Sherry Chris Builds Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate from the Ground Up

Without realizing it at the time, Sherry Chris learned at an early age about what would become one of the foundations of her career.  

As the eldest of four children and the daughter of working parents, it wasn’t unusual for Chris to come home from school and prepare family meals, help with housework and anything else her mom needed. Chores at home taught her structure, discipline and of course, responsibility, all of which she applies in her current role as president and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC.

“Every step in my career prepared me for my current role,” Chris said. She did not have a particular set path but knew she wanted to influence the industry and do as much as she could within it. “When I look back at the early years in my career, I never even dreamed that I would be sitting where I am today,” she said.

Early Years
Chris' first job was in banking. She purchased her first home and became intrigued with the process. She took the real estate licensing course at night and on weekends, and a year later left the bank to start selling real estate full time. Within two years, at the age of 25, Chris obtained her broker's license and became an assistant manager. She joined Royal LePage in 1987.

As a manager, Chris assumed increasingly senior positions until she left, 16 years later, as executive vice president overseeing operations for the entire company. During her tenure at Royal LePage, Chris had joined a number of organizations. Through meetings and networking, she was recruited by Columbus, Ohio-based Real Living, which she joined as President, Real Living Network Services. From July 2005 to December 2006, Chris was chief operating officer at Prudential.

She joined Realogy in 2006, where she served as chief operating officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, directing operations, education, mortgage and field service programs. She also focused on communications among Coldwell Banker, its regional offices and its global affiliate network of 4,000 offices. Appointed to her current role following Realogy’s announcement of its 50-year agreement with Meredith Corporation to license the Better Homes and Gardens name, job one for Chris was launching the new, global real estate brand in the summer of 2008.

‘The Ultimate Opportunity’
When she was asked to launch the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand, Chris became its first employee. “It was the ultimate opportunity for me,” she said. When she joined Coldwell Banker, it was a more mature company, with 4,000 offices and 120,000 agents throughout the world. At Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Chris faced a monumental task: launch a brand without franchisees. And while Better Homes and Gardens was a well-known brand, it was not well known in the real estate industry.

Today, Chris has 16 team members at Better Homes and Gardens. She has assembled a strong senior team, “putting the right people in place,” to help drive the business forward.

As president and CEO, Chris encourages her senior team to be challenged and to make mistakes, to help “people grow and develop.” “Our senior team is the future of our business,” she said. “Managers cannot be afraid to hire people who do certain things better than they can, and that holds true for me.”

“Typical days” for Chris are far from typical. When this article went to press, Chris was still in the pre-launch stage of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate. Her typical day began at 7:00 a.m. with a series of back-to-back, non-stop meetings with potential brokers and franchisees, as well as team meetings to finalize marketing pieces and put the finishing touches on training and servicing platforms, to name just a few items. And she makes time every day to keep up with social networking on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

There’s no doubt that passion for the real estate industry drives this executive. As Chris described it, “I live and breathe real estate, and I love this business from the ground up.”

Chris and her husband Ted maintain homes in Toronto and Morristown, NJ. Being apart during the week allows the two to dive into their professional lives. Ted maintains a law practice in Toronto.

“Ted has supported me wholeheartedly throughout my career, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without him,” Chris said. While some couples commute between cities, Chris and her husband commute between countries. “Not every spouse would be supportive of a partner working in another country, but Ted is behind me 100 percent,” she said. Continue to page 2