“Standing on business” is a very Gen-Z internet term, but it has an age-old meaning. To stand on business is to stand by your morals, not cave your opinions to the whims of others and the trends. It’s a respectable trait, and one Bess Freedman—CEO of Brown Harris Stevens—emulates. As an icon of the industry,…
Kamini Lane has been a leader at some of the largest real estate brokerages in the industry, and her career journey has currently culminated with an as-of-now three-year stint as president and CEO of Coldwell Banker Realty. In 2025, she restructured Coldwell Banker’s executive leadership team to prioritize leadership from real estate professionals working in…
For Teresa Palacios Smith, inclusion is not a program—it is a practice. As chief inclusion and engagement officer at HomeServices of America, Palacios Smith has spent her career building bridges between the real estate industry and the diverse communities it serves. A Cornell-certified DEI expert, she leads initiatives that reach over 23,000 agents across more…
The Spring issue of RISMedia’s Real Estate magazine is now available, and not to be missed are several exclusive features, including an in-depth look at HomeSmart’s path for 2026 as the brokerage has overhauled its brand and taken strides to position itself as a leader in the industry ahead of market normalization. In addition, we…
Above, from left, Mike Hickman, Marki Lemons-Ryhal, Richard Haggerty, Emmett Laffey and Steve Morris, RISMedia’s 2026 Newsmakers Hall of Fame Success in real estate is often measured in quarterly growth and transaction volume, but a legacy is measured by the ability to build something that outlasts the market cycles. RISMedia’s 2026 Newsmakers Hall of Fame…
As the year closes out, we’re looking back at some of the trends that have defined success for real estate professionals across the board in 2025—chief among them the growing embrace of AI. In an ever-evolving market that sees consistent innovation in hardware, software and strategy, staying ahead begins with paying attention to those shifts…