This
week
on
the
“Real
Estate
Insiders
Unfiltered“
podcast,
hosts
James
Dwiggins
and
Keith
Robinson
sit
down
with

Sherry
Chris,
executive
adviser
at


Anywhere
Brands,
and
the
former
CEO
of


Better
Homes
and
Gardens
Real
Estate.
The
episode
dives
deep
into
Chris’
background
and
includes
key
insights
into
leadership,
innovation,
the
power
of
relationships
and
new
perspectives
on
the
future
of

real
estate
in
the
next
three
years. 

The
episode
begins
with
details
into
Chris’
early
career
and
background.
She
began
her
career
in

Canada,
where
she
established
herself
as
an
agent
before
receiving
her
broker’s
license.
Chris
later
found
her
way
to
the
U.S.
to
pursue
an
opportunity
with

Realogy,
and
she
hasn’t
looked
back
after
20
years
working
stateside. 

Dwiggins
follows
up
with
a
question
on
how
Sherry
approaches
new
leadership
roles
with
different
companies.
She
explains
that
some
leaders
join
companies
and
make
it
a
point
to
change
everything,
whereas
she
focuses
on
implementing
growth
strategies
to
build
on
previous
successes.
Chris
aims
to
consistently
surround
herself
with
people
who
are
smarter,
have
complementary
skill
sets
and
demonstrate
humility
in
the
workplace.

Robinson
then
asks
a
question
about
balancing
between
consensus
building
on
a
major
decision
and
making
a
solo
decision
as
an
executive
leader.
Chris
shares
that
everything
begins
with
trust
within
an
organization,
and
she
makes
it
a
point
to
keep
her
team
members
informed
when
it
comes
to
key
leadership
decisions.

“If
you
build
trust,
and
your
team
members
know
that
they
have
a
say,
absolutely.
I
value
their
opinions,”
Chris
says.
“But
in
the
end,
there
truly
is
one
final
decision
maker,
and
you
have
to
build
your
team
that
way.”

Next,
Robinson
mentions

Chris’s
tenure
as
the
CEO
of
the
Better
Homes
and
Gardens
Real
Estate
brand.
Chris
dives
into
her
experience
building
the
brand
from
scratch.
When
she
took
on
the
role,
she
faced
challenges
tied
to
the
2008
financial
crisis
and
other
related
issues.
Despite
these
challenges,
the
brand
grew
to
earn
a
90%
consumer
awareness
rating
that
still
persists
today.
Chis
attributes
her
success
to
her
positive
outlook
on
life
and
willingness
to
take
calculated
risks.

“It’s
a
combination
of
vision
and
execution,
so
the
vision
is
the
positivity
piece
and
the
execution
is
the
hard
work,”
Chris
shares.
“I
didn’t
take
a
vacation
for
years,
because
I
was
afraid
I
would
miss
a
sale.”

Dwiggins
also
asks
about
challenges
that
Chris
has
faced
as
a

woman
executive
in
a
male-dominated
industry.
When
her
career
started,
Chris
was
not
only
the
youngest
in
the
room
but
the
only
woman
as
well.
Today,
she’s
happy
to
see
that
more
than
50%
of
the
executives
at
Anywhere
Real
Estate
are
women.
She
seeks
to
empower
underrepresented
individuals
in
pushing
through
and
earning
a
sense
of
belonging.

In
the
next
segment
of
the
conversation,
the
group
offers
advice
for
new
leadership
in
real
estate,
navigating
change
in
the
industry,
and
Chris’s
vision
for
the
future
of
the
industry.
Chris
addresses
the

new
CEO
of
the


National
Association
of
Realtors
(NAR),
advising
her
and
all
new
leaders
to
focus
on
building
trust
in
the
Realtor
community
by
demonstrating
efforts
to
improve
instead
of
making
promises.
It’s
also
important
to

embrace
the
rule
changes
driven
by
the
NAR

commission
lawsuit
settlement
and
focus
on
driving
value
to
consumers. 

Chris
urges
industry
professionals
to
embrace
change
and
move
in
the
direction
of
the
industry
at
large,
rather
than
trying
paddle
upstream.
A

lack
of
education
regarding
changes
can
cause
a
strong
resistance
to
them.
To
close
out
the
conversation,
she
says
hopes
to
see
an
industrywide
acceptance
of
the
business
practice
changes
along
with
increased
trust
between
consumers
and
agents.  

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