Leigh Brown; Realtor and Best Selling Author

If you’re active in the mortgage and real estate industry, chances are high you’ve heard of Leigh Brown, a well-known trainer, author, and keynote speaker.

Speaking with Steve Sims on the Art of Making Thing Happen podcast, Brown explains how, instead of buying a Harley-Davidson, her midlife crisis led her to do a congressional campaign. “There was a special election in North Carolina… As somebody who believes that if you think things ought to be done better, you ought to do it yourself, I threw my hat in the ring.” She came in fourth out of ten, “but learned a whole lot in the process.”

Explaining her decision to enter politics, Brown points to her optimism. “My Pollyanna side thought maybe there’s enough voters out there that do want somebody who’s positive and cheerful and looks for solutions and doesn’t drag people down and doesn’t do a scorched earth policy. But I guess the voters aren’t there yet.”

My Pollyanna side thought maybe there’s enough voters out there that do want somebody who’s positive and cheerful and looks for solutions and doesn’t drag people down and doesn’t do a scorched earth policy. Click To Tweet

The election result didn’t temper Brown’s optimism. “I have to believe that the good in us has to win at some point,” says Brown. “I was proud that my team and I never said an ugly word about an opponent. We did not go down that road at all. We just stayed on message and on target. And so the feedback I got was very positive and it was great for name recognition for my business and for my future.”

The political experience also informed Brown’s next book. “I had seen politics from different perspectives, but now I’ve seen it from the inside and I know things I didn’t know before,” explains Brown. “And so in my book, I’m exploring that a little bit about how we have to do a better job as humans to remember that we’re human first and the voting really shouldn’t affect how we interact with each other.” The book is meant to help people “move into better relationships with people that you have online or people that are offline already.”

Brown’s first book, Outrageous Authenticity, “talks about how being yourself is your best sales weapon, and it’s designed for the sales and marketing profession.” Her second, Seven Deadly Sins of Sales, offers “more specific topics and action items for salespeople to make their businesses stronger.” Both were self-published, something Brown highly recommends others try.

“I don’t see anything that’s negative about the process of writing a book, because it’s absolutely a process. And just putting your thoughts into words causes you to think about things on a deeper level. So I think everybody should, particularly if they’re in the speaking profession.”

All of this writing and politics haven’t taken Brown’s attention from her real estate career, however. “I will always trade off a little bit of speaking revenue to do some real estate so that I remain relevant and honest because frankly, I do not want to be somebody that talks about what they used to do and no longer understands what the people in the chairs go through in their day to day lives,” says Brown.

Perhaps the best way to sum up Brown’s career is that she is an entrepreneur. “I do things the way I want to do them with the people I want to serve and in my own unique way. In fact, I think it’s frustrating that other realtors don’t understand that they are micro-businesses in their communities because every realtor is an entrepreneur and each of them has their specific sphere of influence, their specific niche community that they serve. “

I do things the way I want to do them with the people I want to serve and in my own unique way. Click To Tweet

She continues, “We act like it’s only the Mark Zuckerbergs and Steve Jobs of the world that are entrepreneurs because apparently there’s this mindset that says you have to be big to call yourself that. And that’s not true. You could be a stay at home mom who sells Mary Kay on the side and you’re an entrepreneur cause you’re starting something new.”

To learn more about Leigh Brown:

Website: Leigh Brown

Books: Outrageous Authenticity & Seven Deadly Sins of Sales

Pre-Order: Peeling the Onion

Podcast: Leigh Brown with Steve Sims; The Art of Making Things Happen

Subscribe to: That Art of Making Things Happen with Steve Sims