An interview with
Ivan Estrada
You can also watch this interview on my YouTube channel
*PS. Below you will find an auto-generated transcript of this episode.
Arek Dvornechuck:
What's up branding experts? Arek here at Ebaqdesign and on today's podcast of On Branding Podcast. My guest is Ivan Estrada, and Ivan is an inspirational business leader and with a strong background in real estate, but he's also a public speaker on the topics of branding and marketing. So he's been featured on NBC, Bravo, LA Times, Hollywood Reporter, and Forbes among many others. So Ivan recently published his new book Brand With Purpose, which is this book right here. And this is the book we are going to talk about today on our podcast. Hello, Ivan, thanks for joining us today.
Ivan Estrada:
Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm, I'm really thankful to be here and I'm super excited about the the interview.
Arek Dvornechuck:
Awesome. So I want to start with a simple question just to get us on the same page, right? So I wanted to start with what is branding with purpose, what it actually means. So, first of all, thanks for sending over the book, which is great. I, I love the content and the way you explain all of those aspects of branding and marketing with, you know, examples from your personal, your personal stories and the conclusions you came up to, and it can give us a real understanding on how to apply those principles in real life. There is a lot of practical advices and exercises to help us understand brand building and especially personal branding, right. And how to go about it. And we talk about some of your personal stories and experiences and how they helped you find that purpose behind what you do and ultimately build a good brand. Right? So in general, I wanted to start with what does for mean to you and what's the concept behind branding with purpose?
Ivan Estrada:
Yeah, good question. So purpose for me was finding an intention and then having a direction, you know, I think with so much media and different types of, you know, branding advice and social media and digital media I had to really get kind of clear on what, who I was first and foremost and where I wanted to go. You know, that for me was the, the, the journey of this book was first. I needed to figure out who I was like, who was Ivan? Because as a kid, you know, the people who are responsible for branding us right, there are parents, right? My mom and dad were the one who set like the principles and values and belief systems and even color choices that my mom's like, you know, you're, you're you like blue. So my room is blue. And they chose that. And for some now my favorite colors blue, right. And so for me as a kid, it was like, okay, this is what my parents taught me. A B is what society's telling you that you should do. And C was like, well, who am I like, I am a little bit of a, which is what my parents instilled in me. I'm a little bit of B based on what society's telling me, but I needed to figure out like, who is Ivan? Like, what does Ivan want? Where does Ivan want to go? And so for me, branding with purpose was having a direct and having intention, like most importantly, having an intention. And so this book for me was I wanted to help people figure out like, where, where is their purpose? Like we can, you know, for example, in the book I talk about being an accountant like that just wasn't for me, like I learned so much about business, which really me in the business that I'm in today, which is real estate. And then also helping me and write this book. But, but it wasn't to the core, like what I felt I was due for, for humanity, right? Like what I was here to put on this planet to, to do different things. I'm a very creative person. I'm a person who loves to give back to be philanthropic. And so, you know, on this journey, I had to figure out like all those facets, like how can I use all of those to create a brand that connects with people most authentically, but most importantly, that connects with me, right. Because we have one life and I wanted this life to be intentional and purposeful. And most importantly, like, I just, I just wanted to be happy. You know, I think to the core, we all want that and deserve that.
Arek Dvornechuck:
Yeah. So here are some of my takeaways from this first part of your book to actually walk us through, through the process, you know, of uncovering your purpose. And this is going to serve you as, as you're driving force, right. For your ending and the direction you take, as you mentioned, right. And this can be influenced by, you know, the choices that by society, the way you grew up and things like that. But it's also about self discovery, right. And being self conscious and you know, finding that true purpose. So, so in order to, as you said, you know, make this life meaningful, you know, make an impact, a positive impact on other people's lives. And then you talk also about knowing what you want to be remembered for. So nailing down, you know, thinking about messaging and ultimately, what do you want people to remember about you and your brand? And it comes down to, you know, having clarity on your message, what kind of message should, should be broadcasted on your social media, you know, everywhere where people interact with your brand. Right. Exactly. And and, and it also comes down to your, to your voice on the voice, right? And I like you, you quote that you quote here, Simon Sinek, this is a popular quote. People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Right. Exactly.
Ivan Estrada:
Exactly. and that's why there's so many exercises and questions at the end of each chapter and during, through the chapters as well, because those are the questions I had to answer for myself. And also like the questions that a lot of my interviewees had to really ask themselves in order to get to the core of their story, of their mission, of why, how they wanted to be remembered. You know, once they're long gone, because I think for us as a society, you know, we're always like, you know, we're in the now, right. We're in the now. And we don't really kind of look forward to be like, you know, what type of impact do we want to make? Right. I think we're all, we're all put on this planet to do something. We just got to figure out what.
Arek Dvornechuck:
Right. And it's important to have a plan as, as you say, right, you can, you know, keep working every day and doing on what you think is you have to do, but also it's all about having that plan and that vision, right? Because it's ultimately gonna influence your day to day choices and, and the decisions that you make. Right. So if you envision your brand in the future in five or 10 years in some kind of a place doing some things, you need to break it down and start taking actions, actions towards that ultimate goal. Right? So exactly
Ivan Estrada:
Piece by piece and small pieces too, right? They say, cuz if you take one big leap, you know, it, it looks a lot harder, but if you can take like little micro, you know, have micro winds along the way to kind of gear you towards that big one, like that's how you do it. You know, that's how it becomes manageable for anybody.
Arek Dvornechuck:
Right. And you talk about that in your books, taking smaller steps. Don't try to, trying to overwhelm yourself with, you know, this big goal. Okay. So since we understand the concept more or less behind, you know, what does it mean actually to brand with purpose? So now I thought we could spend a couple minutes talking about about also itself, you know, how, how to put this into practice. So for example, in your book, you talk about examining your personal story, right? Your experiences and discovering your strengths and weaknesses. And here you recommend running, for example, SW analysis exercise which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and opportunities and threats. So I thought we could just spend a couple of minutes talking about, you know, about the process itself, how to find that true you and, and tell that the authentic story, what would be the process of, of you know, telling that story?
Ivan Estrada:
Yeah. So with the SWOT analysis, I remember this was something that I learned in, at USC in one of my marketing classes. And it was geared more towards, you know, if for bigger corporations, right. We were using big case studies. And I just remember thinking, wait, like I could probably create one of these for myself. Like as a person, like figure out what my strengths are. Right. For me, my strengths were, I was great with people. I was good at numbers which is why I became a CPA. I was very creative. So those were, you know, three of my major strengths. And then I went over my weaknesses, like, okay, what are some of my weaknesses? One of them is fear. Right? Like I still have a weakness towards being, taking courageous steps because of how I was raised. So, okay. Fear is one of them, another weakness of mine is I want it now. Right? Like I want things now. So how do I, what can I do in order to manage it, to be able to still get the, those micro wins right along the way, while I get to the bigger goal and then opportunities for myself, like, what are opportunities of growth? Like personal development, such as podcasts, like books you know, doing things like this attending seminars or networking groups, and then threats were like, okay, what are, are there certain things that, that I personally feel threatened by, right. That that could either threaten my, you know, like, for example, for, for a while on social media, like, I was always very anxious on posting something because I thought, well, what if, you know, someone says something bad about me? Like, that's a threat. Like I'm gonna take that as a personal threat. And so I had to really do that for myself in order to kind of, I guess, to kind of see yourself from a bird's eye view and become more aware because, you know, I think that's the key word here is becoming aware, right. Becoming aware of what your strengths are, opportunities, threats, and weaknesses. Because sometimes like, you know, just with friends of mine, when I've done this with them, they're like, they're like, oh my God, I had no idea. Oh yeah. That is a strength of mine, you know? And when they know that there's something that they're really strong at, it gives 'em that courage. Right. It kind of takes away a little bit of that fear. And a lot of those threats and weaknesses are like, oh, like these are actually not as bad as I thought, like, like, okay, now that we know what our weaknesses are, like, what we do, like, is there something that we can actually do, that's gonna make that weakness a strength? Or is it something that okay, it's just, I'm never gonna be good at that, but if you're building a personal brand or a company who can I find who will fit in, you know, fill in that blind spot for me. Yeah. Right. And it's just, it's, it's all about becoming aware.
Arek Dvornechuck:
Yeah. Yeah. And it's like a great example. And I remember that we were talking about that in book. If you feel that you lack some skills in, in some, you know, areas that, you know, some things that has to be done, you know, for your business in order to be successful, but we need to fill out a, you in those gaps, you need to hire people who have those skills right. Where you like, in order to create a brand and, and be able to run it successfully. Right. So exactly.
Ivan Estrada:
You don't have to be good at everything. You know, I think as entrepreneurs, sometimes it's like, oh, we can do everything. We're great at everything. But it's like, I'm sorry to tell you, but you know, it's not always the, it's not always the truth. Right.
Arek Dvornechuck:
So some of the key takeaways from this part, so again, as you said, it's all about the awareness ultimately, right? And you give us this exercise, which is a great exercise, as you said, you know, it's usually it is known for, you know, it's known well in the community, but you know, not all people use it for personal branding. Right. And you, you just prove that it does work for personal branding as well. Yeah. So for you, it was facing your fears and embracing those differences. Right. You talk about that in, in the book, you know, your origins for example, and things like that and how it shaped your brand and being aware of that and, you know, and using this to your advantage, right. Not being a shame of, of those things. And I think really interesting section of your book was about investing in yourself. So here you talk, where you talk about, you know, investing in your brand, feeling that gap in the areas where you like, for example, you know, you, you kind of have to be a good public speaker if you want to, you know, run as a successful companies. So perhaps there are ways, you know, you can join some events and develop your skills in, in that direction. Right? Exactly. Good routines. You talk about routine a lot as well, stress management and things like that. So there is a lot of interesting advices for you guys, you know, to, to deal with those weaknesses and, and bringing that awareness.
Arek Dvornechuck:
So in the third part, so since we have some understanding on that, and once you start writing this down and, and, and, and trying to figure out your unique story to tell now, in the third part, you talk about, you know, broadcasting that message. So how you actually present your brand to the world, to starting with your colors, which you already mentioned at the beginning of our interview you know it could your childhood could influence that, but also, you know, what visuals, what colors are appropriate, you know, for your brand. So finding those things, that's very important step, right? So can you share our, maybe some, some tips on creating that content and, and broadcasting that message and some of the factors that we need to pay attention to when pushing this message out there to the world?
Ivan Estrada:
Yeah. Good question. So I have brand pillars for my two different companies and I'll use real estate, cuz that one's probably the easiest. So I, for my real estate company, I have five pillars. So the first one is real estate. The second one is technology. The third one is design. The fourth one is community and the fifth one is travel. And so those are the five pillars of my business. So those are the things that I create content around. Like for example, with real estate, I have like real estate trends, real estate market updates, real estate, interest rates, real estate. Like we literally line the item one by one technology. It's like, you know, the kitchen of the future robotics at home, artificial intelligence at your home, like all these different things. And so the having set brand pillars, and I try to keep them at five because it keeps it more, just less confusing. Have those pillars is what helps you create the content that aligns with your brand, with your voice, with your message. And that way, subconsciously like, you know, as you're hitting your customer base, you're hitting your social, your people follow your own social media, they're getting the, the same type of content. And they're like, oh, I understand. Like for me, for my example, I understand Ivan he's, you know, he's in real estate, he's he has a huge influence in technology. He loves to travel cuz I also like, like to post homes from all over the world. And he's also very, you know, part in the community. So there's a lot of community events that he does. And so I try to just keep it to those and I sometimes will blend them, right? Like real estate travel, real estate design mm-hmm real estate technology. So I always try to like, you know, merge them together kind of in different directions. But it keeps it very centered on the content that I have. And it's not a message that gets distorted because cuz you know, I, I, and it's, I used to do this in the past a long time ago. I would just throw whatever it was on my, on my social and part of my brand on my newsletters. And it just really confused people they're like, so I think you sell real estate, but then you talk about celebrities a lot. So are you like a celebrity blogger? And then I saw that you posted this thing from like project angel food, wait, do you work there? Or like, you know, it was like all this confusion. And so I really had to center them down to five and then use them and combine them. So then after a while people understand your message and it's not distorted because there's just so much going on
Arek Dvornechuck:
Right. So is a cohesive message. Right? Unified message. So I certainly agree. You know, people have to, once they look at your content, they need to clearly understand that you are about this, not about that. So having those pillars in place and, and trying to, as, as you said, you have a specific process and specific method that helps you organize all of this content production. Right? Exactly. Yeah. So some of my takeaways from here, you know, like for example, making YouTube videos, which you talk a lot and you have this real estate minute on YouTube, right? So it, it was a great way for you to mark it yourself and your brand and producing branded content. You know, I think it would be good to mention to our listeners because not everyone feels comfortable, you know, doing videos and actually you overcome and improve on your weaknesses, right. And overcome these shyness and gain confidence to feel more comfortable on videos, you know, not trying to be perfect. And you actually give us great process just by looking and researching, let's say our competitors in the space or just people we admire, we can just break down their videos and figure out what they do and try to do the same thing, try to emulate them, which is gonna save us time overall. If we just try to know figure out on our own, I think that's a useful technique and yeah.
Ivan Estrada:
And not to interrupt you, but you know, all, everything you said was amazing. And so brand with purpose, obviously the book that we're talking about, we also created a course called brand with video, which is on our site brand with.com. And this course it's it's module per module. We help you on how to overcome the fear of being in front of the camera of how you sound of how you look. You're getting great at all your videos. You're getting help on how to create content. It's all very intuitive and it's interactive. So as you're going through each module, we're helping you build your brand pillars piece by piece, all the content, your marketing calendars, we help you define, okay, this is a great video. This is a video. That's not that great because of the lightning or because of the sound or because of the, the contrast or the color picture or this scenery that you're around because it's not part of your brand. So we're actually almost done. The course will be done in the next 30 days. We've been working on it for two years because of the technology, cuz there's nothing else on the market. Like it mm-hmm and so it's called brand with video and it'll help EV anyone who's afraid to do video, like after you're done with the course, that's no longer gonna be a problem. Mm-Hmm I made sure that I gave out my process so that anyone regarding list of age, regardless of, if there are beginners advanced for intermediate, they're going to get something outta this course.
Arek Dvornechuck:
Awesome. So I would love to check it out and of course we're gonna link to it. You said about in about a month is going to..
Ivan Estrada:
30 days. We'll be ready in December. And you can get more information or get on our email list.com.
Arek Dvornechuck:
Awesome. Awesome. And we also gonna include those links for you guys who are specifically interested in, making those, you know, making YouTube videos. YouTube is big nowadays, you know, blogging works, all those things work, social media does work, but I think YouTube videos is just booming now, nowadays, right? And this person like you can see the person, you can hear them. Like, for example, my clients often I sell products or designers, right. But my clients, I don't specifically produce videos to sell my services. But even though clients check out my videos, where on YouTube, where I teach, designers, for example, on the logo design or, or aspects, or all kind of different aspects of the, of design and blending and they take out my videos and they tell me about that, that this was one of those, you know, things that gave them the confidence to, you know, grab a phone, just give me a call. Right. So, because they were able to see me and talking about my process. So it gave them confidence to, you know, that I'm the right person to, to help them. I think video is a great way to build your brand. Uno matter what business you are in, right. A hundred percent. Yeah. So also you talk about your packaging, right? The way, the way you dress, not only about you, the way you present yourself as well, as well as your brand. Uso the team phones, colors and things like that, and also a different aspects, you know, like collaboration, building relationships, with like-minded people leveraging those resources that you like and things like that. So there is a lot of great tips voices in, in this book, as we are approaching the end of our interview. And again, for all entrepreneurs and creatives who are interested in brand building and especially a personal brand development, I recommend you guys check out this book, I'm gonna include the link in the description box.
Arek Dvornechuck:
But I just wanted to ask you Ivan, if you like for people who want to find more about you and about your work, how to get in touch with you, maybe your website, social media.
Ivan Estrada:
Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you for offering that. So my website is IvanEstrada.com. It's my name. And that's where I have all the information for my course, my book, my podcast Brand With and all. So my real estate business that I run here in Beverly Hills. And if you wanna follow me on Instagram it's @ivanestradaproperties or @therealbrandwith.
Arek Dvornechuck:
Okay, so I'm gonna include those links again. ivanestrada.com, brandwith.com and social media handles you guys and check out in the description box below. So Ivan, thank you so much for coming on the show. I really appreciate that.
Ivan Estrada:
Yeah, thank you so much for checking out the book. This was awesome. Thank you.
Arek Dvornechuck:
Thank you. Bye.
