Culture Makes All the Difference for RE/MAX Brokerage Celebrating 20 Years

To hear John Mangas and Kathy Kuyoth talk about their real estate brokerage is to hear them sing the praises of the great people surrounding them. True leaders, Mangas and Kuyoth founded RE/MAX Preferred Associates in December 2001. Today, 20 years later, the duo are the Broker/Owners of five offices in the greater Toledo, Ohio, area, including one in neighboring Michigan.

“Mindset is so much more important than what’s on a resume,” Mangas says of identifying real estate agents who are a good fit for RE/MAX Preferred Associates. “We are an organization that values learning and growing and investing in oneself. There’s a mindset among our agents that trying new things is where you find success. Being afraid? That just doesn’t work here.”

That attitude, along with the example set by Mangas and Kuyoth, has helped the brokerage become home to the most productive real estate agents in the state. Among large firms ranked by most transaction sides per agent, the company is No. 1 in Ohio and No. 6 in the country*. It’s also been honored as a Top Workplace by the local newspaper for six straight years.

“Super, super proud of that,” Mangas says. “Our agents and staff know we want great things for them, we support them, and we want them to have a fulfilled, rounded career and work environment. I never take it for granted.”

He and Kuyoth credit a culture of caring, listening, following up, having fun and showing up as a big piece of the puzzle in the success of their brokerage. In the two decades since its founding, the office has seen markets shift, trends change and new models emerge. Through it all, Mangas says, the RE/MAX brand provided a massive competitive advantage. The brand, he adds, is more relevant today than ever.

“RE/MAX helps give us the training, tools and even just the encouragement to keep going,” he reflects. “I’m as excited about the real estate business today as I was 20 years ago.”

Kuyoth echoes that sentiment, saying RE/MAX makes their job as Broker/Owners easier.

“A special thanks to RE/MAX for offering technology and tools to our agents that an independent company just couldn’t afford to provide,” Kuyoth says.

That appreciation goes both ways. Mangas and Kuyoth have strong relationships and solid reputations at RE/MAX Headquarters in Denver.

“John and Kathy are great people and fantastic leaders,” RE/MAX President Nick Bailey says. “They work hard to support their agents and they really demonstrate the value of having dedicated, focused brokers at the local level. Every day, they give advice, guidance, encouragement and whatever else their agents need to be more successful. They make areal  difference. You can see it in the results.”

Aligned with the brand

Mangas and Kuyoth founded RE/MAX Preferred Associates in 2001 after both resigned from an independent brokerage. A month later, the two opened the doors to their new RE/MAX franchise. Although the landscape was much different then, Kuyoth says, they aligned with the the global brand to leverage the edge it gives to agents.

“When we chose RE/MAX 20 years ago, we saw the direction of real estate changing and knew no one did it better than RE/MAX,” she says.

“What RE/MAX offers is tremendous,” Mangas adds. “At the end of the day, we’re all trying to find a way to better support our agents. They’re the ones out in the field generating business.”

Chris Wolniewicz, a Senior Technology Solutions Consultant at RE/MAX HQ, got his start with RE/MAX Preferred Associates. According to him, the education, mentoring and experience he received there is “worth 10 MBAs.”

“Kathy and John are great leaders because they’ve seen it all before,” Wolniewicz says. “Their prior careers at other brokerages, including a large local and other national franchise organizations, showed them everything they didn’t want RE/MAX Preferred to be.

“Because they’ve walked the walk, they’re able to help their agents overcome any hurdle, tackle any business goal and put out any fire. Their charisma, strategic decision-making and willingness to do the hard things first, right and once make them incredible brokers and friends.”

Mangas, noting that the RE/MAX brand has been instrumental to the brokerage’s growth,  specifically points to RE/MAX tools and technology dedicated to digital advertising and identifying inventory, as well as the advertising campaigns developed in collaboration with award-winning agency Camp + King.

“We just feel the RE/MAX brand is aligned with our goals and who we are,” he says.

Showing up, building support

The character of RE/MAX Preferred Associates is evident through the anecdotes Mangas and Kuyoth share about their agents.

They tell of their No. 1 team leader – “mega successful,” they say, but “still has a lot of heart.” They refer to him as valuing his staff and putting his team members’ self-worth ahead of any business. They mention an agent who didn’t have a real estate background but put in the time and energy to internalize RE/MAX offerings like Momentum, the brand’s exclusive agent development program.

“He wanted to learn the business. He was willing to go through mentoring, to put himself out there, to do the right things and to push himself,” Mangas says. “That’s the kind of person we want to work with.”

Mangas and Kuyoth, it should also be noted, are the type of leaders who show up for their people. Whether it’s a wedding or a child’s graduation, if they’re invited, at least one of them goes. As they tell it, it’s about fostering a family atmosphere in which everyone feels supported and knows they belong. It’s about cultivating a professional, fun and creative environment.

In fact, in the early 2000s – not long after they opened their brokerage – Mangas and Kuyoth were recognized as being RE/MAX Broker/Owners of the Year. To hear Mangas tell it, he couldn’t have done it on his own.

“Kathy is a huge part of us earning the accolades and hitting the milestones,” he says. “She’s an amazing leader and a great partner not only for RE/MAX Preferred Associates but for much of our marketplace. She’s well-respected and has garnered so much praise throughout the industry.”

Embracing values and pushing forward

As the brokerage continues to grow and evolve, Mangas and Kuyoth once again point to the people around them as the ultimate catalysts for the brokerage’s success. Saying they’re most proud to continue recruiting, retaining, developing and growing the best of the best in their marketplace, Mangas stresses that it doesn’t happen by accident.

“It happens by like-minded people coming together, embracing similar values and pushing forward in a moral, ethical way – doing the best they can to serve their clients and communities,” he says.

Mangas also points to Manager Angela Decker as being instrumental to agent development at the brokerage.

“Angela recently obtained her broker’s license and has been working closely with many of our newer agents, helping them establish and build a sustainable practice,” he says, stressing that he sees the brokerage remaining relevant and current during the next 20 years.

“I think the foundation that Kathy and I laid will be solid and strong for many decades to come,” he says. “Markets change, people change and leadership changes, but if the foundation is strong, the organization will be as well.”

*Rankings calculated by RE/MAX based on 2021 RealTrends 500 data, citing 2020 transaction sides for the 500 largest participating U.S. brokerages. Due to rounding, some sides-per-agent averages appear to produce ties. But all ties are broken at three decimal points.

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