will relay the message of your brand pillars to your potential customers. 

3. Have an Open Mind to Pivoting. The world around us is always changing and recently, it has been happening at a very fast pace; therefore, you must be ready and open to adapting. Know that change is part of the equation for growth. 

Adam: What are your best tips on the topics of sales and marketing?

Ivan: My best tips for marketing and sales stem from the idea of accountability. It is imperative to be consistent with what you do for marketing and sales. I like to set up a marketing calendar for one year that has all my social media marketing, print marketing, video marketing, and digital marketing. Having this calendar holds me accountable for ensuring consistency in my marketing activities. This consistency keeps me in the mindset of my past, present, and potential future clients. When figuring out the type of content you need for marketing to sell your product or service, you need to convey how your product or service will alleviate the pain point of a consumer. You must understand your target market's mindset to explain to them that you can help make their lives easier. Finding out how to alleviate your client's pain points is a constant battle that must be monitored continuously. Having a pipeline report for your sales lets you analyze your current tactics and shows you where you need to make adjustments in order to maintain success.

Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Ivan: The defining qualities of a leader are:

1. Empathy. Sometimes you must put yourself in the shoes of those who follow your lead to not only better understand how to lead them but to also understand their perspective.

2. Sharing Insight, Knowledge, and Experience. The more you give to those who follow your lead, the more you will get in return from them. Teaching them what you know and giving them the advantage of knowing about your experiences puts them in a better position to succeed. If those you lead are succeeding, so are you. 

3. Communication. It is very important to have an open and honest dialogue with your team especially from the start. It makes it easier to better understand priorities so that everyone is on the same page. And, it motivates your team to do their best work. Also, lack of communication can be very stressful and have a snowball effect in your business that is hard to reverse. 

To take your leadership skills to the next level, you must always have a student mindset. Just because you are the team leader does not mean you can’t also be part of a leadership team. It is crucial to pick a leader who you find to be the best source of the information you are seeking. It would be best to choose someone you respect and is willing to show you the tools they used to get to where they are. Also, you can use self-development techniques to be a better leader by reading about becoming a better leader, joining leadership organizations, and just being open to taking a risk and learning from those experiences.

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?

Ivan:

1. Always Have a Student Mindset 

   Always be eager to learn through experience whether it be your own experiences, or the experiences of others

2. Educate Yourself Constantly 

   Listen to podcasts, read books, join organizations with likeminded people, take online courses, listen to interviews 

3. Grow In Discomfort

   Don’t fall into patterns of comfort too often. Put yourself in new situations and allow yourself to learn within them  

Adam: What are your biggest takeaways from your time on reality TV?

Ivan: Reality TV is good at showing the highs in any business. Of course, there is drama on the shows, but that is only there for the entertainment aspect. Reality TV is just a window into a business, and you don’t get the whole story. If Reality TV was done with intention and a positive purpose, it could work well. But, if it is done for profits and followers, you are not adding value to anyone.

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Ivan: Treat people how you want to be treated, which is another way of saying: don’t do unto others what you wouldn’t want done unto you. Treating people with respect, kindness, and honesty will not only make it much more likely for you to be treated that way, but it will also attract people with like qualities into your network. Also, another piece of advice that I think is important is to think about the ramifications of your business decisions before making any of them. A decision in business is usually multileveled, so you must consider the effects of your decision when it comes to the other parties involved, the environment, and of course, yourself and your team.

Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Ivan: No matter what situation you are in, there is always opportunity. Every few months, there are new opportunities that you would have never guessed would be a thing. Things like NFT’s, crypto currencies, AR, and VR technology are all very new spaces that have become increasingly popular. Always be open to learning new things, no matter where or what type of situation you are in.


Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.

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