Ken Horner

When opportunity and preparedness meet, success happens.

Just ask Ken Horner, CEO & Co-founder, The CE Shop.

A third decade entrepreneur, Horner’s first foray with starting businesses began in 1990 when he started his own law firm with his partners after law school. In 1994, he borrowed $30,000 on a line of credit to invest in his second business, a Denny’s restaurant franchise, and since then, he has owned and managed businesses in many different industries ranging from start-ups to a $350 million dollar construction equipment distributor.

In 2005, Horner joined the CE Shop on a part-time basis to provide backof-the-business support, holding this role until 2013 when he was hired full-time to lead the company. It proved to be the best move for Horner, and the company.

Today, The CE Shop is the leader in the regulated real estate education space, and under Horner’s leadership, has grown to estimated revenues of $57M in 2021. Horner said The CE Shop has perfected their current model of developing, marketing, and implementing online real estate education throughout the United States, and he plans to implement a similar plan to conquer other verticals. Always focused on what is best for the company, Horner said he is still developing future plans for long-term growth.

“With the current socio-economic conditions, I see now as the perfect opportunity to expand into new industries and, in turn, establish The CE Shop as the worldwide leader in online education,” Horner said.

Horner has dedicated 15 years to growing The CE Shop while providing the best real estate education to agents in the industry. He said that part of this growth required a commitment to innovation with the company’s LEAP learning platform.

“This innovative technology harnessed contemporary adult learning science by combining interactive and real-world scenarios with the convenience of online delivery,” Horner said.

While investing in technology was important, he also understood the curriculum needed to be supported. This included hiring a comprehensive curriculum team to develop one of the industry’s largest curriculum libraries. He also spent countless resources finding the best sales and marketing professionals and deploying a “boots on the ground” campaign in major U.S. markets around the country to compete with local education providers.

This development of proprietary technology and The CE Shop’s supporting team stem from one ideology: Horner’s belief that when partners and students succeed, The CE Shop succeeds.

“I have made it my number one goal to support these constituents because, without them, The CE Shop ceases to exist,” he said.

Horner believes in providing prospective and current agents a world-class education that helps them succeed. This desire to deliver the best real estate courses in the industry has led to multiple million-dollar investments with the goal of having the most up-to-date and effective education in the market.

When not involved with the company’s day-to-day operations, Horner helps support The CE Shop Foundation, a non-profit organization that fights childhood hunger in the Denver area. Since its establishment in 2014, the foundation has fed over 128,587 children and their families and continues to support America’s youth through the pandemic and beyond.

Most recently, in times of COVID, Horner said that with more products and customer purchases, he and his leadership team have met this ever-increasing demand by hiring 52 new employees during the 2020 pandemic.

“The marketing and sales departments saw the most growth within their departments and have been pivotal in supporting the company’s rapid expansion throughout the pandemic,” Horner said.

Taking extra endurance to lead, Horner’s philosophy is simple: all areas of a business should be the best at what they do.

“Creating balance with excellence is what makes for a successful company,” he said.

Horner is a Titan who is prepared for anything.

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