FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MATT JOHNSON NAMED NEW CEO OF WORTH CLARK REALTY
St. Louis, Missouri: It is with great pleasure that we announce a major addition to Worth Clark Realty’s leadership team, as Matt Johnson takes the helm as CEO.
Matt is a talented executive leader, bringing a broad business background with leadership roles across product, operations, strategy, and technology. His experience touches start-ups and growth companies, of which Matt has played an integral role in scaling into multi-billion dollar organizations.
As Worth Clark Realty continues to scale across the map, Matt is a natural fit to help accelerate our brokerage growth ambitions. Plus, he embodies our core values and believes strongly in our mission to support and empower agents.
We’ve unpacked Matt’s background and vision for the future of Worth Clark in a rapid-fire Q&A style interview. Read below for the full scoop on this exciting new development at Worth Clark Realty!
Q. What interested you most about becoming the CEO of Worth Clark Realty?
A. First, there is a considerable opportunity embedded in Worth Clark’s vision and mission. There’s something very aspirational about helping agents deliver the promise of ownership for themselves, their clients, and their community.
It resonates with me. My wife and I have raised three kids in our home. It has been a refuge, a representation of what we love, and a connection to our community. I’m unapologetically sentimental, and I can’t help but reflect on the importance of what is essentially a collection of wood, glass, and paint. It means infinitely more to us … as it does to so many other people.
I’ve also been fortunate enough to have some ownership in a few successful businesses. My father was a small-business owner. He got to do what he loved and (sometimes barely) pay the bills doing it. There’s opportunity embedded in ownership. Whether through the lens of business or a roof over your head, ownership is deep and impactful. Equally important, there is a culture at WCR that is supportive, inclusive, and dedicated to each other and the customer. It’s a team that wants to give back more than we take. Beyond that, I see a ton of opportunity in the growth of the business and a chance to improve on a formula that is already helping agents be more successful. Who doesn’t want to be a part of all that?
Q. Your professional experiences are varied and chock-full of success stories. Could you give us a birds-eye view of your career (thus far)?
A. I’ve had the chance to be a part of growing, reinventing, and accelerating organizations and product lines at start-ups, mid-size organizations, and large multi-billion dollar enterprises. If there’s a consistent thread across the roles and industries I’ve been in, it is the intersection of product, strategy, and technology. Plus, I suppose I’ve learned that it’s not all about how glossy the paint looks. You need to understand your customer’s real needs and deliver that value. Sometimes that means ground-breaking innovation, and sometimes that means executing better. Either way … your customers win. Often your competitors get better. Their customers win. Great. That drives an industry forward. I also owe a ton of whatever credit is due to people who believed in me, particularly early in my career. There are a handful of leaders and friends who simply helped more than I deserved. They gave me responsibilities beyond what was, in all likelihood, rational or smart. They let me fail a lot and gave me second, third, and probably fourth chances. They were endlessly supportive, as I learned along the way.
Q. What does strong company culture look like to you?
A. Worth Clark Realty. Too easy. Seriously, though. A company is a group of people, a team. It’s not more complicated than that. If you do things right, and WCR has, that group believes in each other. They believe in supporting and delivering value to customers. They want to improve, grow, invent and do something better. They make mistakes. They learn. They move on. They give back more than they take and have fun along the way. That’s a strong culture, and it will produce an equally-strong balance sheet.
Q. What is your vision for WCR?
A. If you’re an entrepreneurial agent who believes in the promise of ownership, and you want to extend that opportunity to your family, clients, community … you think of WCR. Full stop. There is no better choice on the table.
Q. What opportunities and hurdles do you see in WCR’s future?
A. Without detailing the ideas we have, everything relates to enabling agents to invest as much of their time, money, and skills into their core competence as possible. Anything that distracts from helping clients buy and sell – why they became an agent in the first place – is a drag on their business. Let’s set aside the aspirational thoughts for a moment. Yes, successful agents mean clients and communities win, but it’s also just good business. WCR grows if the agent’s business grows. That’s a virtuous cycle.
WCR grows and is in a position to invest more in products, services, and technology that lets agents keep more of what they earn and spend time on what matters. We can play a role in helping agents improve their skills and stay ahead of market trends. Agents, in turn, give better service and value to their clients. Wash, rinse, repeat. I’ve never been in a business where incentives are so well aligned. Hurdles? I love that word. Some athletes run hurdles for sport. The hurdle isn’t a problem. It’s the point of the sport. They make it look easy. It’s not easy of course. It took work. Sounds very much like entrepreneurship.
Housing inventory is … let’s say … a little tight. Competition is fierce. Institutional buyers are a thing. All of us have expectations influenced by our tech-enabled lives. Hiring and retaining great talent is tough. There are plenty of “hurdles”. There always will be. The names just change over time. I think we just have to see hurdles as the point. Let’s trip over a few until we can collectively equip each WCR agent to run them and make it look easy.
Q. Why do you think agents should join WCR?
A. We are committed to their success. We don’t take huge commission splits. We are constantly looking for ways to deliver more value back to the agent – whether that is time, money, or resources – so they can invest in and grow their business. It’s simple. We can’t win if they don’t.
Q. Do you have a secret talent that no one knows about?
A. Maybe, but if I told you, it wouldn’t be much of a secret, would it :).
Q. What is the craziest thing you have done?
A. See the previous answer.
Q.What motivates you?
A. Giving back. Doing something worthwhile and bigger than yourself. A better mousetrap.
Q. Who makes up your core clan?
A. There’s nothing on the planet more important to me. I’m married with three wonderful kids and one very goofy dog. My wife, Tammi, is fantastic on every level (maybe I’m biased), but also, objectively, an accomplished leader in technology and healthcare. My kids are ages 25, 20, and 17. Two strong women and a young man. They are a very large part of why I believe in what we’re doing at WCR. Finally, Pinkers is a 10lb (wet with ankle weights) dog. She has no teeth. Her tongue hangs from her head. She’s ridiculous. We love her.
About Worth Clark Realty
Worth Clark Realty is a unique real estate brokerage enhanced by technology and driven by relationships. We provide innovative and value-driven services to help people buy, sell, and lease real estate and have been considered one of the fastest-growing U.S. companies for several years in a row.
Worth Clark’s company headquarters are located in St Louis, Missouri, with additional offices in Illinois, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, and Florida.
