There are surely a lot of real estate people in the country, but Tiffany McQuaid figured out a way to really stand out.
Her real estate agency McQuaid & Company in Naples, Florida has been called the most innovative agency in the country.
What makes her stand out above all others in the space?
She said all her efforts have ‘caring at the core’.
Tiffany McQuaid does ‘little things’ in her business that bring people joy. It’s something she’s been doing since she was a little girl.
She decided to write a book about what works so well for her, to share with others
Her book just out is called “The Nth Degree” How To Stand Out By Going All In” by Tiffany McQuaid with Bruce Littlefield.
In our live radio conversation Tiffany shared the difficult story about how she came to realize how much ‘little’ things matter to people. On Christmas Day when Tiffany was 10, her Dad took his life leaving her Mom alone to raise her and her sister. Her Mom was obviously struggling badly, but Tiffany would try and do little things to make her smile. She noticed those little things mattered a lot.
When Tiffany speaks of her success and how all her efforts have ‘caring at the core’, it’s those little things she does for others and clients that she is referring to.
She says it’s the key to what unlocked her real estate success and what will unlock your success.
“Well, I think without a doubt, I would say like this little creative flair that allows you the opportunity to not just be a black and white broker, just looking at things as they’re presented, but instead kind of pulling back and looking at ways to fill voids and be different and unique and create what I’d like to call delightful or surprise and delight. I love to do that, which ultimately creates memorable experiences. And in doing that, it’s just not status quo. I think so many people, and whether it’s companies or individuals, we tend to go through life sometimes just maintaining, you know, we’re just maintaining our day, we’re staying in our comfort zone, we’re, you know, doing what’s expected of us and not really pushing ourselves sometimes to really find a way to be different and get out of that comfort zone and be uncomfortable.
What’s the significance of ‘INth’ in the INth Degree? And what do they have to do with showing people how to recognize opportunities for themselves?
Tiffany says “The book breaks down into seven keys and all of the keys start with the word “IN’. So everything from INtrepidness, which kind of goes through all of my life bumps and failures and bruises, you know that I think everyone can relate to those stories and kind of guide you through some opportunities and there’s even what’s kind of cool and what I felt was so important when we were putting this together was INteractiveness.”
“Throughout the book there’s what we call INquiries. So you know as I’m talking about different things that I’ve gone through an INquiry will pop up to kind of get you thinking. So from INtrepidness to INvigoration, and INtention, INspiration, INgenuity, INcentive, INfluence, every single one of those all touch base and you will walk away with something I am confident. You will walk away with something from at the very least each key, if not multiples from each key. They’re very easy to employ into your life and they all work for me.”
Enjoy this podcast of my live conversation with Tiffany McQuaid on The Debbie Nigro Show. If you’d rather read than listen the Transcript of the audio conversation is below.
0:00:00
And now, back to the Debbie Nigro. I was reading all about my next guest this morning. I’m kind of excited to meet her. Yeah, Tiffany McQuaid. She’s special, man. She’s a nationally recognized real estate broker, which means she’s worked really hard to get that title, nationally recognized. And she’s the president of her own company, McQuaid & Company.
0:01:18
Nice to meet you, Debbie, I’m Tiffany.
I know, and you know what cracked me up, Tiffany?
1
0:01:24
Did I hear correctly that you did a book signing at Tiffany’s with your book, because you are Tiffany?
Well, yes, I did. January 22nd, Bruce Littlefield and I, who is my co-collaborator on the book, did the book launch at Tiffany’s collection store in New York City? I mean when in Rome…
2
0:01:41
I love it and thought that was genius and that one line alone made me love you and connect with you – I had a book tour years ago. There was a geared toward working moms and I said, I’m gonna find these working moms I did my book tour at 7-elevens around the country and that was a huge hit. So I get it and brilliant, more marketing thinking on your part obviously. You’ve had to be very creative I imagine to become a nationally recognized real estate broker.
2
0:02:13
There’s surely a lot of real estate people in the country. So what do you think is, before we go into the book, your core like main quality that made you different and stand out from everybody?
1
0:02:25
Well, I think without a doubt, I would say like this little creative flair that allows you the opportunity to not just be a black and white broker, just looking at things as they’re presented, but instead kind of pulling back and looking at ways to fill voids and be different and unique
1
0:02:52
and create what I’d like to call delightful or surprise and delight. I love to do that, which ultimately creates memorable experiences. And in doing that, it’s just not status quo. I think so many people, and whether it’s companies or individuals, we tend to go through life sometimes just maintaining,
1
0:03:17
you know, we’re just maintaining our day, we’re staying in our comfort zone, we’re, you know, doing what’s expected of us and not really pushing ourselves sometimes to really find a way to be different and get out of that comfort zone and be uncomfortable.
2
0:03:34
Yeah, I love it. One of my things I love to do always and what I try and do is push people out of their comfort zone. So again, another similarity there. I’m on your website. It’s very beautiful and how to stand out by going all in. So you’re talking about how transformation in business and just in life in general starts on the inside.
2
0:03:56
You’ve got to know who you are before you can build anything. Great quote. And you went on to say if you’re looking for the person who can change your life, you know, take a look in the mirror So I’m like right Yeah When you talk about the book being rooted in overcoming your own struggles You got anything you want to share that could make somebody feel like okay good for her She got over this like what what comes to mind?
1
0:04:17
Yeah, well, you know think about it. We’ve all had our stuff in life, right? We could all sit down and have a conversation and share in some unfortunate dynamics or miseries, you know, some worse than others, just depending. Well, in my circumstance, you know, and I kind of, I don’t look at it as my story per se, but I look at it more as kind of a catapult that helped me change my life. And that kind of started on Christmas Day when I was 10 years old. Picture it, you get up Christmas morning when you’re 10. Think about it, you’re all excited, you can’t wait to see what Santa brought. If you’re still believing in Santa, back in the 80s, we did. We were still very naive at that age. Only to find out that your world kind of got turned upside down and that unfortunately my father opted to take his own life on Christmas Day that year and that was again 1980 and that
1
0:05:28
was back at a time where there wasn’t really therapy. You didn’t go see a counselor. There really weren’t those types of opportunities available. So, you know, my 10-year-old self and I had a sister, or have a sister, five years younger than me, and you know, my mom was thrust into being a single mom very quickly. And I kind of became the lady of the house, you know, taking care of the household.
2
0:05:58
That was tough. I’m feeling the pain of that. I’m sorry. You know, I’m sorry, but obviously.
1
0:06:04
Well, and I think my life could have gone probably very wrong from that point, because, you know, as a result of people not really understanding, and I think we’re in a different world today, and, you know, unfortunately becoming more prevalent. And I felt that as, you know, spiritually centered as I am, and you know, I follow a lot of, you know, a lot of different motivational speakers and things of that sort, you know, I felt like there was a void that needed to be filled. And that was, how do you overcome, how do all of us overcome these dynamics that should have taken us down?
1
0:07:01
And you know, I learned at a young age to kind of turn it around. I did because I found that one of the things that lit me up inside was seeing my mom smile because that wasn’t a common thing. She was overwhelmed and it was a lot. So I found that I could do little things that would make her smile and she would always say that my smile brought her joy. And I think I’ve learned over the years
1
0:07:28
that I can do little things to delight people. And whether it’s someone that is helping me check out my groceries or, you know, it doesn’t matter who it is, but we all have the opportunity to transform someone’s life so easily and it doesn’t cost anything, you know, but not only does it do it in your life, it can change everything. I’ve learned through all my dynamics, of which they’re all talked about in the book because there’s many, many more, failures, falls, I can’t even tell you.
2
0:08:15
I need to interrupt you just a second. I need to interrupt you because what you just told was a very powerful story. Of course, my heart to your heart, but also how you chose to deal with it and just those little things that made your mom smile and how you carried knowing that forward in life is so loud. It’s so great that you shared that and I wanna thank you very much because that was a tough story to share, Tiffany McQuaid.
2
0:08:41
On a real lighter note, I did crack up when, because I know you’re a marketing strategist and serial entrepreneur now and you’ve come a long way since reselling the Little Debbie cakes that your mom bought your sister and you for snacks. Now I know all about Little Debbie because my name is Debbie and there weren’t many kid toys that had my name and I wanted to know the company and I once wanted to be a sponsor of my show which originally was on a Saturday and I was so bummed because Little Debbie’s took off on Saturday because they were Seventh Day Adventists and you couldn’t do anything on Saturday, but I eat Little Debbie cakes just because they make me happy.
2
0:09:15
What do you do with those cakes? That’s a lesson behind that we can learn from.
1
0:09:19
Well, it’s so funny that you say Saturday because that’s what would happen. My mom, you know, in her routine, we would go to the grocery store on Saturday and we’d get, you know, she’d get us the food for the week and, you know, money was tight. We were not wealthy. So that was like the treat, especially during the summer when we were out of school. And you know, we lived in an area where there weren’t homes like close together and there was nowhere to walk to, you know, everybody, all the kids were on their bikes and we were very far apart.
1
0:09:51
Anyhow, so I came up with the idea during the summer time that my mom would go get a box of Little Debbie snack cakes on Saturday and then when she would go to work on Monday, I’d go into action and I’d put my little table out front, I’d make my big pitcher of Kool-Aid and I’d take those little Debbie Snack Cakes out and I was like the head of the area because you know, nobody, the kids didn’t have anywhere to go, you know, so Mondays I got used to my little corner, you know, my little store in the front yard setting up and I’d sell them for a quarter. Well, several months into it, my mom was putting some clothes away in my sister’s drawer and found this stash of the little Debbie’s Snack Cakes and she said, why do you have these
1
0:10:37
in there? And she said, because Tiff sells them every Monday. So I had to say something. Needless to say, it was one of the many times I was my overactive, you know, imagination would create things.
2
0:10:54
But very good. Very good imagination. Yeah, if I had to drive down the street and choose between the stand with the drinks without the little Debbie cakes and the ones with, I’d be at your booth. Man, that was good. Very good thinking. Very good thinking. You know, Ticker Neat, I mean, your stories are sweet and you sound like an innocent little girl who just kept going and going and using her ingenuity.
You built an amazing company here. I can’t believe it. An innovative award-winning real estate company in Naples, Florida, which I heard is the most beautiful place on the planet, which you did about 10 years ago, and you recognized an
2
0:11:28
opportunity and you took a running leap. What is the opportunity that you recognize and is part of your book showing people how to recognize opportunities for themselves?
1
0:11:39
Yes, and actually the book breaks down into seven keys and all of the keys start with the word in. So everything from intrepidness, which kind of goes through all of my life bumps and failures and bruises, you know that I think everyone can relate to those stories and kind of guide you through some opportunities and there’s even what’s kind of cool and what I felt was so important when we were putting this together was interactiveness. So
1
0:12:20
throughout the book there’s what we call inquiries. So you know as I’m talking about different things that I’ve gone through an inquiry will pop up to kind of get you thinking you So from intrepidness to invigoration, and intention, inspiration, ingenuity, incentive, influence, every single one of those all touch base and you will walk away with something I am confident. You will walk away with something from at the very least each
1
0:12:52
key, if not multiples from each key. They’re very easy to employ into your
2
0:12:58
life and they all work for me. Well I can’t tell you it was really nice meeting you. I’m sorry we’re out of time but congratulations on your company being recognized for the most innovative brokerage in the country and you continue to lead the industry. You’re amazing and I congratulate you on this book and I encourage everybody to read it. It’s about unlocking your own success. The Mth degree now available, Tiffany McQuaid with Bruce Littlefield, How to Stand Out by going all in.
2
0:13:28
You’re great, Tiffany. I wish you the best of continued success.
1
0:13:31
Thank you so much.
2
0:13:33
Have a great day.
4
0:13:34
You too, bye bye. You too, bye bye.
3
0:13:37
Bye bye.
Transcribed with Cockatoo
