Diana Lee is the highly-acclaimed co-founder and CEO of Constellation Agency, Inc's 10th fastest-growing women-led company in the United States. During the pandemic, Diana also started a non-profit 501(c)(3) called the Do Good Auto Coalition that helps use underutilized resources like dormant test drive vehicles at dealerships to help transport critical PPE and food supplies to homeless shelters, hospitals, and more. Every week, the DGAC transports 20,000 pounds of food to families around the Newark area.
What we discuss in this episode:
- David stars the conversation by inquiring into the past of Diana Lee — what brought her to this point of her career and life — how she thinks the way that she does and what factors have contributed to her success.
- The road to success requires facing many unknowns. Diana transparently shares that there were many sleepless nights over the years, but without them, the lessons required for success would not have been learned.
- As a child, Diana was very shy. In 1974, Diana's parents immigrated to the United States and she was raised in the slums of Philadelphia. She learned to speak English from American television, namely the Brady Bunch. Coming from an immigrant-Asian family, there were many feelings of shame if she didn't achieve specific goals. Diana's desire to overcome her shyness came in large part by not wanting to add additional burden to her parents, who struggled as immigrants to make ends meet to provide for the family.
- Diana's upbringing led to her determination to be in control of the outcomes in her life. She learned that she never wants to depend on anyone else to create success and a future for herself.
- Diana shares the attributes that have helped her stand out in a male-dominated industry (automotive).
- There is a common attribute among the successful. They hate loosing. This is no different for Diana Lee who recalls the 15 hour days building Constellation Agency, visiting car dealerships day in and day out trying to speak to car dealers about her business.
- One of the most powerful lessons Diana's mentors have taught her is the importance of helping others first, knowing that you'll be taken care of. Sadly, too many people go about their lives with a "me first" mindset and then wonder why nothing good ever comes their way.
- Diana shares some of the big failures that she's experience in her life. It's important to keep going. Failure happens along the way and it's those compounded lessons that truly help us become good.
- David shares his observation that truly successful people are rarely driven by making money. There are other motivating factors that have propelled them to achieve incredible outcomes.
- 100% of the population wants to win, but only 3% does.
- When selling a product, a lesson Diana has learned is that you have to drill your product or service down to it being the only thing that will solve the customers problem without exception. That drive doesn't come from the desire to earn more money, it comes from an absolute belief that what you do is going to help improve the other person's life or circumstances.
- Often when people think big, they are usually still confined to the field they primarily work within. David explains that thinking and seeing bigger requires you to go beyond your comfort zone — looking to other industries for ways that you can expand.
- Each time that you grow, you need to iterate your processes - with rapid grow it's important to know that every process breaks.
- Business, much like parenting, is about responding to the conditions of the market — being in-tune to the needs of the market and adapting as needed.
- David teaches that when a company stops re-inventing, they are in decline.
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