Kenda Townsend & Genesys Real Estate Group, a Townsend Team Company, at LIME Realty

TEAM FEATURE

STORY BY ZACHARY COHEN | PHOTOS BY NESTED TOURS

THE STRENGTH OF TOGETHERNESS

When Kenda Townsend relaunched her real estate career in 2017, it was her second go-around in the business. She initially received her real estate license in 1992, at just 21 years old. 

Kenda built a business as a solo agent for the next ten years before her love for travel and culture drew her to other parts of the country. She lived in California, Alabama, and Indiana, exploring different cultures and industries along the way. When she returned to Oklahoma City to sell real estate in 2017, she discovered the business had changed dramatically.  

“When I returned, the face of real estate had changed. I saw big huge companies and teams. The solo agent was getting lost. In order to do all the things I wanted to do, I knew I’d have to do something different… I realized the way to accomplish this, the way to truly make a difference, was by starting a team,” Kenda explains.

BUILDING A TEAM

As Kenda began to explore team models, she considered joining a team. But the existing models she saw were uninspiring for her.

“The traditional response I got from team leaders was, ‘Join us, and we'll give you leads.’ I didn’t need leads. The traditional model didn't work for me. They wanted to take my money and didn't give anything back to me. I knew that I could do better,” Kenda continues.

Kenda was determined to put her vision into action, and she soon founded Genesys Real Estate Group, a Townsend Team Company, at LIME Realty with the goal of creating a group that would act as a unit in service of the community and each other. At the core, she set out to develop a team with a shared vision.

Five years later, Kenda has accomplished that goal. Genesys Real Estate Group, a Townsend Team Company, is now a group of six agents, including Kenda, Kelly Keel, Haley Doggett, Calvin Tuck, Mike Anderson, and Angel Morris. 

“The culture here is what attracted me to it,” agent Haley Doggett says. “I was on a team previously, and I was hesitant to join another team, but it's been a different team concept here. We are truly a team. We operate as a unit. At our core, we are a different kind of team.”

“Our legacy is to build a better community through each other and through what we do.”

GROWING WITH VALUES

LIME Realty’s core values are love, integrity, marketing, and expertise. Kenda adopts those as the core values of her team, too, then adds some others: sustainability, courage, diversity, and adaptability.

“LIME is a service-oriented brokerage. Members are highly involved in local real estate government and service-related activities. That’s where we find ourselves, and we believe in that, too,” Kenda explains. “We took those service-oriented values and raised the bar on that. That's how we shape our team. We start with the core values of LIME and grow from there.”

Kenda hopes to continue growing the team organically, but she’s not out to have the largest group in Oklahoma. Rather, her goal is to remain a cohesive unit in service of clients and the community at large.

“While this work is about building a business, we do it in a way where we are all supporting each other. We aren't out to build the numbers. We are out to build relationships. We want to be part of the story of the people in our lives,” Kenda explains. “Legacy is a big thing for me. My father died some time ago and left a big legacy. He was the executive director of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. After his death, the museum was endowed in his name. He was a big part of Oklahoma City. Creating a legacy in Oklahoma means always doing the right thing, creating a better place to live, and creating a better community that is strong and uplifted. Our legacy is to build a better community through each other and through what we do.”