SHOW NOTES
Kristan Cole is an experienced Broker with a demonstrated history of working in the real estate industry and expansion of it. She is a strong finance professional skilled in Speaking, Leadership, Expansion, Negotiation, Luxury, Sales, Entrepreneurship, and Real Property. Her other leadership opportunities have included serving as President of Alaska’s branch of the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network, Director of Keller Williams Realty’s Commercial Leadership Council, and Talent Search Director for Keller Williams Realty’s corporate headquarters.
In this episode, Brian and Kristan discuss how Kristan has mastered the art of expansion to create success by using her grit, grace, growth, and giving core values.
In this episode, we talk about...
- 1:46 - Kristan Cole gives details on her professional background and how expansion has become her driver.
- 7:01 - With 44 expansion teams, how many units does Kristan’s network do?
- 12:23 - What are the key differences between a great leader and a good leader and why it’s important to know.
- 13:47 - How do you get an already successful person to join your business?
- 24:28 - Making the choice to find a mentor for your future success.
- 34:34 - Details on the upcoming Growthward Summit in April
Show Transcript
Brian Charlesworth: [00:00:36] Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the GRIT podcast. I'm Brian Charlesworth, the founder of Sisu and the host of the show. And today I'm here with Kristan Cole and just learned that Kristan has been in the industry for over 30 years. A longtime very amazing. She runs a real estate team, actually multiple teams, is my understanding, both in Alaska and in Arizona. And so I know there are very few people capable of running teams that are that far apart. So I do want to get into that today. She's also the Vice President of Mega Agent Expansion for Keller Williams, and she owns a K.W. brokerage, I believe, with three expansion offices. So in addition to running teams, you're running brokerages, which is another thing I want to get into. And without having even met you today, I know you're a great example of GRIT, which is the name of our podcast, having been in the business as long as you have and you're still creating and leading and growing all of your businesses. So that being said, Kristan, what do you have to add to that? Maybe you can correct any mistakes that I made in that intro. Sure.
Kristan Cole: [00:01:46] So I was the Vice President, Mega Agent Expansion for about four years. And I made a commitment to Gary Keller to do that. It was really to launch something new to me, launching new product. There's a time period that it takes a product to be adopted in order for it to become an industry standard. So expansion was launched in 2014, in February. And now, we have some very large expansion teams across the country. We are in 44 different locations across the US. Last year we closed fourteen hundred transactions, about 300 million in volume this year. Our goal is, is to close twenty five hundred, which, you know, it's going all the time, which makes it fun. I am an OPIS of two market centers here in Scottsdale in Prescott, Arizona, along with four business centers and four mega agent offices. I do have my mega Asian office in Alaska, which is my hub, which is where everything started for sure. And then I own some other businesses as well. Title company, things like that. But for the most part, I say I say this all the time. My money can do a lot of things, but I can only drive one. And my driver is real estate expansion and helping other leaders get where they want to go. So that's where I'm all in that, my money's involved in other things. But that's my driving. That's what gets me up every day.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:03:20] Okay. So I think a lot of people have tried expansion and failed. Maybe not outside of K.W. because outside of K.W., teams aren't nearly as prevalent. But, why don't you talk to us? It's something you just said, it sounds to me like the key to expansion is surrounding yourself with the right people in hiring leaders who can actually lead those businesses for you so you don't have to to be in the grind and every one of those. Maybe you could tell us more about that.
Kristan Cole: [00:03:48] I think for expansion, the reason that some people have had trouble with it is because they didn't let it naturally and organically happen. Meaning this, when I expanded the first time my hub is in Wasilla, Alaska. It is a fairly small town, actually. It's a very small town. And when we got to a point of saturation, meaning we had so much market share that to take additional market share would cost more than going into another location and taking market share. That's when we actually decided to expand into Anchorage. Anchorage is about forty five minutes away. It has one hundred thousand dollar higher average sales price. The number days on the market is 30 days fewer. And so instead of there being about twelve minute transactions a year in Anchorage, there's about 4000. So a lot bigger pool. So my first expansion was in 2012 into Anchorage. And honestly, because our leads were naturally, organically taking us there, any way and I say this because I learned very fast that it was because it naturally and organically happen. That's why I was successful. But I woke up one day and thought, oh, my gosh, I'm a genius. This is awesome. Only to find out that when you try to go expand into another city, in another state and you don't have that natural organic expansion happening and you don't have a leader getting up every day and driving it, that's a recipe for disaster. And I think that's what a lot of people have found, is they don't realize how much of them, as the leader shows up every day when they show up and when you're not showing up in another location, A, you better have a good leader, they're showing up and B, you need you to need the leads and the systems and models to sustain it.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:05:32] So a great leader, the leads, the systems, and the models.
Kristan Cole: [00:05:39] Yes. And I say this. You can have a great leader. Let me say it a different way. You can have all the best systems of models and help in the world. And if you don't have the right leader, it is not going to work. However, you can have a great leader and have marginal systems and marginal models to follow. And you've got a good leader. They're going to figure it out and it will work.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:06:02] So is finding the leader then, is that the key? Before you even decide you're going to expand. Make sure you find the correct leader.
Kristan Cole: [00:06:11] Yes. Because I'll give an example. I did not wake up one day and want to be in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, but I'm in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin. And I have an amazing leader there who has a team of seven is just doing a phenomenal job. And that's what would I mean, you know, the leader showed up and it and he has done an amazing job, super proud of him. But I didn't wake up and say, I want to go to Whitefish Bay. I woke up in the leadership. Yeah, you lost me all the time. Well, you know, why aren't you in this state or why are you over here? Because the leader hasn't shown up yet.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:06:45] So Wisconsin, Wisconsin, you're in Wisconsin as well. That's obviously something I missed in your intro. What other expansion teams do you have if any that I left out? How many teams do you have?
Kristan Cole: [00:06:58] Forty four.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:06:59] You have forty four expansion teams.
Kristan Cole: [00:07:01] So we're in Santa Fe. We're in Clovis, New Mexico. We're in Albuquerque. We're in Dallas, Texas. We're in Austin, Texas. We're in Sarasota, Florida. Naples, Fort Myers. Worcester, Massachusetts. Colorado. Wichita, Kansas. I could go on and on. OK.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:07:20] So with all of those expansion teams, how many units you guys actually do today?
Kristan Cole: [00:07:24] Last year we did about fourteen hundred.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:07:28] Ok. So that's what you said. It's those expansion teams that you're taking from fourteen hundred to twenty five hundred this year. So how do you go from fourteen hundred to twenty five hundred. Right? That's a big jump. What do you have to do in your business to make that happen.
Kristan Cole: [00:07:47] Well the first thing is, is that the first 20 to 100 of those close sales are made up of of the individual agents inside of our organization that have said here's my GPS or My Goal Sheet. And this is what I want to achieve. So it's really their goal. The additional three hundred are really the closings that we expect to happen in Dallas, Texas, where we have only recently shown up. Actually, we just opened in Texas, in Dallas, Texas, here in the last quarter. So we fully anticipate to have 500 agents in Dallas, Texas, by the end of the year. However, you know, the results don't show up immediately. So that's why. Are we? We believe. 3 we'll have 300 closings in Dallas, Texas, this year. However, next year it probably gets it double the size of our organization just because we're in Dallas, Texas with 500 agents.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:08:44] Wow. So the big thing I hear when I hear that is we're in Texas, we're just starting out, which makes me think you have no agents today. Maybe a handful. And you're going from a handful of agents to three hundred. So obviously there's something about that. How do you recruit and go from a handful to three hundred in a year?
Kristan Cole: [00:09:12] Well, actually, our goal is to close 300 transactions there and to actually attract five hundred eight or five hundred agents.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:09:20] Even a bigger question. Right. Thank you for the correction.
Kristan Cole: [00:09:25] And I think it's always this way. It's always, always, always this way. You go find a great leader who has great leadership skills. And we believe we found that person. Actually, we found two great leaders already in Dallas, one to run our Preston Road. So Dallas Preston rode office. So we believe we found a great leader there. And then we also believe we find out a great leader for the entire Dallas area. He's you know, he's just a driver. He's extremely charismatic. He understands real estate. He understands leadership. And so the key is to find those leaders and let them go do what they do best. And so it's really great. Leaders are going to naturally attract people. And then it's our job in our organization to engage them on board them and help them with the activities such that they achieve a level that they've never achieved before. Which is why they'll stay.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:10:24] So how do you attract 44 great leaders? I mean, if I want to have this expansion model like you. How do I go about attracting these leaders? Because I mean, you found forty four of them. I would say it's difficult to find just one or two of them.
Kristan Cole: [00:10:41] It is and it is extremely difficult. And I think it's most difficult to find the first one or two. There it is to find the forty four if you sit, if you will. It's like anything is harder to make your first million than your second million. So I, you know, finding great leaders initially, I don't know that we know what a great leader looks like until we actually experience it, because I think sometimes I thought I had a great leader and I really had a good leader. So what I would say is, how do you go do it? How I have done it is by being willing to travel across the country and give up my time and my systems basically given give a market center or a brokerage or a broker owner, basically anything. I have to help them come in and teach a class with them and all day class or a couple day class have a mastermind. And I always offer to allow anyone that they want outside of their company to come for free, because when they come outside of their company, then that's my opportunity to get into business with somebody. And what actually happens when you teach at a high level course for a couple of days is if there's someone in the room that believes what you believe. Meaning they naturally can see that you match up when it comes to values or beliefs or leadership, they're going to naturally come toward you is a whole lot more fun.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:12:02] You're out presenting and these people are attracted to you who are with other brands.
Kristan Cole: [00:12:07] Yes.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:12:08] And they're approaching you. And from there, you're just figuring out, is this person a great leader? And there's been times when you thought there were great leaders. They were good leaders. Can you explain the difference between a good leader and a great leader?
Kristan Cole: [00:12:23] And I would say it this way. A good leader will do it. We'll do what they're asked to do, but they will see me as a person that makes a lot of messes for them. A great leader will come and see everything that's going on in my world and say, give it to me, just give it to me. Come on, give it. And they don't see it as a big fat mess. They see it as, Hey, let me get in there. Let me take this on for you. And then they start taking things on without you asking them to do it. And I don't mean little things because I think all good leaders do that. But I mean, they'll take on. We just got in the business with a really great leadership team out of Tucson. They have five expansion offices. They themselves closed five transactions this year. And when they came on board and we had a couple of months conversation around, you know, what the expectations were. What's in it for you? What's in it for us? Man, the day they arrived and they said, you know, we're going to take the daily stand up off your plate. We're gonna run it in five different time zones across the country every hour on the hour. So that in every time zone, it starts at eight forty five. And they took it and drove it and they it just completely came off my plate. Now that. That is major. So that's it.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:13:42] How long have they been with you now?
Kristan Cole: [00:13:44] Since September.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:13:47] What value do you bring to get someone who's doing five hundred transactions in their business to join your business?
Kristan Cole: [00:13:57] That's a great question. And what's interesting is I actually you know, that the CEO of our company of Keller Williams actually asked me that very question and said, why on earth would they join you? It's interesting because we had actually we'd actually looked at that and asked the white, why would they like. Why did they. And, you know, when you go back and you look at what their answers were, it's kind of interesting. And the one thing that they said was they said, number one, we believe what you believe. We believe where you're going. We believe in your vision. We believe in your value proposition. We believe in your giving. And we really were able to boil it down to four words that kind of describe why they joined us. One, they're greedy just like we are. So I love it that yours is called grit. They are great. I have a growth mindset. They also have grace. And what I mean by that is I really like working with people that when someone let's just say, for instance, aa brand new agent sends you an awful offer is terrible. You actually have some grace to help them instead of just showing them how you know, how much they don't know. So I think Grit, Grace, GROSS and then the final one was giving and they said, you know, your that's what your organization is about. Your organization, we believe, can take us further than we can go on our own. And we think you can take us there faster. And then I just pulled it up, because here you were, a couple other things. They said they believed that they could immediately go deeper in their agent, count to the locations where they already were because we were there, too. So we both have teams in similar cities. And then they also wanted to be part of our intent or our internal coaching and training. They wanted to be they wouldn't be coached by me and they wanted to tap into our training. Our leadership meetings are philanthropy and wealth. Building opportunities was a big one for them. They wanted. They wanted to tap into the opportunities that we might have that they might not have or may not have for a while.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:16:05] It's not just about what you're doing today, right. It's about creating wealth in the future. So that's a really powerful one. Something you just said, grit, grace, growth giving. I want our listeners to ponder those for a minute because. You go from grit to grace. And I love the way you talk about grace. I think that's critical in this business to growth, which I've read that with today being our first day meeting, that I've actually read that you are known as growth in this industry like you're known for.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:16:40] And then giving, which my understanding is that you actually give back every single transaction and that you actually let your clients choose who you're going to give to. So please tell us about that.
Kristan Cole: [00:16:56] So and then when we got extremely strategic about that process and about actually we have an event every year around raising money for charity. And last year, the growth rate summit. I spoke to you a little bit about it this year, our fifth year to Phoenix, Arizona. April 18th to the 20th. And it's all about leadership. It's all about real estate, running a team, running a big business. But it's also about so about, you know, what different people did who would become very, very famous when things went badly and how they pulled themselves out of it. What did they do to come back? For instance, last year, one of the guys that actually got only spoke at the event that played at our reception that night. His name is Billy McGlaughlin. And you might not know of him, but he was the number one acoustical guitarist in the world. And he got dystonia. And it is a rare disease. But basically he couldn't move his right hand, which is what you play the guitar with. And after long story short, after about five years of feeling sorry for himself, he decided to learn to play the guitar Left-Handed. And it took him almost five years to get as good as he was right-handed and make a comeback.
Kristan Cole: [00:18:16] And so, you know, just so there's some stories about that as well. And we'll have those this year, too. Interesting. The mascot of the Kansas City Chiefs is actually going to be speaking there. And his story is something that's amazing. We also have a great leader speaking there. But the point is this. At the end of that event last year, we had raised one hundred and seventy five thousand dollars that we were able to then give a very large sum of money to three charities, which for them was very was super purposeful in their overall plan. Like one of them was able to buy their building versus rent it, which now means it freed up cash flow for them because they had enough cash to buy it. They went on a project with them to raise five hundred thousand dollars. It was my job to raise one hundred for them. And by doing so, eliminating their red such that they could they could actually hire another person in their organization to help. It's homeless youth. If you don't think and it just for everyone listening, I know that all of us have different issues in our inner cities, but I could tell you that we have over eleven hundred children in my hometown that are homeless.
Kristan Cole: [00:19:26] And if I have them in Wasilla, Alaska, they're everywhere. And so we are raising money now. John Maxwell taught me a really great point here a few years ago. He said, when you decide to donate to another organization, be real clear and watch them carefully because they need to become self-sustaining within five years. And if they don't move on to another organization because all good 5 or 1 C 3s, they learn to become self-sustaining and if they're not, move on to another organization. So we've been super purposeful about helping the ones that we are supporting to become sustainable on their own. So that makes it fun too. So, you know, for me, that now being you know, people ask me all the time, how can you be in real estate after thirty five years? Because I love it and I love with the money. You know, I used to be kind of embarrassed that I made money and I'm not. I'm honestly I don't know where profit became a bad word and in this world. But you cannot help and you cannot give money if you don't make any money. No, I don't feel badly about making money or not. Want to make a buttload of it.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:20:41] I love it. All right.I want to come back to this contribution thing, because I actually believe that that's a big part of your success. But you just mentioned John Maxwell now. Didn't you just get published or quoted in one of his books?
Kristan Cole: [00:20:57] I mean, it was a total surprise. Now, let's be very close is clear. This is like having a, you know, a small little B roll in A, you know, a B movie. It's a bit roll. But yes, he did he did publish a quote of mine in his new book that just came out, which was kind of exciting for me. The book is The Leader's Greatest Return. And he quoted me saying. Find yourself on an island alone. Realize that you created it. Nice. And the reason I say that is because probably also one of the things that helped me. Remove the ceiling by which I operated in was to realize that you can't be a silo and that the only way you're going to get 60 is within three other people because you yourself have a certain limit. And, you know, there's a while that I just thought, oh, I don't have a limit. Oh, I do. And you've got to have great people that can also drive. And so, yeah, that's I learned that one is so funny. The very thing I learned from Gary Keller, John Maxwell quoted me on the very thing I learned from John Maxwell. Gary Keller is quoting me in his new book on Just Funny How That Works, right?
Brian Charlesworth: [00:22:09] Running Gary's organization, you, I'm guessing, spend a lot of time with Gary?
Kristan Cole: [00:22:14] Yes and no. I mean, what's interesting about Gary is he believes that if yes. Yes, it's tell you how to do something, he doesn't really need you. You're not the right person. So he does expect as a leader for you two to own it. But he definitely hold you accountable for it as he should.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:22:34] What about John Maxwell? How do you know John? How did John know you? How does he quote you if you hired him as a business coach or what? What's your relationship?
Kristan Cole: [00:22:52] So interesting. I start listening to him. Oh, 10 or 15 years ago. Just on C.D. It would come in the mail and I'd listen to it and jot notes and things like that. One time I heard about a conference he was having and I went to his in Seattle, sat down my Pike Street market and actually got to meet him that day and found out that we had some friends that were, you know, you're only one person away from someone. And we found out that we had some mutual friends, which kind of started a friendship. And then unfortunately, my oldest son passed away in 2014. And John was the one that helped me write the speech for my son's memorial. And it even then, I still wasn't coached by him the following year. I could always just tell him what I was doing the following year. He sent me a text one day and he said, you've earned the right for me to now mentor you. And so he now mentors me, which I am a streamlined, grateful for today.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:23:53] Ultimately, he mentors you?
Kristan Cole: [00:23:54] Yeah. I'm actually flying to Israel on Saturday to spend about 10 days there with him. And he's going to actually baptize me in the Jordan River.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:24:08] Very cool. Well, that's exciting. I love that. Just by, you know, whatever it is that attracted you guys. But like you said, you're one connection away. And when you get it, when you get that opportunity to meet somebody like that, do you go towards it or do you fear away from it? Because that's a life changer for you1
Kristan Cole: [00:24:28] It is. And I tell everybody all the time, just because you haven't met them doesn't mean they can't mentor you. Now, with audible books and with podcasts, you can be mentored by anyone. It's just making that choice. And I do want to give him credit because, well, Gary taught me so much about visioning and about business. John, as one has taught me how to put on good events, how to raise money, how to be very strategic and make sure that your giving is going to seed more giving. And so they've taught me a lot. And so I feel a lot of responsibility because that's not it. I just generally want to help others the way that they have helped me. And, you know, for the most part, it's because I choose to really dig into what they're saying. Their podcasts, their books. I just add a master mind with Gary Keller last week. And, you know, he was mentoring and training. I saw the difference between loyalty and actually support in your organization. And those you know, the wheel is round. And we have a choice of whether we're gonna be a reservoir or whether we're going to be a river with what we've learned. And I think we should all choose to be rivers and just given away.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:25:47] Let it flow. Let's go back to Growthward for a minute. You guys are raising raised one hundred and seventy five thousand dollars. How did this all get started and what's really the drive behind it? What's your why with this?
Kristan Cole: [00:26:04] You know, I get up every day. I want to lead other leaders who want to lead and influence other leaders such that they achieve something that no one else has ever done. That's actually what drives me, as is when other people haven't been able to succeed at something. And you can kind of look throughout my life and look at some of the crazy things that I took on that have nothing to do with real estate. And if you look in there, if you look far enough, you'll find a. Generally, generally, generally, that's exactly why I did it, because it was a big, fat problem. Hot potato usually. Nobody wanted to touch it, but yet it was a big problem and needed solved. And I think we have a huge problem in this country with homelessness, with homeless youth, with drugs and alcohol and it all of which have affected my family. And so for me, I get super passionate about it. You know, we have a we sponsor Teen Challenge here in Phoenix and in Alaska and also in New Mexico. These are organizations that change people's lives. I don't think just probably anyone that doesn't listen to this podcast and doesn't know someone in their family somewhere that is being affected by one of those topics. Either that and or the other organization is the Dream Center, which it's very similar to Teen Challenge, but it's a drug and alcohol. They save women from sex trafficking. And that's a huge problem here in Phoenix, Arizona. And so if you think about it, they think about expansion. You think about being in forty four locations. Every one of those forty four locations have all three of those issues.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:27:54] Absolutely.
Kristan Cole: [00:27:55] So by being involved in those issues, we can be involved in every one of those communities. And I think if you're in business, you have a responsibility to be involved in your communities. And so we are super heavily involved in my hometown and then also in other locations, obviously across the country. And so I don't know. I'll say this. I asked John one time I was I was buying a fourplex. It took me about five years to save up the money to buy it. Fourplex. It's called Kristan’s Home. And it is for kids. Get out of graduate programs. Because when you graduate a teen challenge program generally. You have a felony. You know how hard it is to get a job and find housing. If you have a felony, if you can't get a job and can't find housing. You slip right back into it. So my goal was to raise enough money to buy a fourplex that when they got out, they could they have a place to stay. And through our call center that they have a place to get a job. And so it took me about a year to raise the money.
Kristan Cole: [00:29:01] And at the end of that period or a couple of years, that period of time, I said to John, is it you know, John, the need is so huge and what I've done is so small. Here's what he said. Kristin, due for one, which you wish you could do for many. And that has always stuck with me. So it I think we all think the problem is too big for any one of us. True. But the problem is not too big for all of us. So I think as a tribe, if we get super purposeful about just doing the part that we can do, maybe, maybe for you, it's being a volin to or maybe it's it's a you know, anytime we have an event, we've got to have volunteers that help us on the events. And so I don't know what it is, but I do know that all of us have gifts and talents. All of us can be involved. And it does take a village, you know, to do anything. And so I just I guess I just am naive enough to believe that we can make a difference.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:30:01] Yeah, it's definitely a huge epidemic. I used to have a company called Drug Talk. That was just about educating families on the dangers of the new face of drugs, really, which is a pill. Right. So anyway, I love that you do that. Also, can you tell us more about. You guys donating every time you saw a home back to your clients? Charity, I think that's amazing that you guys do that.
Kristan Cole: [00:30:28] So we start with that in Wasilla. And basically, we gave we give our clients a list of all the local five emergency threes at the time, you know, and they get to select you might be the dog and puppy rescue. It might be the senior center. It might be Teen Challenge. It could be. But all the five A one C 3s are listed for that local area and they can choose. And then when the close that transaction closes, we set aside that money at the end of the month. We send a check, as it might be, that more than one person has chosen that charity. And we send checks, you know, and it's kind of interesting what happens. It's kind of the unanticipated positive consequences that you don't. And all of the sudden, you know, people would come up to me in the store and say, oh, you're that realtor that support supports the dog and puppy rescue or you're that realtor that supports the senior center. So it's kind of interesting. And people say they want to become part of something bigger. And if you just you know, because when we would send that, we would also send wristbands that say giving back, we would send this certificate that said we donated in their name.
Kristan Cole: [00:31:41] And it over time when you're donating, you know, hundreds and hundreds of dollars over the course of a year. It all of a sudden it's just it. There's a book. Adam Grant wrote it about strategic giving. It's called Given Take. And the thesis of the book is The poorest of people give and the richest of people give. What's the difference in the differences? Strategic giving. The people that really give strategically what happens is their businesses actually blow up because they're very purposeful about their giving. And so are charities called Kristen's Home of Hope. And when you buy or sell with the Kristan Cole Real Estate Network, you're supporting safe housing for at risk youth, safe housing for at risk youth can look a lot of different ways. We've bought air conditioners for cars that were transporting children. We have you know, we have sponsored the Dream Center and we've done a lot of things because it does support safe housing. Safe housing doesn't mean build a house. It means support sometimes a house that's already built, that needs repair, that needs help, that need something.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:32:52] So that is your own 501C3 and that is on the list of 501C3's that they can choose from?
Kristan Cole: [00:32:58] Absolutely.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:32:59] So although your purpose isn't and intent is to not drive business, it's obvious you care about these people. But it all comes full circle, right, when you're your boss, when you're giving your receiving. And so, yeah, it was thoughtful.
Kristan Cole: [00:33:16] A quick story about that. I got a call from the mayor of Wasilla and he said, I saw that you're doing this fundraiser for 14 challenges. And I set for them for my house. I said, yes. And he said, well, you know, the city. He said, here's what you don't know. Since you started donating to them, like, you know, pretty big checks. Seventy five hundred dollars here. Ten thousand years. Fifty thousand in December. And he said, I want you to know what a burden you have taken off the city. And he said we appreciate it so much. Then in the month of December, as the mayor, I get on I get on the radio once a week and talk about what's going on in the city. And I just want you to know that I'm going to talk about and support your company with their with your event. That's coming up every week on the radio. Because we appreciate you taking you as a private citizen. Ah, do ah. You know, you could. There are other businesses now following suit. You've taken a huge burden off the city.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:34:17] I love it. You're so passionate about this, Kristan. And I can tell. I can feel it. I can feel it through this video. So tell us more Growthward. It's coming up here in April. Who was that for? Who should go? Give us the details about really who should be at this event.
Kristan Cole: [00:34:34] What I love is that we bring in incredible speakers who everyone would know, like John Maxwell. I mean, I did a 20 minute Q&A with him last year. So I bring in really great speakers who can speak to any anyone. But primarily it's for leaders and business owners. Of course, real estate, real estate agents. But, you know, you can apply anything they say to any of it, any business or any in a leadership group. And so the thing I love about it is that it's a small enough group that you actually can meet with the leaders. When we do our reception that evening or by the firepit in the evening, we do it here in Phoenix because it tends to be nice weather in April. And so you really get one on one time that if you went to a big conference like I was at last week, that's just not possible. So we limit it to 400 people. And it really becomes a very it's an intimate event. And yet at the same time, the speakers we all the speakers come for free and they come for free because John John donated twenty thousand dollars last year in addition to the 20 minute Q&A. And so, you know, they just they believe it. They believe in the purpose they believe in. They know what this is going to do. So I always want to bring in such incredible value that people leave their believing and feeling like that, that they got more from the event than anything they could have given. So, you know, some of the leaders that are that are coming in this year. There's four or five of them that are specific in real estate, but there's a top half of one percent. I mean, they're really the people that are crushing it.
Kristan Cole: [00:36:22] But then also leaders from all different journeys in life, whether it be from the music industry or from the speakers and leadership and book author industry, or whether it's from you know, I'll say one of the leaders, one of them is going to speak this year. His name is Ashley Woolsey. Woolridge and he is the senior pastor at CCD, which is Christ Valley. Now and anyway, his church has thirty five thousand people, and what he says is, I'm not a big church, I'm a little church with a big vision. And he runs he he's he's growing his church, the expansion. He's doing it exactly like we are expansion. So the point is this business is business. You know, whether or not it is a five, A one, C three or real estate business or a church or or a music industry. Business is business. And there are certain time-tested truce of business. And so people coming should have the expectation that the one thing that I must speak on is how to build an empire. Right. I gave that presentation last year or last week, ate at an ad in Dallas, which it's very, very large organization or group of people. And the whole purpose is, is that there is some time tested truths that if you just learn those and then they only have to do is manage to the rest of your career. If you'll learn early and just manage to those decisions, you could have an incredibly great business. And so that's what it's about. So it's about it's about pouring into them and teaching them to be better leaders, better business people. But at the same time, the people who are have not only done it, but they're still in it.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:38:12] Is there a place our listeners can go to to learn more about how to build an empire? Do you have a Web site that talks about that?
Kristan Cole: [00:38:21] So if they go to growthward.com, if you click on "events" will tell you where I'm going to be. I'm going to Vegas tomorrow to teach all week long and different places or to speak in different places. So that Web site will definitely tell you where I am at any moment. Also tell you about the growthward event that's coming up in April, the 18th-20th.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:38:45] So, growthward.com, so everyone go to that. Just in wrapping up here. Kristan, thank you. It's been it's been great getting to know you. Just a few more questions here. Short list that we asked all of our guests. First, what's your favorite book or what your favorite source of learning?
Kristan Cole: [00:39:03] Books, definitely in effect, if it can't be in person, you know. And by audible and the one that I'm I'm listening to right now is the new one by Simon Sinek. Infinite Change for Infinite Games. Yes. And of course, anybody that has read the book and then is listening to this podcast would know why I'm so interested in that. And that it is because people think that people leave organizations because of money. And that's usually number three or number four. You know, one of the reasons a stay is because they they believe in a community of people that are doing something that's greater than themselves. And, you know, from, you know, reading his book, you know, he really takes you from the golden circle of why am I doing this? To actually, you know, getting the results done. And and you have to know why you're doing it first. Because if you don't know why you're never going to get to the how or work or the what and the results. And so that's probably my favorite book right this minute. It's always the one I'm reading, I suppose, because if I don't like it, I stop reading it.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:40:08] Exactly. And I remember when Simon came out with the Y and his speech just went viral right off TEDTalks. And ever since then, when Simon speaks, people listen, right? He's. He's great. I love Simon. What's your favorite place?Where where do you where would you want to go if you could go anywhere in the world and spend time where whereas that you like to go?
Kristan Cole: [00:40:41] Oh, my gosh. You know, first of all, why I love Alaska. You know what's not to love? And when I every time I'm with there, there is just something about it. When I land, it makes me cry every time. And I it's because it just feels so incredibly like I can breathe. But I will tell you, our family aren't you know, I've lived in Alaska for 50 years. Our tired family has always loved Mexico. My husband, I own a villa down there in Cabo. And we go there at least once a year, if not twice, because we just really feel like it's it's it's it's a warm place to go because Alaska is not very warm right now. It also gives us that same feeling. It allows us to think. I think setting aside thinking time is so important, we don't do enough of that. And so I would say that's probably. I love it. I mean, gosh, I love it.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:41:42] Right. Are you in the San Jose del Cabo area where you are down there?
Kristan Cole: [00:41:46] I'm so we are just outside of Kabul at the Hacienda right next to. I can't forget the name of it. It's where all the famous people like Peyton Manning have houses and things like that. I can look I can look over the wall of this. So it makes you feel pretty safe here. They've got a house next door.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:42:06] Yeah, right there. Close to the one and only.
Kristan Cole: [00:42:09] Yeah. Exactly.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:42:11] And what's your what's your favorite thing to do in your personal time?
Kristan Cole: [00:42:16] Boy, I would say honestly it's do anything with my family, whether it's you know, because I do enjoy what I do. Yes. I golf the company. Golfing takes a lot of time. But I would say if I have extra time right now, we go we go do something. We go. You know, one year when my son when he had his 40th birthday, we took it. He went, I said, we'll go anywhere in the world. You want to go? He said, I want to go to Denali. I'm like, you kidding me? But he climbed Denali and he actually summited. And in Denali Park, you have to make a reservation super early and it's super expensive, but you're completely off the grid. The hotel back there is completely off the grid. And we had I cannot tell you how much fun we had because there was the entertainment was us, you know, doing goofy stuff around the firepit and stuff and fly fishing and gold panning and riding our bikes up to Wonder Lake at midnight and going back there at seven o'clock in the morning and taking our picture in Wunder Lake with Mount McKinley reflecting on it. And my my husband at first was like, I can't leave. We're going to spend this kind of money on this trip. And when the trip was over, it was only a four day trip. You said it was worth every penny. So it was because we spent so much time as a family just having good ol seriously good old fashioned fun.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:43:39] Yeah, that's great. I love it. What's this really last question and just what's if you could give just one piece of advice? You've given a lot of advice today. But if there's just one thing that you want people to take away from this, what what would that be?
Kristan Cole: [00:43:57] You know, life is too short, too, to not be doing what you what you love every day. People ask me so, so often, when are you going to retire? And it doesn't even it doesn't even dawn on me. So I would say, because I love what I do. So to me, it's not that it's not work, although I will tell you, I have my days just like anyone else. But what I would say is cash. Love what you do. And if you don't go find, go find another business, another leader, another. Another place where the community is such that, you know, you get up every day and love go into work and love participating because it's it's it's there's three words this year that have become kind of my mantra. It's called more than us. And the truth is, none of us can accomplish anything by ourselves, but because it's more than us. But together, we can accomplish so much so fast. That actually can change that it can change an industry on a dime. And so I would know from my perspective is give it away, because if you give it away and other people can get there faster with you, you know, it's I just call it more than us because it is about more than us. We can't do it. We cannot do all this on our on our own, nor should we really want to. It's a lot more fun doing it together with a tribe. Well, you'll find something you love to do.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:45:23] Kristan, thank you. That was that was great. Thanks again for the time today. It sounds like the best way to get a hold of you is it your growthward.com?
Kristan Cole: [00:45:32] Yeah, you can contact me through that, absolutely.
Brian Charlesworth: [00:45:35] Well, thanks again for being on the show today.
Kristan Cole: [00:45:38] Thank you for the opportunity. It was my honor.
