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Justin Landis: Welcome to The Justin Landis Show, your real estate podcast about having conversations, building relationships, and creating freedom. Today we're switching seats. Usually you hear Kristin say, hello, this is Kristin from The Kristin Show. I'm here with Justin Landis, CEO and realtor of The Justin Landis Group. But today it's the opposite. I'm Justin Landis with The Justin Landis Show, here with Kristin Klingshirn, founder and host of The Kristin Show.
Kristin Klingshirn: It's a little weird, but I kind of like it.
Justin Landis: You've been in radio a long time. How did that career start?
Kristin Klingshirn: Twenty three years now. I started in promotions, not on air, setting up equipment at station appearances. It didn't pay much, but I loved radio from the moment I walked into the station. I wanted to be on air. A program director in Cincinnati told me I didn't have what it takes. That was all the motivation I needed. My old marketing director back home in Lexington, Kentucky, offered me a job if I'd take an on air shift. They gave me overnights on the rock station, WKQQ. My radio name was Kitten. You don't get to pick your own name. That turned into weekends, then an afternoon show.
Justin Landis: Radio is a small industry.
Kristin Klingshirn: Very small. Everybody knows everybody, so you never burn a bridge. While I was there, a mentor of mine who had become a program director in Raleigh called and asked if I'd ever thought about doing mornings. I said no, because I am not a morning person. But I told her, if you're going to pay me to wake up early, I can handle it. I auditioned for a morning show in Raleigh, the furthest I had ever been from home. There was instant chemistry in the room. I got the job. That was almost twenty years ago.
Justin Landis: And five years into that, Atlanta happened. A lot of people here know you from The Burt Show.
Kristin Klingshirn: When I saw in the radio trades that the previous co-host was leaving, I went after it hard. Radio is small, and Burt and I had already crossed paths, so I emailed him every single day with clips. Funny moments, storytelling bits, parody songs, anything and everything. I still have the old email account. I was treating every clip like a golden ticket to Atlanta.
Justin Landis: Was he responding?
Kristin Klingshirn: Every time. I put it all out there because vulnerability is the whole game in radio. The more of a hot mess you are, the better you are on air. Going in polished was never the goal. Going in as myself was. If you're authentic and you back it up with hard work, it's hard to say no to. Burt couldn't say no. I was on the show for fourteen years.
Justin Landis: Burt retired last October. How did that feel?
Kristin Klingshirn: There's a lot to unpack there. I used to joke he was the boy who cried retirement, because it never actually happened. People go into radio because we need validation. We need someone to listen to us. You get used to that feedback, good or bad. He and I had a transition plan we worked on for years, but it ultimately wasn't our call how the station moved forward. That was a bummer. But after fourteen years, he's one of my best friends. When you're that vulnerable on air together, sharing an IVF journey, grief after losing my dad, mental health, you build real trust. Burt always made that a safe space.
Justin Landis: Let's talk brand. The show was called The Burt Show, and now it's The Kristin Show. What was it like building your own brand under someone else's name?
Kristin Klingshirn: Honestly, I've been beating myself up about this. I'm an all or nothing person, to a fault. I didn't pursue any side hustles while I was on The Burt Show, because I gave the show everything. I remember being on a panel where every other host talked about their side projects, and when it got to me I said, no, I do the show and I'm a mom, that's all I have time for. It got applause. I know what I'm capable of and what I'm not. Spreading myself too thin would have hurt everyone around me. I put my whole self into making that show as successful as it could be. No regrets there.
Kristin Klingshirn: Then my son came along and I had to rebuild my priorities completely. He's five now. It's the same thing agents deal with. A lot of people build their business pre kids, going out constantly, meeting people every night. Then suddenly you can't give six nights a week anymore. I had to set limits. I can only host one event a month now, because I won't take that weekend away from my son. So make it the best event you've ever done.
Kristin Klingshirn: When podcasts started coming up for me, the idea of creating extra content on top of the show felt impossible. Everything good I had was going to The Burt Show. Anything left over would have been my B or C material, and nobody wants that. So I said no to all of it. I stayed active on social, but not as active as I probably should have been. Looking back, I wonder about the bigger following, the extra engagement, the podcast I could have started sooner. But I catch myself. There's still time.
Justin Landis: What would you tell someone building a brand inside someone else's name right now?
Kristin Klingshirn: Be kind to yourself. Don't expect fast results. This is a long game, not a short one. When I started The Kristin Show, I got frustrated because things weren't moving fast enough. That's the world we live in now, everyone wants everything immediately. Good things take time. I'm a good idea person, but execution is where I struggle. That's why you surround yourself with people who believe in the vision the same way you do. My co-host Ethan believes in The Kristin Show the way I believed in The Burt Show before it. If the people around you share that mindset, your brand will go far.
Justin Landis: Hearing you say that, being all in is exactly what built the trust people have in your voice.
Kristin Klingshirn: And that value is hard to put a number on. It's the same in real estate. It's a relationship business. People have to trust the voice behind it. If you're all in, they will.
Justin Landis: Let's talk about the transition to The Kristin Show this year.
Kristin Klingshirn: There's no comparing it to The Burt Show. That was a once in a lifetime run, and radio doesn't really produce those opportunities anymore. I'm grateful for it, but I'm careful not to compare the two. The Kristin Show is its own thing. I can take inspiration from what worked before, but trying to recreate it isn't the goal.
Kristin Klingshirn: We went from a staff of eleven down to a staff of two. I'm very hands on now. I have high expectations and high standards from working with Burt, and when you hold too many of those with too few hands, all you get is disappointment. So I'm managing my expectations without lowering my standards. Those aren't the same thing. We just do less, and we do it right.
Justin Landis: That happens in real estate too. You could do a hundred things, but with a smaller team you have to choose the few that matter most and do those well.
Kristin Klingshirn: Exactly. I've always paid attention to input versus output. Here's an example. Ethan, my co-host, handles social media, video editing, the algorithm side, captions, timing. He's my golden retriever puppy, I'm the senior version with the same energy but a little more subdued. If something's a weakness for you, find it in someone else, and don't treat it as competition. It's not. It's elevating you.
Kristin Klingshirn: One night I was scrolling late and saw a photo a local news reporter had posted, a sad, lonely Easter Bunny at a nearly empty mall in Augusta. It hit me. I checked my schedule, no meetings that morning, looked up when the mall's bunny had openings, and texted Ethan. He was in immediately. The next morning we drove to Augusta, found the corniest matching shirts we could find at the department store there, and took full old school photos with the Easter Bunny. We made it back to the station just in time for the show, and Ethan cut the video together. It went viral, about 1.5 million views.
Kristin Klingshirn: I got home late that night. My husband asked if I knew what I was doing, spending that much energy on it. I told him it was going to go viral. I had no idea if that was true, but I wasn't about to admit that in the moment. Turns out I was right, and I got to remind him of that afterward.
Justin Landis: What made it work?
Kristin Klingshirn: There's some luck in any viral moment, but it hit a real chord. Malls are fading, and there's nostalgia in that for a lot of people. Family traditions like taking a photo with the Easter Bunny barely happen anymore. And people wanted something light and goofy to pull them away from everything heavy in the news. It landed exactly the way I hoped.
Justin Landis: What a story. We're going to end part one here, but don't miss part two, where Kristin goes deeper on vulnerability, authenticity, and how that's worked for her on social media. Thanks for listening this week to The Justin Landis Show. Make sure to like and subscribe so you don't miss an episode. We'll see you again next week.
