Tom Wilkins

I just finished interviewing Tom Wilkins of Better Homes and Gardens Wilkins and Associates. We were talking about his recent donation to the Sherman Theater to support the “Fine Arts Discovery Series,” which brings the arts to kids and their families.

Given today’s economy, small nonprofits like the Sherman must breathe a huge sigh of relief each time a sponsor steps up to contribute.

Tom extends the “all real estate is local” mantra by applying it to hyper-local social responsibility initiatives. Interestingly, his sponsorship results in a “pay it forward” benefit as his brokerage is able to take the free tickets they receive for productions at the Sherman and pass them along to clients and other members in the community. This in turn inspires a whole new set of community members to connect to the theater that Wilkins and Associates supports.

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In true real estate fashion, the room began to fill with agents just minutes before the announcement was to be made.  Truly, the team of Wilkins & Associates Real Estate entered the breakfast meeting with anticipation and, judging by their faces, some anxiety.  They hung on every word of their leader, Tom Wilkins, and only exhaled after Sherry Chris our President and CEO, and Wendy Forsythe, our Vice President of Broker Services, presented our company to them for the first time. 

Amid the flurry of post-announcement questions, all seemed calm … which made me just a little leery.  You see, I alone was to remain in the Poconos for the next several days to personally deliver the tools and systems of the Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate brand to the agents 120+ agents and management team.  I was scheduled to run through seven presentations in three days.  Why, you ask, would I have concerns when everything appeared fine on the surface?  Because we all know how people usually accept and adapt to change. 

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Yesterday was launch day for our new brand. We made our debut at Inman Real Estate Connect in San Francisco. We had a great press conference to kick things off. Check out the link to the video of the Webcast that featured Sherry Chris, Alex Perriello, Gayle Butler, and our very first broker, Tom Wilkins.

http://tinyurl.com/65lo82