CEO SECRETS

Staffing is one of the most important aspects of growing a business but can also be one of the most challenging.

Not only do employers need to find suitable candidates, but they also need to make sure that those candidates are a good fit for the company culture and will be able to hit the ground running.

That's where recruiters come in. A good recruiter will have a vast network of stellar candidates to choose from, and they will also have the expertise necessary to evaluate each candidate's skills, experience, and personality. As a result, working with a recruiter is often the best way for business owners to find the high-quality employees they need to take their business to the next level.

Join our guest, Jordan Franklin, CEO at Stratice LLC, as she shares an in-depth look at the role of recruiters in helping companies attract top talent and her secrets on how she grew her company by 103% in just three years.


Top Takeaways:
00:50 What Stratice is doing on the lead generation side to bring on clients
07:21 What an org structure looks like in a staffing agency
09:24 The avatar of the ideal recruiter
11:27 What a day in the life of a recruiter looks like
13:36 The cost of hiring a recruiter
17:42 How Jordan found their niche working with the I.T./Automation Engineering Industry
19:28 The greatest secret to snapping talent from your competitors
20:40 What you need to do to prevent your team from being stolen away
21:50 Is it an excellent strategy to create social media profiles on behalf of your employees?
24:37 Creative things companies are doing to attract people to work for them
27:47 How business owners can overcome challenges with minimum requirements for 401k and insurance
32:48 How bootstrapped tech companies should deal with recruiting
34:31 A big engine to Stratice’s growth (besides networking)


To get in touch with Jordan Franklin, go to:

Andrew Horn didn’t know what he wanted to do next coming out of college. While his friends were excited to head off to their first jobs, he didn’t have a sense of purpose in his life and felt that he’d hit rock bottom. So when one of his friends pointed out that sitting there sulking about his situation wouldn’t change anything, he knew he had to do something.

He realized that he had a desire to be of service to other people deep down.  And the times he volunteered to help disabled youth to go into adaptive sports were one of the few experiences that he was proud of. This led him to start a children's nonprofit, which would grow to become one of the premier adaptive athletic providers in the DC metro area.

Finding his purpose gave Andrew that sustainable energy source to be better than what he thought he could be and to keep pushing forward. This is the same energy that encouraged him to successfully launch his business and help propel its growth by 1,734% over the past three years.

Let us hear from Andrew Horn, CEO at Tribute, as he shares his journey from being a delinquent frat boy to finding his true purpose and building a business that uses technology to foster meaningful connections in the world.

Top Takeaways:
06:07 The lowest point in Andrew’s life that prompted him to turn things around
07:46 One of the benefits of hitting rock bottom
10:14 The reason behind Andrew’s success
11:16 What science says about meaningful relationships
16:31 How Andrew built his network
19:09 The importance of purposeful work
23:34 How the idea for Tribute came about
31:29 How Tribute deals with acquiring new customers
35:19 What Junto is all about
39:25 Andrew's thoughts on psychedelics and their healing properties

Book recommendations:

• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
• Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh

To get in touch with Andrew Horn, go to

Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. If not detected early, 80% of patients do not make it after five years. Dr. Aki Al-Zubaidi, an interventional pulmonologist, knew that the best way to beat the statistics is early detection.  He wanted to identify all the patients in his own clinic who had a specific abnormality, or a spot on the lungs that could become a cancer.

Yet, flagging all these patients and trying to keep up with all of them became too overwhelming.  He tried to look for a solution out there but found none. Thus, the idea of using a software to help with the early detection of lung cancer was born.

With the help of Christine Spraker, a serial entrepreneur, they developed a software that is focused on gathering, curating, and sharing healthcare information to make sure that the right data reaches the right people at the right time so that lives can be saved.

Let us hear from Dr. Aki Al-Zubaidi and Christine Spraker, Co-CEOs of Eon, as they share how Eon’s journey began, and how they continue to become the market leader in improving patient care and lowering healthcare costs all over the country.

For any business, growth is absolutely essential - most especially now that we are in the digital age. And while more and more people are using their smartphones and devices to purchase their needs, many businesses are now considering having their own web and mobile apps as a means to connect with their customers.

Web and mobile apps can be an extremely useful tool for most companies, but developing one can consume a lot of time and money.  And if your systems are outdated or you lack the technical know-how when it comes to developing web and mobile technology solutions, your efforts will only be wasted.

Which is why having the right people that you can rely on to help grow your business by providing the right tools and can partner with you to build the product from concept to completion, is crucially important.

Let us hear from Andrew Amman, CEO of NineTwoThree Digital Ventures, as he shares his journey from working as a nuclear submarine engineer, to becoming an intrapreneur, then eventually as an entrepreneur with a business that achieved a 1,344% 3-Year Growth and have landed a spot in the top 10% of 2021 INC 5000 list.

Top Takeaways:
00:59 What NineTwoThree Digital Ventures is all about
05:01 Hiring an agency vs. freelance developers
08:05 Is it important to find an agency that has worked in a specific industry
08:19 What separates NineTwoThree Digital Ventures from their competitors
09:59 How Andrew got into the business
11:58 What has been their biggest financial windfall
14:35 A mobile app that real estate brokerages can use to provide lock box access to their consumers
28:25 The difference between hiring a US based agency from going directly to an agency in Kiev, Ukraine
31:59 What is their main lead source?
40:40 The 3 factors that they are looking for in a client

When Brenden Marquardt acquired his first furniture brand, he thought that all he had to do was put it up on the internet and then people would start buying it.  As it turned out it was a lot more complicated than that.

Convincing people to come to your website and convert them into customers is a difficult process.  Yet everything about your site - from the design, to how you answer your customer’s questions - should have that process in mind at all times.  That’s where Conversion Rate Optimization comes in.

Let us hear from Brenden Marquardt, Co-Founder of Homestead Brand, as he shares his journey from working in the finance world to starting his own e-commerce business selling furniture, and how focusing on Conversion Rate Optimization helped them achieve a 3,916% growth rate over the past three years.

Top Takeaways:
02:53 How the book, The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris changed his mentality
04:59 How he got into selling furniture
08:15 The first thing you should focus on if you’re having trouble making sales
09:27 One of the key things about being a CEO
12:08 What’s a good rate to pay for a Conversion Rate Optimization expert?
14:21 How they structured their first acquisition
20:38 Why they’re not using influencers to push their product on social media
21:15 How Homestead Brand deals with their “cheaper” competition
26:23 What was his company’s hockey stick moment?
30:35 One of the most exciting things about being a business owner
31:16 Brenden’s philosophy about work

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. Our guest today was ranked number 363 on the Inc500 list of the fastest privately held companies in America. He was also on this list in 2020 and ranked number 169. That's no small feat to be a part of the list two years in a row. Let's welcome to the show, the President of Astrawatt Solar, Keith Murphy.

Keith began his career as a salesperson but saw an opportunity to do things better. After working in the industry for four years, he started his own company in January 2016, living in his sister's garage and with only $65 in his bank account. They ranked third fastest growing solar company in 2020 and eighth fastest-growing energy company in 2021. The company has 60 employees in four major U.S. cities and has made the Inc500 list.

Astrawatt Solar is extremely focused on providing value and educating homeowners. Keith advises not to look at what your competition is doing. Instead, look for what your customers want. He further stresses finding innovative ways to create efficiencies in the company, which will help save money and create a better workplace for your employees. He and his team believe that big things will happen if you dedicate yourself to small, incremental improvements.

Let us hear from Keith why he believes that the best, the easiest, the most efficient way to get new business is by creating happy customers and why you need to be very picky about where you spend your marketing dollars.

Top Takeaways:

01:20 The marketing strategy that led Astrawatt Solar land a spot in Inc500
05:22 How the solar industry is one of the fastest-growing industries
07:16 The importance of building an avatar of different buyer personas
10:34 Why educating people about the business should be one of the goals
11:36 How to find a good copywriter
13:55 Biggest differentiator for Keith's company versus competitors
14:41 How did Keith start his business
18:55 How franchisees can save more money, be more efficient and sell more
26:24 What is Net Metering?  
35:00 How to achieve a high growth rate in business?
36:35 The key to having an efficient and effective organization
37:20 The Law of Differentiation in marketing
37:45 The necessity of customer and employee feedback

Hello, and welcome back to CEO Secrets. Today’s guest is an accomplished business consultant with almost three decades of professional accounting experience. Her company ranked 376th in 2021’s  Inc Top 500 list of fastest-growing privately owned businesses in the US. Let’s welcome to the show, the Owner & CEO of Raincatcher, Marla DiCarlo.

Marla initially wanted to become a social worker but it was her love of numbers and math that made her go into accounting. Eventually, she branched off with a business owner that she was working with into mergers and acquisitions. That's when she fell in love with small businesses and started her own fractional CFO company.

Today, Marla is the Owner and CEO of Raincatcher, a national business brokerage that specializes in small and mid-market businesses. Their mission is to help transform small to medium-sized businesses into companies that are built to sell, and also help buyers find remarkable enterprises in which to create their own legacy.

Let us hear from Marla as she shares her journey and her insights on how small and medium-sized enterprises can have the ultimate edge in the marketplace and get top dollar for their business when they sell it.

Hello everyone and welcome back to CEO Secrets. Our guest for today has over three decades of experience in marketing sales and management, specifically in the field of incentive and loyalty marketing. Achieving a 5,485% 3-year growth, his company ranked 69th in 2021’s  Inc Top 500 list of fastest-growing privately owned businesses in the US. Let’s welcome to the show, the Co-Founder & CEO of springbig Inc., Jeffrey Harris.

In 1998, Jeff started a loyalty marketing agency that catered mainly to servicing retailers, financial services companies, and insurance companies.  After 25 years, he handed over the active management side of his business to his team, who was doing a better job than him, and decided to focus on a new opportunity.

He created a platform that would give small businesses the ability to create and manage their customer loyalty program. In 2016, two cannabis retailers joined the platform.  Jeff and his team realized that the cannabis industry was still in its infancy but it has great potential to grow tremendously fast.  A year later, they decided to focus entirely on the retailers, brands, and wholesalers that are servicing the cannabis industry.

Today, Jeff is the Co-Founder and CEO of springbig, a provider of customer-loyalty software to cannabis retailers across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.  Recently, his company announced that they’re going public through a merger with Tuatara Capital Acquisition Corp., a SPAC or a blank check company.

Let us hear from Jeff as he shares how he found success working in the cannabis industry and his insights on Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs).

Top Takeaways:
04:20  How loyalty programs allow business owners to have a really good view into what's happening in the industry.
04:34 Is there a blanket incentive to the consumer that will drive them back to the retail shop?
04:53 A misnomer on opening up a cannabis retail shop
06:59 Is there an industry-agnostic plan you can implement to increase repeat and referrals?
07:26 What loyalty is all about
08:21 Is it advisable to implement a loyalty program for a real estate business?
09:49 What made them decide to merge with a SPAC
20:31 The greatest Aha’s Jeff had hit that kind of revenue growth?
21:56 Why Jeff prefers his salespeople to “report the news” than to just sell.
22:39 Why providing great service is a real differentiator among tech companies in the industry.
23:40 How to get technology partners to become ambassadors for your software.

Hello everyone and welcome back to CEO Secrets. Our special guest for today is a global entrepreneur, speaker, author, and the Founder of PhilanthroInvesting. His company landed a spot on the Inc Top 500 list of fastest-growing businesses in the country for 3 consecutive years. This year, his company achieved a 1,285% growth securing the 374th spot on the list. Let’s welcome to the show, the Founder of Equity & Help, Ivan Anz.

Ivan developed his entrepreneurial skills at a very young age.  At 7 years old, he used to lease his Go-Kart to his friends and neighbors.  At 14, he started leasing and training people on how to use 4x4’s on mountains.  He sold a million dollars worth of Herbalife products annually, making him the youngest person to make it to the millionaire’s team.

He eventually ventured into real estate. He also got involved in speculative investments like stocks, forex, and cryptocurrency.  However, even as he was earning a lot of money then, he felt that there was no sense of fulfillment in what he’s doing.  So in 2009, he started to look for ways not just to invest but to invest with a purpose.

Then one day, he met a buyer who really wanted to purchase a property but was unable to afford it. It’s a sad reality that a lot of people still don’t have access to traditional mortgages. He realized that this was an opportunity for investing while helping a deserving family at the same time.  That’s when the concept of philanthroinvesting was born.

Today, Ivan is the Founder of Equity & Help, a real estate investment company that aims to help investors achieve their financial goals while making a real difference in people’s lives.

Let us hear from Ivan as he shares his journey on how he started his business and how he helped it grow its revenue by 14,000% in just 3 years.

Top Takeaways:
01:43 What drove Ivan to leave Argentina and come to the US
04:44 How philanthroinvesting started
07:27 What is philanthroinvesting?
09:34 How Equity and Help started
11:45 What vendor does their company use to provide data
12:18 The strategy they use to acquire properties
22:04 What their company does if people are unable to pay

To get in touch with Ivan Anz and to find out more about philanthroinvesting and his book, go to:

Hello everyone and welcome back to CEO Secrets. Our special guest for today was listed as part of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs by Goldman Sachs in 2015, became one of the Rising stars: 90 healthcare leaders under 40 in 2018, and belonged to the Top 40 under 40 Leaders in Minority Health in 2020.  His company, a leading provider of innovative healthwear, achieved 14,000% growth over the past 36 months and this has secured them the 20th spot on the top 500 fastest growing companies in the country. Let’s welcome to the show, the Founder and CEO at Care + Wear, Chaitenya (Chat) Razdan.

Prior to starting Care + Wear, Chat Razdan was an investment banker at Goldman and Sachs and a strategy consultant at Kearney. While his professional background is not directly related to healthcare, it was his experience with having loved ones who were diagnosed with cancer and were told to wear socks over their PICC lines that led him to recognize the growing need to bring innovation and design to the healthcare industry.

In 2014, Chat decided to build a company that will provide healthwear that is focused on creating positive and effective healing experiences for patients everywhere.  Today, Chat has worked in partnership with leading hospitals, patients, and clinicians to create Care+Wear’s clothing and accessories. The company has also collaborated with sports leagues, brands, schools, and foundations such as MLB, the NBA, Oscar de la Renta, Parsons School of Design, March of Dimes, American Cancer Society, and Stand Up 2 Cancer.

Chat wanted to make sure to get the right people in the room with him to design and develop all of their products.

Let us hear from Chat as he shares his journey on how he started his business and how he helped it grow its revenue by 14,000% in just 3 years.

Top Takeaways:
01:08 How Care + Wear came about
03:59 The 3 P’s to success
09:11 What Care + Wear does on the marketing side to increase sales exponentially
12:33 Chat’s absolute marketing tactic must-have
14:55 A good marketing strategy to spend money on
16:30 What does the value checklist look like for Care + Wear
21:56 Chat’s insight on influencer marketing
23:11 Tactical things Chat would’ve changed in their early year to grow even faster
30:08 Chat’s biggest failure and what he learned from it

To get in touch with Chat Razdan, go to:

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. Today’s guest is a successful serial entrepreneur.  He has helped his company grow its revenue by 22,381% between 2017 and 2020 which landed them the 11th spot out of 5000 of the fastest-growing companies in America. Let’s welcome to the show, the President and CEO at Texas Solar, Mike Sardo.

Mike Sardo pursued a degree in coaching because wanted to be a public school coach. Yet, his path took on a different course and it was his passion for cheerleading that led him to put up his first business - a cheerleading gym. It served 900 students at that time and expanded to three other locations that served close to 1400 kids per week.

One of the things he learned about himself during this time is that he didn’t like jobs.  And once the challenge of starting from scratch or turning a business around wears off, it turns into a job.  He felt like the business was not for him and he ended up selling it after a couple of years.

This set him into a pattern of buying struggling businesses and turning them around.  Two years ago, Mike came across Texas Solar, a company that had been going up and down for the last 13 years and needed some management help.  He and his partner eventually bought most of the company and decided to focus on the product which caused substantial growth for the business.

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. Our special guest for today was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2021 Central Texas Award winner.  He is the CEO and Founder of OJO Labs, which ranked 49th out of 5000 of the fastest-growing companies in America. I’m super excited to welcome on the show, John Berkowitz.

John came from a family of entrepreneurs. This fueled his desire to seek out problems that have never been solved before, find solutions, and build a business around them. In 2005, he co-founded Yodle, an all-in-one digital marketing platform for more than 50,000 SMB customers. It was later acquired by Web.com for $342 million.

However, John felt unfulfilled after the exit from Yodle. He felt that he didn’t meet their company’s goal, making a significant difference in favor of small business owners. This is why in 2015, he started OJO Labs to empower real estate consumers to make better decisions with the help of deeply personalized technology.  

Today, OJO Labs has expanded to five regions with over 500 employees. They’ve also acquired several technology companies over the years and are expected to grow by 250% by the end of the year.

Let us hear from John as he shares how his biggest failure led him to build a business that is a powerhouse in the industry and provides real-world value.  


Top Takeaways:
9:07 How the Prime Minister of St.Lucia jumpstarted their company’s startup.
12:49 What do OJO Labs’ growth and growing bamboo have in common?
15:10 Does John consider Zillow as a competitor?
16:34 What is OJO Labs’ strategy to overcome a behemoth like Zillow?
17:42 Why not being number one on Google doesn't mean you can't be a more prominent company
17:55 The importance of identifying the right partners
20:36 The one feature you could focus on that would just suck off so much traffic from portals like Realtor.com and Zillow
22:43 The most significant innovation in real estate
24:24 Why John thinks that iBuyers and cash offers are just iterations on an old business
25:37 What makes OJO Labs significantly different or better than Zillow?
27:17 The thing that John has been obsessing about for the last five years
29:44 What was John’s most significant failure?
33:26 Why John feels super-uncomfortable when it comes to awards
34:51 When to raise money, and when to bootstrap?

To get a hold of John Berkowitz, send an email to:
john@ojo.com

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. Today we have a very special guest.  He is the founder of one of the leading CRM platforms in the real estate space. Let’s welcome, the Co-Founder and CEO of BoomTown, Grier Allen.

Grier grew up in a family of real estate agents and this fuelled his passion for the industry early on.  This is why even as he started a digital advertising company after college, he felt drawn to go back and focus on real estate.  He wanted to build a product that would impact more lives within the real estate space.

In 2006, he and the members of his founding team pooled their knowledge, experience, and skill sets together and spent an entire year trying to understand where they could make a real impact on the industry.  This is how they came up with software products that will help real estate professionals provide a better experience for their prospects and customers - thus, BoomTown was born.

Today, Boomtown has grown to be one of the leading CRM providers in the entire industry. They are considered to be the behemoth in the real estate CRM space and have been able to maintain their top-notch status despite having numerous competitors come up over the years.

Let us hear from Grier as he shares his insights on hiring leaders, the importance of culture, and his journey to making BoomTown a success.


Top Takeaways:

03:46  The distinct competitive advantage for Boomtown
04:58  How important team-building has been to the success of Boomtown
08:21  What is BoomTown doing on the product side to help customers stay relevant
10:29  BoomTown’s mission from the get-go
11:39  Grier’s views on the future of the real estate industry
12:50  The greatest secret to identifying, selecting, and getting the right leader in place
18:06  Which leadership roles could be performed remotely and which ones should be performed next to the team?
19:18  Is it ideal to offshore key leadership roles to other countries?
21:10  Where were the roadblocks BoomTown had to deal with from a revenue perspective?
21:50  When did BoomTown decide to define their core values
26:26  Why you shouldn’t let search fatigue dictate your hiring decisions.
25:51  The value of finding someone who fits your culture
28:10  The “silver bullet” in the interview process to make sure that people gel together
33:39  What's the next big grandiose plan for Boomtown to stay on top?
36:02  Grier’s advice for the small players to find opportunities to grow and have success
44:06  Which teams/companies does Grier think will have incredible growth in the future and which ones does he think will fall behind? 

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets.  I’m super excited to introduce our guest for today.  He is an entrepreneur, a marketing genius, and the Co-Founder and CEO of DemandJump.  Let's welcome, Christopher Day.

Over the last 30 years, Christopher Day has become part of the founding team of nine different businesses.  One of the major things he learned from his experience is that throughout all those businesses, the marketing aspect has remained a black hole. Companies would invest in marketing but the results are difficult to measure that’s why marketers never really know if it’s working or not.

Christopher made it his mission to solve this pain point in a unique, elegant, new way.  This led him to start DemandJump in 2015.  DemandJump’s Customer Behavior and Marketing Attribution Platform has revolutionized how businesses see if their marketing strategies are actually driving pipeline and creating revenue. The platform then uses the data to help these companies align their content, become more relevant, and create the next plan of action across all marketing channels.

Let us hear from Christopher as he shares his marketing insights and how DemandJump was able to achieve 1,200% growth year over year and land a spot on the most prestigious ranking of the country’s fastest-growing private companies.


Top Takeaways:
03:37 What is the marketing secret to drive brand awareness
04:48 How the DemandJump platform works
14:51 Christopher’s advice to anyone who’s looking into venture capital funding
16:45 How to get a Fortune 250 company to work with a startup
19:34 How their company deals with offers of acquisition
22:10 How does a small local company compete with well-funded large enterprises
23:15 Why content is 100x more important than it used to be.
23:23 How to structure your content so you can win every time
23:55 The 2 hyper-competitive keywords that DemandJump ranks well for
28:32 What should a marketing department look like from a role’s perspective?
34:04 The percentage of all web pages and blogs that actually get seen
36:44 The healthy budget to allocate to content creation
44:33 The value of having a creative person in your marketing team
50:38 What are the top tools from a technology perspective that marketing leaders should be using?
54:20 Why businesses should focus on aligning their content and becoming relevant to our market

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. I am thrilled to introduce our returning guest for today, a multi-awarded New York City real estate broker, transformational coach, and founder of the Patrick Lilly Team. Let's welcome Patrick Lilly

Patrick Lilly has been in the real estate industry for more than 34 years. He has sold over a thousand properties worth more than $1.35 billion in his career. He also received the Keller Williams Pinnacle Award, a distinction presented to the top 20 exceptional agents across all North American firms.

Patrick received his life coaching credentials in 2007, allowing him to conduct transformational seminars on discovering one's essence and purpose in life all over the world.

Let us hear today from Patrick as he shares his insights on how New York’s real estate market is doing a year after the pandemic started and what transformational coaching is all about.

Hello everyone, welcome back to CEO Secrets. I am excited to interview another successful business owner in the real estate world. Let's welcome, Dean deTonnacourt, CEO of HomeSmart Professionals Real Estate

Dean used to run a video store before he got into real estate. One of his customers encouraged him to try the real estate world and he never went back as soon as he got into selling houses.  He was previously a founding member of Keller Williams Realty in Rhode Island in 2000. In 2014, he founded HomeSmart Professionals Real Estate and has grown the company to over 100 agents. Currently, he is also the President of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.

Let’s hear today from Dean, his story in building his business with more than a hundred agents serving three marketplaces, and the secrets to becoming a top producer.

Top Takeaways:
(00:47)  How Dean got into real estate
(5:48) Why Dean moved to the HomeSmart brokerage model
(8:01) Strategy to recruit agents
(11:24) How is HomeSmart competing with companies investing in technologies like Zillow, Redfin, and Opendoor
(12:58) Should agents worry about companies who are trying to eliminate agents in the business
(17:25) Are more brokerages going virtual in the next coming years?
(20:14) What pandemic has taught us
(21:50) Dean's advice to new real estate agents
(27:23) Where Dean is investing aside from selling homes
(29:01) Are we expecting market corrections to come?
(31:32) Dean's greatest secret to being a successful business owner

Hello everyone, welcome back to CEO Secrets. I am extremely excited today to be joined by the creator of one of the leading investment platforms for a done-for-you solution, let's welcome Gary Boomershine.

Gary grew up in a family of real estate brokers and entrepreneurs. At the age of 18, he got his license and started selling real estate as a means to pay up for his college education. After he finished college with a degree in Computer Engineering, he worked with one of the largest technology consulting firms in the world. Later on, he was recruited for a company doing enterprise sales for a software start-up. This is where he learned to run a business and sell high-end solutions to executives. In 2004, he started investing in real estate and began to grow. Today, he is the CEO and Founder of RealEstateInvestment.

Let us hear today from Gary his experiences in going through real estate investing and the opportunities to look forward to in the next coming years.

Top takeaways:
(4:04) Gary's insight on the InfusionSoft tool and who should be using it
(14:02) Challenges in finding off-market deals and how Gary resolved it
(15:22) The proven method in generating leads that convert
(16:43) Gary’s diagnosis of Chris's team initiatives in finding distressed deals
(18:38) The difference between pull and push marketing
(27:38) Where to find investing opportunities in the next 5-10 years
(33:45) 4 types of market
(35:58) What to expect from Gary's new book "The Freedom Code"
(37:29) The future of cryptocurrency

Hello everyone and welcome to CEO Secrets. Today, I'm excited to be joined by an expert in real estate investing. Let's welcome, Bradford Shepherd, Managing Partner at Sugarhouse Investments.

Bradford Shepherd has been involved in commercial real estate development for 20 years. His experience includes management of hotel and vacation property, retail and café operations, as well as the development of retail and hospitality space. In 2011, he moved to Texas with his wife and that's how he started doing residential properties flipping and building a rental portfolio in Central Texas. In 2017, he leaped to multifamily syndication investments.

Let us learn today from Brad the different paths of investment he ventured in, which investments give good returns, and how he is helping investors achieve their investment goals.

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. I am super excited to have an incredible guest today here in the show. Let us welcome, Erin Urban.

Erin Urban is the owner of UPP Solutions, a certified Career Strategist and Executive Coach helping experienced professionals to remove their career roadblocks, unlock their potential and elevate their careers. Her past career was in the new construction business before she got into the coaching & consulting world. Erin is also a podcast host, a Forbes Coaches Council Member, and an Amazon best-selling author.

Let us learn today from Erin the secrets to a soaring career, how a person's language choices reflect one's brand and building your credibility.


Top takeaways:
(1:03) Transitioning from the new construction business to being an executive coach
(3:40) What made Erin different from other executive coaches
(7:09) How do you program the subconscious mindset to respond to situations and scenarios
(11:28) How to identify your roadblocks in achieving your success
(12:47) Chris and Erin's coaching roleplay
(17:45) Who influenced Erin to shift to the coaching and consulting space
(19:58) How to become a best-selling author on Amazon
(23:27) How to grow your followers on LinkedIn
(25:36) The positive impact of being a Forbes contributor for Erin

Hello, everyone. Welcome to CEO Secrets. I am so honored to be joined by a successful entrepreneur in the real estate world. Join me in welcoming Mike Simmons.

Mike Simmons is the owner of Just Start Real Estate, a Partner at Return On Investment,  and also a partner at 7 Figure Flipping. He is also a real estate coach, podcaster, and a speaker. Mike has shared the stage with Gary Vaynerchuk at his Agent2021 Conference. Mike has been into real estate investing since 2008 doing house flipping, bought rentals, and wholesale equaling hundreds of deals.

Let us learn today from Mike his story from the ground up and how he was able to reach 7 figures in profits investing in real estate.

Top takeaways:

(3:35) Social media as a selling platform - is it worth it?  
(5:10) The type of leads Mike found from social media that are good to attract
(6:29) Mike's top sources of seller leads
(8:38) Why Mike is adamant about postcards
(10:01) How to decide who to send mails from your database
(12:42) Setting budget for Google Ads
(24:38) Strategies that people are talking about to deploy capital
(26:14) How to compete with big companies doing hundreds of deals a month

Hello everyone, welcome to CEO Secrets. I'm excited today to be joined by an expert on talent retention. Let us welcome Dr. Troy Hall.

Dr. Troy Hall is a global expert in Talent Retention Strategies. He is an award-winning culture strategist, radio show host, speaker, author, and talent retention expert. His doctorate in Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship has sent him across the globe to help leaders create cultures of cohesion and retain top talent in their organizations.

Let's learn today from Dr. Troy how leaders and business owners can retain talents in their organization and how to maintain a healthy working environment.

Hello everyone, welcome back to CEO Secrets. I am ecstatic to be joined by an experienced operator both in brokerage and real estate investing. Let's welcome Chris Prefontaine.

Chris Prefontaine is the CEO & Founder of Smart Real Estate Coach. He’s been in the real estate business for almost 30 years and is a 3-time best-selling author of Real Estate on Your Terms, The New Rules of Real Estate Investing, and Moneeka Sawyer's Real Estate Investing for Women. Today, Chris runs his buying and selling business together with his family team.

Let us learn from Chris the in's and out of the business, the real estate cycles he's been through, and strategies that you can implement with your team to be more profitable.


Top Takeaways:
1. Where to find leads during low inventory listings  (1:06)
2. How to find virtual assistants to do outbound prospecting (4:05)
3. How does principal only owner financing works (9:40)
4. Chris' selection process of associates to work for his team (18:17)
5.  What to do if the market shifts to attraction-based business (22:16)
6. Challenges in the future that can be a roadblock to success (29:06)
7. How to advertise Rent-to-Own (30:56)
8. Which is more profitable - Owner Financing or Rent-to-own? (31:35)

To know more about Chris Prefontaine's Real Estate Coaching, visit www.smartrealestatecoach.com

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. Today, I am excited to be joined by another real estate technology entrepreneur. Join me in welcoming, Dan Corkill.

Dan Corkill is the CEO & Co-Founder of Follow Up Boss. A full-scale sales solution for top-performing real estate teams and agents. Dan is an entrepreneur, has a background in finance, and also worked for a marketing company. In 2011, he was invited by his friend to put up a software company even though he had no tech background. Today, they are serving thousands of real estate professionals, helping them with their day-to-day businesses.

Let us hear from Dan how Follow Up Boss started, the challenges of funding a new company, and how they were able to establish their brand despite struggles and challenges.

Top Takeaways:
1. How Follow Up Boss is different from other tech company (3:59)
2. What Dan and his partner did to fund their company (7:03)
3. Determining what to focus on as a start-up business (9:28)
4. How to convince people to buy a newly launched product with limited features (12:01)
5. Challenges in adding new features requested by the customers (15:07)
6. The biggest mistake Broker/Owners do in terms of using technology (23:04)
7. The future of technology in real estate (26:01)
8. New shiny object Dan recommends promoting accountability (46:48)
9. The job description of a CEO (52:13)

Hello everyone. Welcome to CEO Secrets. I am very excited to start 2021 with David Anderson of LionDesk.

David Anderson is the CEO & Founder of LionDesk. David has been named to the 2020 Swanepoel Power 200 (SP200) report for the second consecutive year. Ranked #148, Anderson is part of an elite group of industry professionals who are recognized for their influence and leadership

Let us hear today from David the role of technology in the success of real estate business and how he was able to build his company with the key talents.

Top Takeaways:
1. The gap in real estate technology several years ago (8:56)
2. The biggest problem of new products and existing technology in real estate (15:04)
3. What consolidation look like for tech companies in the coming years (18:04)
4. The greatest secret to scaling your business and building a successful organization  (23:59)
5. How to get uber-talented people (26:58)
6. How do you set up the leaders for success (33:50)
7. Why real estate agents won't go away in the business (36:12)

Hello everyone, and welcome to CEO Secrets. I am extremely excited to have our guest today. Let's welcome Terrence Murphy.

Terrence Murphy is the CEO, Broker, and Founder of TM5 Properties. Terrence had a successful football career. After retiring from the NFL, real estate became his main focus and passion. He became a serious investor in the Texas real estate market. He has led multiple development and acquisition companies to multi-million dollar revenues and over 250+ bed portfolios. This is where TM5 Properties originated and continues to grow and expand.

Let us hear today from Terrence his journey to the real estate world, his motivation, and principles that made him successful in this business.


Top Takeaways:
1. How his learnings from A&M helped him in running his business (8:10)
2. Teach your children to be humble and focus on the core values to set them for success (11:26)
3. Terrence's motivation and driving force to get into real estate (17:01)
4. Books recommended by Terrence (21:48)
5. Terrence's BHAG now (22:44)
6. What's the next 10 years in real estate look like (27:54)

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to CEO Secrets. I am excited to have a real estate team leader and a transformational coach today in the show. Let's welcome Greg Flanagan.

Greg Flanagan is an entrepreneur and has been in the real estate industry since 2006 after working as a Lieutenant in a Correctional facility for 17 years. Greg is the founder of Power Onward Mastermind providing transformational coaching and skills training to real estate agents.

Let us hear today from Greg his experiences in different fields of businesses, his failures, and his current goal to help new real estate agents.

Top Takeaways:
1. Greg's biggest takeaway working in prison for 17 years (2:20)
2. From a Correctional officer to being a Salesman (5:14)
3. Greg's motivation and whys (17:58)
4. Why people are going into the real estate business (19:15)
5. How to flatten the learning curve of agents (21:11)
6. Will solo agents survive the disruption? (23:56)

Hello, everyone. Welcome to CEO Secrets. I am excited about today's episode. Our guest is a good friend of mine. Let us welcome Daniel Ramsey.

Daniel Ramsey is the Co-Founder & CEO of MyOutDesk. Daniel is a long-time licensed real estate broker, a mortgage broker, and a general contractor who has sold hundreds of properties. He built the MyOutDesk back in 2008 to help real estate agents leverage their time and energy by creating people who will handle admin, marketing, and prospecting tasks for agents.

Let us hear today from Daniel what inspired him to start his company, how he was able to grow his company and help big businesses in real estate and different industries.

Top Takeaways:
1. Hiring unlicensed people to do prospecting: Is it a criminal offense? (3:26)
2. What will happen to Cold Calling and Prospecting in the future (5:26)
3. Daniel's BIG goal as a business owner (7:53)
4. Investing in commercial real estate and hard money lending (16:15)
5. Daniel's tip on how to find good deals for commercial real estate (17:07)

Hello, everyone! It’s another CEO Secrets episode. Today, we have a financial genius in the show. Let us welcome Damion Lupo.

Damion Lupo is the Founder of the eQRP Co, a financial mentor, 5th-degree black belt holder, and host of the Financial Underdogs podcast. Damion started his first business at the age of 11, has started 30 since, and has authored five books. He was thrown out of one of the schools during college for opening a bookstore in his dorm, putting the official store bankrupt.

Let us hear today from Damion as we go in-depth about wealth, how to achieve real financial freedom and a happy life.


Top Takeaways:
1. What are the greens and reds of wealth (4:40)
2. What is Retirement and why Damion hates this word (6:44)
3. Two (2) things you need to be teaching your kids (8:54)
4. Balancing happy life and financial freedom (9:41)
5. The skills and tools to be financially free (13:42)
6. Damion’s insights on cryptocurrency (15:40)
7. Why entrepreneurs are terrible investors (19:20)

Reach Damion Lupo through his website www.financialunderdogs.com

Hello everyone, welcome to CEO Secrets. Today, our guest is a Certified Residential Specialist, a Certified Distressed Property Specialist,  Accredited Buyer Representative, and Certified Local Market Expert. Let's welcome Kenny Klaus.

Starting as a part-time agent in 1999 while he worked as a Fed-Ex driver, Kenny grew his business into a team in 2002, which has grown to be a team of nearly 30 real estate professionals serving his clients and communities. Today, Kenny is the Team Leader of The Kenny Klaus Team and Founder of CLME.

Let us learn from Kenny more about iBuyers and why real estate agents should not avoid conversations about them.

Top takeaways:
1. How the rise of Internet Buyers (iBuyers) impacted the real estate business (00:57)
2. The 3C's why people will take the iBuyer offer (2:19)
3. How real estate agents can compete with iBuyers (4:25)
4. What the future looks like for real estate brokerages with iBuyers expanding (12:01)
5. How direct mail marketing is affected by the changes in technology and the presence of iBuyer (22:19)
6. The #1 source of leads for Kenny's Team (27:36)
7. The CLME course (32:55)
8. Kenny's piece of advice about iBuyer market shift (36:02)

Welcome to CEO Secrets! I am excited again to be joined by a brilliant marketing person. Let us welcome, Frank Klesitz.

Frank Klesitz is the CEO & Co-Founder of Vyral Marketing, an entrepreneur and investor. Frank had helped thousands of agents and business owners in all industries increase their client generation and existing client retention with education-based video marketing.

Let us learn more from Frank how powerful are email and video marketing and how it can boost your lead generation.


Top Takeaways:
1. How to raise money to pay for your marketing (2:46)
2. Where you should spend your marketing budget (5:35)
3. What prevents skilled agents from becoming business owners (7:49)
4. Frank's biggest secret to ease the cash conversion cycle (9:37)
5. Who you should be hiring to help with lead generation (15:55)
6. The biggest mistake when hiring a marketing person (20:07)
7. Tips on how to connect with bigger teams to develop relationship (23:46)

Hello everyone! Welcome back to CEO Secrets. We have an extraordinary CEO joining us in today's episode. Let's welcome, Greg Harrelson.

Greg Harrelson is the CEO at Century 21 Expert Advisors and the owner of Century 21- The Harrelson Group and Barefoot Realty. Greg has over 16 years of real estate experience. He is a coach and a mentor in real estate development for many agents in the area. He has coached some of the top real estate agents in America. His experience and his passion for the industry help him become one of the top agents at Century 21.

Let us learn today from Greg how he built his companies with exceptional agents and leaders and his thoughts about the future of real estate.


Top Takeaways:
1. How to attract agents to join your team (3:31)
2. Why Greg didn't go independent as broker (7:00)
3. What the future looks like for Realogy (9:03)
4. Is Greg seeing a recession? (12:18)
5. How the election will impact the real estate industry (13:54)
6. Why Greg loves multi-family properties (22:27)
7. How to recruit agents and find leaders to lead (26:24)
8. Greg's prediction for real estate companies in the coming years (43:41)

Welcome to CEO Secrets. It's an honor to be joined today by an internationally recognized expert in the field of residential real estate. Let's welcome Jim Remley.

Jim Remley started in the real estate world at the age of 19. He shattered sales records by listing over 150 properties in one year and became listed in the top 1% of realtors nationwide within two years of entering the business. At 24, Jim opened his first real estate company. He was able to grow it into 17 offices, becoming the largest independent real estate company in Oregon. Today, Jim leads one of the most successful real estate firms in the United States, John L Scott Medford and Ashland.  With just over 160 active brokers, it is on track to close nearly a Billion Dollars in sales this year.

Today, let's hear from Jim how he was able to land in the top 1% of realtors and help brokerages succeed in their businesses.

Top takeaways:
1. What Jim learned recruiting real estate agents when he started his own company (1:13)
2. Three (3) reasons why people are joining Jim's team (4:05)
3. Should business owners have an exit plan from their business? (6:58)
4. How is Jim's technology is different from the others (10:20)
5. How growing franchisees are the same as recruiting agents (14:18)

Welcome back to CEO Secrets! I am excited today because our guest is someone I have known since I started in the real estate business. Let's welcome, Tim Heyl.

Tim Heyl is the CEO & Founder of Homeward, established in 2018. In 2009, he founded The Heyl Group, one of the 25 highest performing real estate agent teams of all time, according to WSJ Real Trends. The Heyl Group has been recognized for its innovative approach to technology and dedication to service. In 2019, The Heyl Group won the Inman Innovator Award and Austin Business Journal's #1 Residential Real Estate Team award five years running, appearing five consecutive years on the Inc 5000 list, and recognized as a 2019 Keller Williams Worldwide Top 5 Agent.

Let us hear from Tim on what his strategy is for providing more value to consumers and what his thoughts are on where the industry is headed to in the coming years.

Top Takeaways:
1. How to empower agents to be successful (2:10)
2. The story of Homeward and why it exists today (11:59)
3. How Tim raised funds for Homeward during COVID crisis (16:42)
4. Tim's Prediction: Which company will succeed in the coming years? (25:54)
5. Two (2) Technology platforms that exist today (30:12)
6. What the real estate landscape will look like 100 years from now (36:06)

Hello everyone! It’s another episode of CEO Secrets! Our guest today is a great public speaker who has built a successful team and multiple businesses. Let us welcome, Keri Shull.

Keri Shull is the founder of The Keri Shull Team, the top-selling real estate team in D.C., Maryland and Virginia area. Keri's team is #13 team-owned brokerage in the nation according to REAL Trends and The Wall Street Journal. Keri has contributed to Forbes Magazine, Business Insider, Money, and Entrepreneur on the topics of entrepreneurship and goal achievement.

Let's learn from Keri today about the steps she took to be where she is right now, her strategies to be the top producing team in their market, and other business ventures.

Top Takeaways:
1. Keri's biggest takeaways from getting into coaching (5:13)
2. Utilizing your assets to grow your business (9:46)
3. What Keri did poorly when she was starting in the business (13:43)
4. What you need to know before following someone else's business model (19:36)
5. Tips from Keri if you are planning to build an ISA team (21:35)
6. The power of content to generate leads (31:03)
7. Strategies to raise funds to venture projects with developers (36:21)
8. What Keri did to get business with builders  (42:43)

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to CEO Secrets. Today, our guest is the CEO of the Council of Multiple Listing Services (CMLS). Let us welcome, Denee Evans.

Denee Evans started off with a career in banking and finance. After being involved in a project for making homes more energy efficient, she was introduced to the world of Multiple Listing Services. In the 6 years of being the CEO of CMLS, she has established a unified voice for the MLS industry.  She was able to drive innovation through the foundation of CMLS Section Councils, and supported groundbreaking agreements with other industry stakeholders.

Let us learn more from Denee on the value of having Multiple Listing Services and her views on helping improve the efficiency of MLS to become the best partners to brokers and agents.

Top Takeaways:
1. Why open communication is the key (05:25)
2. Is there a need for a National MLS? (08:27)
3. Technological advancements to look forward to in the MLS industry (13:01)
4. The single biggest struggle for each MLS across the country (19:04)
5. Prediction:  What would be the biggest disruptor for real estate? (24:31)
6. What secrets Denee uncovered in becoming a great leader (31:22)

Welcome to CEO Secrets! We are excited to be joined by a well-known leader in the luxury world of real estate; Scott Durkin, President and Chief Operating Officer of Douglas Elliman.

Scott Durkin has been an industry leader for nearly three decades and is a driving force behind the globally recognized brokerage’s ranking as the second-largest independent residential real estate firm in the United States.

Hello everyone! Welcome back to CEO Secrets. I am excited about our guest today who is a known entrepreneur and technology expert in the real estate industry. Let's welcome, Jeremy Brandt.

Jeremy Brandt is a serial entrepreneur and has founded, funded, and run multiple companies including WeBuyHouses.com, Fast Home Offer, 1-800-CashOffer, Calucro, and others. Brandt has been quoted in the media as an expert on real estate, the housing market and small business activity.

Let's hear today from Jeremy as he share his expertise in building profitable business and how he was able to build multiple companies.

Hello, everyone and welcome back to CEO Secrets! Today, our guest is a successful realtor and Social Media Marketing expert. Let us welcome, Byron Lazine.

Byron is a licensed Real Estate Broker and Team Lead of One + Company at William Raveis Realty. In addition to his work as a Broker, Byron is the CEO of Company Cubed, a digital marketing agency focusing on social media. He co-hosts The Real Word, a weekly video podcast where he shares his insights on current Real Estate topics and news.

We'll learn from Byron more about Digital Marketing and get his insights into how technology plays a big part in the real estate industry.

Top Takeaways:
1. Why is it difficult to build a huge following in the real estate industry on social media (2:04)
2. How to have an attractive character to get attention from viewers (10:22)
3. The future of real estate agents (20:49)
4. How iBuyers are providing the best customer experience (25:05)
5. Who is leading in the technology game in the real estate industry (38:51)
6. Prediction: Big name to shutdown and why (42:13)

Hello everyone! It’s another CEO Secrets episode. Today our special guest is a strong leader, motivator, and educator in the real estate industry. Let us welcome, Bess Freedman.

Bess Freedman is the first CEO of luxury real estate firm Brown Harris Stevens (BHS). In 2013, she was appointed by the President of BHS, Hall F. Wilkie, to foster business development. Prior to entering the real estate industry, Bess practiced law as an Assistant State Attorney in Montgomery County, Maryland, and also worked at Legal Aid as an attorney.