How building your personal brand fuels your company’s growth

Yolanda Muchnik:
So Tony, welcome to the show.

Tony Sousa:
Hey, thanks for having me.

Yolanda Muchnik:
I'm excited to chat with you today on the link between personal brand and broader successes. You were highly recommended by one of our past guests, Mike Brewer. And when I went on LinkedIn, I just knew we had to have the most interesting person in real estate on our show.

Tony Sousa:
Well, very complimentary and I'll pay you later for all the nice things that you said and Mike said, but I'm glad to be here.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Awesome. So first for our listeners who don't know you, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and the work you do at Embrey?

Tony Sousa:
Yeah, so I'm Tony Sousa. I work for Embrey Management here in San Antonio, Texas, and we are a development company. I happen to be with the management arm of the development company, and we do all things real estate. We develop properties. We manage them. We build them as well. I happen to be on the management marketing and leasing and operations side. And so that's what I do for a living. I oversee large groups of teams and achieving business goals and metrics every day.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Awesome. And so back to one of my big place for this podcast episode, I'm just curious, what was the inspiration behind the most interesting person in real estate?

Tony Sousa:
The video for me and the commercial, if you will, has legs as they say in the industry. It's been around for a little while. 2009, I think we shot that. So, gosh, it's almost 12 years old. I do look at that video sometimes and think, "Wow, look at that kid." The inspiration for it really came over a dinner. My colleague at the time, or my director, director of marketing, Lisa Trap and I and I think a few other colleagues were having dinner and I was sharing just some stories of my background as an actor and some other things at the time and kind of have an unconventional background in this industry. And she said, "You're the most interesting man in property management." And then, light bulb, put a script together, get a whole bunch of production crew together and extras and shoot it.

So we happened to be shooting some other commercials for the company at the time. And this was one of them. This was going to be more of a business development pitch sort of item I think initially thought. Not only are we at amazing company, but we also employed the most interesting man in property management. Sort of a button hook on the pitch I think was a cute idea at the time. But it's been fun. I go to a lot of places, a lot of conferences and people recognize me by that tagline. So it's fun. It's cute.

Yolanda Muchnik:
I like it. I like it. So I want to dig a little bit more into that personal branding piece. But before that, one quick question for you, because this is The Resident Experience Podcast, and we always like to ask our guests, what does resident experience mean to you? How do you define it?

Tony Sousa:
It's a good question. I define it by their perception of their satisfaction living at the property, both through interaction with the team, interaction with the actual physical real estate product itself, and their overall just perception of how things are going. I'm trying to avoid using the same word of experience, because that really obviously encapsulates a lot. But I think it's their perception of how things are going. Do they like it? Do they not? And we have a large ability to control I think their perception of how things are going.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Got it. Yeah. It definitely is such a broad term. And so that's one of the reasons we love getting everyone's take on how they define it. Okay. So switching back to branding, I'm curious, how have you gone about building your personal brand and what or who inspired you to cultivate it in the first place?

Tony Sousa:
I think many of us that discover our brand, I think that's a good way of saying that, sort of stumble across it and realize I think early on in our careers that whether you are creating it, helping influence it, or just happen to have one, everybody has a personal brand. I do actually some speaking on this particular topic and I think most people are unaware that they have a personal brand. I think a lot of people think that you have to be a marketer or you have to be really thoughtful about what your brand is. Everybody I would argue in this world has a brand. And really what that means is what people know and what people think of you when you're not in the room.

And so as an actor in my early twenties, I was aware of my own perception and potential brands of actors at the time that I strive to be and one day tried to create who I would be. But I have realized over the years with maturity and observation of others that you have quite a bit of an ability to create in an authentic way, hopefully, what people think of you and what they see in you. And so I've gone out of my way for the last probably 10 years plus to make sure my colleagues and friends and others knew the best parts of me. And obviously, when you're keeping it authentic, as they say, they also know some of the messy parts of you as well. And that's okay. And I think a lot of people are sometimes afraid of the messy parts. I've found recently that I think the more vulnerable you can be and authentic you can be, people are more drawn to you.

Yolanda Muchnik:
That's absolutely true. And I love how you point out that it is an extension of who you are on the personal side and also on the professional side. And so when you think about your personal brand today, what impact has building it had on your own work? Do you see it directly connected to your success in real estate?

Tony Sousa:
I do. I think being conscious of your personal brand and utilizing platforms and channels, both social and in real life, your personal brand goes with you everywhere you go and every meeting you're in. Every interaction you have has I think built a reputation and I believe it's authentic that this is a person that is good at what they do. This is a person that you'd like to work with. This is a person that is nice to be around. This person is a nice person. This person has a family, this person. All of those things go into consideration when you're making, especially when you're making business relationships as well and personal relationships, of course, but obviously this is more of a business focused podcast. And so when you're making those business relationships, all of those things are taken into consideration. Do I want to work with this person? Do I want to believe this person? They're my supervisor.

And so it has been helpful. At times, I'll tell you it's cut the other way worth noting. I think some people that aren't aware of branding or personal branding or have some vendetta against it or think it's overly contrived, I've noticed in personal interactions, they've been a little hesitant to build a relationship with me, perceiving that I'm not real or I'm fake, or what they see maybe online or have heard is maybe not authentically who I really am. And so, because I'm pretty good at reading body language, I could identify their skepticism pretty early. And so I try to go above and beyond to really connect with them and let them know what you see, what you hear is really who I am.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Got it. That's really interesting. And then, I mean, you definitely mentioned the personal aspect of it and I love how you brought up that it has impacted the success you've had in managing teams. Have you seen personal branding or your own emphasis on personal branding come through and those who you manage at work today as well?

Tony Sousa:
Yeah. It's an interesting question because I do think about that often. As you know, I do post quite a few things, whether it be quotes or stories or other things that are happening in my professional life, sometimes personal, but mostly professional life through the LinkedIn channel and a few others. But I've actually also found because I'll ask my team. So I said, "Hey, there's your silly boss posting silly posts." Right. And they chuckle, but they also say, "You know what, it's awesome what you do. And frankly, Tony, sometimes some of the things you put out there inspires me." And that's humbling to me and it reminds me and encourages me to continue because I don't know who's listening. And I don't know if someone's having a bad day that maybe a quote or an inspirational story or just a pick-me-up can make their day. And sometimes it happens to be my own teams that I didn't know maybe I made their day while they were having a hard day.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Got it. And so I'm guessing there's really this compounding effect going on, which is ultimately the whole point of this episode is how your own personal brand and how you distill it into that of your team ultimately ties back to the success of your company. Do you see that compounding effect going on at Embrey today?

Tony Sousa:
I do. And it's a great question and it's not one I've been asked before. But ultimately all of it is intentional. And in our business, what I say often and I hear it in other industries is keep the main thing, the main thing. And the main thing in our particular business is obviously in business it's profitability, but specifically in our business, it is customer service. And that's the main thing, right? And so how do you work backwards from having happy customers? It's often having happy employees. And how do you have the employees? That's through a multitude of different ways, but ultimately it's through support, communication, and perception that I work for a good person and a great company, both perception and reality.

So it's a trickle down effect and a compounding effect, I think, to use your terminology. But ultimately the residents and the clients have the best experience. And sometimes it starts even at the top, whether it be a company branding or a personal branding and hopefully trickles all the way down to be authentic support of employees, which makes happy employees. Happy employees give great customer service and usually make happy residents.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Yeah. I'm really happy to hear that. And I don't know if you have maybe a success story that touches on that at Embrey to share, but if you do, that would be really awesome to hear about.

Tony Sousa:
Well, I'll tell you an interesting story. I don't know if I would define it as successful. I speak to residents that are sometimes displeased with something that happens at the site level, where they're frustrated about something that breaks or an appliance that doesn't work. But I have had on occasion. Residents are savvy. Our residents in our communities are very online savvy and smart folks. And I've had a few of them say, "Well, hello, Mr. Most Interesting Man in Property Management. Nice to speak to you. My washer and dryer doesn't work. So hopefully you could take some time out of your busy day of posting to help me." And so that's been... So I take that tongue in cheek. I'm not offended by that. I understand that I'm out there and that you could, in a simple search, be able to find that.

So, I laugh along with it, but I said... And for me, it's an opportunity for me to prove to them, okay, that's what it is, right. That's posting that social media, but let's get to the gritty of your situation and let me help resolve this for you. Okay. Let's put that aside and tongue and cheek, we can chuckle about that. And self-deprecating humor is one that I've adopted early in my life. And that's a good trait to have, I think for most people hopefully. But then we get to the nitty gritty and we figure out how to find a resolution to the issue and do the right thing as we call it here at Embrey, the Embrey way or the right thing in all situations.

So that's a, I don't know if it's a success story, but it's a real one. And I think it speaks to a personal branding component, but also to truly trying to find a resolution for a customer. Although they may have tried to put me on the defense initially by poking fun at the personal brand, I think by the end of most of those calls, they realize, wow, this guy is legit and he's really trying to help me, and we've come to a good conclusion here and I appreciate that.

Yolanda Muchnik:
And so when stepping back and going to the root of personal branding, I'm going to guess that some of our listeners might say, "Hey, you know what, all this sounds great, but how do I start? How do I start building my personal brand?" So do you have some first steps or recommendations for anyone who's just started to think about developing a personal brand and is really buying into the concept?

Tony Sousa:
I do. So as a young actor, there was a workshop and there was an activity that the acting coach asked us to do. And it was to ask five to 10 people within your life, what they thought of you before they knew you. And that gave you an idea of how people perceived you, which is a part of your brand. So that's sort of the first step. But I'll tell you the feedback that I got as a young actor of what they thought of me before they knew me was not all positive things. And it actually really shook me to my core because I think of myself as a good guy and always have been. But as a young 20 something in Los Angeles, Hollywood, probably thought more highly of myself than I should have. And it really humbled me. And some of the feedback was that guy thinks he's cool, or he thinks he has great hair, or he thinks he thinks he thinks, right? All these perceptions that were thrown onto me. And some of them may be true. Some of them not. Nonetheless, most of them were not positive.

And so I went through that process and went back to the acting workshop and talked to the coach about some of the results, and the insights and the feedback was you can manage people's perception of you, and then you could start being aware of that. So the first step is sort of being aware of what people think of you sometimes before they know you even as they get to know you, and then sort of unpack that a little bit of, okay, how am I perceived? Okay. Is that in line with who you are? If so, great. That's a first step. You could start building on that, right. Start building on some of those positive qualities that they see in you.

Now, if there's some negative ones, either embrace them and own them. That's through being truly authentic that, hey, I'm not perfect and you're not wrong, right. This is who I am. But if they are negative and it maybe conflicts with who you are, who you believe you are, find ways to address it first and foremost in your own heart and mind, make some changes in your life, or go out of your way to make sure that you show a contrary view of what maybe that is, and build on that.

But ultimately I think personal branding and corporate branding, and I'm not trained marketer. I'm a journalist. But I do think the most impactful brands, both personal or corporate are the most authentic. And I think post pandemic becoming more that way, because we all have been going through the same thing for the last couple of years. And we just want raw authenticity. We all strive for the same thing, health and family and success in our life. And so I think the more authentic you can be, the better. And I've noticed that even in my own content, the more I sort of allow my audience or those who care to read what I post a little window into my life, they seem to be really engaged and that's encouraging and inspiring to me as well.

Yolanda Muchnik:
I completely agree. And I love what you say about the importance of authenticity there, and my guess is that it really plays into your success as a leader as well. And just talking to you here and before, I know that developing and supporting your team is crucial to you. So I'm curious if you have any final thoughts or recommendations about supporting your team in the environment today.

Tony Sousa:
Yeah. I think as business leaders, I think we think our teams expect us to have all the answers. And I think if we learned anything during the pandemic, we don't have all the answers, but what we can do for our teams and the people we lead and the people we work with is to be ourselves and to also trust ourselves and what we know to be true and what we know through our own experiences, both in business and in life. And so to trust yourself, build your confidence. Confidence is fragile. I've always said that. And to make sure you insulate it and make sure you keep your own self confidence secure. Easier said than done and life continues to try to tear away at that. That's going to be key I think as you grow as a person, as you grow in business. Keep your confidence in yourself and allow yourself to be real and authentic to your teams. And they'll be drawn to you and they'll listen to you and ultimately they'll trust you.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Nicely said. Okay. So one final closing question and for you, Tony.

Tony Sousa:
Yeah.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Who are two other guests you think we should invite on The Resident Experience Podcast?

Tony Sousa:
Gosh, there's so many good people out there doing some really cool things. One, and you may already know of him. I'm sort of looking at a few notes because Adrian Danila might be somebody. He's in Multifamily. He is on the maintenance side of things. He's a friend of mine, but he is an inspirational guy. I think he's an attorney, but then ended up being a seasoned regional maintenance director and other things. And he's checking on me even when I have it posted and said, "Hey, you all right?" And I thought that was very sweet of him. So he's one that I definitely think is worth chatting with.

And another one, which I'm not sure if Mike mentioned, and he's a friend of mine and I feel terrible saying this. Your audience is going to take everything I just said and say, "How can a friend not know how to pronounce a friend's name?" And I don't know him personally. He's in Baltimore. But I'll be myself and brutalize his name, but Moshe Crane, M-O-S-H-E. I've never stopped because I've been kind of embarrassed to ask him how to pronounce it. But he's an awesome dude. He too checks on me and also runs a lot of ideas by me that he has. And he's a great inspiration for me as well. M-O-S-H-E Crane, C-R-A-N-E. He's a good friend of mine.

And when I say a good friend, I don't know these people, I know them through the LinkedIn channel, but it's interesting how this network of social can give us sort of a belief that these people are our friends, and I think they are. And I've talked to them by a phone. So it's not just a complete digital relationship. But I've never met these individuals. I look forward to at a conference or two, but I've never met them in person.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Awesome. Thank you for that. We will definitely reach out to both.

Tony Sousa:
Yeah.

Yolanda Muchnik:
So Tony, this was such a great discussion. I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed meeting you, and we'll make sure that our listeners can access some of the resources you talked about on our episode page. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us today.

Tony Sousa:
Absolutely. Thanks for having me.