MAAR hires Katie Shotts to return as its next CEO

After a nationwide search, the Memphis Area Association of Realtors has selected Katie Shotts as its next CEO. Shotts is currently serving as the CEO of the Hernando County (Fla.) Association of Realtors, and she brings more than a decade of experience as a Realtor Executive. She will join the MAAR staff on March 10.

Shotts succeeds Melanie Blakeney, who resigned last October. Blakeney had been MAAR’s executive leader since Dec. 1, 2011.

“We couldn’t be happier that Katie Shotts has agreed to return to MAAR and Memphis as our CEO,” said MAAR President Lee McWaters. “She built on her achievements here and quickly advanced her career and reputation within the industry. But just as important, she is passionate about MAAR, its mission, and the Memphis community.

McWaters continued, “Katie Shotts is uniquely qualified to lead MAAR going forward.”

Shotts spent seven years at MAAR in the roles of communications sirector and commercial council director. Before her position as CEO at the Hernando County Association of Realtors, she served three years as chief operations officer for the 7,900-member Pinellas Realtor Organization.

Shotts received her Realtor Certified Association Executive (RCE) designation in 2017 and created a Chief Operating Officers group while serving in a volunteer/advisory capacity with the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

She commented, “I am humbled and honored to have been given this opportunity. At MAAR, I saw firsthand the value of servant leadership and that inspired me. To the point that I recognized I needed to leave, for a time, to continue to grow.

“But I always hoped to return to MAAR and to Memphis one day. From afar, I watched with pride as Memphis continued to thrive. I am not overstating things when I say that to be able to come home and serve MAAR and the community in this new role is a dream come true.”

For more than a century, the Memphis Area Association of Realtors has been serving and representing real estate professionals, as well as providing real estate information to the general public. Approximately 3,700 members unite to make up Tennessee’s largest Realtor organization with real estate expertise stretching from the greater Memphis area to include Shelby, Fayette, Tipton, Hardin, Hardeman and McNairy counties. MAAR members subscribe to the National Association of Realtors Code of Ethics. For more information on MAAR, visit maar.org.