MovotoMic Episode 3: Sherry Chris

On this edition of the MovotoMic is Sherry Chris, former president and CEO of Expansion Brands Portfolio at Anywhere Real Estate. Sherry has decades of real estate experience and was one of the longest-tenured CEOs in the real estate franchising world. Tune in to learn about Sherry’s career journey in the real estate industry. For more updates follow Movoto on Instagram @movotorealestate or download the Movoto app. 

Full Episode:

Full Transcript:

Patrick: Hello, and welcome to the Movoto Mic podcast, a new real estate podcast brought to you by Movoto. com. My name is Patrick Kearns. I’m an ex journalist and 10 year vet of the real estate industry who’s currently working as Movoto’s head of communications. Here with me today, as always, is my associate, Sophie Brandeis.

Patrick: Sophie, how you doing today? 

Sophie: Doing great. It’s Friday, Junior. Not too much to be upset about. There’s a full eclipse coming to Austin. 

Patrick: We are not quite in the path of totality here in upstate New York, but we currently have a snow day. So an April 4th snow day here, and I’ve got my kid home watching Frozen in the other room.

Patrick: So a lot going on here. Uh, Sophie, who’ve you brought today as our guest? 

Sophie: Today on the Movoto Mic, we have Sherry Criss. Sherry [00:01:00] has decades of real estate experience and was one of the longest tenured CEOs in the real estate franchising world. Sherry served as CEO of two global brands within the Anywhere Real Estate Expansion Portfolio, Better Homes and Gardens, and ERA Real Estate.

Sophie: She’s not just a CEO though, she’s a visionary in this industry and we are so excited to talk with her today. With that, welcome to the Movoto Mic, Sherry. 

Sherry: Thank you, Sophie and Patrick. It’s great to be here with both of you. And I’ll tell you, I’m in very cloudy and windy Florida today. So no snow, but no sunshine either.

Patrick: I think Sophie probably wins the weather game then in Texas. Sherry, as long as sort of, I’ve known you and you’ve been associated with and synonymous with Anywhere Real Estate and Anywhere Brands, Anywhere Family, but I didn’t know we’d start there. Tell us a little bit about how you got your start in real estate, why you chose real estate, what sort of drew you to this industry.

Sherry: Well, you’re taking me way back to [00:02:00] my days in Canada, where I actually started a career in banking and business development, uh, in my early twenties, uh, bought my first home and became very intrigued with the idea of the process around home ownership and how people buy homes. And so with that, I. Got my real estate license, uh, nights and weekends and left my job and started selling real estate, but that wasn’t where it all ended.

Sherry: Uh, what I found back then was that I’m a person that likes structure and I thrive on structure and. Real estate agents, as you may know, don’t have a lot of structure in their lives. They have to create it themselves. And so with that, I left the sales world after a few years and got into management and leadership.

Sherry: And then of course the rest is history. 

Sophie: So what sorts of roles did [00:03:00] you have as you sort of climbed the chain throughout the years? 

Sherry: I started after sales as an assistant manager. And so I was training agents. And what I really found at that time that the highest and best use of my skillset was to help others help consumers move on to the dream of home ownership.

Sherry: And so training programs and an assistant branch manager, I loved my job back then absolutely loved it. And, uh, but then there was more and I joined a large national company as a manager. Of very small office and quickly built it up. One of the things that I found back then was that people were skeptical of me as first of all, a woman in leadership, although my leadership role was Pretty junior then, but also a young woman in leadership.

Sherry: And so I was determined to prove everyone wrong. And it was that determination that really helped me move [00:04:00] forward in my career back in those days in Ontario, Canada. And, uh, certainly. Throughout my real estate career. And in 2003, I had reached a, you know, a great position of senior vice president of a large national company in Canada and started getting recruiting opportunities.

Sherry: into the US. And so that’s where my United States career started in September of 2003, which is 21 years ago. And I haven’t looked back since then. 

Patrick: A little over a year ago, we sold our Canadian operations to the Royal Bank of Canada and sort of ended for now our Ojo’s presence in Canada. But when we launched That search site and started working with real estate agents in Canada.

Patrick: It sort of felt a little bit like the wild West, me being like only used to us real estate. So what does that transition like, right? Moving from a different country and a whole different set of rules. It’s almost like you’ve got to [00:05:00] learn the entire business again, or maybe that’s sort of too big of an assumption.

Sherry: Well, from an ancillary services point of view, it is different. Um, you know, um, The mortgage end of it is different. Obviously, here in the U. S., you can write your mortgage interest off. In Canada, it’s the opposite, where people strive to pay off their mortgages as quickly as possible. The rates, the mortgage rates are not fixed for a 25 year term.

Sherry: They’re fixed for Usually about a five year term. So there’s that risk involved as well, but, uh, the actual selling of real estate, taking a listing, signing a listing agreement and showing homes and finding buyers and sitting on open houses. That’s all pretty identical. It’s the other pieces of the business that are different.

Sherry: So it wasn’t that big of a transition. And actually, by the time I started working in the U S I was mainly in franchising at that time and continued of course, [00:06:00] through my career to stay in the franchising end of it, creating tools and services and technology for franchisees and their agents and building out franchise brands.

Sherry: And that’s really where I found, you know, the, the true me in, um, in doing And, you know, have been with Anywhere for 19 years now. 

Sophie: Oh, speaking of franchise brands, I grew up seeing Better Homes and Gardens magazine in my grandmother’s house. Can you talk us through how Better Homes and Gardens became synonymous with real estate and not just a magazine and your impact there?

Sherry: Absolutely. So the Better Homes and Gardens brand itself is over 100 years old. 78 and this is a lot of historical information, but the three of us find it interesting and hopefully the audience will as well. In 1978, the Better Homes and Gardens brand decided to branch out into real estate, which made a lot of sense way back then.

Sherry: [00:07:00] And they actually managed a franchise network themselves for 20 years. And they decided that real estate is difficult as we all know. And so. They sold, uh, that entity in, in 1998 to, um, to GMAC who continued, you know, without the name, uh, they bought the franchise agreements and, you know, other assets. And so in 2008, Realogy at the time decided to launch a sixth brand.

Sherry: And it was really on the heels of the success of the Sotheby’s International Realty brand that we own and has been wildly successful. And so they signed a 100 year licensing agreement with Meredith corporation, the parent company of better homes and gardens. And at that time I was with Coldwell banker as their chief operating officer.

Sherry: And. Got called into the office one day and, um, offered the opportunity to launch a [00:08:00] startup, Better Homes and Gardens real estate brand, which of course I jumped at because to me, that was very, very exciting and, you know, uh, challenging as well because we launched in July of 2008 and in September of 2008, the, you know, financial, Meltdown and a very challenging times for several years within our industry.

Sherry: We’re just starting to unfold. And that was the time that I was trying to build a network across the country. So worlds collided, but with anything opportunity is out there. You just have to look. and challenge creates opportunity. And so it was really a tremendous opportunity. 

Patrick: That’s amazing. How do you keep that brand fresh and updated, right?

Patrick: As you’re recruiting new agents, how do you make sure that it isn’t synonymous with a hundred years ago? And it is just like this sort of fresh, cool place that people want to work. 

Sherry: Well, Patrick, that was one of the biggest challenges that I was worried about was that, uh, [00:09:00] everyone, you know, including brokers and agents would see it as my grandmother’s magazine and because, uh, you know, it, it did start over a hundred years ago.

Sherry: But, uh, what we quickly found out and looking at the incredible amount of data. that Meredith Corporation collects around that magazine, which is their flagship magazine remains. So, um, is that the, uh, you know, the actual demographics were spread across at that time, you know, strongly millennials, uh, Gen X.

Sherry: Um, baby boomers, et cetera. And now of course, Gen Z as well. And what we find with Better Homes and Gardens, the magazine is that young families and young single people are using the magazine to create their first homes. And so, uh, it is really spread out across all demographics and, and all different types of people.

Sherry: So for that, you know, we really launched around lifestyle and community and not necessarily. Just [00:10:00] buying and selling houses. 

Sophie: So on the topic of creating this brand that’s differentiated from the magazine and the hundred year old brand, a lot of real estate agents are building their own personal brand.

Sophie: What advice would you give to them to differentiate themselves? 

Sherry: It’s a great question. And you know, when I talk to people, I talk to the, talk to them about the importance of really co branding themselves. And. What they do and also having a branding partner. So when I look at real estate and real estate franchising, it’s kind of a triangular.

Sherry: So it’s the brand itself that provides marketing, technology, branding, et cetera. It’s the broker owner that provides training their own technology and guidance. And then it’s the agent that has the direct line of communication to the consumer. So what I talked to agents about is. At anywhere and I can speak for all of our brands spend millions of dollars a year in branding and [00:11:00] consumer awareness, et cetera.

Sherry: For agents, they might be spending tens of thousands of dollars a year. So why not align yourself with a strong brand and do what you do best. And that is going deep into the community, creating deep relationships with consumers and not spending a lot of money with. Your own branding because you don’t have the resources to, to really create a brand that may have, you know, 95, 96 percent national brand awareness.

Sherry: So that message doesn’t always get through, but, um, I do strongly believe that it’s that, um, triangle. That, uh, creates the strongest relationships between agents and consumers. 

Sophie: I think that makes sense so that you can focus on the skills that you do best while relying or having a different entity sort of do more of the marketing and branding for you.

Sherry: Exactly. And you know, in the early days, what we did was we built a brand guide, um, that allowed for a lot of creativity with agents. So [00:12:00] if they wanted to put their picture on their yard sign, you know, all of that, we. We created a brand standards guide that allowed for that because we know that, um, and it certainly is true today that creativity is often one of the strengths that, uh, you know, a real estate agent brings to the table, uh, within a company and, and certainly with the end consumer as well.

Patrick: I will say very anecdotally, when I was a journalist, Better Homes and Gardens real estate had my favorite stock images to use. You always had really nice high quality images and things like that where we’re like, When I was building a story, I was like, Oh, I always knew I could come up with a great header image with like a beautiful Better Homes and Gardens sign or things like that.

Patrick: So, 

Sherry: thank you, Patrick. That means a lot because you fell into an age demographic that, you know, we strive to make sure that we’re embracing. So I appreciate that. 

Patrick: I want to talk a little bit about franchise brands versus sort of different trends in real estate. Now, when you were building Better Homes and Gardens, it really wasn’t like you didn’t have these mega brokerages, right?

Patrick: You didn’t have like the EXPs [00:13:00] and the compasses of the world. It really was franchise brands. You were competing with the Keller Williams, the remaxes of the world, and then other franchises within the Anywhere Real Estate Network. Um, how do you think that’s changed? Like, is it, do you have to Really emphasize the value of a franchise brand.

Patrick: Is it, is it more competitive for agents now? Is it sort of explaining the value prop of a franchise brand more difficult now and harder to recruit? It’s 

Sherry: just, it’s very different. And it is, you’re absolutely right. When, uh, better homes and gardens real estate was launched, there was no compass, there was no EXP and those, uh, you know, those companies are actual brokerages and You know, we have, we’ve always competed, um, you know, internally against one another.

Sherry: Our six brands, uh, friendly competition, but we’ve always competed internally. Now we look at companies and brands out there that are competition for us. So we need to make sure that we continue to enhance [00:14:00] our value proposition and, uh, make sure that we are competing. I mean, when you look at. Our industry, uh, from a, an agent’s point of view and even a consumer’s point of view, they don’t really understand.

Sherry: Um, you know, if an agent is with a competitor like compass, what that means versus being with a better homes and gardens franchisee and, you know, having been in this business for 40 years, there’s been such an incredible evolution. I mean, in the early days, it was smaller. Franchise companies, uh, then, you know, huge franchise companies, a lot of mergers and acquisitions took place.

Sherry: Now there are brands that are competitors. What is the future going to hold? We always have to be looking to the future and making sure that we tweak our value prop and be relevant to agents, broker owners, and the end consumer with the increasing competitive. 

Patrick: As long as I’ve known you, you’ve taken a pretty active [00:15:00] role in that change.

Patrick: You just mentioned that you’ve been in the industry for 40 years, but you’ve never really been a bystander that sat back and said like, Okay, well, the industry will change and I will adapt to it. At Inman conferences, other real estate conferences, uh, Anywhere Zone conferences, you’ve always sort of been there.

Patrick: been one of the big spokespeople for the industry and one of the people pushing change. Does that give you an advantage you think in building a brand and recruiting agents and competing with some of these big companies, like not afraid to push the boundaries, not afraid to be a change driver in the industry.

Sherry: I think so. I have always been a person that takes calculated risks as much as I can. And so what that means to me is that I look at the potential upside. I look at the potential downside and decide whether Am I willing to take this calculated risk? And yes, there are a lot of bystanders that wait or copy what others are doing and try and do it better.

Sherry: The way my brain functions, and I’m happy about this, is that I often look at things differently than, than others in the industry and try and get out in front [00:16:00] of what’s happening. Anticipate the of the consumer, you know, in In launching better homes and gardens, real estate in 2008, a lot of the brands were transaction oriented at that time.

Sherry: And so we went out with a value proposition and a marketing plan that spoke about, um, lifestyle and community. And, uh, I had people calling me saying, I don’t understand what that means. And so what it meant then, and now it’s really mainstream and I’m not saying I invented it, but. But consumers by lifestyle, they dream about the next phase of their lives.

Sherry: They’re not looking at, you know, a bungalow compared to a two story home. They’re dreaming about what they want the Saturday night barbecue to look like with their family, et cetera. And that’s how we launched that brand. And there are a lot of. Brands out there that do that now, and I’m not saying they’re copying anyone, but they’ve all recognized that that’s important to the end [00:17:00] consumer.

Sherry: So you just, you know, you look at it from a consumer perspective rather than, you know, I hate the word deal. I, you know, I, I did two deals last month, uh, to me that’s terrible. No, you help two families move on to the next phase of their lives through home ownership. 

Patrick: Yeah, I love that. I think you might not want to give yourself credit for that, but I think a lot of people in the industry would, so I certainly am one of them.

Sophie: Yeah, what a, what an interesting way to think about buying and selling real estate. You’re not just buying a home, you’re moving on to the next phase or chapter of your life. You’re buying the barbecue with your family and sitting on the front porch. Okay, so this is a bit. of a change of topic and I’m not sure if you remember this but I went to the Inman conference in New York City and I met you and I shook your hand I said hi and I connected with you on LinkedIn after.

Sophie: I probably connected with 40 people or tried to connect with around 40 people after that conference. And you were one of the only ones who accepted my request and responded and said, if you need anything, let me know. And I really appreciate that, but where [00:18:00] does, where does that come from? What, what drives you to want to connect and make yourself available as a resource to younger people?

Sherry: Well, I always have and I do remember that Sophie and thank you for bringing that up. I believe that, uh, you know, deeper connections and doing the right thing and reaching out and helping people, whatever you do in that regard comes back to you, you know, let’s say tenfold. So giving openly without asking for anything in return.

Sherry: And I have always practiced that in my life. Personal life and my professional life and, uh, mentoring young, um, people coming into the business, mentoring young women. And in fact, one of the initiatives that I’m working on now is, uh, what moves her, which is our anywhere, uh, woman’s network that’s actually open to everyone.

Sherry: And, um, I’m so happy to be one of the co executive sponsors and working on behalf of Sue [00:19:00] Yannicone, who is our CEO and building out that network simply to help. And, um, it’s very rewarding personally, but it’s also rewarding professionally as well. So if you just take a moment every morning and go to your social media.

Sherry: LinkedIn, I have two Facebook accounts. I have, um, um, X, which I don’t post on that much anymore. And of course, Instagram, everyone’s favorite and, uh, just reach out to people and, um, give them a hello. You never know how that’s going to come back to you in a positive way. 

Sophie: Who are some of your mentors when you were younger?

Sherry: Oh, I’ve had mentors. So I actually had a mentor very early on in my management career, who, um, is a woman who’s in her eighties now. And. She was my first mentor and she was a trailblazer back then. And so she really helped me, you know, think about from a business [00:20:00] perspective, how to manage my office at the time and, um, how to build it and make it very powerful and profitable.

Sherry: And so I’ll always, uh, she’s a very close friend of mine in Toronto. I will always, and always do thank her for that. Then you have to move on. And so I’ve had mentors. Um, another mentor was, uh, the CEO that I reported to in Canada, the company that I worked for, and he was a very, very strong mentor who helped me accountable.

Sherry: And when you think about mentoring, it’s all about accountability. And so accountability. To me is noticing without judgment. And so I, you know, he noticed everything that I did and offered his remarks, which helped me do the right thing. And, uh, then I went on to have two other mentors, uh, Alex Perillo, some of you know, um, who’s retired now, he was a mentor of mine.

Sherry: And then one other [00:21:00] mentor that was more financial in nature who really helped me, um, you know, really understand. The, um, finances of our industry and how to, how to be profitable and, uh, and very profitable, how to do a lot without much. I mean, I like to say that anyone can be successful if they have a lot of money.

Sherry: But, uh, the true success in our industry and beyond is, uh, what can you do without a lot of money? And that’s where the brainpower comes in. 

Patrick: Um, you mentioned a little bit about what moves her, this new initiative you’ve started. Talk a little bit about what that is. I think there’s also a podcast component, right?

Patrick: So tell me a little bit about what you all are trying to do over there. 

Sherry: What we’re trying to do is, uh, build a network for the industry and beyond that, uh, is a place that women and allies, Uh, can come and, uh, get information, obtain information, listen to podcasts, uh, read blog posts, and, uh, you know, network individually.

Sherry: Some of the [00:22:00] things that we’re doing, obviously, uh, the podcasting. So, uh, We just, um, I’m learning the pod lingo now, which both of, you know, we just dropped a pod yesterday. Is that, is that how you say it? 

Patrick: I think so. Sophie’s a little cooler than I am, so she probably knows more. 

Sherry: I’m learning myself too. So, uh, we have 10, um, pods that, uh, we’ve recorded and we, uh, you have to listen to this one because it is our CEO, Ryan Schneider and, uh, just such great and humble.

Sherry: Insight and I think that humility is such a great trade in a leader. So that’s part of it. We are going to our internal conferences and external. We had the great opportunity to host a panel at the Inman Conference in New York in January. That was standing room only and women talking about their life experiences and how they overcame objections and, you know, and challenges throughout their career.

Sherry: We’re doing it [00:23:00] internally at our. Um, anywhere events as well and, uh, building membership and, and then we will, you know, ultimately host our own events. So I think the timing is right now. And certainly some of the things that took place, you know, over the past year that, uh, were troubling to women. Um, Sue Yannacone was really the leader who spoke out about that and we’re proud of her that, uh, she had the courage to do that.

Sherry: And so the time is right to have a platform that, um, that really speaks to that. And so in my new role, which I’m actually coming up to a year, uh, since my announced retirement, my one, one of the, things that I’m doing now for Anywhere is building out that network and I’m enjoying it so much. It’s just, you know, it’s fantastic because I’m able to take everything that I’ve learned in my vast career and put all of that energy into what moves her now, which is [00:24:00] great.

Patrick: I’ll give a shout out to Ryan Schneider too, who was always super generous with his time and knowledge when I was your reporter. So that, that sounds like it will be a great episode. 

Sophie: So to wrap this podcast up, we like to do a little game called rapid fire. Let’s get real. Basically you have to answer really quick without thinking too much.

Sherry: I’m ready. And this was not given to me in advance. So, um, you know, giving a heads up on that. 

Patrick: What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your 40 years of real estate? 

Sherry: To always take a step back and don’t act, um, irrationally based on emotion. Business is business. 

Sophie: You have three minutes to talk to yourself year one at your first job at Royola Page.

Sophie: What would you tell her? 

Sherry: I would say just that. I would say, uh, create more structure and accountability in your life. Um, although I don’t have any regrets because one thing leads to the next, but, uh, I could have been more successful in selling real estate by allowing myself to be [00:25:00] held accountable.

Patrick: Awesome. And I don’t want to get you in trouble here, but, uh, Outside of Better Homes and Gardens and maybe ERA, uh, given the way the franchise brands network work, what was your favorite logo of any of the Anywhere real estate brands? 

Sherry: Oh, this is a tough one. Uh, actually, I, it’s hard for me to answer that because they’re all unique.

Sherry: And here’s how I’m going to answer it is that in, um, building out, like building out better homes and gardens, real estate, it was from scratch. So we had logos. We, Um, the city of Toronto actually mocked up yard signs and put them out in front of our building and drove up and down the street to see what looked best.

Sherry: Uh, make sure that it didn’t look like Sotheby’s. It didn’t look like Coldwell Banker, Century 21, um, you know, Corcoran and, uh, and ERA. And when you look at our six logos, they’re all very different. And the two refreshes that took place over the past several years, Coldwell Banker and Century 21, kudos to both of those brands because they look great.

Sherry: So that’s my diplomatic answer, but my honest one. I love that. I will take that. Sherry, it was so great speaking with you. Thank you, Sophie. And thank you, Patrick. And it was awesome. And I’m going to circle back with you and maybe even have both of you on our podcast. We would love that.