About Doug Smart, CSP

Doug is an expert at helping individuals and organizations identify and magnify their natural strengths so they can reach their goals smarter, faster and easier. He is an award winning, international, business motivational speaker. Since 1990, he has presented nearly 2,000 programs from London to Luxor to Los Angeles. He is the author/co-author of 25 books. Doug is certified to provide the newest scientifically validated assessment instruments. For 3 years he hosted the motivational radio show, Smarter by the Minute.

In 1998, the National Speakers Association, awarded him their highest earned designation, Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), an honor held by less than 9% of their 4,000 members world-wide.

Doug is the author of numerous articles and has been included in articles in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and New Orleans Times-Picayune. He writes a column for the North Atlanta Business Post. His motivational podcast, Smarter by the Minute, is available to high achievers in 168 countries.

Prior to starting a consulting and training business, Doug worked in the residential real estate industry for 16 years. He began as a licensed salesman at 21 years old with zero credibility in the business. At that point, he had never owned real estate, yet he attempted to advise people on the biggest purchase of their lives. One of his many challenges in the beginning was that buyers refused to get into his run down, bright yellow car! It took 7 months to make his first sale. But he stuck with it and at age 28, based on his sales success, his trade association recognized him with a Life Membership in the Million Dollar Club. He was their youngest recipient. He later owned and operated one of the largest residential real estate brokerages in his city, giving him practical, hands-on experience in teambuilding, leadership, change management, and communication. The biggest revelation, he says, was the clear insight he got on understanding human behavior. This later lead to his fascination with the newest, most accurate assessment tools. "They take the gamble out," he says.

Before he was 30, Doug owned 25 properties, including a shopping center. After selling his real estate business, he joined the management team at Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate and, later, Latter & Blum Realtors, a company with 500 salespeople. He served as Director of Recruiting where he learned a person's strengths and talents cannot be known simply thorough interviews. "Many people don't know their own strengths and talents," Doug teaches. "If they don't know, how can any boss know the true capabilities of his or her team? That's why the insights and assessment tools I provide are valuable."

Driven to share with others how anyone can find success by maximizing their natural strengths, in 1990, Doug and his wife, Gayle, partnered in starting Smart Business Seminars. This later became Smart Business International as the scope of the business grew. Over the last two decades, Doug and his associates have learned - first hand - some of the best practices from Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, hospitals, factories, associations, and government offices, across North America and around the world. Smart Business International has a wealth of "smarts" to share with your group, too.

Smart Business International is based in the suburbs of Atlanta.