After 28 years rising through the ranks from salesperson to trainer to head of the relocation division and right hand to Ebby Halliday Real Estate, Inc.'s president Mary Frances Burleson, Petey Parker is leaving her real estate "family" to pursue a long-held dream - a career as a keynote speaker.

Her clients have other ideas.

When word began to leak out, Parker was called by a wide variety of entities, from large corporations both in and outside of the real estate industry who want her to spearhead projects such as instituting teams, training and/or relocation programs. She's also received calls from top individual agents wanting a little one-on-one coaching time. She'll be keynoting for the Council of Real Estate Brokerage Managers, INRELCO (Century 21 relocation brokers and directors' referral network,) and others, while working on spokesman training for the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas.

"My plan was to take about a month off to get organized to market myself," says Parker. "To say I'm out there has brought in inquiries and that has been amazing to me. I have to be ready now."

It's a good problem to have - more business than she ever dreamed would come her way - but, Parker has earned it. She is one of the reasons why Ebby Halliday is in the top 20 of real estate brokerages in the nation and remains one of the highest-ranking independents, according to multiple sources. She has a strong track record in sales, brokerage management and as a training director before becoming Ebby's head of relocation.

Parker is self-made, a country girl from a modest background turned city sophisticate who stays in touch with her roots by making hundreds of hand-made gifts annually. Family is all-important, as well as success. If you are the recipient of one of her hand-stitched Christmas ornaments or an inspirational letter or poem, you are on the A-list indeed. People aren't contacts and connections. They are family, too. It's this attitude which gives Parker a unique and unbeatable persona.

And that's what makes Parker's story interesting - she's walking away from a lot of accomplishment in a position where many would choose to honorably coast to retirement.

Instead, knowing one only coasts downhill, she plans to get out the carry-on luggage and roller-skates.

"It's about following my passion, and never having to look back and say I didn't go for it," says Parker. "I'm going to take my 28 years of experience and go help other people with it."

While many would say her greatest accomplishment is the establishment of Ebby's self-sufficient relocation department, Parker feels her greatest gift has been working with Mary Frances Burleson, president of Ebby Halliday Real Estate, Inc., a great communicator in anyone's book.

In fact, communication will be the cornerstone of all her projects whether she keynotes for a real estate organization or revamps a corporation's training and sales departments.

"We've lost the ability to communicate," says Parker, "on a personal level. I would like to be an influence that we learn to communicate from heart, body and soul. We've become a nation of machine-to-machine communicators. I cut in on you, you cut in on me - 'let me take this call.' We've lost the ability to have one-on-one conversation, and we're not very compassionate."

Parker also plans to use her influence to liaison with developers, builders and Realtors to expand and improve housing and community development.

Currently, most development centers around providing a haven for the nuclear family, when demographic trends suggest that developers and builders are missing opportunities to serve the nontraditional homebuyer, particularly singles of all ages, particularly the fast-growing single female and empty nest couples market over 50.

"We should not be in the business of promoting one kind of housing over another," says Parker. "We should be looking at the demographic trends, and then finding out what people say they want and then building and selling housing to meet those needs."

For information about Petey Parker and Associates, please contact Petey Parker at petey@peteyparker.com.

Published: April 13, 2004

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.