Inside Ensemble: How a Member-Led Seattle Real Estate Brokerage Works

Ensemble’s member brokers help decide how our Seattle real estate firm operates, which services it funds, and the standards that guide our work. Our brokerage is independent, member-led, and structured to reinvest revenue into the people and resources supporting our clients.

We opened our doors in April 2023 with a conviction: brokers should have meaningful influence over the organization they help build. Founder Todd Shively brought that idea to Ensemble after years of working in sales and brokerage leadership. His experience shaped a firm where participation and shared responsibility are built into the business.

For buyers and sellers, understanding that structure helps explain who we are, how we work together, and the commitments we make when representing you.

What member-led means at Ensemble

Our members participate in setting the firm’s direction. That includes decisions about the services and support the brokerage provides and how its resources are used.

The people working with clients have a voice in those priorities. They bring firsthand knowledge of the work involved in preparing a listing, guiding a purchase, and managing a transaction through closing. Their experience helps inform the organization supporting that work.

Membership also carries a responsibility to contribute. A collaborative brokerage depends on people who are willing to share knowledge, participate in discussions, and help strengthen the firm.

How our not-for-profit model works

Ensemble earns revenue to operate the brokerage. Our not-for-profit model directs that revenue back into staffing, services, and member support.

Our members help determine what the firm needs and where to invest. That creates a direct connection between the resources brokers contribute and the organization they build together. As Todd explained in our reflection on Ensemble’s first two years, we launched without outside investors and developed the firm around reinvestment.

Our published member resources include transaction management and listing production support, along with professional education and weekly in-person roundtables. These are practical investments in the work our brokers do and the professional community around them.

If you are choosing someone to represent you, ask about that support. Who helps coordinate the work? Where can your broker turn with a question? How does the brokerage support continued learning? Those conversations can help you understand the people and processes behind your representation.

Independence and our commitments to clients

Ensemble is an independent firm. Our public promise states that we answer to our clients and communities, with clarity, access, and trust guiding that relationship.

Our pledges to buyers and sellers make that position specific.

For buyers, we commit to publicly listing the homes we represent and sharing them through the MLS, online portals, real estate apps, social media, and competing brokerages’ websites.

For sellers, we commit to using available platforms to help interested buyers find their homes. We explicitly pledge against limiting visibility or putting the brokerage’s gain ahead of the seller’s best interest.

These commitments give clients something concrete to ask us about. A seller should understand where a home will be marketed and how prospective buyers will find it. Buyers should be able to discover our listings across the platforms they use to search.

A culture where asking for help is expected

Todd describes asking for help at Ensemble as “baseline behavior.”

That statement captures an expectation within our firm. We want brokers to seek another perspective, contribute their experience, and participate in the professional conversations happening around them.

A question about a property or a transaction deserves attention. A workplace where people are comfortable asking questions gives them an opportunity to draw on knowledge beyond their own experience.

Our five core values—competence, collaboration, compassion, contribution, and community—set the expectations for that environment. Competence requires continued learning. Collaboration requires participation. The culture depends on members being willing to do both.

Individual people within a shared firm

Our members bring their own backgrounds, personalities, and client relationships to Ensemble.

You can see that individuality in the way they describe their work. Justin Allen speaks about bringing Aloha to the Pacific Northwest and helping clients feel cared for during a major transition. Christina Castillo speaks directly to LGBTQ+ clients and allies, recognizing that buying or selling a home can look different for everyone.

PBNW Homes Team emphasizes a plan tailored to each client. TeamUp Seattle describes a commitment to being a resource long after a transaction is complete.

Those statements belong to the people making them. Together, they show the range of perspectives within our firm and the attention our members give to the people they serve.

You can meet Ensemble’s brokers to learn about their individual experience and approaches.

Working with Ensemble

When you speak with an Ensemble broker, the conversation should begin with your circumstances. What are you planning? What do you need to understand before making a decision? What would help you prepare?

Our business model determines how we organize and support the firm. Your goals guide the work we do with you.

If you are considering buying a home or selling a property in Seattle or the surrounding Pacific Northwest communities we serve, connect with an Ensemble broker. We welcome your questions about your next move and the people who will help you make it.