He Hid Who He Was in Beverly Hills, Then Sold $750M in Real Estate

The pieces of your story you're tempted to hide might be the pieces that make people trust you. When they let me go, I felt the most freedom I had ever felt. At that point, I didn't know what was next, but I just knew it wasn't that. Do you think becoming authentic made you more successful, or did being successful allow you to come out more authentic? It was when I decided to be my authentic self is when the success came.

My last name is Maneiro, but I'm 100% Puerto Rican. I can't tell you how many times I got, "Oh, good Italian boy." I hope it gives them permission to make mistakes, and I hope it gives them permission to really be their true authentic selves.

Today's guest has had more career plot twists than most people have streaming subscriptions. Child performer, US trained CPA, fired from the corporate job, and then he built a real estate career with more than half a billion dollars in reported sales. But the reason he's here is simpler than any of that. He learned that the pieces of your story you're tempted to hide might be the pieces that make people trust you. This is Outside the Corporate Box.

Welcome to Outside the Corporate Box. I'm JMan, alongside Jeffrey Scott Stanton. And today's episode is brought to you by our founding partners, Wise Agent, Subi, and The CE Shop. These are the companies that believe in what we're building here, and we're grateful to have them in our corner. All right, let's get into it.

The playbook is changing. The question is, are you changing with it? This is Outside the Corporate Box, real conversations with real leaders who broke the mold and built something better, with your hosts JMan and Jeffrey Scott Stanton.

Today we're sitting down with Ivan Estrada, a Beverly Hills broker with Douglas Elliman, a TEDx speaker, the author of Brand with Purpose, and someone whose career has taken more turns than most people take in three lifetimes. Ivan, welcome to Outside the Corporate Box. Hey, guys. How are you? Ivan, it's great to see you, by the way.

I know, it's been a while. I mean, I've known Jeffrey now for over, I want to say, 11 years, since I joined the firm that I'm at now, which has been now 12. Yeah. Yeah, probably around that time. I'm just excited to have you here, cuz when we were thinking about the guests for Outside the Corporate Box, I'm like, Ivan. You were one of the very first people, and I was having a conversation with JMan and I'm like, he'd be the perfect guest for it. So, I'm really looking forward to this and diving into your background and everything. Very cool.

Let's get into the weeds. Yeah, before we talk about real estate, branding, and all the sales, we want to go all the way back. Your first career was in music. How does a kid end up signed to a record company?

So, my parents are originally from Mexico. We used to watch Sábado Gigante all the time when we were kids. That was the thing that you did every Saturday from like 7:00 to 11:00. And I remember they would have kids perform. And I would go up and sing and dance, and my dad's a great singer, and my grandfather was a big performer in Mexico as well. He was a violinist. And so, it was just in my blood to want to sing and dance.

And I remember telling my dad I saw that there were auditions for Sábado Gigante. And I asked my dad to take me. And so, he took me to the auditions, and not my mom. My mom had no idea that we had left, cuz she did not like that industry. So, we kind of went behind her back to these auditions. And after that, you know, it was history. I started doing a lot of things for the show. I started getting known in the Latin community for being a singer.

And so, I actually met Joe Tannis and Wally Wolker, who worked with a lot of big stars back in the day. I mean, I was like a kid. Yeah. By the time I met them, 11, 12 years old. They signed me to a management deal. And we worked really, really hard in getting a record contract, and it's one of those things that I tell people. I knew that this is what I wanted to do even as a kid. I just, I don't know. It was like the book The Secret. I saw it. I envisioned it. I lived and breathed music, and I could see myself on stages, and that's kind of what kept me going. Because, I mean, this started when I was a child, you know, 6, 7 years old. And so, you know, then we got a record contract, and I mean, the rest was history.

And so, were you always wired like an entrepreneur, or is that something you learned? Always, yeah. In my book Brand with Purpose, I talk about when I was like 6 years old. My sister and I, she's a little bit younger, she's always been a great little artist. She'd be drawing with crayons, and we'd be drawing the neighbors' homes, you know, little simple drawings, and we'd be selling them for a few dollars a piece. I was 6 years old.

Back in the day it was Price Club instead of Costco. My dad would take me. I'd buy candies. I'd sell them at school. I would sell Power Ranger cards, Pogs. You name it. I was selling the crap out of Yucaipa Elementary since I was a kid, and I've always, since I could think, I've always been that way. My mom's an entrepreneur. My dad was not. But it just kind of runs through my veins.

So, one of the things that I know about you is you always said your parents worked really, really hard. Do you think you get your success from that? Cuz you can't teach work ethic. You know, I think you see work ethic, and then you learn it. I don't think you can actually teach someone work ethic. So, what did that teach you about money, opportunity? How does that gauge into everything?

Yeah, so I grew up watching my dad work two jobs. I mean, he worked two jobs until the day he retired, which was like two years ago at like 67. He worked Monday through Saturday. That was normal to me. When we were kids, my mom and dad worked together cleaning this church that they used to clean every single night. They used to take my sister and I. I still remember being like 4 years old, sitting on a pool table, playing with the balls and just throwing them into the little holes around the pool table while my parents cleaned this church. I just was always there watching them work.

And my mom had her own little clothing business that she started pretty early on. I want to say by the time I was like 4 or 5 years old. And my mom used to go to the garment district every Saturday, and my sister and I went with her every Saturday. Obviously, when I was doing the music stuff, it wasn't as often. Yeah. But I saw my mom working, negotiating, hustling. My parents were always hustling. And so, to me, that was normal. I experienced it since, like I said, sitting on that pool table at like 3, 4 years old.

I think you learn it. I said I don't think you can teach someone work ethic and teach someone to hustle. Yeah. With such a creative background, you're surrounded by entrepreneurship, working hard, hustlers, let's say, right? And then you go to USC for finance and accounting. Seems like the opposite. Yeah, how do you go, "Hey, I was a child performer," and then, "Hey, I'm going to go to USC"? That's opposite ends of the spectrum.

Completely opposite sides of the spectrum. So, by the time I was 17, there was a lawsuit that happened with my management and with the label, and pretty much everything after that came to a close. And so, I knew my parents always wanted me to go to college, and it was something I always wanted to do, was also to go to college. And my idea was, I'll go to college, study finance at USC, do the undergrad in the music industry. They had a division for music industry, and I'll just open up my own music label. By the time I was 17, 18, I thought it's too late for me to be a star. Okay.

Because back then, even with my management, with the label, I would hear them, even at 12, 13 years old, it was like, "Oh, he may be a little bit too late." I'm like, "Are you kidding me?" So, back then I was a little too late at 12, 13. So, by the time I was 17, 18 years old, I thought it's over. So, if I can't be in front of the camera, or in front of the stage, I'll be behind it, in the business side. And I was always great with numbers, and so I thought, "Great, I'll just study finance and accounting, and I'll open up my own record label." It ended up not going down that path, but that was the intention.

Kind of like a fallback? Was it the safe route, would you say? You know, like, "Well, if this doesn't work out, at least I could still be a CPA." It was the safe route. And I'll tell you what happened, which was kind of a shift of mindset. So, when I was a kid and dreaming about being on stage and singing, everything was possible. And everything was possible. I was doing it.

And when everything kind of came to a close, and again, I'm not saying this to demean my mom at all, because I love her and I know she meant well, she had a conversation with me and said, "Look, you got to get back to reality now. Two feet on the ground. No more playing games. You have to go to school. You have to get a job. You have to do the whole thing." And I was going through so much depression after everything fell apart that I felt that maybe she's right. I have to put two feet on the ground and stop dreaming, and it's over. So, I have to go and make money.

I've always been a salesperson. I've always been an entrepreneur. I got to figure out what that business is, but obviously college, and especially USC, having an accounting degree, I ended up getting my CPA as well. All that will come to use to me at some point. I don't know when that's going to be, but I was at least smart enough to know that that would have been a solid base. But, yeah, it was kind of like the fallback of, "Well, I can't go back to music, but I need to at least get this foundation right, cuz then once I have this down, I can really pretty much do anything I want after that."

So, you go to school, CPA, and it's funny, cuz you had said something, that you went through that depression. You went through it much younger, but we talk to a lot of people who leave one job to go to another, or leave one creative to another. Different phase of life, and they always talk about, "Hey, you know, that depression and that grief of now I have to be a different person than I thought I was." It's that identity shift. I know you've gone through that. So, you get CPA, you get your degree. How long were you a CPA for?

So, I was a CPA for almost 3 years. But the miracle that ended up happening there, cuz I knew I was unhappy. That was like the second wave of me being depressed. So, my company, they started downsizing. Everyone was getting let go, and I was still there. And my company said, "We're going to be putting you in FI," which was working with banks, auditing banks, and doing their tax work. And that was the worst. Yeah, the fun stuff. But that was like the worst of the worst. But that was all that was left over after the Great Recession. All of our fun clients, which were the clients I had, were gone.

That's like, "Hey, I'm being a chef, and all of a sudden they're making me clean the tables." Is that the type of thing you're talking about? That type of thing. It was a position. You had to wear a suit and tie. It was definitely not me. And I said, "Well, what if I say no?" They're like, "Then we'll have to let you go." And I said, "Will I get unemployment and a severance package?" They're like, "Yeah." And I was like, "Then let me go." And that's what ended up happening. I said, "Then let me go."

And it was when they let me go, I felt the most freedom I had ever felt. At that point, I didn't know what was next, but I just knew it wasn't that. And so I thought, "Okay, cool. I have a severance package. It was a couple of months. I have unemployment," which is crazy, that almost, I think, 15, 14 years later, the unemployment amount is the same that they're giving out now in California as back then. And back then, you could actually live off that. Now, I don't understand how that even works. But I was like, "Great. I have some cushion. I have a severance package. I need to go soul-searching to figure out exactly what I want to do."

Now, do you think you saw the freedom, or the blessing in disguise? So, when you started soul-searching of what you want to do, what was your first step? So, I wanted to go into doing finance and accounting for major motion pictures, for Paramount or NBC or Fox, a lot of the local studios that we have here in Los Angeles. But a friend of mine who I trusted, and who always had the best ideas, said to me, "Hey, I was watching this new show. It's called Million Dollar Listing. They're barely on season one. I can see you do that." And I was like, "What? You got to be kidding me. Me, a real estate agent? There's no way."

Cuz in my mind, a real estate agent, I remember my mom's friends who were real estate agents, right? They would put out cookies, the signs with the balloons. And they'd wear the women's suits. You know, that was my idea. And some of it was their part-time job. I don't remember them ever doing this as a full-time job. And they would sell a couple of houses a year. And that was my perception of the business. And so I thought, "No, there's no way I would ever do that."

And they're like, "You should watch it." And I remember watching one episode, and I thought, "I can do that. I'm good with business." They had their own TV show, so I thought, "Okay, I'm good on camera. I could prop up a camera, do my own thing." Which is what I ended up doing. That's what built my career on YouTube, was doing videos just to get attention. And then after that it was like, "Okay, I'm going to get my real estate license. I'm going to do it." And that's what ended up happening.

I think I read over 10 or 15 books on real estate. No, there was more than that. I went to the library, and for a whole 30 days, being the analytical that I am, I just read as many books on real estate as I possibly could. And by the end of that month or 2 months, I just knew it. I was like, "This is it. This is what I'm meant to do," because it scratches all my different kinds of niches: sales, negotiating, my entrepreneurship itch, my marketing. I can perform in a way, which is obviously on camera, and do my own TV show. And that was the beginning of it all.

Well, you know, I think a lot of times real estate is a performance even when you're not on TV. For a lot of people, it is a performance. So, I was going to ask, what were those skill sets that you brought over? Cuz from my background research, you closed your first deal in real estate how long once you started? It was like, I want to say, a month and a half or so. Yeah, that's big. So, for anyone who doesn't understand real estate, it usually takes people 6 to 8 months to close their first deal, brand new real estate agents, if that. Some people go, you know, JMan, some people go their entire year without actually closing their first deal, unless it's their sister or mother or somebody like that that winds up buying a house.

And so, how did that first client find you? That first client, actually, I posted a video on Facebook that I was a real estate agent, that I had just gotten into the business, which I did on a camcorder, cuz back in the day I don't think I had a camera on my phone, or maybe I did, but I did it on a regular camcorder and made a little video with my Mac, and I threw it on Facebook. And one of my friends, my friend Candace, said, "Hey, congratulations. By the way, I think my aunt's looking for a house." It's in Whittier, which is like 45 minutes to an hour out from where I'm at, and her price point was like 249 or 229. And I was like, "Great, let's do this."

And so, you know, it all came from that one little video that I posted on Facebook. And that was it. I mean, I closed that first deal, and shortly after, I think I closed the next one like 30 days after that. And once I got, yeah, I felt like I got the hang of it, even though I had the hang of nothing, because I honestly didn't know what I was doing. I really just had really good mentors, who I still know now, who are at my company. We're still good friends. I just got really lucky to get paired up with two individuals who were also in the corporate world. One was in marketing and branding, the other one was in finance. And we shared that in common, where I had my finance background, and at the time, with the branding and marketing, I knew of it, I just didn't understand that that's what I was doing. Especially cuz I was a product for the longest time. I was a brand. Yeah. I just got really lucky where I got the most incredible mentors, who said, "Great, you have some momentum. Let's really put a plan together, cuz right now you're just kind of ad hoc, as it comes." I was just doing whatever I could, whatever would stick, but there was no actual systematic plan that I was doing daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, none of that. There were no systems, and so they helped me kind of start putting all that together.

So sorry, but I'm going to jump in on JMan's question, cuz this is actually interesting. You were a very, very early adopter for video, especially for real estate agents. You were very early. And I don't know if I ever told you this, I used to teach a class on video, and I used one of your videos way back when, of, this is someone who's doing videos, this is the next big thing that's coming, before I even knew you. I actually used to use one of your videos that I had found on YouTube. When you said it, I'm like, I actually did use one. I think that's quite cool.

Yeah. That's how I know you, first of all, besides being that luxury real estate agent, is I know you from the video. We've always been friends, but I think that's how I got to know you better, based upon the videos. I remember when Elliman had purchased Teles, you were an Elliman agent, and you recorded the greatest video of what it's like to be an Elliman agent and what it's like to join the company. And I took that and I played that during orientation, cuz it was such a great video.

Thank you. And the desk video, don't forget the desk video that I did during COVID when everything shut down. That was like a 2-day production in the middle of the night, almost getting arrested multiple times, because we weren't supposed to leave home. And here I am putting a desk in the middle of Rodeo Drive, or in front of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, for, you know, 30 minutes while we shoot. That became my biggest marketing campaign ever, and something that I'll probably never, or hope not to ever, replicate, cuz I never want that to happen ever again, but I just kind of seized the moment.

But yeah, video has, I mean, it's funny enough, when I started doing videos, and this was when I got into the business 15, 16 years ago, my broker at the time was like, "You're wasting your time. I can't believe you're doing that. Go cold call." Actually, there was one other agent that I could remember who was doing video. He's at Coldwell Banker. And he had done like six or seven videos, and he was just kind of doing them in his car, and I thought, "That's what I'm going to do." And I would just prop up my little camera. I would go to The Grove, I'd go to Santa Monica Pier. And of course, everywhere, security is like, "Do you have a permit?" I would just make up stuff. I didn't care. Yeah, absolutely.

I would just do it. I would literally go press record, run back, do my lines, run back, turn it off. You know, that kind of deal, on my Sony Handycam, and then I'd edit it really cheaply on my Mac. I think it was, what was it? It wasn't CapCut, it was iMovie. I don't know what it was. And then I'd upload it online. And that's what got me known, though, Jeffrey. That's what got other brokers, other agents to know me. That's how I built my network. And I just kept doing it.

And still to this day, I mean, we do two to three video content pieces weekly. You know, I'm not the one with the most followers and the most viral and all that other stuff, because honestly, that does take a lot of time. And just from doing it as long as I have, I've realized where I can actually multiply my time and where it actually has the most output, I could say. But I tell people I'm consistent. The Real Estate Minute has been going on for 11 years. I will never stop that. I'm always introducing new ones. I just did a new one that's called Real Estate, what is it? Real Estate Psychology. I just did a new one with AI where I'm walking down Beverly Hills and then it turns into the 1930s. And that one's actually doing really well.

So I'm always doing things, because it became part of who I was. But then I also didn't get lost just doing that as my only avenue, because I have constant plates that are spinning at all times. And still, video is important, but face-to-face, talking to a client, that's where I get most of my deals.

So, I mean, do you think going to selling luxury property in Beverly Hills and doing those videos, was that partially maybe trying to reclaim some of that childhood on stage, that performance? Oh, 100%. 100%. He's like, yeah, absolutely. I mean, it still is. There's still a piece of me that thinks I was born, and maybe this is like, my friends are like, "Yeah, because you're a narcissist." Where I'm like, "I was born to be famous, right?" And I got a lot of attention growing up from my family. They loved me. It wasn't like I wasn't getting attention at home. But I don't know who I was in my past life. But that person, or woman or man or whoever they were, I don't know, you know, they still live through me.

And so there's this thing that I still, I love to be on stage. That's why I've been doing a lot more public speaking. I'm actually starting to do live courses now, and I love it. You know, I love teaching, but I also love communicating through TV. And I tell people this, and I know why. Growing up, I always thought, growing up Latino, that in order to be someone, you have to be on TV, because in my community you didn't see that. They were the gardeners, the mechanics, you know, they were the tellers, but they never held positions of power, from what I could see. And the only people that I saw that held positions of power that were Hispanic, Latino, were on TV. So that's why I wanted to be on TV, and I feel like that's still deep-rooted in my psychology, that, you know, it's important, even though I know now, after 12 years of therapy, that it's not.

Of therapy. This is a question I want to ask, and I know it's from one of your books or a conversation we had. When you entered Beverly Hills real estate, which is probably one of the toughest, I wouldn't say Miami, I'd say New York City, Beverly Hills, the Hamptons are probably the three toughest real estate markets, and Beverly Hills is more luxury than probably even New York City as a whole. To get in if you don't have the in already. Yeah, to get in if you don't have it, cuz you come from a Mexican background, child star, CPA, and then all of a sudden, hey, I want to do real estate in one of the toughest markets in the world. And I don't know if it was one of your books or a conversation we had, you talked about fitting in.

I mean, it was hard, because I was from the opposite side of town. Even from the beginning, I thought no one's going to hire me in Beverly Hills. I didn't grow up there. I didn't go to school there. My parents weren't part of the country clubs. Psychologically, I just felt like it wasn't the right place for me. And it was, you know, yeah, cuz of my understanding of how that worked, and also from going to my real estate classes when I was getting my license. I told people I wanted to work in Beverly Hills, and the instructors would say, "Oh, did you grow up there?" No, I grew up in Eagle Rock. "Oh, then good luck, because mostly it's all the people who grew up there, their kids. You know, you're not part of that ecosystem. So, you know, best of luck to you."

And so, obviously, I paid attention to that. But I think, you know, there's been a lot of times in my life where I just had to be courageous and take the next best step. And I mean, my first office was at the Sunset Strip, right in the West Hollywood kind of epicenter, which was also an office of a lot of producers. So, it was right before you got to Beverly Hills, like three blocks over. And so, I thought, "Okay, I don't feel comfortable yet, so I'm going to go to the Sunset Strip office." And I ended up going there, which was a great first move, because that's where I met my mentors, and I guess I got my feet in the sand. But after a couple of years, from attending seminars, and I ended up getting a coach, I just realized it was more psychological than factual. And I just said, "Screw it. I'm going to Beverly Hills, and I'm going to, you know, apply, interview to get a position at an office." And that's what I ended up doing, and they loved me. And, you know, after that, I'll tell you, it wasn't easy, cuz you're still fighting yourself of, do I belong here?

And, you know, when you talk to the other brokers who are super successful, and they went to Beverly Hills High, they know all the people at the country club, the Soho House, blah blah blah. You know, it makes you maybe take a little step back and kind of doubt yourself. But I just kept going and kept going and kept going, and, you know, put myself in the right positions, in the right rooms, and did work for my first couple of really upscale clients. And then after that, I just continued to grow, and I still to this day continue to grow.

Quick shout out to one of our founding partners, Wise Agent. If you're in real estate and you're still juggling five different tools to manage your business, do yourself a favor. Wise Agent is the all-in-one CRM that helps you manage your contacts, automate your follow-up, and actually grow your business without the tech headache. Built-in texting, email marketing, landing pages, task management, and real support from people who understand this industry. Check them out at wiseagent.com. Link in the show notes, and tell them J Squared sent you.

I think I heard, I don't know if it was one of your speeches, or TED, or your book, that when you started, you weren't being your authentic self. I think that's actually what I remember you saying. Tell us about that. Cuz I think, you know, we all try to be someone we're not, and then maybe we shouldn't do that. And I know you're big on branding, based on your book. So, tell us about that.

Yeah, I mean, so, you know, driving around Beverly Hills and seeing all the for sale signs, no for sale sign said Estrada, right? Or Gonzalez, or any Hispanic name. Pretty much everyone was Caucasian. I didn't see any type of Hispanic last names on any of those signs. So, already I just kind of felt like, well, if I speak Spanish, or if I'm open about my background, they're not going to hire me. And a lot of people thought Estrada, like, are you Italian? I'm like, yeah, let's go with that, you know, cuz that'll give me a great opportunity.

And also with the gay thing, I mean, I'm part of the LGBTQ plus plus plus community, I guess. I never want to leave anyone out. And that was also something that I just kind of felt, and it's weird, because I feel like a lot of the top brokers in that town are part of that community. I just felt like it wasn't going to benefit me, cuz I thought, "Okay, aggressive, successful people, conservative, they're not going to like that. So, I just have to not bring it up." I never told myself I'm going to lie about it. I did that when I was younger, but I never said I would lie about it, but I also won't be open about it. I'm not going to make videos. I'm not going to disclose it. If someone asked me, yeah, I am, right? And then I'll go back to the conversation.

But for the longest time, I just didn't feel comfortable. And, you know, even speaking Spanish in the office, I was like, "Oh, I would never do that." And it was such a huge mistake to do that, because this is something that I feel is so important in sales: connection with people. And when you're not being your authentic self, you lack connection. You put up a wall between you and your client. And I could tell. I mean, I come across people like this all the time, and it doesn't make them bad people, but I just know that they're holding back. And that alone does not allow me to trust them. And trust is the number one thing you need in this business to be successful, especially in the higher end.

And so, once I was open about that, and I became, I want to call it free, which took a lot of therapy, a lot of different personal development programs that I attended over the years that allowed me to be my fully authentic self, then my whole business changed.

So, I want to ask you one more question and then hand it over to JMan, because, again, sorry, JMan, I'm taking over the interview, because he's one of my favorite people. So, you are very, very successful, very successful, you know, a 500 million plus business. Do you think becoming authentic made you more successful, or did being successful allow you to come out more authentic? Is that question right? When you finally said, "I'm just going to be me," was that because you got successful, or do you think you became successful once you said, "I'm going to be me"? Did the success build the confidence?

No. It was when I decided to be my authentic self is when the success came. Because then everything else, it felt like, came a little bit easier. Once I had the courage to be myself, then it gave me the courage to do the difficult things that it takes to be successful in this business. To have those difficult conversations with clients. To cold call people. To call expireds. To do all the things that people will second-guess themselves in doing, because in the higher end, you're dealing with a whole different, I want to call it breed of human being. You know, they're obviously successful. Not all of them, but most of them.

And so being able to be myself was what allowed me to be successful, because it made everything else easier. So it wasn't me becoming successful, and then, oh, okay, now I can be myself. No, it never worked that way.

And so, a little bit of this hits home for me, because my last name is Maneiro, but I'm 100% Puerto Rican. I can't tell you how many times I got, "Oh, good Italian boy." Just exactly like you put it. And I guess my next question would be, when you started being your true authentic self, did you see the good Italian boy people kind of fall away, and you stopped working with them? Or did it just open yourself up to a whole group of people that you didn't know even existed?

A whole new group of people that I didn't know existed. But then those people who were like, "Oh, Italian," they still kind of kept going. They're like, "Well, you look Italian, cuz you don't look Mexican." Yeah. You're not so bad. Oh, you're not so bad for, yeah. Yeah, which I kind of felt like, I started correcting people after a while, cuz then I was like, well, what does a Mexican look like? Right?

And then I'm like, "Look, most people look at my dad, and, you know, he looks like a Caucasian man." Genetically, like 80% of me, more than that, I think it's like 87%, I'm Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Ashkenazi Jew. You know, my great-grandparents are from Europe, right? But we ended up in Mexico because my mom's side of the family is Jewish, and so that's why we ended up in Mexico, because of what was going on in Europe.

And so, it's so weird when people bring that up, because at first I was like, "Yeah, I'm Italian." And later I was like, "Well, I'm not." And people are like, "Well, you look it." I'm like, "Well, I'm not." And then I would have to correct them in the nicest way possible, because that's who I am. I'm not an aggressive person. I'm like, "Let me educate you." This was always an opportunity for me to educate you. I'm like, "Well, you know, people from Mexico come from all different parts of the world. They come from Asia, they come from the Middle East, they come from Europe. Right? All different shapes and sizes and colors." And so, instead of getting upset, it was a growth opportunity for me personally. And then a growth opportunity for me to educate someone also on, you know, what Mexican people look like or are like.

So, then you start to build this brand with your true authentic self. What's the difference between having a personal brand and simply being popular online? Because so many people are like, "You know, I want this video to go viral." And you even mentioned it earlier. You're like, "Well, I make these videos and they convert and they bring business," but it's not necessarily the millions of views that you're worried about.

Right. So, when it comes to my personal brand, there's my values. There's the foundation of what I stand for. Before, when I wasn't authentic, it was all over the place. There wasn't a brand, cuz I was wherever anything was popular, whatever was going on, cuz I didn't want to miss out on what was going on. I was going with the flow. If someone said it looked weird, then I would change it. So, there was no brand, right? Cuz for me, the personal brand is, I have direction. Right? I know who I am. I would always tell people, the personal brand is divided into different slivers, but it's my values. It's what I stand for. It's who I am, that no matter what happens outside of that triangle, I don't change. I adapt. It changes over time, obviously, because the market changes, the world changes, but it doesn't change who I am. Right? I adapt and I reinvent myself. Yeah.

I always tell people, especially as an entrepreneur, you're constantly having to reinvent yourself, cuz of the technology, the macro, micro economics of what's going on in the world, but I still always end up being me. And that's what the personal brand is. Cuz I know people who don't have a personal brand, and they're just doing everything and anything, whatever gets the most views and gets them the most attention. And again, that works short term. But then, once you start losing that dopamine, you start figuring out, where am I going with this? You start losing direction, and you forget who you are, right? I think people forget who they are. And so, just allowing myself to have my personal brand, I know who I am, regardless of what happens outside of me.

And so, you describe your brand as a magnet. Yeah, so good. I was listening to some lines that I love, and this is JMan's place, so I had to jump in, cuz I love this line, it makes perfect sense. The brand as a magnet. But in the same way a magnet works, does a strong brand need to repel some people?

Oh, 100%. Again, I think it goes down to knowing who you are and what you stand for, and knowing what you don't stand for. You know, in my business, yeah, there's a lot of opportunity for me to sell really big houses to people that don't align with who I am, right? Or that don't align with my values. Cuz I used to be, well, it doesn't matter, you know, they're buying a house. I don't care. I've changed my way of thinking when it comes to that, because I think repelling the people that don't need to be within your triangle, or your magnet, those people end up draining you. Those are the people that end up creating doubt in yourself, and I had a lot of those people back in the day.

And I had to purposely, intentionally say, "Hey, love you, but from afar, right?" I had to distance myself, where I'm like, "Well, these are horrible people, but they give me a lot of business, right?" They're really big lawyers and business managers and CPAs, who, you know, I'm like, "I still pray for you guys and your soul, cuz you are doing the most horrible things to get business." But at the time, right, before, I was like, "Well, who cares, right? I don't care." But it matters, because at the end of the day, you know, they always say you end up turning out like the five people, I guess, that you end up hanging out with the most. You end up being like one of those.

And yeah, they were slowly draining me, and those were the people that were like, "Well, you don't look gay, and you don't really talk gay, so you're cool." Or, "You don't really look Mexican, you kind of look like one of the boys, so you're cool." Those were the people that I called friends, and that were giving me business, and that were slowly deflating me. Right. And, you know, that was not aligned with my brand.

And so now, even if it's people who are going to make me money, this and that, if they don't align with who I am, they're out. Because now, part of my brand is integrity, and staying in line with who I am. And that's why I'm so happy, and I sleep well at night, and I'm excited, and, you know, life to me is a beautiful, ever-changing opportunity to be the best version of myself. Where before it was like, "What did they say was cool? Okay, that's cool now." Or, "What did they say they didn't like? Oh, yeah, I don't like that now, too." It was like I was their little puppet.

So, your book was Brand with Purpose, which is a great book. Plug for the book. I'm going to ask you a question totally off-topic, cuz I had this conversation with someone the other day. You know, we talk a lot about real estate, cuz that's where all our backgrounds are. But for a lot of people who are maybe business owners and those types of things, someone had said to me the other day, and it was an executive at a big company, that the first thing when he goes to hire someone, another executive, a manager, is he looks up their brand. And I said, "What did you mean by that?" And he goes, "You know, right now, if you're an executive and you're looking for a job, and you don't have a brand, even your own personal website that is your brand." So, what would be your advice on that? Cuz I didn't go too far with him, but I thought it was a really interesting idea of having that, even if you're not in business and you're just looking for a job. What is your brand?

Yeah. So, I mean, it's different for different people. I think, obviously, if you're an entrepreneur, or if you're a regular W-2 employee, it's very different, because I have friends who are W-2 employees who have their own website, right? They have their website with their resources, with, I guess, their online resume. I had one who actually had his own little video, cuz he thought, you know, I know I'm not working for a business, but I am a business, right? Even though I'm an employee, I always consider myself a business. So, he thought it would be something that would help him stand out, right? Being part of his brand, this will help me stand out when I'm looking for a new position at a new job, which I thought was great. I loved that.

Because us as entrepreneurs, CEOs, we have a website. I have a website, ivanestrada.com, and then I have ivanestradaproperties.com and brandwith.com. So, I have websites on who I am as a person, and then my companies. And you would think that most people these days, if they're not a company, wouldn't have a website or a Linktree. You're wrong. A lot of people do, and I think that's a way of obviously standing out, because, you know, in this job market, which I feel is very competitive depending on what you do, it's the best way to stand out.

And also, I tell people not to forget that their brand is also their social media, right? What they're getting themselves involved in when it comes to conversations. There's so many things that I don't post, right? Or get involved with, because one, it's no one's business, and two, I never want people to feel like I am saying something that goes against their belief system when it comes to religion or politics, or feels like I'm trying to diminish someone. It's part of my book, about bringing people together, not tearing people apart. And so, obviously, what you put on social media matters, right?

My social media is my real estate, it's my vacations with my family, it's the pictures of my nephews, it's BH Atlas, which is my market report, it's my book, it's my public speaking, when I go and do certain things for a lot of the foundations that I work with. That's the all-encompassing Ivan that I want people to walk away with. Same for someone who's a regular, I would call them, who would consider themselves an employee and not a company.

And so, I have to bring AI into the conversation, because I love it so much. But you were early to video. I mean, very early. Does the AI moment that we're experiencing now feel like the early days of YouTube? And then the second part of the question is, where is the line between using AI for leverage and then losing the human? The actual person behind the brand.

So, definitely use AI. I mean, from the beginning, I started using ChatGPT, well, I was using it as a therapist to start with. Still. Yeah, same. Yeah, yeah, still do. I looked at it as a consultant to give me perspective. And then slowly, I started to see it unfold into helping me draft a lot of the marketing ideas that we would come up with, and also videos. Allison, my admin, would have to go and do different things to figure out, okay, what are people wanting to learn about this week about real estate? Or what's something that I can add value with this week? And, you know, it was a multi-step process that she would have to do. And so, as I started seeing ChatGPT create that, or help us create that, I was like, awesome, right?

Cuz then I get to spend more of my time on what my value is for my clients, and getting more, you know, prospecting. To me, it's always been being in front of my clients that gets me the most business. Cuz if I see them, literally within weeks, I get a referral. And so I want to do more of that. So, AI has given me more time to do that.

For the second part of your question, before AI, I had always been very creative. And there were a lot of things that I wanted to do that either, A, would cost too much money, or B, took too much of my time. But the ideas were here. It wasn't someone else giving me the ideas or doing the work for me. It was just I couldn't bring it to life, because I didn't have the budget or the time to do it. And so AI has given me the opportunity to bring all my ideas to life. Because now I get to do it. It still takes time, but nowhere near what it would take before, right?

There's this article calling it, I think, the million-dollar CEO, and it's one person sitting at a computer. There's so many opportunities, especially for people that are creative, to bring their ideas to life at a minimal cost and without taking too much of their time. And so that's how I see it. It's an opportunity to leverage myself and my gifts to do as much of the stuff that brings me joy as possible.

Love that. And so, you're still doing the things that you're great at. It's almost amplifying that, and then you're just delegating to AI the things that would take time. Exactly. Exactly. Mhm. To me, the biggest thing with AI is having that other assistant, or other person you can knock around ideas with. And that's probably one of the biggest ways that I use AI. It's like, "Hey, other assistant, you know what? Do me a favor. Do this email chain for me," and, you know, I draft the first one and let it do the rest. So I agree. We're literally just doing that.

So, the question on AI is, do you think AI will ever replace real estate agents? I mean, who knows, right? I think these days, and this is where branding comes into play, right? I have created a pretty solid brand where my clients trust me, especially on the higher end. As much as I love AI, there's certain things that I still want a person to help me do. Especially high value items, such as buying a house. I think it's possible that at one point the younger generation may feel comfortable pushing a button if they're buying a $500,000 condo. Right. But if you're buying a multi-million dollar home that you're looking to redevelop and do certain things, you know, you want someone on the ground to give you ideas. I don't know if that's going to happen.

And I'm going to use this analogy. When I went to Hong Kong, cuz I went out there to visit a couple of real estate offices and to do some presentations, the tour guide said, "Look, you can probably go and get information on AI on the history of Hong Kong, and walk around and see a couple of the big sites, and just read facts on AI about Hong Kong. Mhm. But the thing that I have that AI doesn't have are stories. I've lived here. I can provide stories that AI does not know about, and that it will never know about, because they're my stories." And so that created an experience for me that I will never forget. No one's going to see Hong Kong the way that I see it now, based on this tour guide for the 3 hours and the story that he brought me into.

And so I feel that that's very similar for people in real estate, where we will become as invaluable as you want to become, right? Your skills, yeah, your knowledge, your expertise. I'm multi-faceted, where I'm about branding and marketing and accounting and, you know, real estate. And so I have a lot of tools in my tool belt that will hopefully, you know, allow me to continue to do the work that I love doing in real estate for the next, you know, 10 to 20 years. 20 years from now, I have no idea, but I think we should be safe for the next, you know, 5 to 10 years.

So, with more than 500 million in sales. Sounds huge. It does sound huge. It is a big number. 750, actually. We haven't updated, by the way. All of my marketing has been saying 500 for like the last 5, 6 years. I was like, I think we need to change that. And we just started changing it. So again, not to toot my own whistle, but. So, 750 million is a huge number. Three quarters of a billion. Yeah. What's the cost that nobody sees? Behind the scenes, what's the cost that no one sees in doing that amount of business and being that busy?

A lot of the cost, I do want to say, is front costs. When you get into this business, for the first 5 to 6 years, you have to live and breathe this business. I missed so much family time. I was doing open houses Saturday and Sunday. I was working 7 days a week, 70, 80 hour weeks, cuz that's what I knew in accounting. That's what was normal in accounting. You work 80 hours a week. That's normal in audit. So I was working non-stop.

And obviously, when you're building a business at the beginning, you're literally an entrepreneur. It's a startup, and you have to treat it like, I still treat it like a startup, where I'm constantly having to fine-tune what I'm doing. You miss, you know, you miss a lot of quality time. I had one of my friends who actually works at Elliman, and he said, "Do you remember all the parties we used to invite you to, and all the trips? And you always said no. Right? You always said no, cuz you were always working. And now look at what you've done. Look at what you've built." And so I think there's a lot of sacrifice when it comes to your time.

Also, you know, what people don't really see either is, you know, selling real estate is not easy. It's not show three houses and they buy one, which, that doesn't work that way. Right? Yeah, and that's the way that it works. It's a very difficult job. It takes a lot of emotional toll on your psyche, right? Because I think for all of us, every real estate agent that I know, in December we're like, "Oh my god, what if next year is the year when everything comes tumbling down? What if I don't get any clients anymore?" We're constantly having to rein-, I always tell people, we're like Madonna. We're constantly having to reinvent ourselves. Yeah. Every year with new music, a new look, you know, still us, but constantly having to work hard at reinventing ourselves, reinventing the brand, so that we're relevant.

But, you know, it's not easy. I mean, our job is not a 9:00 to 5:00, you know, Monday through Friday. When I go on vacation, half of my day is working. I've gotten used to that. On birthdays, with family and friends and my parents, I'm like, "Hey, I have to run out for 2 and 1/2 hours. Sorry." That's just part of the sacrifice of being a business owner. And I think that's what a business owner has to do.

So, before we get to our official lightning round, at this stage in your life, this stage in your business, what really matters to you? Or what's enough? You know, what's important to you now that maybe wasn't when you started? You see things a little differently now.

I was listening to a podcast on the treadmill, funny enough, a couple of days ago, and they asked a very similar question. And my immediate answer was, I want my life to matter. Mhm. And that's why I wrote my book Brand with Purpose, and that's why I've been doing a lot of seminars and workshops and teaching people about branding and marketing, because I think it's important for their life and livelihood, and just for their business in general. And also just sharing my story with people who are minorities, who are going through difficult times, as you know, right? The world is changing, this country is changing, and there's a lot of people that feel a little down, right? About who they are and what their opportunities will look like in the next couple of years.

So, in whatever way I can help people, to give people hope and encouragement, and guide them into the light of, you know, fulfilling either being a successful business or landing their dream job. I want to do that. I want to be part of that, because money, yes, is important, right? I think Oprah would always say money, all it really does is just get you better shoes, right? But I think at the end of the day, I want to feel fulfilled. I've been given a lot by God, universe, whatever you want to call it. I feel very lucky. And I want to be able to share that with as many people, and be able to help as many people as I can.

So, this is our fast and fun section, Ivan. We're just going to hit you with some questions, and just answer the way you feel, no wrong answer. Okay, and then Jeffrey and I will alternate. All right, starting off. Music or numbers? Music. Stage or closing table? Closing table. Movie you thought of ahead of all? Yeah, think a little while on that one. Perfect video or posted video? Posted video. Fame or freedom? Freedom. Most overrated luxury home feature? Most overrated luxury home feature, Matterport. Sorry, Matterport. I don't love that around anymore.

One mistake you made in the past that you're grateful for now? One mistake, not following my, maybe, again, nothing against my parents, but doing what my parents thought was best for me, instead of me doing what I thought was best for me.

And what box are you breaking out of next? What box am I breaking out of next? I think the box of just being a real estate agent. I think a lot of people still just see me as a real estate agent. And again, I love it. That's what I do. But I am a true entrepreneur, and that's why I'm doing a lot more of these seminars, and BH Atlas is my new baby. It's my new market report. I feel like I'm a true entrepreneur to the core. And so I'm just trying to break out of that box of just being seen as a real estate agent, and being seen more as a CEO and true entrepreneur.

Okay, last question. The one we close every episode with. You went from performing on a stage, to performing inside a corporate box, to building a career around becoming more of yourself. When people hear your story, what do you hope it gives them permission to do? I hope it gives them permission to make mistakes. I hope it gives them permission to have faith in themselves. And I hope it gives them permission to really be their true authentic selves. And live with gratitude.

Ivan, before we let you go, where do people find you? And what do you want them to check out? People can find me on ivanestrada.com. That's where you'll be able to find my TED Talks, my book, course, real estate, BH Atlas, all the fun stuff is at ivanestrada.com.

Well, folks, if you're listening or you're watching, and this one hit you the way it hit us, share it. Send it to somebody who's still auditioning for a life that doesn't fit. Subscribe if you haven't already. And next Monday we've got another one you don't want to miss. But before we let you go, we want to say thank you to our founding partners, Wise Agent, Subi, and The CE Shop. They make this show possible, and they're building tools that actually help people in this industry. Check them out. All the links are in the show notes. And thank you, Ivan, for spending time with us. Thank you, Ivan. Bye, guys. See you.