Mo Anderson: Farmer's Daughter Triumphs In Rags-to-riches Story

(Monday, November 01, 2004) - Anderson walks to the podium, praying intently, "Lord, I'm in trouble." Utterly shocked by the announcement, she has no acceptance speech. Heck, she told her slightly ill husband not to attend the awards luncheon. She just knew she wouldn't be selected for a "Profile in Power" award from the Austin Business Journal, which honors outstanding business women in Central Texas each year. She had been nominated two other years and always made the top 25 but never won the prize. Today would be different. The judges had been moved by Anderson's journey and the difference she has made in the lives of others with her motivation, determination and commitment to excellence. The daughter of a tenant farmer is one of only a handful of CEO women in the country, serving at the helm of Austin-based Keller Williams Realty International. As she reached the podium to accept the award, she paused and turned to the 500-plus people in the audience with a God-inspired address. At 67, Anderson spoke of her life and the truths she had learned: a farm girl's work ethic; a teacher's respect of others, especially of those less fortunate; and a businesswoman's gratitude and love for those who helped her succeed. "I am a witness to the fact that the American Dream really does exist, even today," she said. Anderson grew up in impoverished rural Oklahoma. She was tenacious as she worked her way through college. She taught music in public school, sensitive to the less fortunate to whom she taught. Boldly, she went into business for herself, enduring great losses in the Oil Bust and persevering to become CEO of an international company. She is one of only two women CEOs listed in the Top 25 Corporate Employers in Austin, according to ABJ's 2004 Book of Lists. Just less than a decade ago, Anderson became coowner and CEO of Keller Williams. In that time, she has taken it from a few dozen offices to 400 offices across the United States and Canada with 34,000 associates. Today, Keller Williams Realty is the fifth largest residential real estate firm in the country, on track to hit a billion dollars in gross commission income this year. Approximately 1,400 associates are located in the Austin area alone. The company's tenets are based on Christian principles. "I believe I'm a missionary," says Anderson. "I happen to be in America and not in Africa." She launched KW Cares, a nationwide nonprofit initiative – one way Anderson fulfills her mission. It aids Keller Williams families in times of extraordinary need. Each real estate office contributes to a fund for "family" members hit by disasters across the country. She respects and honors diversity. An associate told her: "Mo, I'm so glad you recognize other religions." Anderson's response: "I respect the right of an individual to have another religion, but I am a follower of Christ. "Christ taught us to love other people … not to stuff our faith down the throats of other people. … We articulate values in our company. God and family come first, business issues second." nderson's story is a cyclical one of bust and boom. Imozelle Freda Gregg was the fifth of five children. Two remain today. Her oldest brother died a year ago, her only sister died of leukemia in 1992 and a brother she never knew died at age 3. She grew up on a tenant farm in rural Waukomis in northwest Oklahoma. Anderson has never forgotten her roots. Recently, she established the nonprofit Gregg Foundation in Oklahoma to help the elderly in memory of her parents, John and Audra, who died in 1982. "They worked so hard to keep us fed and clothed," Anderson says of her parents, who developed much of their character out of the Great Depression. Through college loans and work, she was fortunate to attend a university, a women's school in Chickasha, Okla. She studied music, although her job kept her from rehearsal. The practice rooms all closed before she got off work. After a year, she transferred to the University of Oklahoma, continuing to work different jobs. She wanted to join a sorority. She didn't. Money was tight. She and her high school sweetheart, Richard "Mo" Anderson This farmer's daughter triumphs in rags-to-riches story of determination, brains, will, drive and faith in the Lord Mo Anderson worked as a public school music teacher before going into real estate. Anderson with her assistant, Toni Gardner, center; overlooking Lakeway waters from the Costa Bella clubhouse, right. M A JOHNNY STEVENS November 2004 • AUSTINWOMAN 39 Anderson, married while at OU. She graduated with a degree in education and took a job in a public school. The public school setting served as her first career. Anderson put her heart and soul into music, teaching for 14 years. But her husband saw great potential beyond the classroom for her. He knew the hard worker's spiritual gifts would be better served in the business world. As a ruse, he enrolled her in a real estate class so he would have a classmate. "I was just stunned," she says. "We hadn't even bought our first home." But the quiet, encouraging husband knew her potential and talent. At the age of 37, Anderson cofounded a Century 21 real estate office in Edmond, north of Oklahoma City. At one time, the location was the No. 3 office in the United States and Canada for the Century 21 franchise system. She had the top office in the region, selling it to Merrill Lynch Realty at a staggering 2000 percent return on investment. She stayed on with Merrill Lynch and stacked up achievements and honors in recruiting and training. Then, the Oil Bust hit. The Andersons eked out a living, making enough to pay for groceries. They were back at Square One. "At the age of 55, 56, we lost all that we had built up and had to start all over again," she says. "Richard spent two years working out the restructuring of our debt from investments. ... It took me 10 years to get all that paid off." he literally stumbled into a Keller Williams office in Dallas, then a small company in Texas with eight offices. Shortly thereafter, she opened the first Keller Williams office in Oklahoma. She was impressed with the values model of the company: win-win or no deal, integrity, commitment to all things, creativity, customers always come first, teamwork, trust always begins with honesty and success through people. The culture is based on biblical principles. "I saw an unbelievable economic opportunity. If I could make that company successful, then I could financially do the things I had always wanted," she says. Those things involved giving to many of the causes she supports, such as education, the arts and the plight of the elderly. In 1991, she was the first to take the Keller Williams concept outside of Texas and make it successful. Four years later, she became CEO, requiring a move to Austin and the headquarters for Keller Williams. nderson, early in her career, leased a portion of her building to a competitor to provide synergy and a personal drive to maintain the advantage. Anderson still has a very competitive streak, one she developed as a teenager playing high school basketball. That experience has been a doubleedged sword: When she was 16, she wouldn't know the game would cost her both knees; they were replaced surgically this past year. As always, her week is very organized. She rarely works past 6 or on weekends. She rises at 4:30 a.m. with quiet time and an hour of physical therapy. By 7:30 or 8, she's on the way to work. Mondays involve executive staff meetings and sessions with the corporate president, Mark Willis, and co-founder and chairman of the board Gary Keller. A recent Monday had her working with the staff on a new technology training piece for KW University. On Tuesdays, she is involved in a department, such as marketing, financial systems or information technology. One week, she worked on developing a "market center" on wheels, a file cabinet set-up with everything needed to launch a Keller Williams office. Wednesdays, her calendar is filled with meetings. On Thursday, she works with 4-1-1s, her lingo for an accountability process with those who report directly to her. Four weeks in one month in one year. Did you accomplish your week goal? Your monthly goal? Your annual goal? She uses it as a process of self-discovery. "I didn't have time," a manager explains. She asks, "Why didn't you have time?" Friday is a catch-all day, returning telephone calls and answering e-mail. Although she lives in Austin, her heart and second home will always be in Oklahoma, where she spends time each month. There, she relishes activities with family: her two children, Rick, 46, and Karen, 42, and their families. She has three grandchildren, ages 4, 8 and 12, and spends the most time with them. n Oklahoma, she has been a director of the Oklahoma Association of Realtors, first woman chairman of the Edmond Area Chamber of Commerce, an initial benefactor of Edmond Women's Club and a 21-year season subscriber to Lyric Theater. She has been a director or board member of various organizations and companies such as the Daily Living Center, Edmond Medical Center, Francis Tuttle Vo-Tech Foundation and the Edmond YMCA, among others. And she speaks to groups internationally, from Keller Williams training centers to Christian women's clubs. Her honors include Edmond Citizen of the Year, Edmond Hall of Fame inductee and High Noon Inc.'s Executive Woman of the Year. The list goes on and on. In the tough times, she never forgot her pledges of financial support, fulfilling her commitments to organizations such as Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, a Christian apologist who debates the atheists. See Mo Anderson on page 70 I S A "If you work hard and do your best, there's no telling what would happen to you. I want my life to be a motivator to other kids who grew up in poverty." Mo Anderson Several photographs from "Mo" Anderson's scrapbook that illustrate the tough life she led as a child, a time that she triumphed over as a woman: as an infant on the family farm; 3-year-old Imozelle with her dog; working on the farm in Drummond, Oklahoma, at 9 (she began helping the family farm its land long before her picture was snapped atop a tractor); Imozelle between the ages of 10 and 12. 70 AUSTINWOMAN• November 2004 1. Let go of the sentimentality. Stage the home for the eyes of the prospect. Go and look at other homes in the market to get a feel for staging. Take down the collect-ibles and rearrange the furniture. Clean out the cupboards and the closets. Think in terms of making your personal home into a model home. 2. Get competitive on pricing. The three keys to selling a home are price, location and condition. You have control over two of the three. 3. First impressions are critical. Curb appeal and the front door are of first concern. Most people spend more time on the interior than the exterior, while many prospects drive by and never even go inside to look. 4. Many sellers add buyer-appeal items that don't really add value. For example, drapes or a pool might bring a better dollar in the price range but will only add about 50 cents on the dollar. Value comes with adding square footage or remodeling a kit-chen or bathroom. On the other hand, new carpet brings buyer-appeal and might need to be done to get top dollar on the price. 5. Accommodate all in the showing process. If you have pets, board them appropriately during showing. 6. Analyze the market conditions. Many take a look at the market and decide to remodel their home instead. 7. What's important to the buyer is as important to the seller: maximum dollar, no hassle and a perfect timeline. See what you can do to bring the competing parties closer to midpoint. 8. Interview more than one associate if you are going to work with a Realtor. Statistics show 70 percent of sellers don't check references and in-terview associates. Be clear with your expectations of a Realtor. If you sellyourself, do you have quick access to a closing service, for example, if you have a contract on the spot and easy access to other services? 9. Analyze whether it is best to sell-yourself or sell through an associate. Are the dollars you save worth the added hassle? 10. Listen to your Realtor. The "Mo" Anderson File TITLE: She is one of only two women CEOs who pilot the top 25 companies in Austin. HER NAME: Anderson's mother learned of the name Imozelle in a book. It was shortened when Anderson arrived at Oklahoma College for Women in Chickasha. She was carrying her luggage up the dormitory stairs as a future classmate came bounding down and said, "Hi, what's your name?" Anderson replied, "My real name is Imozelle. My high school friends sometimes shortened it to ‘Imo'." The coed said, "Well, I'm going to shorten your name even more to ‘Mo'," and then promptly introduced Anderson to the other girls coming down the stairway. WHO WOULD YOU HAVE DINNER WITH, ALIVE OR DEAD? Christ, above all. I would ask, "How in the world did you make it through the crucifixion? Why do bad things happen to good people? How can there be peace in this world?" WHAT'S SHE DOING FOR FUN? A month-long Mediterranean cruise with a friend whose husband died. "I won't be getting off at France." Anderson's mad at President Jacques Chirac, who she says "dissed" President Ronald Reagan's funeral and didn't have the class to attend although he was in the United States. LOVES: Austin Symphony, Paramount Theatre, One World Theatre, Bob Bullock Texas Museum of History, the Hill Country, LBJ Library and Museum FAVORITE RESTAURANTS: The Oasis, Hudson's on the Bend, Jeffrey's, The Mansion at Judge's Hill and brunch at the Four Seasons MARITAL ADVICE (from one married 47 years): "Learn to deal with the issues and problems and be committed to make it work. Because if you don't, you'll miss the blessing, that period of time in your life when you are very comfortable with each other. You've learned to accept each other as who you are. This creates mutual respect and caring that's a beautiful thing. You never get there unless you go through the years of working it out." HUSBAND: Richard Anderson retired as a computer analyst and then earned a pharmacy degree. The oldest in his class, he graduated with honors. He worked as a pharmacist a few years. Now he handles the couple's investments. "He's the person for whom I have deep, deep respect," she says. FAVORITE SCRIPTURE: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." – 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV) STRESS MANAGEMENT: Anderson walks through her garden each day, reads inspirational books on the deck and gets a home massage weekly. Mo Anderson from page 39 She has tremendous respect for all, from her peers and employees in the business world to the woman who can't afford a wheelchair and, with the chair, would remain independent and not institutionalized. That segment of the population she is serving through the Gregg Foundation. Coming from a family who couldn't afford land, the Andersons now own property in the area where Mo's parents plowed the ground for others. It includes a little 80-acre ranch that is being developed into a family retreat. There, hundreds of turkey, deer and pheasant dwell. It is being built for the grandchildren. She says her legacy will be that "she was a Christian woman who was devoted to her family yet succeeded at a high level in business and made a difference." That's already happened. What's next? "Mo" Sez: The 10 Best Ways to Sell Your Home

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