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Kaira Sturdivant Rouda
Kaira Sturdivant Rouda is president of Real Living, a residential real estate franchisor headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with more than 4,000 agents and 160 offices throughout 20 states. She is a published author, writer, award-winning marketing executive and business owner.

History
Rouda is a magna cum laude graduate of Vanderbilt University. She built her career by working in marketing for national brands, large regional advertising agencies and national and regional publications. While maintaining her own writing business, she became the vice president of marketing for Stanley Steemer. In 2002, she launched the Real Living brand.

Accomplishments and Awards
Rouda’s passion for entrepreneurialism, marketing and the power of women in the workforce and beyond led her to author Real You Incorporated:8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs (Wiley; February 8, 2008; Hardcover), a book about empowering women in business. Real You Incorporated contains eight Real Facts, along with life lessons and success stories, to help women create a winning brand that’s in tune with their personality.

Since launching the Real Living brand, the company has been awarded the Inman Innovator Award for Most Innovative Franchise; the Luxury Real Estate Award for Best Web Site (RealLiving.com) and Most Innovative Marketing Technique; and the Web Marketing Association WebAwards' Standard of Excellence for RealLiving.com and RealLivingFranchise.com.

Other awards received include the Communicator Awards' Award of Excellence and Award of Distribution; Telly Award; Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 50 Best New Franchises and Franchise 500; Webby Awards Official Honoree; Inman Innovator Award Finalist for the Most Innovative Web Service; The International Academy of Visual Arts W3 Silver Award; Public Relations Society of America PRism Awards; and American Marketing Association’s Achievement in Marketing awards.

In 2007, Rouda was recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Led Companies list.

Rouda is a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization, the Google Real Estate Advisory Board, and a WebAward Judge for the Web Marketing Association.

Community Service
Rouda is also active in her community. She founded Central Ohio’s first homeless shelter for families, served two terms on the board of the Mid-Ohio FoodBank, and now serves on the boards of the YWCA and the Wexner Center for the Arts and is an underwriter of The Women’s Fund. She has received numerous awards for her civic service including the Ohio Sertoma Service to Mankind Award, Kiwanis Humanitarian Award, Northwest Rotary Woman of the Year and Columbus Board of Realtors Citizen of the Year.