A girl was born to a father who wanted a son, who he planned to name Rhett, after Rhett Butler’s character in the movie “Gone with the Wind.” When the girl arrived, the father looked down and said, “There’s No Rhett.” And so, she was named NoRhett. Today, that girl is one of the most influential leaders in the commercial real estate industry. Meet NoRhett Walls, the Vice President of National Commercial Services at Stewart Title, a title services company. She is one of the 70 VPs and SVPs of NCS nationally.
Although her father wanted a son, he didn’t treat NoRhett any differently. He passed on to her his passion for real estate and encouraged her every step of the way. “My father is the reason for my passion and love for real estate,” NoRhett says. For more than 24 years, she has been successfully traversing the competitive real estate industry, making an indelible mark in the commercial space. Success, for her, means being a good citizen of humanity and helping others. Her overall goal moving forward is to do better.
“I want to strive harder and do better, knowing that at the end of the day, I just want to make a larger difference in everything I do,” she says.
NoRhett is a part of several organizations, such as CREW, NAIOP, ULI, ACRE, ICSC, and more. She has also served on the board and as president of the Inland Empire Chapter of CREW, a Commercial Real Estate Woman organization built to empower women.
Love for Real Estate and Joining a Title Company
“Real estate has always been a part of me,” NoRhett says. “I’ve always appreciated it, and there really was no getting away from it.”
NoRhett’s father owned Century 21 offices (in the 1960s) and mortgage companies (in the 1970s and 1980s) when she was growing up. She remembers spending time with him at his office and accompanying him to meetings after school. “My father still claims I’m the best secretary he ever had,” NoRhett shares.
She grew up learning how to negotiate. By age 7, she knew how to calculate the points on a loan and process a loan package. She found underwriting loans and figuring out the points fascinating. During college, she worked part-time as a loan processor, which transitioned to a job as an escrow assistant. After college, she worked full-time as an escrow assistant, building valuable relationships in residential and commercial real estate.
Although she had aspirations to pursue different career paths, NoRhett always returned to real estate. She can’t picture herself now, at this stage in her life and career, doing anything different. Years ago, she aspired to open a mortgage company. “I was in the process of that – had the lease filled out, furniture purchased, everything ready to go,” NoRhett says. She then received a job offer to work for Old Republic Title Company under Kristi Munoz.
When she talked to her father about it, he pointed out, “You’ve worked alongside title companies, but you’ve never worked for one.” At this point in her career, NoRhett had worked as a loan processor and in escrow for a number of years. She thought, “Maybe I should learn this aspect of the business directly from the title company’s perspective.”
So, she postponed opening her mortgage company and accepted the job offer, intending to give it a try for at least a year. “I jumped in with both feet, and I absolutely fell in love with people in title insurance,” she says. “It was more than just working for a company; it was truly being able to solve people’s problems and have the feeling of being needed every day, which was fantastic.”
After a year, when her father asked, “Are you ready to come back and open your mortgage company?” She said, “No, I love what I’m doing right now, I feel fulfilled, and I want to move forward with it.” So, NoRhett continued on in the title insurance space.
Transitioning to Commercial Real Estate
When NoRhett began working at Old Republic Title, it primarily focused on residential sales. Earlier, while working in escrow, she had the opportunity to work with “wonderful” real estate brokers and professionals in the commercial real estate space. She carried forward that experience into her title career.
In her first year at Old Republic, she pursued the residential accounts as was expected from her. But, after almost a year and a half, Kristi pointed out to her, “Do you realize that about 70% of all your transactions are commercial right now?” NoRhett had not noticed that, and she immediately apologized and told Kristi that she would refocus on residential transactions. However, she was stopped from doing that. Kristi encouraged her to cultivate more relationships within the commercial real estate space.
NoRhett recalls Kristi telling her, “We need to capture and focus on this [commercial] and move forward with it.” From that day forward, she strives to focus 100% on commercial transactions. “And it’s been a successful career for me,” she says.
She feels that she connects better with individuals in the commercial real estate industry than in the residential sector, which, according to her, has a different style of sales, needs, and a value proposition. “I believe I bring more value to those in the commercial real estate space than I was able to in the residential space,” NoRhett says.
A Woman in Male-Dominated Real Estate Industry
At a young age, NoRhett began working in the male-dominated real estate industry. However, she never felt intimidated or out of place. “When I was growing up, my father took me everywhere, including to Rotary lunches on Wednesdays,” she says. “I was often the only female in the room, and I was fine with that.”
She was also often the only woman – or one of the two women – in the room when she started her professional journey. However, she never felt insecure about it. “I just felt like I was one of everyone else in the room,” she shares.
NoRhett attributes her comfort to the company she kept. “I had some wonderful mentors, who were brokers, particularly at the Sperry Van Ness office in Ontario at that time,” she says. Those gentlemen really wanted her to succeed. “They treated me like a lady, and that made a difference for me,” NoRhett recalls. “It allowed me to see that there are gentlemen in this business, like my father, who have always respected women and treated them as equals.”
Also, as an only child growing up in an adult environment, NoRhett had immense confidence. “Being female in a male-dominated situation didn’t impact me,” she says. Her colleagues or superiors never saw her as another “blonde in a skirt” because of her knowledge of the lending world, her experience in the escrow industry, and her overall understanding of real estate. They recognized that she knew what they were doing in the real estate business.
Through her work, NoRhett made them realize that she understands their headwinds and challenges. She demonstrated that she was there to help them solve those problems and ensure they reached their finish line. “When they started to realize that there was something more behind the initial impression, it became, ‘we don’t want to do a transaction without her [NoRhett] because she definitely secures a positive outcome for us’,” NoRhett recalls.
She adds that when she transitioned to the commercial real estate side of the industry, the men in the room listened when she spoke. “That meant something,” NoRhett points out. Because of her knowledge of the business and industry, what she was bringing to the table was seen as an asset.
About Stewart Title Guaranty Company
Stewart Title Guaranty Company is a publicly traded global enterprise that offers real estate closing solutions, title assurance, and title policy insurance across the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Australia, the Bahamas, and the United Kingdom.
Established in 1893, the firm has thrived in various economic environments for over 130 years. “As a Title Insurer and Underwriter, we issue our own title policies and those for agency partners nationwide and globally,” NoRhett points out. They continually embrace and innovate to meet their clients’ ever-changing needs within NCS, with specialty groups such as Stewart Energy, Affordable Housing, Hospitality, Distressed Assets, and Lenders Services.
Stewart also provides clients with 1031 Tax Deferred Exchange through Asset Preservation and UCC-ONE, offering UCC-1 Policies nationally. The leadership team of the company wants to see it grow and become the premier service provider in the industry. “That is really what we’re championing going forward,” NoRhett says.
She joined Stewart Title in August 2020. She credits her presence in the company to the trust and guidance of Greg Grub, SVP, Director of Operations, and Peggy Lane, SVP, National Sales Director.
“When you work for a company that genuinely believes in you and wants you to WIN, and you are fortunate to work alongside team members who have the same passion and experience, you have a winning combination,” NoRhett says.
Values Clients and Mentorship
NoRhett always tries to go above and beyond to ensure a successful outcome for her clients. Clients are the most rewarding part of her day. “After 24 years in the industry, I still LOVE going to work every day due to my clients,” she says.
She considers it a proud moment whenever she receives a phone call from a client. She remembers when one of her clients contacted her, saying his daughter, fresh out of college, wanted to meet her. She was interested in making a career in the commercial real estate space. NoRhett agreed to meet her.
“Meeting with her was an eye-opening experience for me,” NoRhett shares. “Number one, I felt really old because I remember being that age and having that love for achievement.” The client’s daughter showed up with a two-page resume and a goal sheet outlining her desired career milestones at various ages. NoRhett recalls being overwhelmed with that. She helped her get started and provided her with interviews and contacts. That girl ended up having an exceptional real estate career. NoRhett shares that they still have a great friendship and mentoring relationship.
“Enriching others in any way I can is my currency,” she says. For her, it is a blessing to mentor others or help someone to guide them. “I have wonderful mentors,” NoRhett says. “And if I didn’t have those individuals to look up to and help guide me, then I would definitely not know exactly what I wanted out of my career or where I felt like I could go.”
Love for Horses
NoRhett has three passions: real estate, horses, and country music. Horses are not only her passion but also her hobby and pastime in life. Her mother cultivated her love for horses, at a young age, “Riding provides a feeling of freedom while the care for horses provided the reward. In 2009 she started a rehab and retirement facility for racehorses in southern California. “Horse racing has changed my life, I wanted to give back and support the athletes. Owning race horses independently or in a partnerships have brought I also own a lot of racehorses,” NoRhett shares. She and her husband breed, race, and train racehorses, and they have a lot of runners.
“Being a female in the racing industry, which is almost 100% male-dominated, is also a huge part of what helps me move forward as a woman in our business,” NoRhett says.
Changing Landscape of Real Estate
When NoRhett began her career in real estate, she rarely saw women in the field. Now, more women are working in the industry, especially in commercial real estate, she points out.
She is also seeing the increasing use of technology. “Technology has taken our industry to many new levels,” she says. According to her, artificial intelligence has been a concern and a challenge for them. She explains that they have faced several challenges that threaten the necessity for professionals like herself. “Blockchain was a concern, and now with AI, our industry is questioning the relevance of roles such as commercial real estate brokers, and positions in title space, and escrow professionals.
“We are currently embracing some of the capabilities of AI,” NoRhett says. “My opinion is simple: human interaction cannot be replaced.”
Message to Aspiring Women Leaders
“Speak up; you have a voice” is NoRhett’s advice to aspiring women leaders. She says that being a woman in the real estate industry can be rewarding and positive. “If you need someone to listen and support you, call me,” she adds.
She also encourages aspiring women leaders to make warm introductions for each other, and stay in touch and engaged. “Be a mentor; mentorship can be very rewarding for you as well,” she says.
“Don’t let one experience or situation deter your momentum,” NoRhett adds.
A Gracious Leader!
“Gracious” is how NoRhett describes herself in a word. She feels blessed to have had the career she has. “I’ve been fortunate to work alongside some really amazing people,” she says. “They’ve helped me in life, shown me, taught me, and molded me into who I am today.” She now intends to give back to those individuals.
“I’m just a girl who got an opportunity and took it,” NoRhett adds. “I’ve made something really great of it because of others around me, who have helped me get where I am.”
