Women in Real Estate:
A Powerful Presence Among RISMedia’s 2021 Newsmakers by Maria Patterson
L
ast month, RISMedia revealed the 300-plus industry professionals honored as 2021 Real Estate Newsmakers. Among this year’s Newsmakers, recognized in eight different categories, is a growing force of headline-making women in real estate. Here, we highlight just a few of this year’s honorees: ACHIEVERS
Jennifer Shemwell
President Phyllis Browning Company A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Business School, Shemwell leads the firm founded by her mother, Phyllis Browning. In 2020, the company was recognized as an innovator and leader in COVID-19 best practices, and surpassed many of their 2019 numbers within the first three months of 2020.
CRUSADERS
Fee Gentry
Co-Founder & Chairperson ONE eXp In addition to co-founding the ONE eXp diversity and inclusion initiative, Gentry is the founder of the Black Network at eXp and a member of the board of directors at eXp World Holdings, Inc. Throughout 2020, she helped lay the foundation for action and awareness within eXp, setting company policies to fight racism and division. FUTURISTS
Kathryn Redican
Chief Operating Officer Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England, New York and Westchester Properties With Redican’s guidance, the firm rolled out more tools and campaigns than ever before to support business during the pandemic, including the ability to make offers on a property directly from the website, training materials on virtual open houses and creating a new designation: Virtual Specialist.
INFLUENCERS
Nicole Lopez Cummins
Founder/REALTOR® True Houston Real Estate A property rights advocate, Lopez Cummins co-created an online platform in 2020 where vendors who had participated in traveling shows could continue to sell their goods during COVID-19. Lopez Cummins and team also 16 March 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE
helped vendors set up Facebook Business pages, using funds raised to create Texas Relief Warriors, a nonprofit for assisting hurricane victims.
INSPIRATIONS
Anne Fish
Advisor Engel & Völkers Jackson Hole Fish is a real estate professional dedicated to pledging a share of her commissions to charities and nonprofits. Since she was unable to hold annual fundraising events in 2020, Fish stepped up her efforts and donated tens of thousands of dollars to local causes through her 10% of commissions at closing program.
LUMINARIES
Marty Rodriguez
CENTURY 21 Marty Rodriguez Rodriguez is recognized as one of the most successful agents in the history of the CENTURY 21® franchise, her team ranking first in the country for 13 consecutive years, and first in the world for six consecutive years. Rodriguez quickly adapted to the challenges of COVID-19 and maintained her entire staff while providing top service through virtual business.
TRAILBLAZERS
Tanya Reu-Narvaez
SVP Human Resources Realogy Holdings Corp. Reu-Narvaez has grown workforce diversity and inclusion (D&I) by building relationships with NAHREP, AREAA, NAGLREP, NAREB and WomanUP. In 2020, she launched the Inclusive Ownership Program to increase diversity in the Coldwell Banker broker/owner base, and took the Agents of Change events virtual. She also helped launch in-house Fair Housing Training and local D&I Councils.
TRENDSETTERS
Chao Cheng-Shorland
CEO & Co-Founder ShelterZoom With a background in technology and forward-thinking ideas, Cheng-Shorland has helped to usher in revolutionary ways to manage documents and contracts in a secure manner. With the onset of the pandemic, she developed a software platform, DocuWalk, allowing agents to carry out high-quality services completely virtually. RE
To see RISMedia’s complete gallery of 2021 Real Estate Newsmakers, please visit rismedia.com/2021-newsmakers.
