How Great Leaders Bounce Back — Lessons from Executive Coach Craig Davis

In this episode of The Way with Dino Katsiametis, executive coach and keynote speaker Craig Davis shares his remarkable journey from battling stage-three cancer to leading thousands as a “leader’s leader.” Dino and Craig dive deep into identity, mindset, and reinvention—discussing how to recover from career loss, rediscover purpose, and build businesses with heart and strategy. Craig reveals the frameworks he uses to help CEOs, branch managers, and mortgage professionals scale through clarity, leadership, and “faith plus grit.”

🎙️ Key topics:

• Overcoming adversity and redefining identity after cancer
• How to shift from success-chasing to purpose-driven leadership
• The difference between leaders and managers—and why both matter
• Strategic planning and building scalable “business blueprints”
• Coaching insights for originators who want consistent growth and authentic influence

👉 Tune in to learn how to build a thriving career, lead with integrity, and join the “Good Human Club.”

Thanks for listening to "The Way With Dino Katsiametis"
For full show notes, links, and extra episode resources, visit dinokatsiametis.com.
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instagram.com/dinokatsiametis | linkedin.com/in/dinokatsiametis
Learn more about Ethos Lending at ethoslending.com.

Transcript

Dino Interview with Craig

[00:00:00] 

Dino Interview with Craig: All right, here we go. We got my boy Craig Davis on with us today. So Craig, thank you. Appreciate you coming on. How are you?

Craig Davis Interview: I am good. I'm good. I'm, I'm happy to be here. I got my workout in this morning. I'm feeling pretty good. Ate a little brain food. We kind of wake up the juices and get the neurons working, so I feel pretty good. I'm excited.

Dino Interview with Craig: excited. All right, well listen, I'm gonna start it off just right outta the gate with this. Craig's not six seven. He is. Did you see that? Did you see that?

Craig Davis Interview: Just right into the mic drop moment. Now, I may not be six seven, but I am eight to five or more.

Dino Interview with Craig: So it's funny 'cause Craig was just on stage at Sales Mastery and he was trying, trying so hard to, to just drop six, seven somewhere. And I had no idea what he was talking about. I asked him later and he's like, I don't know what it means. Just this is what all the kids are doing. So I came home.

Craig Davis Interview: couple plants in the audience as well. 'cause I knew that nobody, 'cause by the way, nobody knows what it means. And [00:01:00] I, there's an origin story to it, but it's absolutely ridiculous. And I really think it's the Gen Z's way of just ticking off all of us as parents or the Gen Xs and, and, and beyond.

So I dropped that nugget, you know, for everybody listening, right at a sales master in Dallas, I don't know about 700 people there. So IRI, I slipped into six, seven, you know, into my keynote. And I had about 50 people in the audience as plants. Like, you've gotta yell when I do this. And I had about 50 people and then about 650 confused, you know, people looking at me.

But I could see that success. So thanks for

Dino Interview with Craig: I was, I was confused, but I, I just used it, so now I'm cool just like you are.

Craig Davis Interview: Exactly. Well, it helps me if you know a girl that embarrasses her every time you say it.

Dino Interview with Craig: So dude, let's just jump right into it. Um, let's tell everybody first and foremost, who are you both personally and professionally? Who are you today?

Craig Davis Interview: Uh, that is, so my name's Craig Davis and I'm, I'm a happy to be here. Thank you for being here. I am an executive coach and a consultant. I am a keynote speaker. I am now a podcaster [00:02:00] and I will be soon, maybe next year, an author. I have a book, you know, on my roadmap. Um, and I am ultimately a leader. I'm a leader's leader.

And so, um, I like the question because I actually talk a lot about identity and making sure your identity is tied internally, not externally. And so all of that is internal within me, and that's who I am. But that's always who I've been throughout my career. So I was in, in the mortgage business for about 20 years.

Sales into regional management and then to into senior and executive leadership. Um, and I was running, um, all production for the Western United States for a publicly traded, uh, mortgage company. Um, and then when that company decided to shut its doors, I found myself in a, uh, let's just call it a opportunity to reinvent myself.

So rather than, you know, what I refer to as chasing the chicken inside the mortgage business, I decided to take a step back and I started, uh, my coaching and consultant business. So that's who I am.

Dino Interview with Craig: [00:03:00] And I got just one simple question for you. Are you a good human?

Craig Davis Interview: I am absolutely a member of the Good Human Club.

Dino Interview with Craig: So it's great 'cause his bio says in his own words, he is a good human.

Craig Davis Interview: And if you

Dino Interview with Craig: I love

Craig Davis Interview: stage when I was introducing, uh, Michelle, I even said, and another honorary member of the Good Human Club. And do you, I believe that you're also an honorary member of the Good Human

Dino Interview with Craig: Well, thank you. Thank you very much. And, and just to, to get this personal stuff outta the way. Um, you're also a cancer survivor, which is a big deal.

Craig Davis Interview: It is a

Dino Interview with Craig: How long ago did that happen?

Craig Davis Interview: about three years ago, which was, and I'll even frame it like this. So as I found myself, um, in this reinvention time, well that opportunity, that's my language, that opportunity also happened six weeks after I finished cancer treatment. So I spent about a year in chemo and radiation fighting stage three cancer, to finally, you know, get over the other side of that to then [00:04:00] six weeks later, lose my job.

So that is part of the story why I really did, you know, take a step back, um, evaluate. It's also part of my story when I talk about your identity. So when you opened up, you know, with that question, I was very, you know, in tune with that because what I found myself in that moment. Having just survived in conquered cancer, you know, and all the chemicals, you know, coming off of that from the radiation and the chemo, and just like, oh my gosh.

And you know, this was also what, 2022? So the mortgage business was disintegrating around us, you know, and I remained in my leadership, I never took, you know, essentially time off other than it's two o'clock I'm about to pass out. I can't get on another zoom call. You know? And, um, and I'll say this, it was actually harder for me to lose my job when the company shut down than it was to fight cancer.

And a lot of that is tied to when, when I did lose my job and the company shut [00:05:00] down, I, I felt lost. Like my identity got lost, you know? Whereas when I was fighting cancer, I am a warrior, I'm a leader. I put that into it. So actually fighting cancer was like, okay, let's go. I got this right. And I remember saying like.

Even when the, when the business was melting down, like, I got this, like, you guys have that, I'm not comparing, but I got this. You know? And so it actually became kind of cathartic, you know, and, and having a visible leadership, you know, role within the company. It felt like I was, like, I was, I was fighting cancer obviously, for myself, like, you know, obviously for my family, but like, like people were watching, you know?

And so I, I, like, I, I didn't, I couldn't like fall down, you know, type of thing. Like, and I, I, I, you know, and so that actually like fueled me, you know? And so, so the fight wasn't easy, but like the fight actually, you know, I think it was part of my identity [00:06:00] to do that. And like I said, and, and you know, so it was harder for me to lose, uh, to lose the job than it was to fight cancer.

It's, and it's tied to that identity

Dino Interview with Craig: It's a really interesting comment. So a couple things I want to kind of pick through on that. Number one, were you a good human before cancer or did you become a good human after? Because sometimes you have to go through something difficult to realize that you should be a better human.

Craig Davis Interview: That's a really good question. I believe I was a good human. I believe I was a good human. Um, yeah.

Dino Interview with Craig: And, and you said something earlier, um, when you coach, you coach, I forget how you said it, but you coach to, um, to what people really are. Is that, did I, how did you say it? Um,

Craig Davis Interview: Um,

Dino Interview with Craig: um, and, and, uh, let me, let me go backwards and I'll tell you where I'm going with it. Yeah. Um, a long time ago I did a, uh, a disc profile and, and it was something [00:07:00] that wasn't normal.

Um, I'm a high D natural, but, uh, my, uh, work, my work, the, there's two, right? The, the work one was a lower D and my natural state was a higher d and, and my coach at the time said, I've never seen that before. Usually people pick up the D while they're at work and they bring it back down when they're not at work.

She's like, why? Why do you think that is? I said, I don't know, man. I, I guess I just always think of high Ds as assholes, so I don't want to be an asshole, but I learned something through that process, right? What it, what it was, was that if you're not being true to yourself of who you really are as an individual, you're not actually giving your best out there, and you don't have to be an a-hole.

If you're a D there's, there's better ways to do it, right, but, but you'll be a more effective leader and a more effective [00:08:00] human if you are more true to yourself, because you'll be happier as well.

Craig Davis Interview: Yeah. And I, and I think, so here's where I like where you're going with that too, and maybe I'll tie this back to, to the question, um. When I did get knocked down and I did face that, you know, um, what am I gonna do now? You know, after you know, suffering, you know, from the cancer to the, to the job loss. And then all of a sudden, now what do I do?

What got me back up was, okay, what is my value? Like, what is it that I love in what I do? And this is kind of part of, you know, some, some coaching mechanisms that I do with people. And what I realized was, and I had to bring back to light, is I, I actually love leadership. I love leading others, and I love helping others be successful in, in their design, not just my design.

And, and when I thought about my career over the last 20 plus years from sales, I was really good at helping my clients be successful. For what was important to them, [00:09:00] getting to know that, understanding their goals and their objectives, and how do I help bring strategy into that. Same thing in management, same thing in overseeing, you know, branch managers.

Same thing in leadership, same thing. Even when I'm diagnosing p and ls and driving margin strategies, it's all rooted in strategy. And so that undertone, that desire to help you be successful, and if I can help you be successful, that helps me be successful. And I don't mean this in a cliche way, that was literally what I had to centralize back into.

And, and, and I remember saying, I love being a leader's leader. I can apply that in any industry. I can apply that with anybody. Ah, so now I tied my identity internally. I understood my value. I understood what I love and what I do. And then all of a sudden that gave me confidence. 'cause I didn't lose my confidence.

I misplaced it. And so then I had the [00:10:00] confidence to step up and say, literally the joke was Tuesday, 8:00 AM April 12th, I guess 2023, I think I put pen on paper and Faith Plus Grit. And I, and I launched this business and that was it. I am now a coach, and I literally stepped into this future identity, this ideal future identity.

And I'll even say this and, and you know, we have, you know, shared friends. I was at a think tank actually for a sales mastery. Then Momentum Builder, Don and Gina were there. Ken p, he was there, Sasha Aire was there, Josh Pitts was there, and I didn't know Josh. I didn't know Sasha. And we went around the table and introduced ourselves, said, Hey, yeah, hi, I'm Craig and I'm an executive coach for the last five days.

And we all kinda laughed. But now if you ask any of them, they all remember that moment because now I can reflect and say this, but I legitimately said I'm an executive coach for the last five [00:11:00] days. That is who I am and that is where I'm going. And that identity shift, that's, it's been faith plus grit ever since.

Now I put myself through some training. I went through the NeuroLeadership Institute because like, okay, now I'm legitimate doing this. Like I'm a great leader. I got great ideas, I got great opinions, like all of us, I'm sure, but what do I actually do? And I'm very fast. Mindset is very, very critically important.

And, and what I do, I'm very fascinated in neuroscience. So I put myself through the NeuroLeadership Institute, got some training on coaching and that sort of thing. And then my first client, I launched, uh, June 1st officially, you know, 2023. And when I look at my board of clients, it's all, not all a lot are people that used to work for me.

With me, I've had my boss, um, hire me as his coach. Prior boss hired me as his coach. I've coached professional athletes. I've coached people outside of the mortgage business, executives, leaders, [00:12:00] salespeople, coached people in the government space. So my, I'm gonna tie this back in. I'm confident I can help virtually anyone 'cause I can, 'cause I get down to the root and I have a leadership undertone in everything.

You know, helping you be a better leader. I don't care if you're in sales, I don't care if you're in truly in leadership and exact, because I do believe, well, leadership is a behavior, not a title. And I do believe we are better at what we do when we have a leadership foundation underneath us.

So I get this question asked, like, what's the difference between a leader and a manager? Right? This is my simple, simple definition. Um, a leader pulls and a manager pushes time and place for both, [00:13:00] but a leader pulls and a manager pushes by all means. Um, now I can take that a little further. I, I'm gonna go down a rabbit hole a little bit, but, so right now, uh, here we are, right?

End of the year, we're all thinking business plans and, and I do a different process. I just call it your business blueprint. I do a simplified version, and then I do a lot of strategic planning That's becoming a new ditch of mine. Getting a room, whether it be with leaders, a team, doesn't matter. Day or two and we dive in, we do strategic planning together because I'm really, really good at helping extract what's on your mind, helping you take that to the next level.

Helping create clarity in the room. But quite often 'cause it's a burden, you're caring, you're trying to figure it out. It, I love watching the moments, right? Because it's not just the words, but I'm looking between 'em. And also I see like, ah, you know this like feeling. I just had one in LA last week and the CEO was like, oh my God, I immediately feel better.

'cause [00:14:00] I was able to take this burden, put it over here, and then I stretch it out and create clarity. I kind of break it apart. And I use this thing called what I have created, which is my business blueprint framework to help do that. And then part of that process I talk about defining leaders, managers, and doers.

Right? Leaders, 10,000 feet, right? Vision, where are we going? Why is it important? Managers 1000 feet, right? The managers typically are at the strategy level. So vision 10,000 feet strategy is about 1000 feet, right? The managers are driving the strategy that drives the vision and then the doers, right? These are action, execution, right?

And just that C level. So we're executing the strategy, which drives the vision. [00:15:00] So I, I just, I kind of break that apart. It's not always that simple. Sometimes we have to play all roles, we know that, but I break it apart because as a leader, and you know, as a CEO and as an owner, you can't do everything.

You can't be the quarterback throwing the ball to yourself as the wide receiver, blocking and tackling offense defense. Like, we gotta break this apart. Sometimes these are roles, sometimes these are just, as a leader, I'm gonna dive into this business pillar. Maybe I'm 10% in, and I got my managers and my, and my, you know, my, my doers that are driving this business pillar.

But other business pillars, you may have to dive in a hundred percent, 80%, get this thing lifted off. Now you gotta implement the managers and the doers to keep this thing going so you can move on to the next business pillar. Especially when we're, you know, launching and starting things. But as the business is running, we gotta fine tune, we gotta, we're always [00:16:00] kind of lifting up a new business pillar, but we have existing business pillars are always gonna be in place.

Right. And so it just kind of helps see things and break things apart a little more clearly. Right. And so, I know it's a long, a long answer to leader versus manager, but I wanna give a little more context because that strategic planning process really helps kind of flesh that out.

Dino Interview with Craig: Yeah. No, I love that. Actually, I, um, I, I thought a little bit about like the military structure

Craig Davis Interview: Yeah,

Dino Interview with Craig: in, in a kind of situation like that where, you know, there's the general right and then he's 10,000 feet and then it just keeps dropping from there. And then you got the guys on the battlefield, right. Ground level.

And, and you always have to have a little bit of everybody, otherwise everybody's running around without knowing what they're doing.

Craig Davis Interview: That's right. And even as the general, sometimes you gotta be on the battlefield with

Dino Interview with Craig: the battlefield. Yeah.

Craig Davis Interview: But not

Dino Interview with Craig: respect you if, if you've [00:17:00] never been there and if you don't show up every once in a while.

I, I think, you know, just from personal experience, right? The, I've, I've owned the company for a while now, but the reality is I've, I've, I've never tried to grow it before. Um, it just kind of happened on its own. And it's because quite honestly, I was the biggest producer and, and I got a lot of respect from being the biggest producer.

Um, and I think I'll always have that where nobody can say something to me about, I don't know what it's like. Right? And, and I get respect from everybody on the ground floor for that. But when I. I'm going to grow the company. The first thing I did is I, I, I actually stopped producing. And for me it was a bit of, of burning the boat, so to speak.

Um, my wife still doesn't understand why, why I am doing this. 'cause she was used to like, [00:18:00] Hey, all you have to do is open your mouth and talk, you'll make money. And I'm like, it's just like when I started in the mortgage business. I'm doing it all the time, but it's gonna be a while before I get a whole bunch of those realtors to start giving me business.

It's gonna be a while before I get some of those really good loan officers now to start producing right. But, but what I did is I, I immediately went into hyper mode of how to be a gr a, a great leader. One of my favorite books was Good to Great. And there's a lot of good companies out there, even said there's a lot of good churches out there, right?

But there's very few, few great companies or great churches or great people. And, and that was one of the things I really took to heart. And I was like, all right, how are we going to be different than everybody else? And how are we going to be great? And, and I, I really went into, and, and it didn't happen overnight, it took a while, but I formulated this [00:19:00] entire plan of how we're going to be great and, and started putting into action, which took, took a minute, right?

Like it doesn't happen overnight. And I think that's where, you know, you can, you can read any book or listen to somebody. Successful success doesn't happen overnight. I even made a post about it a long time ago, um, I dunno, six months ago or so, and I said, it was right when we started taking off, like all of a sudden we're, we're seeing growth, right?

And, and I was like, everybody's gonna wake up and say, oh, overnight success. But they didn't know that I was in here at 5:00 AM that day trying to make it happen, you know? Uh, but, but what I learned as the CEO is that I have to stay at the 10,000 foot level for, I'm gonna go with 95% of my day, otherwise, I just keep falling behind.

Craig Davis Interview: That's scale. So part of when I talk about the business blueprint process. You know one, you know, [00:20:00] where's our vision? We define our business pillars. These are our verticals, right? And, and I go and I do a VSC plan, vision, strategy, execution. So we're just kind of breaking this up apart. Then I go into what's called agility, right?

And you've probably heard that agile leadership. So if these are our verticals, our business pillars, agility is the horizontal. Agility is the horizontal over each one of these business pillars. That's why I stretch it out and give that context about leaders, managers, doers, 10,000 feet, 1000 feet, you know, C level, vision, strategy, execution.

'cause now to your point, you have to be agile, right? I kinda use the football analogy, right? Like if I'm gonna be, I gotta have low center of gravity and be able to do this, you know? So you have to be able to dive in because you also have to preserve that. Maybe it's 10% here, 20% there, maybe it is a hundred percent over here.

You can't be a hundred percent on everything. You just, you know, so that's creating scale and you've gotta be able to remove obstacles. You, you know, all the [00:21:00] different things that the CEO has to do, that's leadership. And your people are looking at you as the leader. Right. And this is a very common thing, especially now, it could be branches, it could be young companies that are growing your exact same scenario.

I was the highest producer and a lot of times in branches and, and other, you know, and I'm, I actually am doing a strategic, um, a strategic leadership or strategic planning event in Napa and about a month helping a, uh, a team, a group, they want to go from x to 2 billion. So we're gonna help. So I'm gonna help them map that out.

How do we do that? And it's things like this, you know, and that can be hard for people. And I wanna recommend a book for you as well. I'm gonna give you a book. Um, I just finished this book. It's called From Strength to Strength.

Um, I'd have to look up the author, I'm blanking off the top of my head. But from strength to [00:22:00] strength and the, and the central premise. And I think for, for what you're doing, for what I'm doing, especially in our age, you know, in our age bracket, the central premise is basically in the first half of our life, especially in our career, and we're chasing success, we have what's called fluid intelligence.

We're smart, we're learning, we're driving, we're chasing success, all those things. And by the way, that's a whole other, uh, rabbit hole about success. Then we hit, let's just say on the back half, we actually go from fluid intelligence to crystallized intelligence, or in other words, going from smart to wise.

And there is a degradation over time that, you know, you can't keep chasing, you know, um, the grind, so to speak. Over time, you just, you will degrade as you age. In that sense, it's, it's just science. So that move into crystallized intelligence, be going from smart to wise, and now how do you [00:23:00] apply that? So you're doing that.

You're going from, I was the top producer, I recognize a gap and a challenge in the industry, and I'm gonna solve that. And you are, you're solving that at ethos. And now for you to help solve that and create opportunity attraction, you've gotta be the CEO and a leader. So I ask you this question. Do you get value?

Does it feel good? Do you enjoy helping your originators, your team, your employees, business partners, realtor partners advance their business, get better. Do you enjoy leading them to be more successful?

Dino Interview with Craig: So it's a great question and I, and I'm gonna answer it with yes, but I'm gonna tell a quick little story. 'cause this is one of the things that happened. When I realized that I was finally there, I used to say, [00:24:00] I want you to beat me more than anything, but I still have too much testosterone left in me to let you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and that was a cocky originator. Now I want them to beat my numbers. And, and it reminded me of being a dad. You know, it's like I want my kids to surpass me in everything possible because I truly love them. Right. And I want the best for 'em. And, and as a leader, if I can feel that same way about, about everybody that works at Ethos, I, I, I felt like I, I finally made it.

I get a lot of joy now when I see that. And I also get a lot of sorrow when I see that somebody's not working at their fullest potential or, you know, succeeding at their potential or is happy as they want to be.

Craig Davis Interview: And I think that is a really good representation of what we were just talking about, this kind of transition from this crystallized intelligence into fluid [00:25:00] intelligence. This now, this being wise, sharing, helping, coming from a different position now. And I know exactly what you're talking about. I, you asked me was I a good human before cancer?

Yes. Yes I was. But what reminded me is that earlier in my career, I think when I went from sales into management, and now I'm the manager, right? And one of my salespeople was making more income than me as a manager. Oh man, I hated that. I hated that. Right. Int inte, like logically I knew that was a good thing 'cause he was producing more logically.

That was good emotionally. I'm like, I hated that my ego was in the way, you know? And certainly now, um, that part that's not that anymore. And especially like, look, as a solopreneur and as a coach, I'm helping people who make a lot more money than I do. And I, that does not exist. I get such joy [00:26:00] when I hear like one of my clients, oh Craig, thank you so much.

I get such joy when we don't have a scheduled huddle and a client reaches out, dude, you got 10 minutes man. I just need to work something out. Absolutely. I got 10 minutes for you. I got more. You know, I get such joy when obviously referrals and all that stuff. But like that. But like I. One of my goals is to be sought after, you know?

And so I get joy when someone says like, I see you, or like, you really helped. I had a client's wife reach out to me, Craig, thank you so much. He would've quit and shut down the business if it weren't for you. Like that, that, yeah, the income and all that stuff are results. Those are byproducts. But like, that's the stuff that gets me up in the morning.

And, you know, so that, that, that's a, yeah. I get, yeah. So I'm happy you shared that. [00:27:00] Um, that's a, it's, that's great leadership. That's a leader. I wanna be on that team and be a part of.

Dino Interview with Craig: You have to stay at that 10,000 foot level, but not to the point where you're out of touch with what's really happening. And, and this was kind of the, the piece. And as a visionary leader, he goes, don't forget the word visionary. You have to, you have to, to paint the picture of why people are following you, of why they believe in you.

So you have to show them, but then you can't ever be status quo. You have to be painting this picture of where the next step is. And, and I, I remember that. I was like, you know that that's a big piece. And sometimes we get [00:28:00] so caught up with working that we forget to step back and, and keep everybody going right, and keep, it's like they don't know what I'm working on.

If, if I could take a little time every day to let them know what I'm working on right now. 'cause they're not even anywhere close to thinking about what I'm thinking about. But, but man, if they could know where, what they're going to have and, you know, the next six months, I think they'd be very excited about it.

Right? And, and that's gonna keep them happier and more believing in me and believing in the company and, and their decision to be here.

Craig Davis Interview: Yeah. And you know, it's, it's like there's an art and a science, right? And, and part of this is just art, right? And, you know, one, one thing, you know, a couple things that I used to do. Like, I was always very vocal, like, this is my leadership style, right? Like, I'd tell people, this is how I lead. I would share, people in fact are wearing the shirt.

This is my ethos, you know? Um, I share people. This is, this is our mission, this is our purpose. I'd share. [00:29:00] As a leader, my job is I'm gonna lead out in front and I'm gonna pull you guys with me, right? All the things we're talking about, vision and strategy, and here's where we're going, and woohoo, let's go.

And like, yes. And when I get the team moving in the same direction, I've got all my players going the same direction as a leader, actually now what I do is I step out from front and I move to the rear. So then now I just gotta keep, keep that direction going while I start working. To your point now on the next batch of initiatives.

And I'll give them, you know, clues and little breadcrumbs or whatever, and yada yada. And then once we need to make that change or that pivot, and by the way, as leaders, we're always essentially change agents, you know, in so many ways, right? And so then it's like, so I'm leading from behind now and then, okay, now we're going this direction, or here's whatever.

Now I'm back out in front and I kind of, I would say this to people, this is how I view. Um, so when I am [00:30:00] in the background, this is why, you know, but obviously everything boils down to communication. You know, it's the, it's the root of all good and evil, despite the actual results.

Dino Interview with Craig: So I am looking up something real quick. Um, let me see if I can find it here fast enough. We'll see how fast, uh, AI is.

Craig Davis Interview: Uh, dude, I

Dino Interview with Craig: so.

Craig Davis Interview: down so many rabbit holes with AI right now.

Dino Interview with Craig: right now. Oh, I'm so in love with it right now. Okay, so where there is no vision, the people will, will perish. The he that keepeth the law happy is he right?

So I as, as leaders, right? If we don't have the vision, then our people will perish. They, they will either leave us or they will go down on the ship with us because we're not doing, we're not living that change that we're supposed to be doing as leaders to bring, continually keep bringing our company into what's [00:31:00] happening next.

Craig Davis Interview: Right. And in the absence of information, people will draw their own conclusions, and those conclusions are rarely, you know, positive and, and, and in favor. So that's why communication, you know, is so critical. You know, one thing and, and for everybody listening, you know, as I rose throughout my career, and then I found myself, you know, in, in the, in the executive chair and I was running, you know, all production for the Western United States.

Um, and I remember thinking to myself, and I probably said this because I, you know, talking to people like. I am not an ivory tower guy. I'm not gonna live in the ivory tower. And of course I think everybody would say that, but yet not everybody does that. And I said that. So I was trying to figure out how do I get back down and make sure that I'm not stuck up here and all the things.

So I, you know, this is a stupid simple thing, right? So, okay, here's my weekly meeting. Now, normally it would be like maybe just my [00:32:00] regionals, but said, no, no, this is gonna be a weekly leadership meeting and you are invited to this meeting. If I see that you have a desire to be a leader, you want to be a leader, and you have the capability to be a leader.

So my regionals, key branch managers, the key originators, it didn't matter to me your job title, it was zero hierarchy. That was our weekly leadership huddle. Now, this was also by design and many reasons, because now if I'm running, you know, half the country. Now I'm creating leadership influence with my key pla key people throughout all the different geographies.

And now I can influence each one of 'em. So whatever their challenges and opportunities are, profitability, margins, recruiting, you know, growth, retention, whatever we need this, we need that I could then influence at a macro level and then dive in, which with each one of them, um, you know, based on their needs and wants and they're learning from each other.

And I created a community of leaders as a [00:33:00] result of doing this. So my weekly meeting, it was 50 50, 50% was housekeeping. Here's all the things going on. But 50% was generally, let's just call it mastermind brain food. Whether it be we're sharing a book, sharing a podcast, here's what's going on. We kind of mastermind a little bit and people from that meeting are clients of mine now.

I had two people say, Craig, you're not in my life anymore. I need you back in my life. Will you be my coach? I said, absolutely. When I launched this business, so you know, was all that, I mean that was by design, but like more outta design of, hey, I want to develop a community leader on me. That's what's important.

You're invited, here's how I'm gonna structure and go. The results, you know, obviously is what created really that culture and that community. And so when I had to, so when we did have major things, as we always do in the mortgage business, [00:34:00] change, technology, compliance, legal market conditions, take your pick.

I could move mountains as a leader because I had already built this equity, established this community of leaders around me, and so when I had to lead change, it was okay. Here we go. It doesn't mean everybody loved it. You validate it. Right. And you heard me on stage, you know, presenting around, you know, the big, nasty, ugly obstacles, you know, change being one of them.

You know, here's how we do that. So I was very, very effective at leading, you know, change that way.

Dino Interview with Craig: Let's, um, we've been, we've been very high level. Um, I, I don't want to disregard the typical listener to this podcast who is an originator. Okay. And they're like, okay, great. You know. I'm, I'm a loan [00:35:00] officer, mortgage advisor. Um, I don't, I, I, maybe it'd be great to get there one day, but how do I, how do I get to five loans a month?

How, how do I get to a place where, you know, I can start putting money in my retirement account? How do I get to a place where I can start getting referrals and I don't have to buy leads anymore? Right? The, the typical loan officer, I, I'm gonna ask you how in a minute, because they're still leaders, in my opinion.

They should still be leaders and I'll let you talk about that. Um, but one of the things is if you don't ever pull yourself out of the business and work on it instead of in it, I don't know if you'll ever get to a place where you can be a leader. So framing it that way, talk to the typical loan officer.

Craig Davis Interview: Yeah, and I, and I love this, right? And it's, [00:36:00] it's, you know, like my ideal clients, you know, branch managers, executives, um. And by defacto of that originators, you know, so I do, I coach originators, but really, you know, um, like I, like we've been talking about so much in that leadership arena. So why are originators attracted to me, you know, as their coach?

Well, first and foremost, you know, aside from the technicals and the background, what I find is you, you know what to do. You don't need me telling you to go call more agents and, you know, and whatever. Like, you already know what to do. If you really need that level of accountability, I can refer you to other people that'll create that.

Thank you. If you don't do what I ask, I'm not gonna make you go do pushups, but that's cool. If you wanna do that, go to the core. You know what to do, but why aren't you doing it? And so I think of myself in this frame, like an optimization coach. How do I optimize your behaviors? How do I optimize your mindset?[00:37:00] 

So first of all, there is no one size shoot. I have to understand what is it? That you're trying to accomplish? Where are you trying to grow? What's success to you? You know, and again, I don't mean this in even like a corny cliche way. Like what does success mean to you? Like, yes, that's important, but like, okay, what are the things you need to do?

So first and foremost, we've gotta develop patterns in your business. I don't believe in feral cap mortgage, meaning everyone's just kind of running around and just trying to like, you know, swatted everything and we're all random and right. I mean, you can't run an effective operation that way, right? You can't run a so run.

It requires leadership on your part. You know, there's direction, there's vision, but me individually, I gotta wake up in the morning. So I help people like, okay, what are your objectives? Do you want to do more social media? No. Okay. You do realize social presence is really important. So I actually don't talk about social media.

I talk about developing social [00:38:00] presence. We need to have a social presence. So I get very close into now, you know, personal brand is a buzzword. And again, we were talking about identity. So I get really close into helping people really dive into like, what is it that you love and what you do? What makes you successful?

What do you wanna do more of? Great. Now let's pull those threads and, and point those towards action, right? Building your social presence. Maybe some other people wanna do more. One-to-many strategies. I wanna do more events. Great. Maybe other people that are building teams or branch managers. It's all, it's recruiting.

So I talk a lot about and coach towards, well I say it's growth versus recruiting and that's a whole subject. So I'm very, very good at getting underneath what it is you're trying to accomplish. Now I'm gonna help you get there. And then again, because of the technical.

Dino Interview with Craig: real quick is that, is that specific training to the neuro something that you. Training you did.

Craig Davis Interview: I, there's [00:39:00] tie-ins. I mean, I, I mean, again, I can tie things back and like if people are hovering around stress, right? I can, I can, and I, I'll do this a lot in my keynotes talking about, for example, chase what you want, not what you need. Want I want to do this, that's a dopamine response. I need to do this.

That could be a cortisol response, right? So helping people sort of like create that clarity, right? Uh, um, I'm very, very mindset driven. So I'll go back to what I was originally saying is like, what is your per, you know, creating patterns in your day? For example, what is your perfect day and ideal week?

What are those three objectives that you need to hit every day that moves your life and business forward? So we'll break apart. What are your pro, I call 'em your proactive objectives. The obvious ones. Okay. Marketing, sales. Great. What kind of marketing? Well, social media, [00:40:00] database marketing. Okay, great.

Those are two different proactive objectives. Okay. Prospecting. Awesome. Who do you want Prospect, and by the way, I talk a lot about ideal client. Who's your ideal client? Categorically, what are their char, what's their character and what's their intent? Because when I, when I ask this question in front of originators, it's like, okay, who's your, who's your ideal client?

And I hear a lot, anybody who wants a mortgage. Oh, okay. Right. Well, a first time home buyer and a very savvy real estate investor to completely different people.

Dino Interview with Craig: So I'm gonna jump in real quick 'cause I, I've, I've done a lot of coaching over the years, uh, which, so I'm a huge believer in it. And I, and I feel that everybody should, and in fact, just to prove my point, um, I bet you if you went out to the most successful originators and asked them if they coach, the answer is yes [00:41:00] and not, did you coach at some point?

Yes. Are you coaching now? You're over a hundred million a year. Like why do you, why do you have a coach? You kidding me? I need it. I need it more now than I did back then. So, you know, to everybody listening, coaching is big. It, it's, it's going to propel you into that next level, whether you know it or not.

And I know this sounds silly, but now I'm gonna go into his, what's, who's your ideal client? So I had a coach ask me that question one time and um, you know, I, I was going to sound a little prejudice, so I was cautious of saying it. And he is like, no judgment here, mate, is what he was from Australia. He was like,

Craig Davis Interview: By No.

Dino Interview with Craig: I know, just write it down.

And he gave me stickies, right? And, and he said, this size people that you don't want this side is people that you do. And, and he's like, just put it down. I'm like, all right, middle Eastern guys. And, [00:42:00] and he is like, okay, what else? I'm like, Chinese, what else? I'm like, Indian, what else? And I'm Greek, by the way, and I'm like, Greek.

And, and he is like. Okay, what out? And I kept going. And then he is like, all right, now who is your ideal client? And, and what's really interesting is I started focusing on who my ideal client is. And I got overwhelmed with the perfect ideal clients. And, and the most interesting part is got plenty of Middle Eastern guys, Chinese, Indian, and Greek.

But I didn't get those kind of Greeks. I got these kind of Greeks. In fact, I got more than I ever did before. But they were the good kind. They were exactly who my ideal client was. Only not with that attitude. With this attitude and, and guys. I, it, it was the best thing that I could have done for my [00:43:00] business.

And, and here's how it really kind of started for me is, you know, 2008 for you, the, for the Z that were around back then was brutal. Like, absolutely brutal. You guys think now is brutal. And it is, uh, don't get me wrong, but, but if you own a house, at least you're making money. 'cause your house went up in value in 2008.

Not only did your whole income go away, but all of your equity disappeared. Wow.

Craig Davis Interview: Yeah. I I

Dino Interview with Craig: Yeah. I was there, gone. Right? So, so it was a brutal time. And I was, I don't know, uh, 20, 20 14, I guess. 13, um, yeah, it was 2013. My, my wife's pregnant. I'm like, ha ha ha. Oh my goodness. With my, this is my fourth kid, by the way.

And, and I was at a stage in my career where, you know, everybody was like, oh, how do you have such great clients? You know? And I was like, well, I've been doing it for a long time. And I had graduated from that first time home buyer, so I had a little bit of higher [00:44:00] loan amounts, you know, and I'm in Orange County, so it was, it was excellent for that piece, but I had to make a conscious decision to start over at first time home buyers.

Um, one, it was tactical because there was so many of them and so many of them to come, right? And I knew I had to buy myself another 20 years, but also I found this new passion for really helping first time home buyers. I really enjoyed it, but I retooled how I did everything so that it wasn't a burden to, to deal with them, right?

Like the only reason why they had so many questions before is 'cause I did a shit ass job explaining everything to them early on. So, I, I, I retooled how I did my initial consultation. I answered all their questions. They never had questions after that. It was the easiest thing in the world, and they were the most appreciative people and.

Guess what? All of their friends were in the same boat needing to buy a house. And because they were my [00:45:00] perfect client, they referred me all the time. I got more referrals than I'd ever gotten before. Right? So, so I'm a huge believer and I went off a little bit on how you said the perfect client, but it is

Craig Davis Interview: that's why it's so

Dino Interview with Craig: best thing you can do.

Craig Davis Interview: It, it absolutely is. And, and again, the reason so much of the reason why is because you're creating clarity and now you know how to cater why. So you can attract your ideal clients, right? Your perfect client, right? And you and the coaching need jumped. Like if you were talking, I was passionate about helping solve what I would say, solve their problems, answer their questions, educate, right, and that passion, that's where I was like, oh, oh, I just, I just see something.

I'm gonna grab that little nugget 'cause I'm gonna make sure Dino is really close. 'cause why we're creating conscious awareness. Now you're gonna look through the world through the lens of, I'm looking and I see first time home buyers. I know what their challenges are, I know what their problems are. I know what their [00:46:00] stress is.

And now I know exactly how to solve it. By the way, that's what I call your ideal client offer. Who's your ideal client? So we break that apart. What's their problem and what's their stress associated with that problem? Now, how do you solve that problem when you get close to that type of framework? And by the way, that framework great for marketing.

You wanna create a social presence. I love, you know, I work with first time home buyers. I know exactly what keeps you up at night because there is a belief that you can't buy a home at the age of 30. 'cause the first time home buyer age is now 38. My whole purpose in life, it's to solve that gap. I, my whole purpose in life is to help you be the first home buyer within your group of friends.

Like that's where we wanna get close to. So I'm really good at helping, and this is where, you know, when I work with originators. So now, so right, this is leadership in your [00:47:00] origination. So now we're creating opportunity attraction. Now we're able to build a social presence. Now we're doing, and by the way, let's peel this apart.

It's not just first time owned buyers, but now we're doing education events. We're attracting them and invite their parents because oh, by the way, we might be able to help the parents. And if you're interested in not just being a first time home buyer, do you wanna build wealth through real estate?

There's a whole lane right there that we can now start helping in. So if I wanna do that effectively, I wanna start using Mortgage Coach that's gonna empower me to deliver a mortgage consultation. Do I want to attract more? First time lumbars? I wanna be part of first time iq. I wanna surround myself with others who are doing this, learn and educate.

So those shout outs to Chris Messerly, shout outs to Dave Savage. Right. So you can see like,

Dino Interview with Craig: you sound, you sound like a salesman for, uh, for Dave Savage.

Craig Davis Interview: I appreciate what he does, right? And when I

Dino Interview with Craig: I like, I I like the guy a lot by the way. And I got a quick story to tell, uh, years and years and years ago when mortgage coach was under a [00:48:00] hundred dollars a month. Um, like way under I got it. 'cause he kept putting pressure on me and I never used it.

And, and then one day had a conversation with him and, and he was like. He's pushing me a little bit, right? And I'm like, so I don't really need it. I said, my, my clients are all referred. They, they don't question me. I don't get shopped. Right? I had the perfect client and he's like, no, you don't get it. You need to do this.

So whether they think they need it or not, because it's going to level you up on how they look at you and you think you get a lot of referrals now. He goes, wait till you see what happens when you level up. And, and then I started doing it and sure enough he was right. You know? And, and that's how you become that next level financial advisor, not loan officer.

Craig Davis Interview: And that goes back to your identity. Who do you want to be as an originator? And of course, now, let me squirrel for a second. Are you a loan [00:49:00] officer or are you a mortgage advisor? And why I say that is, look, we all think relationally. A lot of people act transactionally. A loan officer sounds very transactional.

Did your loan great? Well, we have a lot of threats in the future of our business. So we don't want to just be transactional, we want to be relational. We want to create that identity. I, one thing I use a lot with my clients is building people into what I call mortgage strategist. If you wanna be a mortgage strategist, something like a Mortgage Coach or an MBS highway or something in that frame, don't think of it as a product.

It's a conduit. It's a conduit to you being that mortgage strategist. So that's where, you know, I help and, and I work with originators. I, I've got originators that are 23, 24. I've got all my Gen Z guys that I work with and whatnot. And I love it. And I also work with the a hundred million dollars producers and I also work with the, you know, I've been originating for [00:50:00] one or two years, like, you know, so again, it's not just what to do, it's, we're getting underneath so we can build a very successful, let's reduce stress while we're doing it.

Let's have some fun, like let's have some fun while we do this thing. And so that's sort of my approach.

Dino Interview with Craig: It's like being married to your best friend, you're gonna have a much happier marriage than you know.

Craig Davis Interview: You want either the problems or the solutions, 'cause you're gonna find them,

Dino Interview with Craig: yep. So we, um, we have a scheduled, um, live webinar coming up. Do you remember the date on that? I

Craig Davis Interview: I don't, I had,

Dino Interview with Craig: you're terrible and you better not bump me again. Yeah, it's like early December. Um,

Craig Davis Interview: actually have my calendar here actually. Do you want

Dino Interview with Craig: Finding your genius. Wednesday, December 3rd at 1130 Pacific. So for all you guys, yeah, you better have it in there. You bumped [00:51:00] me last time

Craig Davis Interview: did pump you. What time is it That

Dino Interview with Craig: what time did that? It's 1130 Pacific on Wednesday the third. And for all you guys listening right now, right? We're gonna start sending it, putting it out on social and all that.

Um, this will probably come out around the same time, but it's called Finding your Genius Zone, right? And, and Craig's gonna be leading it. I think it's gonna be great. I think you can tell just after him being on here today, he's, he's really good at this and, and he's got a gift for it. So I think, you know, end of year preparing for 2026 coming up, this is the time to get your mind right so that you can push hard and, and, you know, I don't wanna say and succeed and make a lot of money, right, but to get whatever it is that you want, that's gonna make you happy.

If I could take anything out of our conversation today, I mean, you, you gotta know what you want, right? And then you gotta have strategy around how to get to it. And, and then you gotta have joy that comes with it. Otherwise, what good is it all?

Craig Davis Interview: Yeah. And you know what I find a [00:52:00] lot of times people, they don't really know what they want necessarily either. So, and again, let's take economics and put it to the side. I always take, just move economics to the side for a second, you know? And that sometimes is like helping pull that clarity out. So,

Dino Interview with Craig: which leads me right into, um, one of my last questions, usually my last, but it's gonna be my second to last, leaving economics aside.

Craig Davis Interview: yeah.

Dino Interview with Craig: If I took you out of your little comfort zone and picked you up and put you somewhere in the United States you don't know anybody, and I'm giving you a little budget, like I'm paying for your rent, I'm giving you a tiny little budget.

You don't have a lot to go do a bunch of stuff. It's old school and you have to make a million dollars before you can come back and visit your family. What are you gonna do? What's the strategy? How are you going to make a million bucks in the loan business, by the way, not [00:53:00] anything else. Can't sell yourself.

You can't go sell your body on the street or anything like that, you know?

Craig Davis Interview: You know, I swear my brain, and this is honestly, I would develop an AI widget on the cheap that helps loan officers solve this problem. Where am I going? How am I gonna get there? How am I gonna find joy in this? And I'm gonna build AI around there to help create that lift, to help do the heavy work. And if I can, you know, um, charge as little as possible and help impact as many people possible by doing that, I think that's how we make our million dollars.

Dino Interview with Craig: All right, let me, let me rephrase that since he didn't listen to my

Craig Davis Interview: I know I didn't have a location. That's okay. Let me, let

Dino Interview with Craig: You don't need a location. I don't care if you're in Indiana or

Craig Davis Interview: I'm gonna go to Hawaii and I'm gonna

Dino Interview with Craig: you're, you're going to do loans. You have to do loans, right? Like you don't have a lot of money, but you have to go do [00:54:00] loans 'cause

Craig Davis Interview: I have to go do the loans.

Dino Interview with Craig: Yeah. You're a loan office.

Craig Davis Interview: Oh, I thought it was how I'm gonna, okay. If I am lone produ, if I am a producer and I'm gonna go. Okay. Gotcha. Well, um, where I'm gonna go is probably somewhere, um, I'm gonna go like. Na, not Nashville. 'cause that's crowded now, but somewhere

Dino Interview with Craig: of all, you don't get to choose. I'm choosy,

Craig Davis Interview: I thought you said.

Dino Interview with Craig: dropping you off somewhere. You gotta listen, dude. Listen to what I'm saying. I'm gonna pick you up and I'm gonna drop you off somewhere in the United States. I'm gonna call it, let's say Kansas City.

Craig Davis Interview: Okay.

Dino Interview with Craig: Okay? And that's, that's the only choice you get.

Craig Davis Interview: Okay. First

Dino Interview with Craig: are you gonna, how are you gonna kill it? How are you gonna crush it as a loan officer, mortgage advisor.

Craig Davis Interview: we're gonna do one-to-many strategies. We're gonna start doing one-to-many strategies, and we're going to be very clear on our ideal clients. And we're gonna do one to many strategies, and that's gonna be, let's just say weekly or every other week. We're gonna create invite [00:55:00] strategy. We're gonna build social presence around that.

We're gonna educate, we're gonna invite not just consumers, but also you know, realtors, business partners, financial professionals, and we are gonna be become the known expert. In what we do, and it's gonna be first time home buyers. It's gonna be move up buyers, it's gonna be, and it's gonna be helping people build wealth and real estate.

Let's just stick with those three. 'cause there's interrelation between all that. We're gonna dig into that. Um, and that million, I would say it's gonna be like the compound effect. It's not gonna happen at first. And, uh, do I, you said I get a year.

Dino Interview with Craig: You just don't get to go see your family again until you make a million bucks.

Craig Davis Interview: Uh, all right.

Dino Interview with Craig: Alright, so a a year's.

Craig Davis Interview: Year's gonna be a little

Dino Interview with Craig: but

Craig Davis Interview: for that, but this is still, I think, the right strategy. Um, and uh, what my point on that was gonna be that it's gonna be a little slower at first, but it will compound and you will become the resident expert and you're [00:56:00] gonna have a lot of business. Social presence, like we were talking about, marketing advantages, um, referral opportunities, all rooted and built, um, into that.

Dino Interview with Craig: So question for you. Is that strategy strictly for referral partners or are you going directly to the public with that? Which one is or both?

Craig Davis Interview: It's both.

Dino Interview with Craig: Both. Okay. It's

Craig Davis Interview: And I want the same people in the room. And because this is also gonna create opportunity for those referral partners, realtors, for example, who I may, I'm not doing business with yet. I'm giving value, giving, giving, giving, not asking, asking, asking them, give, give, give. Earn me the right to ask.

Dino Interview with Craig: Yeah. So I, I love that. First of all, I think it's a great strategy. Um. I'm going to dig in a little bit and, and make you coach a little bit now too. Um, okay, great. I'm gonna do some one to many strategies. I, I, I got the three that I'm gonna do. I'm gonna invite everybody. Nobody knows you. Why are they gonna come to [00:57:00] your event?

And is it an in-person event? Is it a Zoom event? Gimme some details, man. And, and tell me, huh?

Craig Davis Interview: It's gonna be in person.

Dino Interview with Craig: Okay.

Craig Davis Interview: Um, I

Dino Interview with Craig: Food, no. Food, drinks, appetizers.

Craig Davis Interview: we we'll have light apps. Um, I think we'll probably put a little investment into it and maybe have a happy hour afterwards. Maybe at first to try to keep, create a, I think at first we, we have some food, we have a happy hour 'cause we wanna draw people in 'cause they don't necessarily know me.

But, you know, if I can get, um, a little attention there. We're gonna, we're gonna have,

Dino Interview with Craig: you don't have a lot of money, by the way. So how are you gonna pay for it?

Craig Davis Interview: um, just beer and wine only. No open bar. Just beer and wine only. How about that?

Dino Interview with Craig: May maybe also get a

Craig Davis Interview: what's my, what's my budget? You said I don't have a lot of money. What, what, what's my

Dino Interview with Craig: maybe get a, I'm just trying to, I'm trying to help you a little bit here. Maybe get a i, this shit, this is stuff that I did, uh, way back when. Right. I got my title rep, my escrow rep and my appraiser to all pay and pitch in to help me pay for all this

Craig Davis Interview: [00:58:00] See, I'm going with the assumption I don't know anybody and nobody knows me. So,

Dino Interview with Craig: No, but everybody, but, but all those people want your business. Right.

Craig Davis Interview: True. And I have that reputation somewhere else. So I'm calling my rep from home to have him call his, his local rep there to get the sponsorship. That's a

Dino Interview with Craig: Fine. That, yep. That's a great idea.

Craig Davis Interview: Yeah. Um, probably gonna have to do, um, social media and do some geofencing and probably some paid advertising to really create more, um, get more attention in there.

I'm also gonna structure it so that these aren't just one-off events. There's gonna be a series of events. So once I can get some people in the room, then I wanna get them into the room next time and create a reason for them to invite somebody so we can get into the right, you know, uh, momentum. Um, what else am I missing?

Gimme some coaching on this. What am I.

Dino Interview with Craig: I, I, I, I always laugh because I was gonna say, uh, the best way to get free advice from an attorney is to take 'em out to lunch 'cause Right. And the best way to get free advice from a [00:59:00] coach is to either have 'em on a podcast or take 'em out to lunch.

Craig Davis Interview: Is that, is this good advice? I mean, is this,

Dino Interview with Craig: Well, yeah, that's great advice. I mean, I, you know, I ask this question to everybody and I actually, it's my favorite question because, um, it, it really makes people think, and sometimes I let people slide.

On certain things. Other times I push 'em a little bit like I just did you, because it's easy to say you're gonna do this, but I know people listening right now, they're like, yeah, but how, how do you do that? Right? Like, easy, but how, and, and you know, you don't know anybody, you don't have a reputation per se.

So Yeah. You know, I I, I guess if we're gonna just spitball now back and forth, um, I would say you have to create a persona for yourself that you want everybody to think of you as. Right. And, and I think with today's day and age, social media is probably the best thing you could do because it, it absolutely hits the, the many in a, a very short period of time.

Right. And then you can, you can front load a lot of your social [01:00:00] media, make it look like you're this and that, and doing, and then every time you go somewhere, I, I mean quite honestly. Right? And, and this is just strategy. Uh, I haven't done it, but I would if I was. In this position, I'd go buy real estate offices.

I'd do a selfie next to the picture and be like, just making another call or making another visit, right? And, and now other realtors are seeing me with that and then back and forth to other ones. Hopefully I get a, a lunch or a coffee or something, then let's do a selfie together. Right now I'm building this persona of, of I'm busy and I'm meeting like, all these people know me.

So I'm gonna tell you a quick little story 'cause I'm feeding off of this a little

Craig Davis Interview: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I was thinking some things too from a client I was helping a year ago. So yeah, go for it.

Dino Interview with Craig: All right. So years and years ago when I was brand new in the business, um, I, I never did leads. So it was all about getting somebody to trust me. And I wasn't even 30, I think it was 28 or something, right? So. the end of the day, it's like, why would somebody trust a [01:01:00] 28-year-old? And one of my best friends was a realtor, and he wouldn't gimme any deals.

And and I was like, dude, we're best friends. He goes, I'm not risking my paycheck with somebody who doesn't know what they're doing. He goes, I'll tell you what, you go and learn how to do the business. And when you come back and tell me I will, I will trust you one time. And if you do a great job, then you'll keep getting more.

But if you fail, you're done. Like, this is my best friend, best, best thing ever said to me though, because it's true. It's like I learned real fast. Like why would a realtor trust their paycheck with me? Right? So they have to think that I am very good at my job. And quite honestly, that's the stupid way of saying it.

'cause you better be good at your job. Like that's just a given. Get good at your job, right? Mm-hmm. So telling the story now, and I've told it on this, on the podcast a few times, but I just, I love this, uh. In, in Newport Beach every year there's the Newport Beach Boat Parade. It's a big deal every year.

Right. And I, I knew a guy who [01:02:00] had a small boat. Um, so we decorated it with Christmas lights and all that stuff, and I asked him if I could use it. Of course. He's like, yeah, but I'm driving. And, and then I didn't have any money, so I went to my title rep and I asked him if he would join and bring, and I didn't know anybody either, right.

I didn't know any of the realtors. I said, and, and you can bring, um, you know, three realtors and, but can you bring some appetizers? And, and then I went to my escrow rep and I kind of did the same thing. And I'm like, but can you bring booze? Right? And, and then I brought the music. So they all brought people.

I brought two people that I knew, right. And that's it. And then at the end, I made a speech. Thanking everybody for coming and letting them know also that, you know, I know, you know, a lot of you guys know that I'm fairly new in the business. It's been less than a year. It'd only been like, I think five or six months, but I'm like, it's been less than a year.

Uh, but I just wanna [01:03:00] personally say thank you because I couldn't have done it without you. Um, it's, it's been the best first year I could ever ask for, and I'm grateful. Keep in mind, nobody's giving me a deal yet. Very next day I got my first deal. Because they all thought that the others were giving me business.

So it's perception in the beginning when you're trying to make it go. And that's why I love that question of what would you do? Nobody knows you, right? You gotta create, you gotta create something. And, and I, another thing too, and I'm just gonna, and, and I know this is old school, but I'm gonna go old school for a minute.

I would go to broker previews and open houses. As much as I can. And again, now that we have social media, take pictures the whole time you're in there and, and you're just filling your feet up with things that your audience is looking for. Right. My audience was real estate agents and as long as they knew I was hustling, 'cause I was out there all the time, almost [01:04:00] everywhere, and Oh hey, these people must know me 'cause I'm at their open house and I'm taking a picture with them.

Right. Whatever it might be. Perception.

Craig Davis Interview: This is why, and also like old school is new school again, because nobody's doing that, you know, so it's not all about ai, it's not all about this stuff, you know? Uh, let that stuff leverage and amplify you. It's still you and I and I, and maybe I'll leave everybody with this. I use this, you know, this is, this is one of my Craig iss, people connect with people, not product.

And that's why all of this is so important. Everything we talked about could, there's a through line, which is people connect with people, not product. Your social presence is you, your identity, you, your ideal clients, you, how do you connect that? And people care about what you care about and be grateful.

Right? And all of that is gonna create opportunity attraction.

Dino Interview with Craig: [01:05:00] And I'll, I'll close out with this then too. So everything he just said and. Be good, be a good human, but, but eat well, right? Like make good food choices. Spend a little time working out, spend a little time on yourself being happy because it does radiate out into everybody else. And remember, you are in sales, right?

Like you, you need to have a good presentation. You need to be a happy person. People like and love, happy people. If you're miserable or you don't like what you do, they will know about it. They will see it. Love what you're doing, love who your clients are, and I guarantee that'll just come out of you and, and the attraction will be there.

So I hope you guys can all be honorary members of Craig's Good human club. Um, yeah. You know, dude, I, I, I really enjoyed this conversation. Thank you very much. And [01:06:00] if somebody wants to listen to your podcast, which I enjoy. Tell, take it away.

Craig Davis Interview: No, I, brother, I appreciate the conversation. I love the conversation. It just happens to be recorded right now. I mean, you and I talk like this all the time, and I love seeing at the events and, and I appreciate this and I love this, like, I love this. I always tell people, if I could win the lottery, I'd do this for free, right?

By the way, ding, ding, ding, ding. Ask yourself that question. What would you do for free if you go with a letter? Um, you could find me, my website, ascend xc.com, um, and my podcast, talk and shift, talk and shift with craig.com, talk and shift with craig.com. You can check out my podcast, which my man, Dino will be a guest on as well coming up here very soon.

Super excited about that. So, um, and if I can help in any way, just reach out. You can find me on the socials, LinkedIn, Instagram, all the good stuff. And I, I give free huddles all the time, so if you're stuck on something curious, just reach out if.

Dino Interview with Craig: So guys, [01:07:00] if you guys enjoyed this, I hope you guys give us a little bit of love as well. Like it, comment on it. Share it, of course. Right. All the algorithms that matter out there do matter for us as well. So, uh, we could use little love and, uh, we love you guys and we're here to empower you, equip you, and educate you in the way lending should be done.

And we hope that you enjoyed this as much as I have. So we'll see you next time.