← The Amazing Authorities Podcast
The Amazing Authorities Podcast
Disruption, Leadership, and Seven Streams of Income: Leigh Brown on Reinvention, Speaking Success, and Serving Others
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- [00:02]
A
Welcome to the Amazing Authorities Podcast, where game changers, visionaries and category leaders share how they built their brands, platforms and global influence. Your host is Mitch Carson, international speaker, media strategist, and creator of the Instant Authority system. If you're ready to learn from those who've done it and want to become the go to expert in your space, you're in the right place. Have you heard the expression, give a busy person work and you'll know it'll get done? Lazy people sit on their couch, eat bonbons, scratch, and watch Netflix. Lee Brown is the antithesis of a lazy person. I won't even assign a gender identity to her because I don't want to get in trouble with the woke people. Oh, I'm not in America. I don't have to worry about it. But I want to start with our guest today, Lee Brown. Lee, welcome to the Amazing Authorities podcast, and you truly are an amazing individual.
- [01:08]
B
Well, it's a pleasure to be with you today, Mitch, and thank you for having me on the show.
- [01:12]
A
Well, we had a nice little pre chat getting to know each other, which is, which is perfect. You've got the 50 set behind you, but you're a modern woman. All right, so let's.
- [01:22]
B
Yeah, I got to prove that it's not a green screen.
- [01:25]
A
Yeah, you just did. You've even got the pot. You got all of these little. It's just a superb set. I keep mine a little plain. Yours is matching who you are and your personality. And I interview principally CEOs and authors, and you have ticked both of those boxes. Let's talk about your newest book that you've just released with over 50 reviews. And ladies and gentlemen, for those of you that are listening, and you're most of your aspiring authors or existing authors, so don't, don't, don't take it away. You took it away too fast. All right, the next is now and then, let's see. It says how to move forward when disruption, doubt and discomfort hit all at once. What motivated you to write this and get 50 reviews, which is huge.
- [02:18]
B
Well, this book came straight out of my experience pivoting from running my real estate and speaking businesses into doing natural disaster relief work in the mountains of North Carolina in the fall of 2024, which was a moment I never saw coming and just answered the call when it came to be of service to my fellow citizens and wound up starting a non profit pretty much by accident. I have built the airplane as I've flown it, as they say, Mitch. And so this book talks about how to, how to break through in those moments of chaos. And sometimes it just has to do with keeping on going.
- [02:59]
A
Well, that's excellent. I mean you start in the beginning. You said something that came out with a New York Times best selling book by Robert Allen, multiple streams of income. And you have all these income streams which we'll learn about. But then you have your income taker or income subtractor which is your nonprofit work. But that comes from your heart passion.
- [03:21]
B
Well, you only have so many years on this earth and I'm always focused on how I can be useful because I can't take my money with me. I want to make sure that we are provided for in our retirement and our dotage. And I make sure my kids have enough for a down payment, but I'm certainly not going to set them up for enough that would mess them up. So why not do something great for somebody else in the meantime? And as I mentioned to you in pre show, my husband makes the joke that my real estate and speaking business feed my nonprofit relief habit. And it is what it is. But it's been very life changing to be in full time service instead of full time revenue generating. But I'm grateful for all of the revenue that I generated because it allows me to do the full time service. And now I'm more in a hybrid role. And I think sometimes we just get in our own way. We say that we're going to do it someday, we're going to do it later, I'll get around to it. And we're 99% committed. And I think we all know that you can't be 99% pregnant. You either are or you aren't. And you can't be 99% in on things. And you either are in or you're not. And for the purpose of this natural disaster, I went in 100%. And my life is different today because of that. And I wanted other people to know that if they're in that 99% stuck place where they, they feel like they could be doing something different, something more, I want to give them the encouragement to go the extra 1% and change everything.
- [04:53]
A
1%. So that's the difference between an A player and an A plus earner. A plus earner, someone that does the extra 1%, little bit extra elbow grease. Now I want to go back to something you just touched on very quickly moved off. You want to give your kids enough for a down payment but not too much to. What was the word you used? Affect them or impact them negatively or Ruin them.
- [05:19]
B
I could just say, I don't want to ruin my children.
- [05:23]
A
What does that mean?
- [05:25]
B
Well, I grew up on a farm, and when you grow up on a farm, you have good years and then you have really rough years, and there doesn't seem to be much in between, but you learn how to save. So I've had a relationship with money my entire life, which is. There's not enough. There's not going to be enough. So I'm always very nervous about money, which is part of why I leaned into so much of the Napoleon Hill Robert Kiyosaki information early on. How do I build up something that's sustainable and reliable? And I want my kids to have that same sense of, I can do this. I did it. That I've had the opportunity to have, because the farm that I grew up on, now with the growth in the Charlotte, North Carolina market where I'm located, it's turned into housing developments. And that's just because growth overtakes agricultural areas. And the land's highest and best use was no longer to be a farm. Well, when the family has the opportunity to deal with dollars from development or there's a bunch of us, so it gets split up, you look around and say, we want to be good stewards. And a good steward doesn't give everything away. In fact, the same thing applies in education. The student is only going to be changed if they receive information and then do something with it. And if you do everything for them, they're not going to have a chance to learn. And I want my kids to struggle. I want them to go broke. I want them to eat ramen noodles because that's all they can afford. So that when they hit the times of plenty, they will have an appreciation for it.
- [07:01]
A
Yeah. And. And save money properly and to allow. You know, it's interesting. Did you get the pitch from your parents? Eat everything on your plate because they're starving children in Africa, 100%.
- [07:18]
B
And if I didn't finish my plate, Mitch, they would put it on top of the refrigerator. And when the next time I was hungry, I could finish what was on my plate, whether it was that night or the next morning. And you do that about two times and you don't test your parents anymore. You finish. So those poor starving children in Africa don't want your leftover meatloaf anyway? I never understood that argument, to be honest.
- [07:38]
A
Well, I think it's a great contributor to obesity in America because if we're pushed to eat everything on our plates versus stop eating when we're hungry. Now that I struggle with weight loss more. I think it's my programming from my mother, you know, looking over me and not letting me get up from the table and a smack on the head. If I didn't finish everything. It was, it was punitive. So it's the possible negative.
- [08:04]
B
She's serving you. However, if you're serving yourself and you learn how to serve the correct size portion, then you're not contributing to obesity and you're also not wasteful. But that means having self discipline and control, which I'm sure you have that in spades.
- [08:19]
A
Oh, perfect, perfect, perfect. Lack of control. Especially with ice cream. No, I can't even look at it because that, that, that means a whole half gallon if I look at it. I can't, I can't. Haagen Dazs was very clever. They created pint size containers because then, okay, I'm only eating this versus the whole half gallon, which is where that used to come. Or that was the, the biggest delivery mechanism for ice cream was the half gallon. And then they went to gallon, of course, for larger families. But the Haagen house was smart. And I ended up eating two of those. I ended up buying two pints. You know, they're five bucks a pint or whatever. Five or six dollars, whatever it was. So that was my ice cream budget, which I stopped.
- [09:06]
B
So you needed a revenue stream for ice cream. Did you ever buy stock in one of the ice cream companies? Because that would have been a smart move.
- [09:12]
A
Yeah. Or to run it through the nonprofit so I get it at a better price or something. So how did you make the transition into keynote speaking? And you've spoken all around the world?
- [09:27]
B
Well, it was completely by accident. I mean, pretty sure my life is a series of go try something else and see what sticks. And I have always had a fear of public speaking. So for anybody who's watching or listening to this, and you're like, I'm an introvert. I can't talk to people. You can. You just haven't gotten that muscle built up yet. So I was so painfully shy as a child and as a teenager and even into college, and I started waiting tables to pay for college. That forces you out of your shell, but it was all conversational. And then when I got into real estate, I worked very hard and I'm quite good, and I hit the very top levels of production and success. And one of my mentors told me that it was my obligation to give back. And he said, I need you to be on A panel and. And share what's working for you so that other people can learn. And I said, I can't. I can't. I can't. I don't do microphones. I don't do stages. I'll talk. I can't breathe. I can't do this. But he was relentless, and I wish he were still alive to see how far I've grown, because he believed in my ability before I saw it. And he did not take my no as a reasonable answer. He knew that that was my fear speaking and not my inability, and he put me on that panel.
- [10:45]
A
It was fear versus inability. Let me. Let me. That is. That is fear versus inability. That's nugget number two for us, ladies and gentlemen. You can overcome this. So, yeah, so he pushed you. You got up there, and it was you. It was only a fear of the unknown.
- [11:01]
B
And three guys. And I didn't. I didn't think I had a place. I'm Southern. I have this accent. I'm a girl. The other three are these highly successful men from different urban markets here. I work the suburbs and farms. I'm a country bumpkin. I don't fit in well. As the moderator asked questions, she was very skilled at making sure everyone spoke. And that, by the way, is the key to an excellent panel, is a moderator who understands they are not the show. They are there to make sure the panelists are showcased. And she gave me enough opportunities to speak. And as we got to the end, the audience, of course, they love to come speak to the panelists with whom they connected. And I had a line of people that wanted to speak to me. And I was thinking, I didn't expect this, but they identified with me, the market that I serve, with my style, with my values, and wanted to connect. And it was this huge light bulb moment. Mitch. I finally realized that if I got out of my own way in order to serve, other people could take what I had and create something bigger themselves. And that was step one. And it very quickly morphed into teaching my own sessions, teaching bigger classes. Will you do the lunch opportunity? And then it became the morning and the afternoon keynote, as my message went from tactical sales into more of the motivational and leadership messages that allow somebody to put the tactics into place. It's been the most fun, unexpected journey. And the parents of the kids I grew up with are the first ones to comment on Facebook. Can't believe this is that same little shy girl who would never speak up.
- [12:42]
A
That's great. And then it turned into authorship then writing books, because every keynote speaker needs that social proof of being an author expert. And because you can't get the big fees without having written books. It's an essential arrow in your quiver.
- [13:00]
B
And it's not just the fees, right? The audience, if they connected with you, they want to hold something. They want to take something home with them to bring that message back to life when they need it. And I failed to understand that because at first I thought the book was about me. And when it finally clicked that it was more about the audience needing more, that's when I finally got off my dead behind and got one done. So I was seven years into my speaking life when I finally got my first book out. And of course, it's in its tenth printing or whatever. It's been wildly successful. Two years later, the next book. Two years later, the next book, and then a gap because I got derailed and didn't get the fourth book out. But now I finally have. So whoever's out there, you can write a book, and you don't have to sit down at a typewriter to do it. When you have things like voice recorders that you can talk to so that your voice is intact, and that's a great starting point, transcribe from there and you'll realize that you. Whatever it is that's in here that needs to come out, you can let it out.
- [14:02]
A
Yes, you can. And even if it starts with an anthology, being a chapter contributor, that is also a stepping stone. And I've been in a couple anthologies, and it's certainly. It's a vehicle to get you to believe that you could become an author. And when you became an author, did you become proud? What was the emotional feeling that went on in your head or in your heart?
- [14:29]
B
It was exhaustion. Do you remember? I don't know if you've read. There was an episode done with. Oh, golly. I just. His name just fell out of my head. He's one of my favorite inspirational authors. And he wrote the Outlier, Malcolm Gladwell.
- [14:43]
A
Malcolm. Oh, I love his books.
- [14:44]
B
Yes, Fantastic guy. He did an interview with someone on one of the podcasts. I believe it was on the Genius Network, which is one of my favorite. I love Joe Polish. I love listening. I know Joe interviews. And he was interviewing Malcolm Gladwell, asking him about his latest book. This was when the Outlier Effect came out. And Malcolm said, I wish somebody had told me with books that you're so excited about it and you work and you work and you work and you work and you edit. Edit Edit, edit, edit. And by the time it comes out, you're supposed to be, oh, my book. But you're so tired of it. You're like, I'm so tired of this book. I've read it so many times. And you have to jazz yourself up. So for all my new authors out there, you're going to be exhausted about your book and you're going to be over it. And then you get the first review back and then suddenly you're like, oh, what I wrote was helpful because my whole goal in life is to be useful. And I love the feeling that what I had to say was useful for somebody in some small way that makes it all worthwhile.
- [15:46]
A
That's great. And then you're not just a single author, single book author, which most people are if they tick that box. You've now written four books. That's great. Have you, have you got an audio program to support it or workbooks?
- [16:00]
B
Well, of course. I did all the audible myself. I could not let some AI with no personality do my audibles. I recorded them. Thank you. So they are all Southern. They are my voice. And a lot of my people say, I feel like I'm just riding in the car with you. And I said, well, you are. So that's good. And then I do have a workbook and I have a coaching program that goes along with my books now. And everything just continues to grow as I learn. I'm continuing to learn best practices for how I can be more useful to people who need a guide in the world. And it's fun to learn and go, yeah.
- [16:33]
A
And Joe Polish is a great guy. I've known him since the 90s. We were both, we met, I met at a Dan Kennedy seminar in the mid-90s. 95.
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B
Yeah.
- [16:42]
A
We were both in Dan's mastermind together for about nine, 10 years. So that's how I know Joe. And I remember when he started Genius Network. And great. Are you a member of his network?
- [16:53]
B
Not right this minute because the dates for the event have always conflicted with something else that I do. But I ran into Joe's content. Well, of course, Dean was in real estate for a long time.
- [17:03]
A
Dean Gracioso.
- [17:05]
B
Dean. Oh my gosh, I'm having middle aged brain today. Dean Jackson.
- [17:11]
A
Oh, I know. Copywriter. Yes.
- [17:14]
B
So I did Dan Sullivan's coaching program for several years and Dan's coached more entrepreneurs than anybody on the planet. And I get so challenged when I'm in a cohort with Dan. That's where I got to know Dean and Joe and at some point I'll finally make it out to a genius network event.
- [17:33]
A
Yeah, he's, he's a very good guy, knows a lot. But. So you've ticked these boxes, you've got workbook and then you got involved with NSA later. Was that something that evolved or did they find you? Did you find them?
- [17:47]
B
Well, I finally found out about the National Speakers association by accident. And it's because I had qualified for the Certified Speaking Professional. I was already qualified for their highest level designation when I found the organization. And because I'm a joiner by nature, I'm very involved in the association world for real estate and in the auctioneer association world. And that's actually allowed me to look at the association space a little differently because I'm a member and a volunteer as well as a presenter. And of course, I just jumped right into the nsa and I love the. Their publication is actually what gives me the most value. And I don't get to say that about many organizations. I love that magazine and it's been, it's been helpful in a lot of ways. I enjoy looking for places to dig in a little deeper. I don't know that I've always found my peer group and that could be because I haven't landed in the right peer group there. But as you know, whatever event you go to or whatever conversation you're in, there's always one pearl. You can find one pearl or wherever you are and it makes it worthwhile. So I always go and I look for my one pearl and implement it and off we go.
- [18:57]
A
I learned a lot in my early years as a speaker and I went to the NSA Los Angeles chapters where I started. And then when I, during the pandemic, I went and I met Dottie Walters at the NSA chapter in Las Vegas. It's a great speaker. And then when I now that I am back and forth, I went to the Singapore chapter of nsa and a lot of Americans live there and it was really valuable and then it opened up. But here's what happens if you're a speaker and some of the people learn. I've been on the platform for 41 years. Every single speaking job that I've had and it's over 2,000 to date as a selling speaker, I've done probably 30, 40 keynotes. But the rest is selling from the stage have come from rubbing elbows with people in the audience, rubbing elbows with the fellow speakers, opened up more doors than sending out cold emails, sending out cold mailings, which we used to do in the you know in the 80s and the 90s, the big package with a VHS tape which was part of it, you know, or cassettes that I put together so they could hear you. But today YouTube has replaced all that. All they have to do is see you and did all of that. But every single game, every single gig, just like you said, you earn a. You get a new nugget that you take away. Every gig came from rubbing elbows.
- [20:25]
B
And there's something magical about sharing opportunities with other speakers too. Because I may get a request, it's not a good fit, but I heard you speak and you blew my socks off. I want you to have that stage and I found that there's a lot of that. The spirit of abundance as opposed to scarcity in speaker world. Because you do have some people that will try to make themselves fit every opportunity. But I just, I don't see them. They flare out because it's, it's too obvious to the audience. Authenticity is. So now it's the.
- [20:59]
A
It's you want to have. Even if somebody's in the same niche. Here's what happens. Take care of the client. If Betty is booking for a leadership speaker, which is the very heavily dominated category, so many leadership speakers, leadership books, military people, all that. What if you have a conflicting date? And if you personally refer Judy or Lee, who has a leadership experience, background running your real estate brokerage business, leadership and sales motivation. What if you're available, you have a relationship with the event promoter or event producer and say look, I can, I've got a conflict. I'm already booked under contract. But this lady over here is awesome. She will rock the socks. Are you coming from a place of scarcity or abundance? And that's the difference if you are confident because guess what happens? The rule of reciprocity comes in and you might get referred by the person you referred. That has been my mentality, my entire speaking career and I never applied for the CSP because I didn't, I didn't need it. I've certainly.
- [22:11]
B
It was a lot of homework by the way.
- [22:13]
A
Well, but it was just not necessary for my line of work. And it's different for a keynote because then you might want to have that, that three letter designation after. For me, I'm selling and it was all about will I make this promoter money Before I started my producing my own events and I produced about 2,000 of my own events around the world. Yeah. Where I brought in speakers who were all salespeople I built. But one keynote would come in and speak to draw the Crowd. You bring in the big name. You know, I used to bring in Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. Oh, a long time ago. More. More Mark, because he was more sales oriented. But you bring in those big names and then the other speakers that come in and then really make you money. Mark was a negative. The others came in and made money. The salespeople are the ones that'll make you money. And, oh, yeah, it's good business. So are you. Are you. So the ideal client for you is real estate, or is it a corporation? Who is it that you're looking for to get placed?
- [23:19]
B
I would say it used to be real estate. I have it. I'm a 10 when it comes to knowledge and real estate. But I've spoken in that genre for so long that as event organizers, they have to bring in different perspectives because the audience will get glazed over and stop showing up for the same people all the time. And my message, especially since pivoting into a nonprofit world and learning how to balance that out, has been a huge leadership moment. And so I find that my message works really well with associations who need to engage their volunteers, who need to energize their fundraising, which also means it applies in the nonprofit world where they need to engage the volunteers and increase the fundraising, which means it applies to the political space where they need to. Oh, engage volunteers and increase fundraising. Because my message is helps the average person grab a hold and go. And it's, It's. It's so much fun to deliver it, but I can make somebody laugh and then cry and then laugh again. And I think that's my superpower.
- [24:24]
A
And how long are your keynotes typically?
- [24:26]
B
45 minutes to an hour.
- [24:28]
A
Okay. Okay. Yeah, I was going to say, usually a keynote is about 50 minutes and there's a break or something in between. And because we've met and I want the audience to learn and understand this, I've got a great referral for you in Singapore, as I mentioned. Yeah, well, I've got a client slash friend that puts on an annual event. It's already happened in January, but there's always the possibility. All I have to do is introduce you for next year. He's get.
- [24:55]
B
He has be very honored.
- [24:56]
A
Yeah, it's property investors, they call it. They don't say real estate in Asia. It's property. They call it property investing. And he be. It'd be interesting to make that introduction. And because of my meeting him and he came to see me speak at a big event in Singapore that I was running, he was in the audience. He saw me speak. He then hired me as a consultant. Then it turned into me speaking at his. I want, you know, each time it's a new speaker, so I don't get invited back. Maybe I will in a few years, but I've. They don't want to see me again. They've already seen me one year. They don't bring.
- [25:32]
B
Right.
- [25:32]
A
And it happens. That's where then, hey, I can recommend my friend Lee Brown. She's somebody that might fit in for you because she's a seasoned speaker and a member of. Or a speaker who's been on stages in multiple continents. And she'll resonate with the audience because she's got a deep real estate background, property background. It's all it takes. Because nobody wants to take a risk on somebody they don't know. And if it comes from somebody that is endorsed or has already been there, rock the crowd. Why not? Oh, she's an equivalent. Great. Different category. Far better looking than me. And she's got a Southern accent, which you're not used to. That would go over very well. And what will happen with you is knowing what I do and what I speak about, you're going to feel auto. Magically obligated. That's called the rule of reciprocity to give back. You like auto magically?
- [26:35]
B
Yes, I love that. Is that your own trademark phrase?
- [26:38]
A
Of course. Of course. I don't use anybody else.
- [26:42]
B
And I'm gonna try to remember to give you credit for it. So I'm sitting here trying to memorize automatically because I love that so much. It matches my kitchen.
- [26:49]
A
Yes, it does. It does. I saw your kitchen. Reminds me of my grandmother's kitchen. Yes, very much. But that is. That's how it works. That's how it works. You give. And at least in most cultures around the world, if you take care of somebody, they're going to feel, okay, I need to give back. Or else maybe they're not human. I don't know. There are some.
- [27:12]
B
But, you know. But it's also why you show up, Mitch, because if you don't show up when you're graciously invited to a podcast, you don't get to meet people who then are going to teach you things like the word automagically or find other opportunities to serve. And too often we get buried in these things and then our scrolling and our devices and we forget that it's the real connections that change things. Which is why, if you're listening, go to the next conference. You can go to the next association meeting. You can because you don't know who you're going to meet and they might be dreadful, but they might be amazing and you should take your risk for the amazing people.
- [27:52]
A
Well and, and I want to go further. When I spoke at this event, it was two years ago. I spoke at Marco's event, the the man in Singapore. His it was two years ago and I shared the stage with a Feng shui master. Was a one day event and it wasn't a bad flight for me because I was already in Bangkok. So I flew over two hour flight, no biggie. I shared the stage first time with a man named Ken Honda. Now Ken Honda is a member of the tlc, the Leadership Council. He's the biggest author out of Japan. 9 million copies of his book sold in Japanese. Happy money is his book and he's now traveling the world speaking about happy money. He retired from his work at 29 years old. So then he got into writing books. He's written about 160 books. And yes, crazy writes a book.
- [28:42]
B
I'm a slacker.
- [28:44]
A
Well compared to Ken, but that's what he does. He has his car that takes him around. He's in the backseat with his driver and he's got a full office set up, you know, living in Tokyo. So he drives around and he's writing his books, typing away on his computer. So he's an efficient guy. Japanese are different breed. They're efficient and hard working guy. Well, I met him and I just spoke virtually for. Three days in a different category. So I was in the business and speaking category. So I was included with John Gray, Robert Kiyosaki. So I can say I shared the stage with some of. I've shared the stage fortunately with my own career. Quite a, quite a big number of or a large number of well known speakers. I don't this is more about you today but what happened was because I spoke at one event, I then met another big name speaker who then brought me into his event because I interviewed him for my show on NBC Channel 3 and then he felt obligated to give back to me. He understands the power of exposure when he's launching his new book. And now I'm handling his book launches in America through my publishing. Yeah, and I mean it's an honor man who's written 9 million, who sold 9 million books. That association opens more doors. So you just don't know how things happen. Throwing mud at the wall like you say, show up to conferences. How's that worked for you? I mean you said Yes. I think it's for you. It's you saying yes opens up opportunities for that panel that you're so nervous.
- [30:36]
B
I didn't want to do it, but I was at the conference anyway, so why not give it a chance? And in fact, I got my auctioneer's license almost two years ago so that I could expand another business opportunity and I entered the rookie contest. Well, I'm the oldest rookie by a good bit. I'm the only female up there. And I had some other people sitting near me that were saying, I can't believe you're doing this. I'm like, what's the worst that could happen? I can get up there and be the worst possible auctioneer on the planet. And I still got up there and tried. That's the worst that could happen is I sit back down and I failed. Well, no, that's not failure. That's just trying and it didn't succeed. Or I can get up there and find my way. And I got runner up. I was pretty proud of myself to get runner up in the rookie contest with a bunch of young bucks. And it's just life is like that. We get so idealistic about what's supposed to happen and what perfect looks like and perfect doesn't exist. So why not just keep trying things and be delighted along the way?
- [31:41]
A
I love it. I love it. And what are the other revenue streams? Like you said, you've got your real, you're a real estate broker. You started out as an agent. So you make money off the agents that work underneath your shingle. And what else do you do?
- [32:00]
B
So there's my practitioner work, my brokerage work. I'm an investor. So being an active investor, I'm always looking to increase. And I've actually, that's got a little tail now because I've started doing some short term rentals in addition to my long term rentals and I have well enough commercial real estate too. So there's three prongs of investing and then I've got my books. So I've got a revenue stream from my books, I've got a revenue stream from being a keynote speaker and then I've got a revenue stream from coaching and I've got a revenue stream from auctioneering. So actually I have my seven that you're supposed to have to build a good reliable income. But sevens, I know it's the biblical number of completion, but I'm not done yet. So I got more stuff I'm going to do.
- [32:43]
A
Oh, that's funny. That's Funny. Do you? How did you go from being a panelist to getting paid? I'd love to hear that story from you to where and how much did you get paid your first time to share your message?
- [33:01]
B
Well, for anybody that thinks they're going to make a killing and they're just going to be swimming in bathtubs full of money like Scrooge McDuck from speaking, let me just lick all the red off your candy right now because that's not a realistic outcome. You don't make oodles and scads of money from speaking. It's supplement other things that you're doing. So when I got started, and I always tell my young, oh, actually I do have another revenue stream, I started a speaker boot camp where I'm training new speakers how to build their message and get on a stage. That's number eight in my speaker boot camp. I explained to them that getting on a panel is the best way to get started. It worked for me because it gave me a microphone, but didn't give any risk to the organizer and there was no risk to the audience because you're one of several voices and if one fails, you have other people to buttress you. So it works out great. But it trains you in reaction and reading the audience and then timing and tempo. There's so many things you can work on. And then I suggest they go to moderator next because that is the gift to any event that you're willing to take care of an hour's worth of content, showcase some of their best people, but keep a a leash on them so that they don't run loose when they're at the microphone. Because some of our wonderful.
- [34:13]
A
You mean MC or you mean be an emcee or moderator?
- [34:17]
B
Well, moderator, I think is the next step after being on a panel because you've got to control the content, and MC is going to have to control a larger format of content.
- [34:26]
A
Sure.
- [34:27]
B
So the panel moderator work is different.
- [34:30]
A
Panel moderator, panel moderator. Okay.
- [34:32]
B
You can't find me one event planner Mitch, that won't be delighted to find out somebody will moderate a panel for them because they usually have a board member or a volunteer volunteer do it. But if they're not skilled at how to control those panelists, they run amok. But it's often too the board member that needs to have a moment on the stage. And so if you've got to showcase somebody for interior politics reasons, you put them on a panel or you put them in as a moderator, you find a job for them. A good moderator Sticks them on a panel and controls them so they get the microphone time, but they don't ruin the event.
- [35:07]
A
Right.
- [35:07]
B
Well, I did that as frequently as I could. And then I got invited to a small chapter meeting of this and a small network meeting of that. And so for two solid years, I said yes every single time. And the only fee I charged was my hotel room and my flight, if I had one. I didn't charge a speaker fee. It was just travel because I wanted to build reps. For me, it's no different than running because I'm a runner, and I can't go run a marathon tomorrow if I didn't run yesterday and the day before and the month before that. So I'm fit now because I've been running every day for 10 years, and speaking is the same way. So somebody asked me to come to a Rotary Club. I'm there. They asked me to come to a women's Bible study. I'm there. You asked me to come to this and this and this. I said yes. And I was on the road. Those first two years, I was on the road easily 30, 40 nights a year because I said yes to everybody. And here's what happened my first couple of times out. Way too many slides. Information overload. I did not know how to pace. It did not have good tempo, overdid. And after I did it a few times, I thinned out my slides. I slowed down my pace. I learned how to read the audience. And by the time I got to the end of that two years, I had the best presentation ever. It was perfectly timed. Every event loved it. And so then I started charging, and I was charging 1500 bucks. But I had been on the road now for two solid years, thank God. My husband is a very supportive man who was willing to work around this schedule for their home life, and I was able to get compensated. And then that grew till I figured out where the ceilings were. Because the one thing I don't appreciate in the speaking business is how hard it is for speakers to share what they charge because they're so afraid of cannibalism. Well, I don't cannibalize. I'm just trying to gather information. But I figured out where the ceilings were by being good friends with the event planners. They would tell me what they're paying everybody else. And then I said, I have to get beyond the ceiling because I'm worth more. I've got more reps. I've got better content. The audience is.
- [37:14]
A
And you've got three books. Four books. Yes.
- [37:17]
B
So I started to really gear up what I charged. And so I went from that $1500 in 2011 to 20,000 now. But now that I say that out loud, I should probably check an inflation meter because I might not be charging enough based on inflation. But you still realize that I can do less events now for more revenue. But I'm there because I put in the hours. And I go back to Malcolm Gladwell and the Outlier effect because he talks about 10,000 hours where you develop expertise. And I just decided I was going to do it, Mitch. And so I drilled in and decided that come hell or high water, I was going to be the best available option. And now I'm not just the best available option. I'm the best option. And. And they hope I'm available. But you don't get there by accident. None of this is by accident. No book success is an accident. And I wish more people would embrace the hard work and the sweat and the sleepless nights and the paying their dues so that when you get there, you're exhausted because you don't really want to promote the book. But then you realize, man, other people listen to me speak for years so that I could do this. Other people supported my nonprofit so that I could go serve other people. Other people have listened to me. So to honor them, I'm going to be great.
- [38:35]
A
1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.
- [38:39]
B
Yes.
- [38:41]
A
Thomas Edison.
- [38:43]
B
He was right.
- [38:44]
A
He was right. Yeah. You've got to put in the reps. I'm such a fan of the Outliers book. I use that as an example in so many of my trainings. And I've said that I ran 69 speaking mastery courses, all in Asia, none in the U.S. yes. All about selling from the stage. Different than keynoting. You know, you have to have the message. But it's about how do you convert an audience into buyers? Because if you just sell them a book, you're. You've left thousands of dollars on the table. It's courses, workshops. If you sell that, then you have a deeper connection with them. That's the methodology that I taught for years, and I've sunset that now I'm just moved into podcasting because I don't want to sit on my feet all day. But you charge. 1500 is your first paid. I want to talk about that because that's. There are a couple of hurdles here in the speaking journey I found with clients is, you know, and for selling speakers, which is also related, you have to be guaranteed a minimum or you charge. I, I said it at. You got to get 10 grand as a minimum to show up. And if they don't have X number of bodies in a room, that's not your fault you've shown up. So if they don't have. If you do 10 of an audience and there are or 100 people in the audience, let's say if you're a 10% closer and your program is 2,000 bucks, so you've sold 10 people, that's 20 grand. You've made your 10 grand. You have to have that. You have to have a certain amount of bodies in a room. It's all metrics to get there. So as a keynote speaker, and if they haven't charged an admission, if it is a Lions Club or a Rotary Club, how do you make money out of that? Or is that where you. You put in your reps?
- [40:36]
B
To me, that's putting in the reps because they're. There's going to be budget limitations for different groups. But when, when this keynote was developed, when the book was first coming out, I needed the reps because the, the timing wasn't right. I had to get the. The messaging right. I had to massage the slides. So I gave it anywhere I could give it, and a lot of them were local because, frankly, you don't want to try out your new message on a $20,000 stage. That's not fair to the event. That's not fair to the.
- [41:05]
A
Well, it's not proven yet either. You don't know if it's going to resonate.
- [41:08]
B
Yeah, they need to have a wonderful event, and you're not wonderful the first time out of the gate. I don't care how amazing you are. But now it's taken me about, let's say I've been delivering this keynote now for six months. It's pretty close to dialed in. And the last time I gave it, I was like, oh, okay. I'm not. We're getting there. Because, you know, when you get there and it's. It's an exciting moment, but you, you just have to. You have to be humble about it. Let's just call it what it is. You have to have the ego to be on a stage, but the humility to say, I have to get better. I'm willing to fall down so that I can get up. And it's just, I would say that's probably the one thing I've seen among professional speakers that either they're hiding it really well or they need an extra dose of humility. So that they can get the next message really dialed in. And you know, I know the difference backstage. You do too. The person who looks you in the eye when they're talking to you and is really interested in your story. I know how they're going to be on stage. They're going to kill it. And the person who's too good to say hello or they're over in the corner, they have to fly first class. That kind of person. I know how it's going to go on the stage. I can read it now. And I just wish everybody would trust themselves enough to fall into their message so they can let the audience fall into it too.
- [42:34]
A
Well, here's been my experience on the platform and I've shared the stage with Les Brown a few times. And Les is probably the best keynote speaker I've seen. And I have experience, I would agree. Yeah. And that I've seen as a keynote speaker. And he's. I've got to share this story publicly. And I do it when I have the opportunity. He and I shared at. In an event in Santa Clara, California, Northern California. I was the paid, the unpaid guy because I was the pitch guy. He was the paid keynote speaker. 700 seats were set up in this audience. And I thought, okay, you know, I'm gonna make 200 grand today because there are 700 seats. And I know my math, what my program would sell for. And he was the keynote guy and he was paid or promised, I don't know, probably 25k or he. And it was a young promoter who was 26 years old. And I talked to him a little bit before the event. I said, how are you promoting? This is. Said the radio. Said the radio. And then we're talking. This is good. 20, 25 years ago, this event. And he showed up. I met Les. This is the first time that I met him. I think it was the first or second time we shared a stage with Mark Victor Hansen's event also. But then Les showed up and we looked around the room. One person in attendance was my. My then wife. And there was an audio engineer that was there to handle the sound that was off to the side and these rows of chairs. And it was loaded with the right environment to sell. So there were 700 chairs in a row, one aisle up the middle. Nobody showed up. All he did was run radio ads. He had no registration form, no call to action. Yes. And here. Okay. And there was another speaker that I brought in. I brought a speaker friend of mine who co wrote the book the Success Principles. Her name was Janet Schweitzer, she wrote for Jack Canfield that book. She was really the author of it, but she was a big name speaker also. I knew Janet for years. So I invited her to come speak because the promoter asked, do I know anybody? I said, yes, I'll bring in. He brought in less. I came, brought Janet. And Janet, because she was a friend, I said, don't charge, you know, why don't you sell whatever system was. Her book had just come out. She was using it to promote and sell her book, then lead into consulting gigs. And I was there to sell my kit. I had a direct mail system. That's how long ago this was. Yeah.
- [45:11]
B
Oh, good stuff.
- [45:13]
A
Yeah. And with CDs that went along with it. CDs and a fat book that I'd written. I'm a writer, so I wrote this tomes of information. Les spoke, I spoke. The only person that was in the audience listening were Janet, my friend, and my. My then wife. The audio guy was getting into a fist fight with an attendee out in the parking lot. So he wasn't even there. So I had no sound and Les had already spoken. And he addressed the crowd of three of us, four of us, that was just. There were three speakers and less and his entourage of people, whatever don't count or whatever, who picked him up and took him from the airport to this event. And he said, he, you know, he went through and says, I offer this and he had some cassette course or whatever it was back then, and he said, can buy these, but you know what I'm going to do? I'm just going to give them away for free. Because this young man has made. He's had to learn a hard lesson today. He goes, I'm not going to charge my normal fee. I'm going to say this is a learning experience for you, a young man, because you're at a lot of money today. You've rented this room and you've got Mitch here, you've got Janet here, and I'm going to give you a pass today. I mean, unless was one of the, if not the most celebrated keynote speaker that I've known, other than, let's say, Tony Robbins, who's in a whole different cat. He's in a class of his own.
- [46:47]
B
Yeah, but I like Less better, personally. No offense, Tony, but less is better.
- [46:50]
A
100%. 100%. I prefer less and man of class. And then I ran into him again, and I tell that story a lot. And I've run into him at several other events where we share the stage in Asia and at Mark's event, you know, I think a year later in LA at his mega marketing conference. And I said, I'll always remember that. And then his assistant attended one of my events in Holland that I was producing, one of my international events in Amsterdam. And she said, oh, Les talked about you because she put them on the phone. We did a Facebook live talking to each other when we were at a restaurant at the speaker introduction meeting before the conference in Amsterdam. And he says, hey, Mitch, how's it going? Long time, you know. And he was. He was going through what he went through. But the class act that you meet is Les Brown. And I like telling that story whenever it applies, but you just never know who you're going to meet out in the world, who's going to refer. So do you ever do rotaries anymore or.
- [47:57]
B
No, just here locally. I do a. Do a real estate update and give them some. Some insights.
- [48:04]
A
Okay. I have a gig for you to help promote your book, Rotary in the Bahamas. You can do it virtually.
- [48:12]
B
That sounds fantastic. My dad's a retired Rotary and those are. I love those people.
- [48:16]
A
Yeah. Well, I'll introduce you to the president of Rotary in, In the Bahamas. He's a friend of mine. And I've. I've done seven events in the Bahamas in my past life. And it'd be good for you, but. Well, Lee, we could go on and on. Where's where?
- [48:32]
B
Why?
- [48:32]
A
I love talking to fellow speakers who actually are speakers, not. Not necessarily aspiring. You've done it and you're doing it. And now you're teaching how to become a keynote speaker. That's fantastic. You're going full circle.
- [48:45]
B
Well, you know why you do that? You do that to replace yourself. Because if you can't take everything coming in and you're tired of the content that you've heard out there, why not encourage the next message to come forward? So it might be the most fulfilling of all my little revenue streams that I have out there. And I can't wait to connect with you and learn more about how to take my. My own game next level. Because, hey, you know, next is now.
- [49:10]
A
Next is now. Well, you know, it starts with the decision. And the best decision I made was producing my own events because then I controlled the outcome.
- [49:23]
B
I've thought about it. So you'll have to get me off the ledge of thinking about it and into the doing it space, because I guess I'm at 99% on doing an event. I got to get over the 1%. But Mitch Carson might be my one. And and in the meantime, anybody can reach me@leebrown.com or of course all the social media platform. You'll see me as Lee Thomas Brown. My maiden names in there. And I'm always
- [49:47]
A
for us because people are audio.
- [49:49]
B
That's right, the audio people. L, E, I, G, H, not the pair of pants. That's how boys spell it. Girls spell it L, E, I, G H and brown. Like the color Lee Brown.com and I'll be so honored to connect with anybody that wants to ask a question or, or find out more about anything I've talked about today on this wonderful show, Mitch and I'm very grateful for the opportunity to connect with you.
- [50:11]
A
And this has been the longest interview I've recorded in months and I usually go 20, 30 minutes and we went about an hour, which was fantastic because of all the gems. We went back and forth and I love talking to fellow speakers who are actually doing the speaking, not saying I'm a speaker. And you, you spoke to your, to your kids. No, you're actually out there living it. So fantastic. Thank you for your time today, Lee, and I look forward to having you back again.
- [50:40]
B
I look forward to it.
- [50:41]
A
Mitch, thanks for tuning in to the Amazing Authorities podcast. If today's episode inspired you, take a moment to subscribe rate and leave a review. It helps more experts like you rise to the top for behind the scenes access and free resources to boost your authority. Head to MitchCarson.com until next time, stay amazing.