Executive to expand Real Living network

Sherry Chris will speak at Real Estate Connect July 28-30 in San Francisco.

Sherry A. Chris has a two-country life. By week, she lives in Columbus, Ohio, where she is president of Real Living Network Services, a division of Real Living, the fifth-largest real estate firm in the nation. By weekend, she heads to the Ontario region of Canada, where she lives with her husband. She believes this unconventional arrangement allows her to enjoy “the best of both worlds.”

Chris has more than 20 years of experience in operations, management, sales, technology and marketing in the real estate industry. Today she leads the continued development of Real Living’s sales and operations teams with the goal of expanding the Real Living Network throughout the United States. Before she joined Real Living, she was executive vice president of Royal LePage, the largest real estate firm in Canada.

A recognized expert on real estate industry trends, Chris also is on the board of directors of the Realty Alliance, a consortium of prominent real estate brokers.

Chris is a member of the Canadian Real Estate Association and the National Association of Realtors. She is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Ivey School of Business.

Here are her replies to some questions posed by Inman News:

IN: What style of home do you live in and when did you buy it?

SC: I am fortunate enough to have two residences that are very different. During the week I live in a contemporary condo in downtown Columbus, Ohio, which is literally three minutes from my office. Most weekends are spent in Campbellville, Ontario, Canada in a home in the country my husband and I have owned for almost 17 years.

IN: What professional accomplishment in your life are you most proud of?

SC: I am probably most proud of the fact that I went back to graduate school and got my MBA while working a grueling schedule. It was a very enlightening experience that both directly and indirectly opened the doors to new opportunities.

IN: What personal accomplishment in your life are you most proud of?

SC: Without question I am most proud of the fact that I have been able to sustain a meaningful relationship with Ted, my husband of 17 years, with much of the last several years being long distance due to extensive business travel and now my new career.

IN: Where did you spend your last vacation?

SC: My last mini-vacation was a girls’ long weekend of two days in Los Angeles shopping and hanging out and two days in Palm Springs golfing and getting spa treatments. I can’t say it was totally relaxing, but it was a lot of fun.

IN: Which daily newspaper do you read and which sections do you read first?

SC: I read three papers daily: The Wall Street Journal front to back; the Columbus Daily Reporter, there usually is only one section; and USA Today, the entertainment section. I need to get my “celebrity fix” each day. It puts life into perspective.

IN: What kind of music do you listen to?

SC: I love music! Hip Hop, ’80s Disco, all that upbeat stuff.

IN: How many e-mail addresses do you have?

SC: I only have one e-mail address, sherry.chris@realliving.com. I have no secret addresses. I have nothing to hide.

IN: What lesson did you learn in the last year?

SC: Change, as difficult a decision it might be to make, is a good thing. It gives you a totally new perspective on life.

IN: What is your favorite technology device?

SC: I absolutely love my new Samsung Pocket PC! It is a phone; it sends and receives e-mail with attachments in color; it stores documents; it is an Outlook calendar; it stores many contacts; it searches the Web; and it is an alarm clock. I sleep with it every night.

IN: Are you a morning person or a night owl?

SC: I am totally a morning person. I am up at 5 a.m. most mornings. Of course that doesn’t mean I go to bed early at night. Insomnia is probably more like it! So much to do and so little time.

IN: What is your opinion of Inman News?

SC: Having had the opportunity of knowing Brad Inman for the past several years and his love for thought-provoking controversy, I have to say Inman News has been and continues to be an invaluable tool for the real estate and technology industries. There are many deals that would not have been put together if not for the networking opportunities and presentations provided at Real Estate Connect and the news scoops provided daily to us by Inman News.

IN: What was the best gift you ever received from or gave to someone else?

SC: I hope the best gift I have ever given is the gift of helping various people in my life, professionally and personally, achieve and surpass their goals. There is no better feeling than to have had the opportunity to do that.