Are you receiving Inman’s Broker Edge? Make sure you’re subscribed here.

Broker Edge Spotlight: Anne and Dave Jones, Windermere Abode

Brokerage: Windermere Abode

Established: 2017

Location: Tacoma, Washington

Size: 26 full-time agents

Sales volume: $300 million-plus total sales volume

3 reasons Anne and Dave are in the spotlight

1. Perspective

They have a point-of-view and aren’t afraid to show it (which was the plan from the inception of their brokerage). “Our approach from the very beginning was to dismiss the idea that a business should be politically neutral,” Anne said. “And we’ve been able to weave this focus on community and social justice into what we do.”

Anne attributes their ability to commit to their passions to Windermere’s franchisee support.

“That allows us to commit time to the other things that interest us: Making real estate a more diverse and inclusive space and creating fun and innovative marketing that highlights our talented brokers,” Anne said. “Video and social media are the main tools we’ve leveraged to grow our company and market our listings.”

Here’s what their 2021 looked like:

2. Activism

They’re putting the word out about their efforts, keeping the conversation going and giving back.

One example: After the murder of George Floyd, Dave took to Instagram and LinkedIn and counseled other leaders on how to handle it within their businesses. “We really just wanted to be transparent with our community and visible as human beings impacted by the violence vs. simply making a written statement as a company,” Anne said.

3. Leadership

They were Inman’s Person of the Year in 2020 for their exemplary leadership amid the pandemic. Early on, they leaped into action. They closed the office’s doors and upped their agent communication, leaning hard on FaceTime calls with the team, creating unique events and opportunities for agent collaboration, and doubling podcast production to keep their agents informed.

Looking forward, Anne and Dave are excited about 2022. “It’s been fun to watch our young brokerage (and brokers!) mature, and we’re so happy to be participating in some Windermere supported programs, including the Aspire Program (a paid Summer internship with UW students from historically underrepresented communities) and the Sam Smith program, which is a down payment assistance fund targeted to first-time Black homeowners,” Anne said.

Know someone who should be featured in an upcoming Broker Edge Spotlight? Nominations, please, to brokeredge@inman.com.