Like all good small business stories, The Andrews' Family story began in a basement. After several years in the real estate business, my parents, Ted & Cindy, and my brother Matthew, pursued a dream of starting their own real estate company. In 1998, that dream became a reality when they started Willamette Realty Group. Their business philosophy was simple; to treat their clients so well that they would excitedly refer them to their friends and family.In 2003, my wife Heidi and I started our careers in real estate. We focused on Portland's Downtown condominium market and developed PearlDistrict.com. Our website quickly became the #1 resource for the Portland Condo market and at the time, was one of Oregon's most visited websites. The robust real estate market started to shift around the same time Ben & Heidi were expecting our son, Henry. As Heidi stepped away from the day-to-day business to focus on motherhood, it became clear that Heidi's nurturing approach was what had been driving our business all along. I dissected the way Heidi treated our clients and implemented Brian Buffini's 'Working by Referral' system and our business started to breath new life.In 2014, Heidi & I bought Willamette Realty Group from my parents. In addition to running our brokerage, we manage The Andrews Group; our small team of brokers annually generate 250+ referrals and sell 125+ homes.With each referral and with each closed sale to our business, we donate a paid of new shoes to a local student in need. We donate hundreds of shoes to kids in need .Since 1998, The Andrews and their realtors have sold over 7,000 homes and $1B in real estate.

Heart and Soul Shoes, Inc. is the brainchild of my wife, Heidi Andrews. Heidi, Ben and their real estate team (The Andrews Real Estate Group) generate hundreds of incoming referrals to their business and represent 100+ buyers and sellers annually. With each referral, The Andrews Real Estate Group donates a pair of shoes to a local student in need. With each closed sale, The Andrews Real Estate Group donates a pair of shoes to a local student in need. Annually, The Andrews Real Estate Group donate hundreds of shoes to students in the local community.

The RunFaster Foundation began as an organization devoted to introducing youth to running and the sport of Track & Field. After a series of successful clinics, Portland Parks & Recreation partnered with RunFaster to facilitate its youth Track & Field program and Portland’s All-Comers Track & Field meets.Over the years, the RunFaster Foundation achieved the following;* On-line winter and summer training programs were administered to over 1,250 middle & high school aged athletes throughout North America. * On-line 5K, 10K, Half-Marathon & Marathon training programs were administered to over 750 adults in 31 states & seven countries around the world.* Creation of the NW Distance Running Camp, a 5-day camp held at Mt. Hood Meadows that was attended by 500 middle & high school athletes ages 12-18; Low-income families were able to send their children to camp free of charge. Running Legends Pat Tyson, Melody Fairchild & John Gillespie all served as camp advisers.