Today’s guest is Brandon Green. Brandon is an award-winning entrepreneur with several businesses and is a nationally recognized speaker and expert on balancing success and purpose and leading with passion and practicality. Brandon grew up in Wyoming and Iowa as the eldest child in a Mormon household. A defining moment in his life came in his adolescence when, instead of going on a Mormon mission, he chose to join the global youth educational organization Up With People. After a two-year international tour with Up With People, Brandon then moved the Washington DC area and landed a job in sales and shortly thereafter transitioned to real estate in 2001. By 2006 Brandon co-founded the Keller Williams Capital Properties real estate organization and together with his partners built it into a regional network of 8 offices and $2 billion in annual sales in a little more than a decade. He’s accomplished all of this without a college degree. In this interview, we get into Brandon’s time growing up in Wyoming and Iowa, his tour with Up with People, his experience coming out as gay, his real estate career, and the many different ventures he has going on today.

Timestamps

00:02:33 Growing up in Wyoming and Iowa

00:08:23 Deciding to join Up With People

00:10:08 Fundraising to join Up With People

00:13:31 Up With People overview

00:15:16 Biggest takeaways from Up With People experience

00:19:10 Experience coming out as gay

00:25:11 Balancing love and ambition over the years

00:27:26 Moving to Baltimore without a job or apartment

00:31:50 Transition to real estate

00:33:53 Experience as a real estate agent

00:36:33 Starting his own real estate company

00:38:11 Distinctions between sales success and business success

00:39:13 Overview of his real estate company and his role

00:42:51 Impact of Great Recession on his company

00:44:45 Lessons learned about entrepreneurship

00:48:03 How he recruited employees during the Great Recession

00:49:38 Adjusting to the pandemic

00:52:27 His daily routine

00:56:12 Why he's focusing more on his personal brand

00:57:45 His driving force

00:59:40 Advice around achieving great business success