From his studio apartment in 1969, Richard Elkman took an ambitious idea and grew it into something special. At the time, it was unheard of for an agency to specialize in one industry — but 50 years later, Mollie Elkman continues to grow group two, a company born from one leader’s vision and refined by another leader’s determination to connect with people on a deeper level.
As we round 5 decades of hard work, passion, and love for new homes, we remember what it is that makes group two one-of-a-kind. It takes a lot for a company to remain relevant for so long, and all of this was possible because of family and trust: Richard passed his passion onto his daughter, Mollie Elkman, who took group two in her own direction and developed it into the remarkable team it is today.
Ever since she was a little girl, Mollie had a natural interest in marketing. Most of all, her inclination toward empathy and understanding what drives people to make big, emotional decisions, fascinated her father. When Richard would come home from work, he would show Mollie different logo concepts and ask her which she thought was the best, and which she thought the builder picked and why.
These “marketing games” taught Mollie to not only think like a strategic marketer, but to also think about how business owners want their companies to be perceived. Mollie learned early on that marketing is not about an ad — it’s about everything that leaves an impression on a buyer. Whether it’s photos of a home on a builder’s website or a bathroom in a model home not having toilet paper, everything must consider the feelings evoked in the buyer’s experience.
When Mollie took the reigns from her father, the housing industry was in a downturn. Eager to continue helping builders with marketing services that would eliminate costs and still connect with buyers, she developed an all-inclusive social media program. (This was BEFORE business pages were even available, so as you can imagine, a lot of creative thinking was involved.) Within the first month over 50 builders signed up. The success that Mollie had with this program earned her dad’s complete trust, and g2 was hers to take in her direction.
Today, we’re all bound by Richard and Mollie’s passion to take the success of our builders even higher. g2 has a lot of heart behind it, thanks to the bond between a father and his daughter, and the spirit of what makes a house a home. We’ve loved working with incredible, one-of-a-kind people like you for the past 50 years, and we can’t wait for the next 50! Thank you for joining us on this journey of a lifetime.
