Anywhere’s Sherry Chris talks brand building, crisis management with the ‘Real Estate Insiders’

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.