Welcome back to Lending Leadership: The Creative Brief.

Continuing on the trend we set on the Mortgage Pros, Rachael Tresch is taking over as host to interview co-host, Corinne Bibb. Together, we dive into the nuances of effective leadership and team management. Plus, we uncover the importance of understanding tasks that team members might excel at but not necessarily enjoy, the art of delegation, and how truly knowing your team's motivations can lead to collective success.

Corrine kicks things off with her journey from her first job as a sales assistant to her current role as VP of Marketing. Her story is filled with valuable lessons and practical tips from her experiences in sales and event management, offering listeners a tangible look into the building blocks of a successful career.

Our discussion doesn't stop at personal journeys; we also explore the significance of blending directness with kindness in leadership, the much-misunderstood world of marketing, and the exciting potential of integrating AI into our workflows.

Key Takeaways:

1. Triad of Awesomeness: In the episode, we break down the "triad of awesomeness" concept, which underscores that tasks should ideally be something you’re good at, love doing, and provide value. Those tasks that don’t fit this mold should be delegated to those who find joy and effectiveness in them.
2. Understanding Team Motivations: We emphasize the importance of understanding your team members' motivations and aligning tasks with their strengths and passions. This approach can significantly enhance team productivity and morale.
3. Event Planning Pitfalls: Drawing from Corrine's experience, a standout tip emerges: always inquire about construction schedules at event venues for the event dates. It's a detail that can prevent major last-minute disruptions and ensure smoother event execution.
4. Human Connection in Leadership: We touch on the essential balance of fostering human connections and celebrating team successes while maintaining the ability to be direct when necessary. This combination cultivates a productive and positive work environment.
5. Embracing AI in Marketing: We express excitement about the potential of AI to boost productivity and creativity in marketing. Encouraging teams to explore AI with available resources can make the learning journey less intimidating and more rewarding.

We hope these insights inspire you to rethink your approach to leadership, task delegation, and team management, whether you're in the mortgage industry or any other professional field.

Rach & Rinn

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to Lending Leadership. I am your host today, Rachel Tresch, and I have the pleasure and privilege of interviewing my friend, Corinne Bibb. And, you know, I think it's a really unique perspective to have to be in the seat that I'm in as the host to interview all of these great leaders within the mortgage industry. Everyone's had a different background, a different journey, and I think it's really neat to see what brought people to the place they're in today. So, miss Corinne Bibb, I'm very happy that you are here today in a little bit of a different role, a little bit of a different vibe. So, hey, how are you?

I'm good. Thanks for inviting me to do this, Rach. I'm I'm honored. I don't know what I'm going to bring to the table that's gonna be exciting storytelling, but

no, you're gonna do great. And, you know, did you read through the questions ahead of time? I was very nice, and I gave you questions ahead of time. Some people read them, some people don't. You did, Rach. I appreciate it. I did a

light skimming. I did a light skimming in between emails. So I don't know how well prepared I'll be for you, but I will do my absolute best. I always tell you the people with college try in everything I do.

Okay. Good. Well, let's dive in. And these questions are a little, you know, they're a little bizarre and strange, but I feel like I wanna dive in in a different way that than the typical questions you get answered or you get asked all the time to answer. So so this might be a little bit out of the box, but just just play with me here. Okay? Just follow me along.

And let's be honest. I'm a little bizarre and strange, so I feel like it fits the theme of today's podcast quite well. Quite well. Well, that I

mean, that's kinda funny to even to say that because I think people would see you as a VP of marketing, and, you know, you we all have many hats that we wear in different sides. But, you know, you you are very corporate and polished, and but there's another side, Corinne, that's also wacky and wild and fun and crazy. You're a hippie at heart.

Hippie hippie so much, guys, that Rachel has to remind me, put makeup on for the podcast, Corinne. Get yourself together, and that's what I do, everybody. That's what I do.

You're good. I mean, we were born in the eighties. I don't know or not or you're late seventies. You're late seventies, so I don't know if

you can be a hippie. 1980, Rachel Trash, 1980 coming at you. I just started out of the seventies. I don't wanna date myself anymore.

So I don't really think you could be a hippie, but if you were if marketing were a sport, what position would you play?

Oh, gosh. Well, I I love sports, first of all, so many come to mind. But I feel like in my role right now with our team and and how our team all works together and and just contributes so many awesome amazing areas of expertise within the department, I would say more so than a sport, I feel more like a conductor of an orchestra. Is that fair?

You know, I think I'm a good reference. Yeah.

I feel like I love diving into each team member's piece and seeing them in their element of expertise. And then how can I add to that? How can I add layers to that? How can I guide that path? And when I can kinda step back and see how it all comes together and how everybody is playing their instrument together and it sounds just right, that brings me a lot of satisfaction. So I feel like that's really the role and place that I'm in right now, more so than being able to relate it to an actual sport, which I wish I could because I love sports.

That's a really cool analogy, and I had not thought of that before. And I actually think that the best leaders are the ones who can conduct, and, you know, we've all heard it before, delegate and lead, but that is very, very difficult for a lot of people to do. I find that very difficult when when I know what I want and I know a certain way that I want something to look or feel or sound, sometimes I'd rather do it myself rather than pass it off to a team member. So I love that you said that. Do you find that to be difficult?

It is. And I don't think it's always about delegating. It's about knowing when a project comes in, who is gonna be the best player on the field. Now we can relate it back to sports, to take that project and then where I might be best to help lend my expertise to either guide, step in, take a piece of it, what should sit with me, what should sit with other team members who are experts in that specific project or, scenario or situation that comes across all of our desks. And, again, I really like the full full stream element of kind of that moment where I get to stand a little bit on the top of the hill and look down and see how it's all coming together. And when it's in harmony together is is a really nice satisfactory moment for me. So I guess I hope that answers that question. And, yes, that was a goofy question, but

I enjoyed it. No. No. That that's absolutely, what I what I was looking for. And it's funny. I I didn't know what I was looking for until you said it. There's really no right or wrong answer here. But, gosh, that's why the name of this podcast is called Lending Leadership.

You know, we are we are lending our leadership ideas and, and, obviously, we're we're mortgage, so we're in the lending business. But I think that applies to just about any industry and anyone who's in a position that you're leading a team. How do you think, that that doesn't happen overnight? How do you think that you were able to, number 1, build this team, and how do you know the right person for the right project? You know, for those people out there who maybe are leading a team for the first time and and wanna get to the top of the mountain so they can look down and see Mhmm. Everything working together so beautifully and harmoniously, you know, what what do you think is the key to that Or at least the step in the right direction?

I don't know if there's a magical, answer to that. Our mortgage pros could dive in at a way deeper level than me with even larger and longer experience than me in management. But I think it's just spending time listening and watching the talent on your team and seeing them accomplish things, finish projects, seeing what makes them tick, what makes them passionate. And then you really just start to develop a pace again over time where you know where to go with each project. What, for example, there's something, there's a project that I worked on this morning that I knew needed to sit with me, so I did it myself. But there's many projects in which come across our desk and things that need to be accomplished out of our department that I'm like, oh, this definitely goes to Mel, or this definitely goes over to Lee or Robin. And it it just comes instinctually over time and and seeing, everyone's talents and passions. And, also, I really like to give people space to lead themselves.

So that, I guess, speaks to my more my management style. I don't know if we're getting off the question a little bit, but I get a lot of excitement and pride in seeing people, seeing people lead themselves.

What about those times that and I'm totally going rogue here off the questions, but you're just you're giving me so much to go on.

Just hit you. And if it's bad, it's bad. If it's good, it's good.

It's good. Take it as it comes. Right? So what about those times where and, you know, I'm I'm speaking for myself. How many times we say, oh, I am really good at doing that, but then you get into it and you're like, oh, but I hate it. I hate it. Do you do you see that on, with anyone on the team or people that you've led and managed before where maybe it's a strong suit of theirs, you know, something that they're very capable of doing, but they just hate doing it. Is that does that ever come into is that a factor ever when

Yeah. And, I mean, I guess, again, it it depends on the scenario situation, but sometimes you just have to grin and bear it. Other times, it might not be the right fit for you. And that's something that, you know, through conversation and experience, you just start instinctually figuring out together. And then, you know, many times you find that somebody else on, on your team might be able to pick up a project, like that and run with it, or it's a better fit for them. So I feel like these processes do take time, but you can build them with consistency and just listening and learning from people.

So those good old fashioned relationship skills, digging in deep, breaking bread with people, understanding what makes them tick, there's something that, and and I think this is a real thing. You can Google it if not, but it's called the tryout of awesomeness that I I feel like I reference this all the time. I may have talked about it on the podcast before. I don't quite know where I heard it before, but the tryout of awesomeness is it has to fit in with 3 categories. Right? Something you're really good at, something you love to do, and something that's gonna bring the most value or income. And if it doesn't fit within that category, those those 3 categories, then find someone else to do it. And that's, I guess, more on the the people you're leading. But for you as a manager and a leader to know what are those things that make people tick, I think that's why you are an effective leader because you take the time to really understand those those characteristics and the things that people, love to do, their goals.

If you don't take the time, then how are you gonna know?

I agree. I couldn't agree more. I think that it's really important to just take time in listening to people, and sometimes those answers work themselves out in that process.

Yeah. Alright. So switching gears, and maybe you remember this, maybe you don't, but what was your first ever maybe as an intern in college or out of college or first job or whatever it may be. What was your first ever marketing campaign? And was it a win, a flop, something in the middle? You know?

As far as my first marketing campaign, I don't recall what that was. But I can tell you about my first job out of college, because I did love that. I started off in sales. I was a sales assistant, in Pittsburgh, in downtown downtown Pittsburgh for an environmental association, selling exhibit, space booths, for their their mega conference that they would hold each year. So they would have, a bunch of their clients as an association that were members of the association. They would come to this meeting once a year, And I would sell and fill up the booth spaces. So, like, there was, like, 8 by tens, 10 by tens, 20 by twenties, and I would just basically, like, just go rogue on sales, just hit the phones all day, follow-up with them, give them discounts if they book early. And then I had this massive map.

I still remember it to this day. In my office, I had this massive map by this like, a little office because I was I I got an office. I mean, I thought it was gonna be that cute, but I got a little office. And I had the map up on the side of the wall, and I would fill in the clients as they would pick their spaces and as I would sell them. I guess it speaks to my passion for sales too. You know, marketing and sales are directly related. They're intertwined every single day. And, I just really enjoyed the art of talking to to the clients at that time, helping them find the right space, working through working with a sales coach during that time.

His name was Russ. I still remember his name was Russ. And we would do role playing where we would sit back to back. He his seat was behind mine. I couldn't see him. And we would go back and forth with questions to kind of, mimic a a sales conversation to solve those spaces. And I got a lot of really great experience from that job. So, even though you didn't had a marketing campaign.

I didn't exactly answer your question. And I do have a marketing campaign in my mind too, but I don't know how long this podcast is. But, that was my first job out of college, and I thought that was, it's just a fun memory to share.

Well and I guess that's great for people who are just starting out in their careers. Your your first job is most likely not something that you're going to end in, but I think that we obviously learn from every experience that we have. And and, yeah, what a great sales experience that that was. I mean, Corinne, I think you could talk to the wall. You can talk to anybody about anything. But I I'm sure you sold every last one, if not pretty darn close.

Rich, come on now. Of course.

Of course. Of course.

No. No. Seriously, probably above, like, 80, 90 percent to goal. I didn't always hit goal. It was tough. It it was a big it was a big space to fill. But, yeah, I got through most of them. Absolutely.

And it was a lot it was just a lot of fun. And then I got to go to the conferences and work the conferences, which is where I got a lot of event and logistical experience that I still use to this day, for in in mortgage world, doing events, doing realtor, events, you know, all across the country.

You don't know until you're in the room where it happens, especially with events. You know, I think a lot of it seems like on every Hallmark movie, it's like, oh, there's an event planner and this is glamorous lovely job. Right? And you're like, that's not event planning. It is grunt work. It is hard. It is long hours. It's it's the stuff that nobody wants to deal with, the behind the scenes and, you know, putting out fires, but it is such a valuable position to be in when you've been there, and then you understand how it works, especially for what we do. I'm I'm sure that was It's such an

it's such an overused cliche, but it is just so effective and relevant that you just have to say, the devil is always in the details. And events, it is always in the details. For example, we just ran an event, I hate to admit, where there was construction at the hotel, wah wah, and we forgot to ask the question, do you have construction at your hotel during the dates of our event? So there's a little tip for everybody. If you're traveling, if you're setting up a meeting somewhere, that is a question that a lot of times you just forget to ask. Ask it. Write it down. Have it in your core list of information when you're checking on food. You're checking on room size.

All the the traditional details that you think of as common sense, you might forget to say, hey, is this space gonna be under construction? But we didn't ask, and we found out, and it was pretty darn loud. So little tip and off on that topic, and I'm sure you're gonna have another question for me, but thought I would share that.

I'm glad you shared that because that really is absolutely devil in the details. I mean, you would think that an event space would share that with you. They won't because then you might not book there. But if you ask, they should have the transparency to tell you the truth, and then you won't have to turn into a Karen like I did and have to play the bad guy.

That's right. She did that. Rach did that very effectively, friends.

I did. I was kind. I always come at things with kindness, but

Always kind. Always kindness. 100%. But sometimes you have to be direct. 100%.

Yeah. If you could describe your overall career journey

Oh, no. In one hashtag. This sounds very deep. I have to put my d pad on.

Oh, no. Hold on. If you could describe your overall career journey in one hashtag, what would it be?

That's easy. Hashtag get up and go. I I get up and go my entire career. That's it. I'm never I don't I don't know if I should say never. You're not supposed to use the word always or never. Right? I learned that. But I am often not the smartest person in the room.

But what I lack in intelligence, I will make up for in get up and go. So if you've got get up and go, you're you're 80% there. And my entire career has been built on it. So, consistency, hard work, and just the drive to get the job done. And if I don't know how to get the job done, I will find the person or the process to get the job done. So, that's one thing I'm proud of and confident about. And it's all it is is get up and go. Yeah.

I mean, that sounds fancy, Rach. Right? There's nothing fancy about that. No. But that in in the simplicity lies the fancy. Right? The get up and go. That that is so straightforward and simple, but I think that shows integrity. It shows, tenacity. I don't wanna say that people don't have tenacity anymore, but I think we look on social media and we just see all these, influencers and people that are very young and doing amazing things, and, oh, I wanna do that.

You know? Most people, that's not the case. You know? Like, it's not you're not gonna have success overnight and snap your fingers. You just gotta get up and go or good old Nike style, just do it and get out of your own way. Yeah. And then do it again and again and again. So I'm really glad that you said that. Curious what magic special hashtag or secret sauce, but there is no secret sauce. It's just get over yourself and do it.

Yeah. A lot of it comes back to that. It's what I've wanted Dave, one of our lending leadership podcast, masters here. He always says just do it or do it is one of his favorite, a speech that was given that is inspiring to him, but it's really along those same lines. Yeah. Sometimes it's a matter of, coming up with a plan and just working on the plan and executing consistently. So

Alright. So this this is I don't know. We'll we'll see where where this question goes, but I'm No.

No. Oh, no. Everyone realized. I was like, oh, no.

No. This is this is digging in deep to more marketing. You know? Alright. So I'll just I'll just ask it straight up, you know, because, obviously, you've spent a lot of sides on the marketing fence. You've been in a lot of different roles and, you know, worked for a lot of different company. Not a lot, but, you know, you've had had a nice career of, building to where you are now. What's one marketing rule, I say rule in air quotes, that you think needs to be broken to stand out today? To stand out. That's the question.

Is there any or or just any rule in general, any marketing rule that we just need to kinda say, okay. I know that's what is textbook. That's what it says, but we need to we we need to get rid of that.

If I could take a little turn off on it, Yeah. On your question a little bit. I don't know that it's necessarily a marketing rule, but it's something that I hear clients say a lot that I want to challenge them to think beyond. So maybe it's not an it's not an actual rule, but it's it's something that I hear over and over and over again that I want to push back on. Right? And this is for all loan officers out there. Any sales team can apply this when it comes to marketing. So a lot of times when a concept, a campaign, an idea, an image is presented, we, the word the keyword being we, whoever's in the room listening, the client, the team, will have a strong reaction, whether it be positive or negative. Well, we don't like that restaurant.

We don't like that like that topic or that speaker. And I always wanna push back on clients and remind them, just because you don't like something, doesn't mean that your audience is not attracted to it. It doesn't mean that your realtors are not going to respond to it. It doesn't mean that your customers aren't going to find it interesting and want to call, email, or respond to you. So every time you're trying to reach a specific audience, try to look beyond just your own personal beliefs and think about the larger scope of who you're trying to reach and how they might respond. It's a lot, you know, is we we we weed all over our marketing, but it it really does apply in the sense that I want people to think a little bit deeper about their campaigns than just what they they prefer personally, if that makes sense, Rach.

Yeah. Totally makes sense. I mean, I think that's human nature. If you're averse to something, you're just like, not my thing. But so many things are subjective, especially when it comes into artwork or flyers or maybe different campaigns or may like you said, maybe even a restaurant, if you're hosting an event. Of of course, you know, we want our clients to be happy, but, yeah, think about who the end user is. I think that's a great piece of advice. So many times it's so we're holding that mirror up, and what do

I want?

What do I want? Well, no. It's not about you. What do your people want? Who are you serving? What do they want?

And again, if it's gonna attract a larger audience, that is what the play typically is or what we're trying to do, whether it's start a conversation, get a coffee appointment, get people in a room. So again, just, challenge yourself sometimes to think beyond just personal preference to the larger group that you're trying to reach in your marketing. And I think it'll help you, you know, push yourself outside of the comfort zone, so to speak, and maybe get some new results that you didn't have previously.

Yeah. That's good stuff. That's good. Jot that down. Store that one away, people. That's good.

Ding ding ding on my remarkable here. Ding ding.

I love it. You're a pretty busy chick. You got a lot going on. You know, we talk about this a lot.

We're

both moms, wives, busy, wear a lot of different hats. But in the marketing space, in in in the company, you know, even on your busiest day, what's something that keeps you energized in this role that you that you are in?

Does it have to be something technical, or could it just be anything?

I mean, it can be anything. Sure.

Laughing? Like, honestly, guys, I am really a goofball. So and Rachel knows this. Rachel knows this. I'm cracking jokes. I'm teasing people. I'm sending text messages. I am a GIF or GIF, however you pronounce it, master. I love a good mame.

So it's hard work. It's a lot of deadlines. It's back to back calls. It's intense. And one of my ways of, like, daily therapy is just laughing. And I think there's actual statistics behind it somewhere. I don't have them sitting here. I don't have statistics sitting here, but I believe that laughing, like, reduces endorphins.

It helps you feel happy, makes you obviously smile more, and, I think there's something therapeutic about it. So that is something that I rely on every day, to keep me energized. But if we're talking in a more technical sense, like technical with marketing, it's it goes back to my team. Like, seeing the team succeed, seeing an individual success, being a part of it, congratulating somebody, giving them a gift, that that is something that really makes me tick, you know, from from day to day. All the human stuff.

And it was probably increase endorphins. I don't think we wanna decrease endorphins. Did I say

did I say oh, can I redo that?

Did I say do you No. No. In. It's all good because it's it's the human it's the human side of things. Right? The take take the business out of it, the joy, and the, you know, maybe even getting out and going for a walk, we've been saying, Corinne, that we would do that. We're all remote, but we're we need to do that more, but you are right. And you are a great gifter. I I'm glad you brought that up.

You you are a great gifter. You just do little things to build people up and then wait and say, like, okay. They're gonna get it and be so excited. I mean yeah. I that is so true. Gosh. We can't take our ourselves too seriously. That's for sure.

Yeah. I I think it I think for any any business, any any department, it might seem like it's easier in marketing because everybody feels like, oh, there's so much creative stuff going on. But it doesn't matter if you're an accountant, financial planner, in mortgages as our audience is. So you still have to be laughing and making jokes. That's my my personal mantra and opinion on on work and life. That just really epitomizes your leadership style right there. I mean, I I think that's great. Well, you know, as we're wrapping

up, I I have a ton more questions. I'm trying to see what would be really, really interesting to dive into. Let's see here. I mean, I do have the question. If you were hosting a dinner party and can invite any 3 legendary marketers, blah blah blah. We've all been asked those questions before. But maybe maybe just something simple. You know, I think a lot of times marketing has this mystery and allure, and it's like, oh, marketing.

Oh, it's so fun all the time. And it is. But what's something that maybe someone who doesn't work in the marketing department would be, I don't know, kind of surprised to know about what we do?

I don't really know what would surprise anyone, anymore. That's just being very transparent on this. But, you know, there and I've probably spoken this before, but there is a lot of planning and preparedness that goes into to the work we do where I think sometimes it could feel a little bit on the outside and you're not on the inside track. Lighter, there's a lot of fluff, creativity, you know, just take some copy, toss it in a flyer, make a quick social graphic, turn around a presentation. Sometimes maybe it feels like it it is a little bit more simplistic than it actually is. But there's a lot of, again, time, consistency, preparedness, strategy that goes into marketing as a whole. And many times, projects can take a little bit longer than maybe a client might think they would so that they are done and executed correctly. So I don't know if that really surprises anyone.

Kind of a hard question to answer. But No. I I actually think

you nailed it. I think that would surprise people because it's not just our class and coloring class. No. Just make it look nice. No. There's a lot of there's metrics there. We're looking at trends. We're looking at numbers.

We're looking to see what works and what connects with somebody, what wording really connects with somebody versus, you know, another another set of copy. It's not just put something out there just to put it out there. I mean, just like we had just talked about, it's about the end user and really getting into our audience. And if you're not doing that, I think then, again, it's just for you. It's just to hold that mirror up and be like, look what I did. It's great. Well, that's fine. But at the end of the day, it's about who are we serving and and how can we get the best response, not just to put something out there, just to put out there.

So I think you answered that question beautifully. I I think people would be surprised to know that it's not just, oh, go in Canva and make it look nice. Well, sure. Programs like Canva or other marketing tools out there are wonderful, but it's not the end all, be all. There's it's much deeper than that.

Sure. I mean, just getting the copyright, the terms and conditions, testing out different CTAs, making sure that we're manipulating pieces depending on what outlet we're using. It it is, I think, a little bit longer and deeper of a process than sometimes it might seem like on the outside. So I think you kinda you nailed a lot of really great points there, Rach.

This whole world is changing so fast, not just marketing, but this tech world that we're living in. I feel like the second I take my foot off the gas, something new has popped up in in all these I mean, it's wild with chat gpt and AI. And what's something that really excites you about the future of marketing?

Is

there anything that pops out in your mind?

I mean, you mentioned AI. And even in this last year, if I look at this last year as a whole, I really embraced and learned a lot more within the tools that we have within our department using it. I mean, I'm I can be more skilled, and I'm excited to to embark on more courses for our department in general. I'm highly recommending everybody to to learn more, about AI. Take a course, go online, dive deeper into your skills and strategies. But just being able to pop on a tool and get quick copy for something that I need or explore some different headers and titles that I didn't think of myself in, you know, a nice turnaround and or quick time quick period of time. That has really helped excel my game and excel team members' games that I'm seeing around me. So where it's going and where it's headed, I mean, the sky is the limit.

I don't I can't wait to see what we learn in 2025. And, you know, I couldn't recommend to anybody more to whatever stage you're at, whatever you've learned at this point, or if you haven't explored it at all, do not feel intimidated. You know, get a get a free account and just start playing around. And there are just so many tools again and links online to just take a quick YouTube video and learn how to do something. So start small and build from there, but that is probably one of the largest things that I'm excited about in marketing is the use of AI and how we're gonna integrate it further and further each

year. That's great. And, hey, just get up and go. Right? Hashtag just get up and go. If something is intimidating and you you don't know where to start, just get up and go and start somewhere.

You gotta start somewhere and

you figure it out. You figure it out. You figure it out. Well, my friend, this has been so much fun. Thank you. These are really insightful, answers that you gave, and I, have so many little nuggets that I wanna pull out and share with everybody. But make sure everybody that you like and subscribe our lending leadership podcast. We're trying to bring you different things all the time.

Corinne, always a pleasure. We'll see you soon.

Alright. Thank you so much for having me. Take care, guys.