RedKey Realty Leaders does things differently, which is exactly how owner and CEO Jill Butler wants it. After working in the real estate business for 10 years as an agent and in various leadership and management roles, she wanted to put her own, innovative ideas into action. Her emphasis on service for the customer and support for the agents has resulted in astounding success. After just three years, RedKey has a Frontenac office with 102 agents and recently launched a second location in Chesterfield.
“We start
ed in a hotel room at the Hilton right next to our current Frontenac office,” Butler recalls. “Agents were working on the couch with their laptops, and we moved the beds out and put in desks! I don’t know if we had any grandiose plans to expand at that point. We just wanted to get into an office.” She says the company has grown quickly, but she doesn’t strive to be the biggest firm in St. Louis. “Bigger isn’t better, better is better,” she says. A group of 10 agents who were leaving their company recently approached Butler to expand RedKey into West County. “They were awesome agents who I wanted to do business with, so I felt like it was the right time to grow,” she says. The new location, at 17107 Chesterfield Airport Road, opened last week with 20 agents, with plans to grow it to around 100 like the Frontenac office, Butler says.
“I want to grow with the right people who have the right philosophy,” Butler notes. “It’s important to keep the company culture the same.” RedKey operates under the motto, ‘love and service.’ “To be a good real estate agent, you have to have unconditional positive regard for your clients and want what’s best for them,” she says. “And you have to always provide the best service possible. That should be the standard. ‘Love and service’ is the basis for every decision we make.”
Butler follows the motto in all leadership decisions and strives to maintain a culture that goes beyond good business. “It’s important to have a fun environment that’s comfortable for both clients and agents,” she says. “Our new office will have the same amenities as our Frontenac location, including a meditation room and cigar/wine bar for agents and clients to unwind. Buying a home is a pretty serious endeavor, but at the same time, you want to make it enjoyable for all involved.”
Butler says she is entirely committed to St. Louis and to growing the company locally. “It’s all about helping families find a place to put down roots and build their own community,” she says. RedKey is involved in various activities to support the city it serves, like its upcoming Celebrate St. Louis luncheon in November, which it plans to make an annual event. “We are taking nominations now to honor three people who have done a lot for the local community, which is the foundation of real estate,” Butler says. “We are all proponents of this great city. St. Louis has so many positive things to offer!”
Pictured: Tim Meyer, Jill Butler, Klaus Bank
Photo: Bill Barrett
[RedKey Realty Leaders, now with two locations—10333 Clayton Road and 17107 Chesterfield Airport Road—is a local, independent agency that specializes in highly personalized client relationships for buyers and sellers along the central corridor. Pictured on the cover: Tim Meyer, managing broker of RedKey Realty Leaders West County; founder and CEO Jill Butler; Klaus Bank, designated broker of RedKey Realty Leaders St. Louis. For more information, call 314.692.7200 or visit redkeystlouis.com.]
