Our Leadership
Keller Williams Realty is built by agents, for agents. Our Executive Leadership team has more than 100 years combined experience as both top-performing real estate agents and office owners.
Chris Heller is an industry icon in the real estate business, having sold over 2,300 homes in his career. From the day Chris entered the real estate business he realized he had made the right career choice. His enthusiasm and determination to succeed propelled him to Rookie of the Year status in his first full year in real estate and Chris has never looked back. For 18 consecutive years Chris has sold over 100 homes a year.
You may have heard that a true test of a person's character is revealed when things are most difficult. That's a great description of Chris. In the past 5 years, in an economy which most experts claim has been the most difficult in the US since the Great Depression, Chris's sales volume continued to increase, selling almost a half billion dollars in real estate.
As an Operating Principal for Keller Williams, Chris's real leadership and management skills shined through. Within a few years, Chris's market center in Southern California became one of the most profitable market centers in the entire Keller Williams system even while foreclosures hit an all time high in his area.
You may know Chris as a tenacious and goal driven person who succeeds at everything he does; that's the public image. The real Chris is a humble, fun-loving dedicated father who loves his children and lives life to the fullest. Chris has a never ending curiosity about life and business which he displays every day.
Now, as the President of KW Worldwide, Chris is on a mission to bring the Keller Williams Business Opportunity to tens of thousands of real estate professionals across the globe. One thing in business that is certain: successful people always elevate the people around them. Chris sees that as his mission for KW Worldwide; to elevate people through the best real estate business opportunity in the world today. Join Chris on this journey to the top. You'll be glad you did.
As chairman of the board for Keller Williams Realty, Gary Keller provides the strategic direction for the company, while serving as a visionary leader within the North American real estate industry, and one of the most sought-after speakers, teachers and consultants.
Keller and his writing team have written three nationally best-selling books: The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, and SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times. Other titles include: Your First Home: The Proven Path to Homeownership, and FLIP: How to Find, Fix and Sell Houses for Profit.
Based on his leadership qualities and contributions to the real estate industry, Keller was voted as one of the five "Most Admired People" in a survey conducted by REAL Trends magazine. He was also was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Central Texas and named the second most influential person in the real estate industry by REALTOR® magazine in 2003. In 2004, he was a finalist for Inc. magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year award.
In 2006, and every year since, Inman News has named Keller to its list of the “100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders," the same year that The Wall Street Journal named Keller Williams Realty to its elite “Franchise High Performers" list. And for the last three years Entrepreneur magazine has ranked Keller Williams Realty its No. 1 real estate franchise.
Keller’s passions include golf, reading, movies, rock concerts, fly fishing, snow skiing, football, basketball, and spending as much time as possible with his family and friends. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Mary, their son, John, and their three dogs, Max, Grace and Cash.
Mo Anderson is the heart and truly beloved leader of Keller Williams Realty. Her personal integrity and unending drive are touchstones that have made Keller Williams Realty one of the most successful franchises in real estate history. Mo was named Keller Williams Realty's president and chief executive officer in 1995. Known at times as the “Velvet Hammer" for her uncompromising approach, Mo’s astute business acumen and leadership abilities are uniquely matched by her faith and compassion. She has continuously cultivated the firm’s value system, inspiring tens of thousands of associates throughout North America to maintain high standards of character within both their personal and professional lives. Originally an elementary school music teacher, Mo’s first love was the piano. She taught music for 14 years before entering the real estate field, where her talents as a business women quickly took hold. She established her first real estate office, a Century 21 franchise, in Edmond, Okla., in 1975; soon after, it was the third top-producing office out of 7,500 Century 21 locations in North America. In 1986 Mo sold the company to Merrill Lynch Realty, where she served as a district Vice President until December 1989.
In her current role as vice chairman of Keller Williams Realty, Mo spends a significant amount of her time traveling and teaching at Keller Williams’ training events. In December 2006, Mo was named one of America’s Top 25 Influential Thought Leaders by REALTOR magazine. In January 2007, the Women’s Council of REALTORS featured Mo as one of Real Estate’s Most Influential People in an article published in Connections. And, in 2008, Mo was inducted into the prestigious Hall of Leaders by the CRB Council. Mo Anderson has been named twice as Oklahoma’s Women in Business Advocate of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. She serves, or has served, on the boards of Edmond Memorial Hospital, the Francis Tuttle Vo-Tech Foundation, the Daily Living Center, and Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.
With a laser sharp focus on setting stretch goals and modeling a caliber of leadership that ensures a consistently high level of achievement, Mark Willis stands as a consummate leader and advocate for growth. Mark stepped up to the role of CEO in 2005, having served as president for the previous three years. His tenure at the top ranks of Keller Williams Realty has coincided with one of the most tumultuous markets in the history of real estate – during which time he consistently urged market center leadership to seize the downturn as an opportunity for growth. As a result, Keller Williams Realty now ranks as the 3rd largest real estate company in the United States and is progressing on a growth trajectory toward No. 1.
Mark joined Keller Williams Realty in 1991 as the team leader of the Austin-Southwest market center, where he quadrupled the market center’s production over a five-year period. Later as regional director, he expanded the Texas-South region to San Antonio and Houston, eventually building a 1,900-agent business and in the process, earning him a place in REAL Trends Billionaire’s Club.
Prior to joining Keller Williams, Willis served as a branch manager for Coldwell Banker, and in the mid-1980s, he was the owner of Carriage House Realty.
Ever since Mary Tennant joined Keller Williams Realty in 1992 and was named Rookie of the Year, she has consistently redefined what’s possible, while opening doors of wealth building and leadership for countless real estate professionals. As team leader of the Austin Southwest market center, she increased the real estate office’s annual closed volume sales from $90 million to $1.3 billion within eight years.
With a stellar track record for team building while developing efficiencies in staff and office operations, Mary was recruited by Keller Williams Realty’s executive staff to step into the role of chief operations officer in 2005. Within a year, her role was expanded to president. Recognized industry wide as an influential leader, Mary’s was cited in 2009 by the Women’s Council of REALTORS® as a Leading Woman in Real Estate, and in 2007, she received the Austin Business Journal’s Profiles in Power Award. In 2009, Inman News named her among the 100 Most Influential Leaders in Real Estate.
Mary currently oversees all operations for Keller Williams Realty International’s support center and continues to raise the bar for North America’s most dynamic real estate company in terms of profits, production, technological leadership, company culture and a joyful, generous approach to work and life.
As chief products officer (CPO), Bryon Ellington is focused on ensuring the synergistic development across all business units of training and tools that provide associates with a distinct edge.
Coming to Keller Williams Realty in 2002 with a background in education, Bryon stepped up to a pivotal role in the development of a wide range of educational and technological initiatives. Serving first as a research analyst in the Information Technology department, he helped to define the technology tools that would most effectively drive associates' businesses forward. He later assumed a leadership role within Keller Williams University, where he channeled his instructional design skills into the creation of key training programs and authored several classes, including the Internet Lead Generation curriculum.
In 2007, Bryon stepped up to the role of director of research, development and implementation, where he helped to create technology and training to serve the evolving needs of associates in an online environment and put Keller Williams Realty at the forefront of technology in the real estate industry.
Ann Yett signed on as Keller Williams Realty International‘s chief financial officer in 2006. As CFO, she is responsible for overseeing all financial, accounting and tax functions and has taken the lead in enhancing financial reporting systems and controls for annual budgets, forecasts and cash management.
Prior to joining Keller Williams Realty Yett was a certified public accountant (CPA) at the executive and consulting level and was responsible for crafting the strategic directions for companies of all sizes within a wide range of industries.
