As a 4-year-old, Judy Dempcy Homes rainmaker Rob Cole remembers screwdrivers and taking tiles off bathroom floors. For him, real estate was ingrained in his everyday world through his mother, Judy Dempcy, a true realty legend in the O’Fallon, Illinois, area. As a grown-up, Cole left the real estate world behind to work in homeland security and moved back to the United States in 2009, after working for the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, Finland. After Dempcy’s sudden passing in 2011, he dove headfirst into the industry, ready to protect and grow his mother’s beloved legacy. Now powered by Keller Williams Pinnacle, Cole is energetically leading his $50M-in-volume producing team on the road to tripling his mother’s business.
“For me, the defining factor was the team that came along with the Keller Williams name – that’s what I wanted to be a part of,” Cole, who had been looking into partnering up with a national brand for the past five years, says. “Keller Williams allowed me to stay me, and didn’t try to shape me into who they thought I should be. Their approach is ‘You do you. We’re going to help you be better.’”
In nurturing his mother’s legacy, Cole has tightened the radius the five-person team serves, becoming hyperfocused on O’Fallon not just as an everyday agent, but as an area expert. Since his location borders Missouri, Cole is looking into expansion opportunities in order to achieve the team’s goal of staying on top of the market.
Another goal? Learning how to delegate to his tight-knit crew. “When you come in here, this isn’t just a place where you work, it’s like a family,” Cole shares of the team’s atmosphere. “Everyone knows your family.” Ties run deep among the five team members (two agents and two assistants) – Cole himself has known one of his associates since he was 5 years old.
Ultimately, Cole’s purpose in joining hands with Keller Williams is building upon the fantastic foundation established by his mother. “We are already seeing an impact from the educational leadership that comes along with this move,” he says. “My ultimate goal is to be able to speak so highly of my transition to Keller Williams and how it’s propelled my growth, that I can go out and tell everyone what I did, how I did it, and why the move would assist their growth in the real estate business.”