Beth Ford joined Land O’ Lakes—now known as Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage—in 1985 as a child-development assistant and made her first sales on her first day on the job. She ran the office’s weekend sales drive in 1985 as a way to teach her employees the value of the stock—and learned valuable retailing skills in the process. Six years later, she took over the maintenance department, and by the time she was promoted to manager of the maintenance department she had already cleaned toilets. “It took patience, but I got my hands dirty,” she says.
Out of that slog came a 35-year career at Land O’ Lakes that touched every facet of the company. Today she has risen to be president of the company, which, Ford says, “is more than a brokerage, it’s a lifestyle.”
Since the 1990s, Land O’ Lakes has grown its property management and vacation rentals to triple the size of the former rental division. “We went from starting out with 24 offices in 15 cities to 78 offices in 40 cities,” says Ford.
From 1997 to 2016, Land O’ Lakes has sold more than $1 billion worth of property for its more than 25,000 clients. In a highly competitive market, the company’s local sales agents help place it on the top of the ladder by offering more than its competitors. “We’re a brand, a lifestyle, a property management company with the brands on our app, website, and Facebook page,” says Ford.
As a lifetime resident of the county, Ford can point to the strong Land O’ Lakes roots as one of its many strengths. “Our growth does not mean we’re overreaching,” she says. “This office is built to always exceed expectations.”
See more photos of Land O’ Lakes at the 2018 Washingtonian 100 luncheon.
