Lots of companies talk the talk when it comes to collaboration, but how many really walk the walk? According to Tipper Williams, operating principal of Keller Williams Virginia Realty Alliance Group, it comes naturally at her firm because it’s part of the DNA of the Keller Williams brand itself. “I have found the support from this franchise to be incredible at all levels—there’s this great spirit of camaraderie we share,” she explains. Combine that with a profit-sharing system that allows agents a retirement avenue and the autonomy to approach real estate as a true business, and you have an environment where everyone can—and does—win.
Maria Patterson: How did you first get started in real estate?
Tipper Williams: My background is in special education. My start in real estate came when I was purchasing homes to renovate and resell. We truly didn’t understand the process of real estate, and the experience didn’t feel good to us. There was an ad in the local paper for a real estate course. I thought taking the course would provide us with more insight into the real estate transaction and would benefit us in the future, so I signed up. I had no intention of getting into real estate, but the gentleman teaching the course was the president of a real estate company and convinced me to come talk to him. I started out doing phone duty and wound up being Rookie of the Year. Turns out, I had a passion for it.
MP: How did you go from there to leading the Keller Williams Realty Virginia Alliance Group?
TW: It was a progression! I was invited to join another national real estate franchise, and, while there, attended a seminar. They talked about the idea that in order to be a successful business person in real estate, you had to leverage yourself. I walked away with the concept that you have to run your own business to be successful.
Eventually, I opened my own independent brokerage. From there, I recruited a great bunch of agents. I was solely unprepared to be a business owner. I made a lot of mistakes, but I learned from those mistakes. I owned a mortgage company next, and between those two, I was completely burned out. Eventually, I sold both.
I then started doing consulting for individual real estate agents. They told me I needed to look at a new real estate franchise that was coming to town called Keller Williams. I interviewed for a team leader position and it seemed way too good to be true. At the end of the day, they offered me a position as team leader, and I took it. I figured if they could do 50 percent of what they said they could do, this would be the best company I’d ever worked for, including my own. They went above and beyond my expectations. They were what they said they were going to be—and more!
MP: What was it that really made Keller Williams stand apart?
TW: Definitely the educational opportunities and …read more
From:: Real Estate News