Companies to Watch: Keller Williams Realty of Mandeville, La.

Why eye it: In May, 10 female salespeople decided to leave their company and, as equal partners, create a new one. The group wasn’t motivated by money, says Vikki Morvant, one of the salespeople-cum-owners. “We all said we wanted a company where we had a voice, a measure of control over the quality of the associates who joined, and where the management appreciated us.”

That decision-making quest attracted them to the Keller Williams franchise, which Morvant says allows salespeople to make decisions on such things as floor time.

Although Morvant and her partners wanted to invite salespeople from other companies to be owners, “we dared not go outside our ranks because we were trying to be discreet,” she says. Anyway, more than 10 seemed unwieldy.

All 10 continue to sell, and each has a role, based on her expertise, in managing the company. Morvant set up the phone system; others handle personnel, bookkeeping, and so on. One partner, Debbie Gauthier-Alexander, is named broker of record per Louisiana law.

The result: The company has 10 percent of the market share, Morvant says. “To put that in perspective, the leading company reported a 14.5 percent market share.”

In addition, the partners have affiliated four more salespeople and hope to have 35, including some men. That all the partners are women is a coincidence, Morvant says.

What’s next: “We plan to hire someone to take over the day-to-day brokerage functions, so Debbie will be less burdened,” Morvant says.

Morvant’s advice for other practitioners: “Opening our company would have been overwhelming for one person,” Morvant acknowledges. So she advises like-minded practitioners to find a diverse group of partners.

Partners also bring a measure of security. “If just one or two people start a company, salespeople ask themselves, Are you going to survive? before they decide to affiliate with you,” Morvant says. “Because we opened with multiple partners, salespeople know we’ll survive.”