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Michael LaFido,"Don't Be Afraid of Failure", Founder & CEO at Luxury Listing Specialist Designation (LUXE), shares his story on Global Luxury Real Estate Mastermind with Michael Valdes Podcast #189 Michael LaFido has focused his career on the luxury real estate market for the last couple of decades. He has created unique marketing strategies to excel in this niche market which he speaks about during our conversation. More About Michael LaFido:  Michael LaFido is a real estate consultant and top-producing Realtor with over twenty years of experience in the real estate industry. Michael’s marketing has been the featured cover story in Crain’s Chicago Business and highlighted in Forbes and FOX News Chicago Business Hour. He is also the author of the books “Luxury Listing Specialist”, “Outside The Box”, and “Marketing Luxury”. Throughout his career, Michael learned the importance of high-caliber marketing versus “traditional marketing”, which has become pivotal to his success. Over the past twenty years, LaFido and his team have developed a method that takes a more comprehensive, and proactive approach when positioning and marketing a home. Michael, the founder of the Marketing Luxury Group, assisting other real estate agents, brokers, and affluent home-owners by providing top-tier services including consulting, lifestyle marketing, public relations and coaching to help agents and owners sell their luxury homes; utilizing proven and innovative strategies. The Marketing Luxury Group has been recognized as the ‘Best Property Consulting/Marketing’ by the International Property Awards. Michael has created the nationally recognized luxury designation for real estate agents which is known as Luxury Listing Specialist (LUXE). This designation establishes an in-depth and detailed set of standards for agents that represent luxury homes and is currently offered for Continuing Education (CE) for real estate agents in Texas and Georgia. The trainings are based on the same principles Michael outlines in his book, “Luxury Listing Specialist” that he teaches to agents across the world. Michael was awarded the 2019 MVP (Most Valued Partner) by “Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate” (www.LuxuryRealEstate.com) Many agents within the industry are calling Michael’s methods “The New Standard” for marketing luxury homes today. About Michael Valdes:  Michael Valdes is the President of eXp Global. He is currently the only Latino President of a publicly traded real estate company in the country (Nasdaq: EXPI). In his first year of joining, he has led a team that has opened 12 countries in 12 months without ever getting on a plane which is a feat that has never been done in the industry. This model has successfully touched the lives of thousands of people across the globe and given them an opportunity to change their lives. Michael was the former Senior Vice President of Global Servicing for Realogy Corporation. In that role he oversaw the international servicing platform for all Realogy brands including Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA, Better Homes & Garden, Corcoran, Climb and Sotheby’s International Realty in 113 countries. He had been with Realogy in a variety of roles for 15 years. Prior to that, Mr. Valdes was Director of Private Banking at Deutsche Bank for a decade where he oversaw a book of business of just under $1 billion. He has the distinction of being the first Director in the United States of Latino descent. Mr. Valdes is the Chair of the AREAA Global Advisory Board and co-host of the 2020 AREAA Global Luxury Summit. He is also a current member of the NAHREP Corporate Board of Governors. Additionally, he is a the Executive Chair of eXp Latino and former member of the Realogy Diversity Board as well as the Executive Chair of the ONE VOZ, Hispanic ERG. He is a former Board Member of Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach as well as the Shanti Organization in San Francisco. Michael was also a Board Member of Pink & Blue for 2, an organization started by Olivia Newton-John to promote breast and prostate cancer awareness. Michael is also the host of "The Global Luxury Real Estate Mastermind" podcast which focuses on interviewing global leaders in the industry. It is currently distributed in over 90 countries and has over 10 million impressions. He is also a current member of the Forbes Real Estate Advisory Council. He currently resides in New York City and has a home in Miami.