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On this week’s episode of the RealTrending podcast, host Tracey Velt chats with Sarah Reynolds, the CEO of EmpowerHome with Keller Williams, about leadership and navigating a shifting real estate market.
Reynolds said the key to success is to focus on what agents can control, not market fluctuations. Keeping real estate fun boosts morale and drives performance, she added. Her leadership style focuses on a growth mindset — especially when hiring — and prioritizing innovation.
While new brokerage models may bring fresh ideas, Reynolds emphasizes that client needs — not industry trends — should guide decisions.
This conversation excerpt has been edited for length and clarity.
Velt: How do you keep pushing yourself and your team to innovate and grow?
Reynolds: First and foremost, it really matters who you get into business with. One of the things we look for when hiring agents is whether they have a growth mindset — how they handle change, how they’ve adapted in the past.
She explains that the real estate industry is experiencing a period of massive change, possibly the most significant in its history.
Reynolds: If someone doesn’t have it in them to accept change and adapt quickly, they just won’t make it. So to me, it’s about who you hire — people who value growth, people who want to keep learning and improving no matter how many families they serve. There’s no room for ego at EmpowerHome.
Reynolds: (If someone comes in) and it’s all about them, all about what they’ve done, that’s probably (not a fit for us). We hire to the values that we’re looking for and then it’s easy to have growth. It’s easy to innovate. It’s easy to change quickly when you are hiring based on those qualities to begin with.
Velt: Are you seeing a different kind of agent emerge in response to all of the changes in the industry?
Reynolds: Not quite yet. I’d love for you to ask me that question a year from now, and I hope my answer is yes. Because what will happen is, names that we’ve never heard of right now will rise up because they don’t know any different.
