Name: Ella Recor 

Position/Title: Director of Operations

Office/Company: Christina Gennari Real Estate Group with Keller Williams Domain - Birmingham 

How long have you been working for/with the person who nominated you?: I have been working for Christina since 2020, but I have worked alongside her at KW Domain since 2017. 

How long have you been working in the real estate industry?: Since 2016 

I have had several roles in the real estate industry. I began as a front desk receptionist and immediately fell in love with the industry. From there, I started working as a personal assistant for an individual agent and then moved to an executive assistant for an agent specializing in luxury real estate and new construction. I have also worked as the marketing director for KW Domain. I began working for Christina Gennari as her transaction coordinator before being promoted to director of operations. 

I get into the office every day at 9 a.m. and immediately check my emails to make sure I am on top of anything urgent that may have popped up. My assistant/transaction coordinator comes in at the same time and we chat about what we have going on for the day.

On Mondays, our team has a morning Zoom meeting that I lead with my assistant and Christina. We go over all of our new listings for the week, any upcoming office events, and a weekly challenge for the team to complete (lead generation activities). After the meeting, I send the team a recap email of the meeting and keep track of who is completing the challenges and attending the meetings. It is my responsibility to keep everyone accountable and on track to meet their goals. 

Around 11 a.m., our hybrid marketing manager/buyer’s agent comes in and we chat about current and upcoming social media and marketing projects she is working on. I am her second set of eyes to make sure all posts are on par with our branding and message. 

I manage all of our team’s listings — creating in the MLS, ordering signs and coordinating marketing materials to the homes, doing client communication, letting our marketing director know to post on social media, and informing our transaction coordinator when it goes under contract. 

I also regularly connect with our buyer’s agents to check in on their current transactions/clients and to see if they need any support from the operations team. I go over their sales goals with them and recommend lead gen activities. 

I am in constant communication with Christina — she always has new ideas for the team, updates on clients and transactions, and new projects to start. I make sure I take over all of her needs and delegate accordingly in order for her to work on growing the business on the client side while I am maintaining everything on the operations side. I often network with other administrative assistants/directors of operations to see what is working for them and to incorporate new ideas for our team. 

Our team has a goal to double our sales volume this year, and I am working hard daily to get us there. 

Exhilarating 

I excel at organization. I strive to be proactive and streamline our systems so our agents can focus on what they do best — meeting new clients and selling houses. 

Providing support to my team and watching the agents on my team excel. I feel so passionately about my team and my agents’ growth — their individual successes are as important to me as to them. 

Working with a wide variety of personalities can be very challenging. I have to be very cognizant of how to communicate with each person on my team. I also struggle with being authoritative while being friends with everyone on my team. 

I moved to Mexico right out of high school and lived there for six months! 

8. When you’re not working, what do you like to do for fun? 

I love spending time with my fiancé and friends, exploring new places, restaurants, and bars. I play trivia with my friends every week at local restaurants. I am an avid reader and frequent the library. I am also getting into some new hobbies such as crocheting and painting. 

I am honored and feel so grateful for everything that has happened in my career. Starting in real estate right after high school, I felt like I was headed in the right direction after questioning what I wanted to do with my life. I have worked so hard throughout the past seven years to get where I am today. Many people do not consider the administrative side when getting into real estate, but I could not imagine doing anything else. 

Working with Christina has been so fulfilling. I have cultivated such a great relationship with her, which makes every day — even the hard ones — so much more enjoyable. She gave me the opportunity to grow into this role and has trusted me with her business. Although I know I have a lifetime of growth ahead of me, I believe this is my dream job.

Christina Gennari, associate broker and team leader of the Christina Gennari Real Estate Group, describes Ella as magical. “Ella is an innovative employee,” Christina said. “She created a website for my team and adds a personal touch when working with clients.”

According to Christina, Ella is also known for keeping everyone in a positive mindset. “She inspires others on the team to work hard and treats everyone like they are special,” Christina shared.

After working in the same office together for six years, Christina is incredibly grateful for the close friendship she has formed with Ella. “We support each other at work and have been there for each other’s hard personal times,” Christina said. “We celebrate all wins together.”