Reo Nationwide Company

Losing her oldest client after 11 years was a bitter reminder of the price Carol Jean "C.J." Gehlke has paid this year to spend time setting up the basic systems and procedures her real estate company has lacked since the beginning. Sales at her most profitable division are down about 75% as Gehlke and her business partner sacrifice time with clients to painstakingly transfer to the business years of company knowledge stored only in their heads.

If she had her way, business owner Carol Jean "CJ" Gehlke would slow down, sell her profitable real estate services company and spend her time cooking, gardening and entertaining friends. Instead, she's trying to hang on as her industry changes at what feels like warp speed, blasting toward globalization. Many competitors of the small, Newport Beach-based REO Nationwide have been acquired or sold in the last year.

If she had her way, business owner Carol Jean "CJ" Gehlke would slow down, sell her profitable real estate services company and spend her time cooking, gardening and entertaining friends. Instead, she's trying to hang on as her industry changes at what feels like warp speed, blasting toward globalization. Many competitors of the small, Newport Beach-based REO Nationwide have been acquired or sold in the last year.

Losing her oldest client after 11 years was a bitter reminder of the price Carol Jean "C.J." Gehlke has paid this year to spend time setting up the basic systems and procedures her real estate company has lacked since the beginning. Sales at her most profitable division are down about 75% as Gehlke and her business partner sacrifice time with clients to painstakingly transfer to the business years of company knowledge stored only in their heads.