By Dennis McCloskey
“The only rock that I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family. – Lee Iacocca, former president of Ford and Chrysler
When Frank J. Polzler co-founded Re/Max Ontario-Atlantic in Canada more than three decades ago with his business partner Walter J. Schneider, little did Polzler know at the time that he was helping to create a company that would one day become a real estate empire of over 2,300 franchised offices and 27,000 sales associates in 35 countries. The Austrian-born immigrant, who came to Canada in 1953, would be the first to say that much of the company’s success is due to the strong bond of his family, whose lives are rooted in real estate, and that Re/Max is the common thread that binds them.
The current chairman continues to play a leading role in the company’s growth and success. REM recently talked to his daughter, grandson and granddaughter who currently work for Re/Max in various capacities.
Pamela Alexander
Pamela Alexander, CEO and managing director, North American operations, Re/Max Ontario-Atlantic Canada and Integra Enterprises Corporation
As a 15-year-old girl answering the telephone in her father’s real estate office after school, Pamela Alexander noticed several things about her father, Frank Polzler, which would shape her work ethic and influence her to follow his foot-steps into the world of real estate.
“He was such a hard worker,” she says from the company’s Mississauga head office. “He became a fantastic mentor and I was greatly influenced by his positive and optimistic manner.”
It wasn’t written in stone that Polzler’s daughter would enter the real estate field; in fact Pamela says initially she had no interest in real estate after completing university. She got a job in sales but realized being a salesperson didn’t fit her personality and was simply not her forte. But then she discovered she enjoyed – and was very interested in – the management and operations side of business.
So in March 1980 she entered the field of real estate by establishing Re/Max Professionals, the first Re/Max franchise to open in Eastern Canada. She and her husband John were responsible for the exponential growth of the Professionals franchise. Pamela subsequently held numerous positions in office administration and operations development within the organization and literally worked her way from the ground up to the executive suites.
Today she and John have four adult children and the couple lives in Mississauga. When Pamela was asked to further explain the influence her father had on her life and career, she was not at a loss for words. “First, he allowed me to be my own person. He was always in the background but he allowed me to make my own mistakes and develop my own style.” She adds that he was very supportive but not a micro-manager.
Pamela also speaks highly of her mother, who has been divorced from Polzler for 35 years but they remain good friends. “She is a very confident and focused individual who earned English Literature degrees much later in life.”
Alexander, whose brother Michael Polzler is a senior VP of the company and managing director for Re/Max of Europe, says she is aware that the vast majority of family businesses do not survive through second and third generations, but she believes her family’s success can be attributed to many factors.
“My brother and my children are natural ‘people people’ who inherited a can-do attitude,” she says. “And we have no sense of entitlement. We have all earned our own stripes. I am my father’s daughter and I knew I had to prove myself.” She adds that having her dad’s respect was a huge motivator.
Another possible key to the clan’s success is that while they are always there for each other, according to Pamela they are able to separate the business dynamic from the family dynamic. “We don’t talk real estate all the time at the cottage or at other family gatherings. They are separate worlds,” she says, adding that the enjoyment they experience in the social/business setting extends to their relationship with the Schneider family, whom she describes as “incredible people.”
It is evident there is a good mix of business and pleasure within the family. While she and her father are “passing the torch” to two of her children who are involved in the business, Pamela speaks fondly of her love of nature, bird watching, walking, biking, skiing, swimming and travel. “We are very family oriented,” she says. “Life for me is family and work…in that order.”
Leah Ambler
Leah Ambler, broker/owner and director of agent productivity at Re/Max Professionals
Frank Polzler’s granddaughter is following in her mother Pamela Alexander’s footsteps. As a young woman, Leah worked at the front desk and in accounting at her parents’ brokerage business. But after graduating with a BA from Western University in Family Studies, and studying Sales and Marketing at Sheridan College, Leah did not work in the family business at first.
“I wanted to prove myself,” she says, reflecting her mother’s earlier, youthful feelings. She worked as a mobile mortgage specialist at RBC for two years and became a mortgage broker. She got her real estate licence in 2005 and sold real estate for three years, becoming an award-winning sales associate with Re/Max Professionals.
Her uncle, Michael Polzler, recruited her to Re/Max Ontario-Atlantic Canada’s head office to work in franchise development. She is currently the broker of record for the family firm in Etobicoke, responsible for agent productivity and the long-term growth of the company. Leah, 31, and her husband, Paul, are the parents of one-year-old Jackson.
She says she was totally influenced to get into real estate by her grandfather, who told her that it was important for her to make something of herself and to do it on her own so she would have something to call her own. “He was an excellent mentor,” says Leah. She also describes her parents as role models, and when asked to describe the benefits of having parents and a grandparent in the business, Leah says she never feels judged. “We have open and honest conversations and I don’t feel that I have to hold back.”
As a “talent scout” for Re/Max, one of her goals is to recruit younger people into the company and help make their jobs easier through technology and support systems. A snowboarder who loves to exercise and travel, Leah is mindful of the family dynasty and admits there is a lot of weight on her shoulders to do well. “I just want to make my family proud,” she says.
Christopher Alexander
Christopher Alexander, sales rep, Re/Max Professionals
Like his mother, uncle and older sister, 27-year-old Christopher Alexander grew up in the real estate business.
As a Grade 10 student, Christopher did a school project that initially sparked an interest in real estate. He remembers thinking at the time that he might enjoy a career in the business. During summers in high school he worked for his family’s company in the accounting department. But he attended Carleton University and got a BA in Art History.
When he decided he did not want to pursue a career in teaching, his mind reverted to the thought that he had in high school, about working in real estate. He also admits today that his grandfather Frank had an influence on his career choice.
“I knew he had a dream for me and my sister to get involved in Re/Max Professionals,” Christopher says. So he entered the business and worked his way up through various administrative positions with Re/Max until he became licensed in 2010.
Today, after three years of selling, he declares that he loves the business. “I want to make my mark as an agent before considering other growth opportunities,” he says. “My grandfather instilled in me that I’d have to make it on my own; nothing would be handed to me.”
Christopher believes that any success he might enjoy in the business is up to him because “the consumer cares what I can do for them.” He believes that the marketing tools and negotiating skills he has developed came from the best teachers and mentors: his family.
When asked what it’s like to have his mother as “the boss”, he maintains that she listens to him and often takes his advice. “We value each other’s opinions and expertise,” he says.
Christopher, who is single and lives in downtown Toronto, is an avid snowboarder and traveler. He also enjoys basketball, gatherings at the family cottage at Pine Lake in the Muskokas, and he is an active participant with his family and colleagues raising funds for the Children’s Miracle Network.
