Meet Claudienne Hibbert-Smith, who quickly became a successful entrepreneur when she left her job at age 21 to become a realtor. Now, she is making headlines for recently partnering with EXP Realty, one of the fastest-growing real estate companies in the world.
She comments, “In 2001, I became a licensed realtor in the state of Florida. During my first year, I became the rookie of the year, and I took off. I partnered with the Keyes Company for 20 years and as I moved up the charts, I became the number 5 realtor with my amazing team out of 4,000 agents. Just 3 months ago, in March of 2021, I decided I wanted to go from good to great, so I aligned myself with a company where I could impact globally: EXP Realty. Since I have partnered with them, I have been able to expand my business in 11 states and onboarding 1 country.”
Real estate has been around since some of the earliest civilizations. In one way or another, the division of land and ownership of it was ever-present throughout much of human history. Coming from such a natural instinct to define what is yours and what is someone else’s, real estate has not changed much from its early days. Though the properties and market now look a little different, the essence of the industry is still the same.
However, EXP Realty is a company looking to shake up the real estate world. The company is quickly and cleverly bringing the business into the modern era, and because of that, they have become one of the fastest-growing real estate companies now located in 18 different countries. “Using cloud-based models, virtual environments, and much more, they are trying to help both the buyer and seller have an easier real estate experience,” Claudienne says.
In addition, the company grants realtors the opportunity to have a stake in the company through stocks, which allows them to feel like they are much more a part of the company. Because of the scope of the company as well, realtors can make a global impact rather than just focusing on smaller localized companies. This allows them to help more people day in and day out find the right home for them or sell their home for a new one.
COVID-19 was an interesting time in EXP’s story. Though they had a head start in the technology world, the company still had to work on transitioning fully to a virtual environment as the rest of the world shifted gears as well. Claudienne comments, “COVID was a gift and a curse; the adjustments were slow at first, but people who had been skeptical of the company’s virtual concept now flock to their website to see how they were able to pull it off and their already set up digital infrastructure has allowed them to help customers more quickly than others.
The company itself is excited to continue its work, expand into new areas, and form more partnerships with other African American realtors.