Change is GOOD!

I had the privilege of being invited to join my amazing friend Debra Trappen to her church services a couple of Sunday's ago while I was in town for a visit in Bellevue, WA.

A little background is required here...I grew up going to very traditional church services where we sang hymns and bowed our heads in prayer and wore our 'Sunday Best' to services.  It was very Reverent, Conservative and Comfortable.

Skip ahead to my experience at Debra's Church (Champion Centre in Bellevue)...Kids....This ain't your Mom and Dad's Church experience!

From the moment I arrived I was keenly aware...THINGS HAVE CHANGED!!

Upon entering I notice everyone is pretty casual...I spy lots of jeans and sweaters and the church itself has a built in coffee house and book shop ~ very urban and contemporary and conducive to great visiting :)  I take my place in the front row. No hiding for me ~ Deb has placed me front and center so I can cheer her on when she's singing on stage.  Now when I say singing, we're talking Rock n Roll baby! The AMAZING band (lead and base guitar, keyboard and drums) got us good and revved up with an instrumental rendition of Michael Jackson's THRILLER (it was Halloween weekend)! It was truly awesome!  

Then the singers (including Debra) joined the stage.

Arms waving up in the air...Not bowed in prayer.  Loud rock style music...Not Reverent.  

Everyone in the church standing (everyone except me that is)...I'll admit it. 

I WAS UNCOMFORTABLE.

Then eventually the music subsided (although there was gentle background music even during prayer) and Pastor Kevin's (apparently we go first name here) sermon (more like a keynote) was broadcast on the big screen. 

Here's where it got really interesting.  This guy can preach! Or rather NOT PREACH! This was a  motivating, 'even-if-you-don't-believe' message that was truly awesome! (And from a Branding perspective - I LOVED it!)

Pastor Kevin spoke about A.B.S. = Audacious Believing and Speaking! In other words...be bold ~ See it BIG and Speak UP about it! What a great message for anyone!

So what' your point Teri?

Ok ~ here goes:  I was on a Google+ hangout with Debra and Michael McClure (who's about to launch a total game changing business in RE ~Stay tuned!!) discussing our upcoming  panel presentation at Inman Connect in New York in January (WHOOHOO!!!).  All 3 of us share a passion for Raising The Bar in the Real Estate Industry and we'll be speaking to Optimizing the Consumer Experience.  We often discuss how reluctant some people in our industry seem to be toward 'change'...and that's when I had an "Aha Moment".  It suddenly dawned on me that there is a very strong parallel here!

Religion VS Real Estate

Stay with me here......

It seems to me that whenever CHANGE is in the air ~ we all tend to get a little uncomfortable.  

I mean ~ I liked my Traditional, Conservative, Reverent Church experience.  The hymns and the quiet bowing of heads is very familiar to me...almost comforting.  It's the way its always been done.  But is the new style really so bad? I'll bet Debra's Church attracts all kinds of new generation disenfranchised church goers who are feeling more and more of a disconnect with traditional religion and prefer a more contemporary, open and progressive one.

The same could be said for today's Real Estate Industry.  I see a major shift happening.  With today's new technology and social media and the savvy consumer having access to way more information, the industry has no choice but to loosen the grip and open up to change.  The consumer is demanding it.  

I see Brokerages bleeding, Realtors® abandoning their careers in frustration...I see disconnected Associations and Boards and a lot of scared people trying to hold on to what used to be.  

BUT

I also see a lot of opportunity! I see new technologies allowing us to connect in a way we never could before! I see room for growth and new ideas and different ways of doing things.

Whenever there's change there's always some growing pains....but as my very dear friend Debra posted today on Twitter: 

HELL YA! That's ABS for ya! Audaciously Believing and Speaking!

 (BTW ~ Side note: Deb has since been nominated as one of this year's Inman News' People's Choice for Real Estate's MOST INFLUENTIAL so you should listen to her!! So proud of her!)

I know we all have a natural tendency to protect what we know, resist change and hold fast to what is comfortable, but I encourage all of us (yes even me) to be more like Deb and EMBRACE CHANGE!  

I see amazing things ahead for our industry.  Let's work together to improve the experience for the Consumer, Realtor®, Broker Owners and everyone else!

How Steve Jobs Saw The World

If I've learned anything from Steve Jobs is that the world and how we exist within it is not limited. It is vast, full of opportunity and we have the power to create change. I personally plan to erase my limiting boundaries that I imagine are there and think BIGGER!

In honor of my father: S.I.B.K.I.S= See It Big. Keep It Simple.

The only thing holding me back is my own imagination.

Imagine it. Create it. Accelerate it. (Thanks Debra Trappen for your leadership, friendship and help in creating that powerful statement!)

(This is an extraordinary biography produced for PBS. It is 1 hour long but well worth the watch.)



And from Steve's sister ~ read "A Sister's Eulogy for Steve Jobs" ~ deeply moving...insightful and profound.

Saturday autumn stroll

Posted via email from tlchome's posterous

Halloween Jib Jab JOY with The #PowerWomen

Thanks to Suzanne Roy for giving me the best laugh of the year! Featuring #PowerWomen Suzanne Roy as Dracula; Laura Monroe as the Witch; Inna Hardison as The Mummy Me as Frankenstein and Debra Trappen as my DJ wife! :) #sidekick

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

True Appreciation and Genuine Intent

Wanna know how to get me pumped up? Wanna connect and engage? Then take notes.  I'm about to introduce you to someone who approached me from out of the blue and intrigued, inspired and captivated me from his very first tweet:

What? I'm being offered something by someone I've NEVER engaged with? Normally I would be skeptical...what's the hook? But when he phrases it so lovely and he's clearly taken a moment to determine a little bit about me and read my bio I'm clearly going to respond. He's also instantly made an emotional connection with me when he  lets me know my message resonates with him.  Hmmmm... perhaps we have shared values?

Meet Eric Harr ~ Founder and President of Resonate Social Media and

"...award-winning, traditional PR and communications executive with 10 years of experience—and is widely-recognized as one of the leading social strategists in the world."  

Not to mention a few other minor accolades: triathlete, tv and radio host, and author of the new aforementioned book The Real Truth About Social Media. 


And he wants me to review his book? Well gee.....Color me flattered!! What the heck just happened here? (review will come shortly! Book is in the mail!!) 


Here's the thing ~ for the second time this week I'm engaging with an extraordinary human being (Read also about AJ Leon in Reach Out and Touch) Eric is someone who I think we'd all aspire to be! Successful in business, appears to have his priorities totally straight and focused on family and friends and lifting up others and he's reached out to ME! 


There are a lot of people that are anti 'Rah Rah' right now....but you tell me if this wouldn't make you feel fabulous! 

You think I am moved to help him? You're darned tootin I am!  And why did it work?  

Wasn't this all just a strategy? Of course that's part of it..but it works because I believe that Eric is genuine. That his intent is to connect on a real level and bolster fabulously rich mutually beneficial relationships.  

I can assure you that I'll be keeping in touch and from everything I've witnessed I'm pretty sure I've been blessed with this new and amazing connection. And what do you suppose is the ROI of that? :)

How are you reaching out or are you? Are you offering real value, or finding a common ground? I've used this quote a million times and I'm going to again: 

Clearly Eric gets this. :)

Reach Out and TOUCH!

Every once in a while I come across something/someone that inspires me! Just before I went to bed last night I saw this tweet by Internet Marketing genius Lewis Howes:

This led me down a bit of a rabbit hole! Off to http://revolution.is/aj-leon/ where I was introduced to AJ Leon for the first time! A renegade or self prescribed "Nomad"as he refers to himself! His story is awesome....about to marry and settle into a life he truly didn't want (although he was earning 6 figures and promising future) he made the scary choice and walked away from it all! Bold move my friend! 

Of course the story is so inspiring...AJ is living his truth. He's turned off the noise from the rest of the world telling him what success should look like and is pursuing his own path. LOVE IT! 

Well now you've really peaked my curiosity! Have to go find out more about this ballsy kid! So I visit his company site:  Misfit Inc. OMG ~ tell me you're not inspired when you land here!! 

"WE ARE ridiculously despicably dangerously obscenely disgustingly CREATIVE."

How can you NOT be inspired by THAT!??

For someone who is in the process of redefining my mission and getting clear about my message and building a new business focused on telling the good stories and creating buzz online but authentically and in a meaningful, inspiring way, AJ's story and website were a gold mine for me!  Naturally I signed up....for everything I could find! 

Then I went to bed....my mind RACING! Woke up at 2am and HAD to do a massive mind dump! 

Came downstairs this morning to get right to work on all my new ideas and inspiration and found THIS email waiting for me!!

Are you kidding ME???  I signed up for an email newsletter like I have a million times and I got a PERSONAL RESPONSE welcoming me to the Tribe!! That blew my mind! 
I immediately wrote back expressing my true appreciation for the unheard of, never... ever... EVER done, personal response and explained that while I'm in transition my tlchome site is in fact down as I'm building my new one....to which I received yet ANOTHER personal (and immediate) response!

"It takes an enormous amount of time" ~ Ya no kidding! But holy cow is it worth it! Clearly I've discovered some greatness here and that is why I must share it with you!

Live your truth...follow your path....Be good to people....Reach out and touch someone.  IT MATTERS!

Thanks for being the awesome example that you are AJ! I'm watching you closely and can't wait to learn more about your other project: The Pursuit Of Everything. :)
Cheers!

How To Spot A Liar

Pamela Meyer: How to spot a liar

Love this ~ We're living a more transparent world and the subtitles of human decency; character and integrity, is what really matters.  Be a little more explicit about our moral code.  Let's choose a world where truth is strengthened and falsehood is marginalized.  #feeltheshift


"On any given day we're lied to from 10 to 200 times, and the clues to detect those lie can be subtle and counter-intuitive. Pamela Meyer, author of Liespotting, shows the manners and "hotspots" used by those trained to recognize deception -- and she argues honesty is a value worth preserving."