Kristi Graning started with RE/
It’s true; I’m active in the Colorado Technology Association (CSIA) that is a non-profit for CIO-level executives and they have said there’s only a handful of us – especially in the Denver market.
I moved from Wyoming to Denver and started at RE/MAX in an entry-level position doing IT support. I was going to school at night and focusing in business. My knowledge in technology is self-taught. I have done almost everything – except programming – in back-room tech work, from design, technical writing to quality control. My transition into speaking and training started in 1994 with the genesis of the RE/MAX Satellite Network. (RSN® is a satellite TV network offering educational, motivational and technological programming.)
I was offering technology training on the network and (RE/MAX co-founder and chairman of the board) Dave Liniger saw one of my programs. He was impressed with my knowledge and that I could explain technology without using “tech-speak”. In 1998, he promoted me from manager to vice president – not so much for what I was doing at the time but he said “for what you’re going to do in the future.” I was at that time at age 28 the second-youngest VP in the system, the first being Dave.
Well, number one, it’s Dave. He sees strength in people – not just women – but he saw it in Margaret and in me. Margaret is a real champion as well, and helps foster that culture. Actually more than 50 percent of our corporate staff is women. There’s a whole group of up-and-coming women, eight female officers here at RE/
The Internet was where it was happening in the mid-‘90s and no one understood how it worked, how to send e-mails, how to do Web sites. I was fortunate in that I understood it from both the technology side and the real estate side. In the late ‘90s during the “dot-com” craze, then-
In 2005, the partnership we had negotiated in 1998 with REALTOR.com for our listings was just not working like we felt it should. To be cooperative, we needed
We relaunched our Extranet in April, which is a huge return to the company. Because we will no longer rely on a third party, we will realize $800,000 in annual savings. (The Extranet is the technical infrastructure delivering networking opportunities and training tools to 90,000+ users.) And it’s a nice platform to build upon. We’re actually working to bring an on-demand, full-length training venue to the Internet.
Second and consumer-facing is our mobile strategy, which we are working to solidify. We are not first-to-market on this, but when we do launch, our goal is to deliver a “killer app” that differentiates RE/
And third, even though this is not so much an IT effort – we are implementing a joint effort to roll out our social-media strategy. Dave, Margaret, Vinnie (President Vinnie Tracey) and I are going on a 30-city speaking tour that includes ideas from the book, “Social Media is a Cocktail Party.”
First, be yourself, have integrity and stand up for yourself and who you are. Strong women do well here at RE/
Second, get out there and build relationships. Never stop learning; take a hands-on approach to learning.
Finally, learn to balance your career and family. We must learn to give ourselves permission – to take a business trip, or to take the kids to school or to take a Pilates class. I leave the house at
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