Gibson Sotheby's International Realty promoted four members of its leadership team: Colleen Barry is the Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey Tarczali is the Chief Operating Officer, Robyn Grandolfi is the Chief Accounting Officer, and Nicole Rideout is the Director of Business Development. Former CEO and current Co-Owner, Larry Rideout, is now the Chairman of the growing organization.
Gibson Sotheby's International Realty experienced a 40% increase last year, achieving over $1.5 billion in sales. It was also the only firm in the top five in the state to increase marketshare year-over-year (source: MLSpin). This April they ranked #128 out of the top 500 firms in the country, according to the REAL Trends 500. "We've grown tremendously over the last couple of years and these changes have proactively positioned us for additional growth. It was time for us to expand our leadership team to drive this expansion," said Larry Rideout, Chairman and Co-Owner. "We decided to promote from within for a few key reasons — chief among them is that our culture is unique and invaluable to how we operate our business. We need leaders to work alongside us who see the vitality in this."
For the first time since Betty Gibson sold her firm decades ago, Gibson Sotheby's International Realty now has a woman as CEO. A 15-year veteran of the real estate industry, Colleen Barry formerly led the firm's marketing and productivity departments. Per Agent Productivity more than tripled in her four-year tenure as Director of Productivity, propelling their productivity ranking from #3 to #1 out of the state's top five firms (source: Broker Metrics). "As the world and this industry becomes more digital, it's easy to lose sight of what is most important: people. We've spent the last four years refocusing our efforts on our agents and clients — the results speak for themselves," said Barry.
The firm's facilities and systems have also been upgraded. CAO Robyn Grandolfi and COO Tarczali collaborated on their upgrade to dark fiber internet connectivity, improving the office bandwidth to 100X its prior speed. They've upgraded additional infrastructure to allow them to transition to a paperless management system, due to be released in the early part of the second quarter. COO Jeffrey Tarczali has spearheaded several renovations and new office launches. Their Cambridge, Back Bay, South End, and Charlestown offices have all been expanded or thoughtfully renovated. Tarczali's approach offers clean lines, bright spaces, and modern furniture. "My teammate, Justin Lavoie, and I collaborated on this effort. The goal was to make it elegant and fresh. Your environment can have such an impact on your mood and work. This raises the bar for all of us."
Two additional promotions were Nicole Rideout to Director of Business Development and Michelle Atkins to Marketing Manager. Rideout has built up the firm's relocation and referral business over the last several years, quadrupling the number of referrals. In 2016 she completed an intense, 46-week Realogy leadership training course called Ascend. Atkins has worked closely with and in support of Marketing Director, Greg Clarke. The team has doubled the size of the Collections Magazine and facilitated multiple cross-marketing opportunities with Sotheby's International Realty affiliates around the world.
"It is an opportunity for all of us to build upon the opportunities of this moment in time," said co-owner and President, Paul McGann. "You can expect more growth from our team in the next 12 months."
About Gibson Sotheby's International Realty
Founded in 1962 by Betty Gibson, Gibson Sotheby's International Realty is Boston's largest independent real estate company. The firm ranked third in the State of Massachusetts for 2016 with closed sales in excess of 1.4 billion dollars. Gibson Sotheby's International Realty is part of the Sotheby's International Realty network which encompasses 850 offices in 65 countries and territories worldwide. Each office is independently owned and operated. For more information, please visit gibsonsothebysrealty.com.
