More than 40 Chicago-area agents moved to SERHANT. on Oct. 6, the day Ryan Serhant’s brokerage opened in Illinois under Managing Director Dina Lissner.
The launch is among recent real estate moves that put two Vail Valley brokerage veterans in charge of a new office for The Agency and installed the 2027 officers of Illinois Realtors, according to company and association releases.
Real estate leadership changes, launches and industry honors
Here are the latest moves across the industry, from Chicago to Dubai:
SERHANT.
Dina Lissner | Credit: Alina Tsvor
SERHANT. opened in Illinois this week, entering the Chicago and North Shore markets with more than 40 agents. The group closed more than $600 million in sales over the past 12 months, according to the company, which counts Illinois as its 20th state.
Managing Director Dina Lissner leads the office. Lissner spent five years as designated managing broker of Baird & Warner’s Highland Park office, according to the company.
Four founding agents joined at launch. Melissa Siegal came from @properties Christie’s International Real Estate with team members Julia Elsmo, Kristin Lent, Quincy Powers, Ruari Cahill and Rachel Siegal. Siegal has more than $650 million in career sales, including $66 million in the past 12 months, according to the company.
Jennifer Mills-Klatt came from Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty with her Home Discovery Team, which includes Katie Bloom, Luke Jorwic, Mary Higley, Wade Brossard and Director of Operations Estelle Brossard. The team sells more than $60 million a year and has more than $1 billion in career sales, according to the company.
Bobby Grilli and Brendan Murphy, co-leads of the Grilli Murphy Group, came from Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty with team members John Kosmopoulos, Michael Byrne and Nicole Shannon. Murphy has more than $250 million in career sales and Grilli has $130 million, according to the company.
Other agents who joined at launch include Keki Cannon, Luke Sandler and Erica Williams, formerly of @properties; Justin Greenberg, Taylor Nirchi, Meredith Beebe, Kelsey Mayher and Gia Devenyi, formerly of Sotheby’s International Realty; Ben Lissner, Sammy Lubeck, Kara Gabbert and Daniel Straus, formerly of Baird & Warner; Andrew Castillon, John Grafft and Steve Kehoe, formerly of Compass; Anam Hargey, formerly of Real; and Patrick Dodd, formerly of Keller Williams.
“After 37 years in this business, I know the difference between a brokerage that’s maintaining and one that’s building,” said Mills-Klatt. “SERHANT. is building, and I’m proud to bring that energy to Chicago.”
The Agency
The Agency announced Oct. 6 the opening of an office in Vail, Colorado, led by Managing Partner Adi Slifer and Managing Director Jason Cole. The office is the brokerage’s seventh in Colorado, joining locations in Aspen, Boulder, Denver, Grand Junction, Steamboat Springs and Telluride.
Slifer is a Vail native and the daughter of Rod Slifer, a former Vail mayor, according to the company. Cole moved to the Vail Valley in 2005 and went on to serve as CEO of Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate. According to the company, The Agency opened 27 offices in 2025 and has more than 190 offices in 17 countries.
“Vail has always been home, and launching The Agency Vail is an opportunity to honor the values, relationships and sense of stewardship that have shaped this community for generations,” Slifer said in a statement.
Boxabl
Larry King
Boxabl named Larry King chief financial officer and Heather Clayton chief accounting officer, the modular housing company announced Sept. 15. The appointments came less than two months after Boxabl began trading on Nasdaq on July 20, following its merger with FG Merger II Corp.
King has more than 35 years of experience in finance, accounting and operations, including CFO roles at Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino and Riviera Holdings Corporation, according to the company. Clayton spent six years with the Vegas Golden Knights, where she rose from controller to CFO, before serving as CFO of Astound Group. According to the company, Boxabl has raised more than $230 million from more than 50,000 investors since its founding in 2017.
“Larry and Heather each bring the kind of finance leadership we need as we build out our public company infrastructure,” founder and CEO Paolo Tiramani said in a statement.
Landfall Real Estate Advisory
Cameron Kimball launched Landfall Real Estate Advisory, a buyer-side consultancy for the luxury market in Los Cabos, Mexico, on Sept. 29. The firm represents buyers and advises them on pricing, club membership terms and off-market homes, according to the announcement.
Kimball spent 30 years in developer-side sales and marketing for branded residences and private club communities, including Querencia, Costa Palmas, Maravilla and Cabo del Sol’s Cove Club, according to the firm. His last developer-side role was vice president of sales and marketing for The Residences at The St. Regis Los Cabos, where the project closed $278 million across 43 transactions, the firm said. Kimball has overseen more than $1 billion in luxury transactions during his career, according to the announcement.
“A lot of buyers are surprised to learn that in some of these developments, buying a home doesn’t even get you on the golf course without the right club membership,” Kimball said in a statement.
Council of Multiple Listing Services
The Council of Multiple Listing Services inducted Matt Consalvo, CEO of Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service, into its hall of fame on Oct. 1 and renamed the honor the Consalvo Hall of Fame. CMLS also inducted Anne Marie DeCatsye, CEO of Canopy Realtor Association and Canopy MLS, the same day during its annual conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Consalvo joined ARMLS in 2009 and became its fourth CEO in 2012, according to CMLS. He chaired CMLS in 2022 and is approaching retirement from ARMLS, the organization said. David Charron, a longtime MLS executive, proposed the renaming and the CMLS Awards Committee agreed.
DeCatsye led Canopy MLS in 2024 to become the first MLS in North Carolina to announce a transition to an open MLS, according to CMLS. She is one of four founding CEOs of the Southeast MLS Alliance, a data-sharing initiative formed by Canopy MLS, Charleston Trident MLS, Georgia MLS and Realtracs. She served on the CMLS board from 2018 through 2020.
Debbie Prodehl
Illinois Realtors
Debbie Prodehl was installed as 2027 president of Illinois Realtors, the association announced Oct. 2. Prodehl, of Homer Glen, is a broker-owner and the director of risk management for Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Prodehl has worked in her family’s business since 1991, according to the association. She chaired the National Association of Realtors’ Regulatory Issues Forum in 2024 and has served multiple terms on NAR’s board of directors.
Sarah Ware, principal and designated managing broker of Ware Group Realty in Chicago, was installed as president-elect. Ware is a past president of the Chicago Association of Realtors and the 2026 Illinois Realtor of the Year, according to the association. Brandon Shaffer, deputy managing broker with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Central Illinois Realtors in Bloomington, was installed as treasurer. Jeff Kolbus, president of REMAX Traders Unlimited in Peoria, is immediate past president.
Illinois Realtors has more than 48,000 members, according to the association.
Vesta Home
Michael Brown
Vesta Home, a Los Angeles-based home staging, interior design and furnishing company, named Michael Brown chief creative officer on Oct. 5.
Brown spent more than 15 years at RH, where his last role was senior vice president for RH Interior Design, according to the company. At Vesta Home, he will develop furniture collections and lead the expansion of the interior design division alongside CEO Julian Buckner.
According to the company, Vesta Home completes about 2,500 projects a year and staged more than 5.2 million square feet of real estate in 2025, representing about $13.7 billion in transactions.
“We’re inside thousands of homes, seeing firsthand what people respond to and what makes a space feel personal,” Brown said in a statement.
Central States
Central States elected Christopher Harrison chairman of its board, effective Oct. 1, the Tontitown, Arkansas-based metal building products manufacturer announced Oct. 6. Harrison succeeds Jim Sliker, who retired from the board. Sliker became CEO in 2013 and chairman in 2023.
Harrison joined the board in 2023 and became lead independent director in 2024. The change followed a planned succession process overseen by the board’s nominating and governance committee, according to the company. Central States is employee-owned, with more than 1,100 employee-owners and 13 manufacturing facilities, the company said.
“It is a tremendous honor to be appointed chairman of the board succeeding Jim, who was a key reason I joined the board in 2023,” Harrison said in a statement.
Chestertons Global
Chestertons Global, the international arm of British real estate company Chestertons, named Alasdair Hedley chief of strategy and expansion. Hedley will work from the company’s Dubai headquarters.
Alasdair Hedley
Hedley joined Countrywide as an agent in 2002 and went on to lead international strategy and the affiliate program for Countrywide and Connells Group brands, including Hamptons International and John D Wood & Co., according to the company. Chestertons Global’s recent growth includes offices in Nice, France, and Marbella, Spain, a dual-branded partnership in the Cayman Islands and an expansion into St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the company said.
“Alasdair understands what it takes to nurture strong relationships across different markets, and that perspective will be particularly valuable,” Managing Director Mohamed Mussa said in a statement.
Earnnest
Russell Smith
Earnnest named President and Chief Operating Officer Russell Smith CEO and appointed him to its board of managers, the digital earnest money platform announced. Smith succeeds Rick Altizer, who becomes vice chairman of the board after seven and a half years leading the Greenville, South Carolina-based company. Smith joined Earnnest in 2020.
According to the company, Earnnest has processed more than 1 million transactions totaling more than $4 billion in volume.
“We’ve proven that real estate payments can be fraud-free. Now we’re going to make that the standard for every transaction, and make moving money the easiest part of buying a home,” Smith said in a statement.
