Harley Rouda, Jr. is chief executive officer and managing partner of Real Living, Inc., one of the fastest-growing real estate franchisors in the nation. Rouda spearheaded the creation of Real Living in February 2002 by acquiring several regional real estate firms to create an agent-centric company that would lead the industry in marketing, technology, professional development and measurable results.

In 2006, REALTOR® Magazine named Rouda one of Real Estate’s Top 25 Most Influential Thought Leaders because “he embraces innovation to better connect brokers, sales associates and the public.” Inman News also named him one of the Most Influential People in Real Estate. He earned the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in June 2002, in recognition of his industry leadership, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. In 2007, he and Kaira Sturdivant Rouda, president of Real Living, received the Corporate Value Award for their ability to continue to create the greatest corporate value for their company through economic, financial, job, organic and acquisition growth.

In addition, Rouda also serves as President and General Manager of the Central Ohio market for Real Living.

Before entering the real estate industry, Rouda was an attorney with the national law firm of Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur, specializing in capital information, securities work and intellectual property.

He serves or has served on the Board of Directors of numerous for-profit and not-for profit companies including Rocky Shoes and Boots (NASDAQ: RCKY), Insight Bank, The Realty Alliance and the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce. As the chair of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) working group, Rouda was instrumental in keeping the base open. He was also appointed to the All-Ohio Task Force to save defense jobs by Governor Bob Taft. In April 2007, he was selected as the vice chair of The National Association of Realtors’ Real Estate Services Advisory Board.

Rouda received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Kentucky; his Juris Doctorate from Capital University Law School; and his Masters in Business Administration from Fisher College of The Ohio State University.

He and his wife reside in Columbus, Ohio, with their four children.

Kaira Sturdivant Rouda is the president of Real Living, Inc. Previously, she held the positions of chief operating officer and chief marketing officer for Real Living, responsible for the development and stewardship of the Real Living brand.

Rouda is responsible for the overall strategy and alignment of the company’s agent and customer care centers; marketing, advertising and special events; professional development and training; franchise sales and services; Web services and the information technology infrastructure.

Before joining Real Living, Rouda was vice president of marketing for an Inc. 500 company with more than 230 franchises and 20 company-owned offices in 47 states. Rouda led the company’s national marketing, created its brand positioning, coordinated more than 20 media co-ops spending more than $15 million annually in media and oversaw all details of its annual sales convention.

Rouda is an active contributor to her community, having served on dozens of non-profit organizations. In the mid-1980s, she founded Make Room Columbus, the city’s first homeless shelter for families. Rouda, an art-lover, also co-founded the 12¼ Circle at the Wexner Center for the Arts in the late 90s. She also founded the Columbus chapter of the American Women in Radio and Television. In 2006, she was the honorary chair and founder of the Columbus Cattle Baron’s Ball that benefited the American Cancer Society. She is also a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization, the YWCA of Columbus’ Board of Directors, the Ohio State University Medical Center’s Critical Care and Respiratory Advisory Committee and the Google Real Estate Advisory Council. She has also served on the board of the Mid-Ohio FoodBank for two terms and as a WebAward judge for the Web Marketing Association. This year, she founded the Real Living Women’s Circle, which is a group of women who come together to learn how to get involved in the community with the mission of empowering women and girls.

She has received numerous awards for her civic service including: Columbus Board of Realtors Citizen of the Year, Ohio Sertoma Service to Mankind Award, Northwest Rotary’s Woman of the Year, Kiwanis Humanitarian Award and Business First newspaper’s 40 under 40, among others.

In addition to her work for Real Living, Rouda is a widely-published writer, serving as contributing editor for numerous publications in Columbus and beyond, most recently Midwest Living magazine. She writes a weekly column – Connections – distributed to 350,000 households in Central Ohio via ThisWeek newspapers. She just finished writing a book called Real You Incorporated: 8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs, which is due out in February 2008 (Wiley).

Rouda is a magna cum laude graduate of Vanderbilt University and a graduate of Leadership Columbus. She resides in Columbus with her husband and their four children.

Sarah Shoemaker is the chief operating officer for Real Living Inc. She is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the agent and customer care centers, professional development and training; Web services and the information technology infrastructure. Shoemaker ensures that Real Living's internal systems and processes are scalable as the firm continues to grow.

Shoemaker joined Real Living in September 2004 as director of customer services, where she led the agent service center and customer care teams. In 2006, she became the vice president of operations.

Prior to joining Real Living, Shoemaker managed online consumer services for Gap Inc. Direct and their three brands, Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy. She was instrumental in the launch of Old Navy online. She managed more than 150 people and recruited, hired and trained a call center leadership and associate team. In addition, she created standard operating policies and procedures for the Web site and identified and successfully drove associate productivity and sales objectives.

Shoemaker has also managed multiple state-funded programs through Benova and FIRSTLINK.

Shoemaker is an active contributor to her community and local school system. She is a graduate of Capital University with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. She resides in Mechanicsburg, Ohio, with her husband and two children.

Bob McAdams is the chief financial officer of Real Living and leads the firm's strategic growth, overseeing mergers and acquisitions. He is responsible for the company's finance, facilities and procurement functions.

Before joining Real Living in November 2002 as vice president of finance, McAdams managed various finance operation departments for Express, a division of Limited Brands. He also has extensive experience in process improvement, risk management and auditing for companies such as Bank One and Schneider Downs.

McAdams is a graduate of Clarion University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

Brooks Burton is the chief executive officer of Real Living Relocation where he oversees Real Living Relocation Management and Real Living’s Affiliate Programs.

Prior to Real Living, Burton served as vice president of sales and marketing with Floyd Bell Inc., where he developed and launched the company’s intranet Web site for manufacturer representatives, recruited and signed manufacturer representative organizations and automated the flow of all Web-based requests for catalogs, sample products and price quotes.

Previously, Burton provided consulting services to several Fortune 500 clients within the energy industry through his company, The Burton Group, a consulting firm offering strategy and operational expertise to the retail energy industry.

Prior to that, Burton served as president and chief executive officer of JumpHome, where he was responsible for the overall management and strategic direction. He directed the company’s growth from two to seven cities and increased the annual revenue and customers served by more than 200 percent.

Burton was also the vice president and general manager of Utilicorp United, where he was responsible for profit and loss accountability for the non-regulated gas commodity sales; maximizing the profitability of the customer base; developing excellence in customer service operations; and developing Utilicorp’s expertise in regulatory issues and commodity products/pricing. Burton was instrumental in increasing Utilicorp’s customer base and retention rate.

Chris Derrow is president of Real Living Mortgage, an affiliate of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, and is also a regional sales manager and vice president with Wells Fargo, America’s leading originator of home loans. Derrow started at Wells Fargo 16 years ago as a regional builder manager before opening his own branch in Columbus, Ohio, in 2001. He was involved in the original Wells Fargo/HER Realtors partnership when he arranged the purchase of Online Financial Services, HER’s in-house mortgage company at the time, in 1999.

Prior to his current tenure at Wells Fargo, Derrow worked at Diamond Savings and Loan Company and PNC Financial’s The Central Trust Company.

Derrow is involved in various non-profit groups supporting the Columbus real estate industry. He taught for several years at Hondros College, a Columbus-based college that provides insurance and real estate licensing throughout Ohio. He has also taught at Columbus State Community College and Bliss College.

Derrow has served on the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio’s Sales Advisory Council and is a member of several real estate associations. He has also served in various officer capacities with the Columbus Mortgage Banker’s Association.

Derrow graduated from Marshall University with a degree in marketing and accounting. After Marshall, he attended the American Institute of Banking, specializing in mortgage banking.

Pogue has been in relocation services for 30 years. Currently, she serves as the president of Real Living Relocation. She focuses on serving corporations and transferees’ global and domestic relocation needs.

One of the nation’s most respected relocation experts, Pogue is past chairperson of The Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (LeadingRE)’s Advisory Council, and is past president of the Greater Cincinnati Relocation Council. She has served as a speaker, panelist and moderator at many conferences. Additionally, she has served on the Employee Relocation Council’s spring planning committee and completed a two-year term as a director member of The Relocation Directors Council. Recently, Pogue received the coveted President’s Service Award for her outstanding contributions to LeadingRE. This year, she was recognized as a Leading Woman of Greater Cincinnati in sales and marketing. Additionally, she was elected to the Board of the Rotary Club of Cincinnati for a three-year term beginning in June 2006.

She resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and their two children.

Harley E. Rouda Sr. entered the real estate business in 1953 when he founded HER Realtors, one of the largest brokerages in Columbus, Ohio. Today he serves as co-chairman of the board of directors for Real Living and as chairman of the board for Real Living.

Rouda is a nationally-renowned leader of the real estate industry, and has served in numerous leadership roles on the local, state and national level, including:

• Past President of the National Association of REALTORS¨ (NAR) (1991)
• Board of Directors and Executive Committee of NAR
• Past President of Asian-Pacific/APREF Council Committee (International Real Estate) (1991)
• Past President of the Ohio Association of REALTORS¨ (1986)
• Past President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS¨ in 1969 and recipient of its "REALTOR¨ of the Year" award in 1975
• A member of the 1992 Board of Consultants to the city of Columbus for the Columbus Board of REALTORS¨
• Past President of the Northwest Area Realty Association
• 1991 Honorary National President of Habitat International
• Past Vice Chairman of The Realty Alliance
• Being appointed by the Governor of Ohio to serve on the 1994 Committee on Funding the Housing Trust Fund
• Recipient of Lifetime Achievement Award from Fisher College of Business at Ohio State Unviersity
• Recipient of the W. Arthur Cullman 2000 Business Award from the Upper Arlington Chamber of Commerce

Rouda is also a committed community leader. He helped start and served as the first president of the Upper Arlington Civitan Club, is past president of the Upper Arlington Civic Association and has served as co-chair of the COLUMBUS/AMERICA campaign of the Economic Development Council of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce in 1994, and in 1996 served as its Membership Chairman. Rouda was recently appointed to a second term on the Advisory Council to the President of The Ohio State University, representing OSU's Fisher College of Business.

In recognition of his many civic and community accomplishments, Rouda has been recognized as:

• Upper Arlington, Ohio Citizen of the Year
• Building Industry Association of Central Ohio Outstanding Citizen of the Year
• Laureate for the Central Ohio Business Hall of Fame
• A Finalist for Entrepreneur of the Year in Central Ohio
• First recipient of the Distinguished Entrepreneurial Lecturer Award from the Ohio State University Faculty Club
• Recipient of the "THE" (The Highest Effort) Award from Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity
• Recipient of Medallion of Service from Omega Tau Rho
• Grand Marshall of the Upper Arlington 4th of July Parade

He has also served on the development committee for First Community Church, the executive committee for the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and as chairman of the real estate division for United Way. Additionally, he served as chairman of the 25th Year OSU Alumni Reunion and as co-chairman of the Upper Arlington School Bond Levy, which at the time was the first local levy to be passed in 12 years. He has served as a member of the Fannie Mae National Advisory Council and as a Trustee of the Arthur James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute.

Rouda has been a teacher of GRI Real Estate courses and has been the guest lecturer at many state and local conventions and for various company employee relocation projects. He firmly believes that education is vital to the real estate profession and, toward that end, has established a scholarship fund at Ohio State University. Through his efforts, Central Ohio graduating seniors are awarded scholarships each year by Real Living HER.

Rouda and his wife, Marlese, are residents of Dublin, the parents of four children, and have eight grandchildren.

Throughout more than four decades, Joseph T. Aveni has devoted his creative energies and visionary skill to the real estate industry. Active in the development and ownership of shopping centers, office and medical buildings, apartments, hotels, condominiums and parking garages, Aveni is a recognized authority in real estate sales, property development and management.

In 1953, Joe Aveni's brother, Vincent T. Aveni, opened the doors of Hilltop Realty, Realty One's predecessor company, in Lyndhurst, Ohio, which led to the establishment of the first Multiple Listing Service in Cleveland's eastern suburbs. Joe Aveni then founded Hilltop's property management division in 1961 and became a Certified Property Manager (CPM) in 1967.

Over the years, Joe Aveni has served as president of the Property Management Division of FIABCI, a worldwide association of real estate professionals; national president of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM); president of the IREM Foundation; board and executive committee member of NAR; board member of the Cleveland Area Board of Realtors (CABOR); chairman of Genesis Relocation Services; chairman of the Realty Alliance Board; and president of the Northeast Ohio Apartment Association (NOAA). A graduate of Leadership Cleveland, Aveni currently serves on the board of the Realty Alliance and Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (LeadingRE).

In addition, Aveni has received IREM's J. Wallace Paletou Award, CABOR's Realtor of the Year honors and OAR's Distinguished Service Award. Inducted into the NOAA Hall of Fame, he is also a recipient of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Service Award for Excellence from the March of Dimes.

Long active in community affairs, Aveni serves on the board the Greater Cleveland YMCA; Six Chimneys, a non-profit organization devoted to the developmentally disabled; and the Greater Cleveland Growth Association. He is also a lifelong resident of the Cleveland area and a graduate of Arizona State University. He and his wife, Barbara, have three children and reside in Gates Mills.

Today, as chairman of Realty One Real Living, Aveni continues to use his creative energies and visionary skills to support Real Living's growth as a local tradition and national brand.

President and General Manager Clyde E. Corle oversees 12 offices and more than 270 sales associates in Real Living’s Southwest Ohio region. Corle was named vice president and general manager of Dayton operations in 2005. After the merger of Real Living’s Dayton and Cincinnati offices in 2006, creating Real Living Realty Services, Corle became vice president and general manager of Real Living’s Southwest Ohio region.

After retiring from a 23-year career as a major in the Air Force – with assignments in Germany, Greece, Colorado, Texas, Louisiana and the Pentagon – Corle became a Realtor in 1994 and earned his broker's license in 1997. He owned and operated Statewide Realty from 1999 to 2002. The company grew rapidly to 47 agents and three locations prior to selling to Real Living.

While at Real Living, Corle has recruited more than 100 agents and has overseen Real Living’s very rapid growth in the Dayton and Cincinnati markets. He previously worked as a recruiting and training manager for the Dayton market and as an office manager.

He was awarded the Harley E. Rouda Sr. Award for Manager of the Year in 2005.