Chris Heller is the first-ever Chief Revenue Officer at Place, where he owns revenue strategy across the company's homeownership platform. Over a 35-plus-year career he got his real estate license as a sophomore in college, sold timeshares to make money, and — knowing nothing on day one — sold 27 homes his rookie year, then more than 100 homes a year for 26 consecutive years, ranking among the top 10 agents out of 37,000 nationally and later number one in North America. He became CEO of Keller Williams Realty International, doubling the company's size and more than doubling its profitability between 2010 and 2017 while expanding into 20-plus countries. He went on to serve as CEO of mellohome and President of OJO Labs (which made a large pandemic-era acquisition and was later sold to a national mortgage lender). Chris is also an investor, advisor, and bestselling author, and continues to lead the Heller Real Estate Group in San Diego.
“I wake up and eat what I kill every day and I'm really good at hunting and killing, but I wanna build something.”
“It was a logical conclusion to come to that I needed to create leverage.”
“I think the most important thing is just talent. You have to have really talented people. There's no replacement for that. So that's number one. Number two is technology.”
“The cost of not doing that is greater than most people ever understand or realize.”
“It was no days off. Once Michael was there, our practices were harder than the game. That's what an A player does — they level up and cause the rest of the team to up their game.”
“Even when I don't need someone, I'm looking. If you're always looking for talent, you may not need them, but when the need comes up, you know who you're gonna call.”
“I want people that are better or smarter than I am at it. If they aren't, then I'm likely having to pull them along. If they are, they're gonna be pushing me and that's what I want.”
“Just be the best damn server in that restaurant and opportunities will come. That's where opportunities come from — being extraordinary in whatever you're doing right now.”