Building a National Company on Relationships
Paula L. Woodring’s decision to establish RELTCO came from years of experience in the title and escrow industry and a clear understanding of what clients needed most: consistency, communication, accountability, and a partner who genuinely cared about their success. On February 1, 2013, she turned that understanding into a business, founding RELTCO with a simple but ambitious vision: combine the capabilities and reach of a national title provider with the personal service and accessibility of a local partner. The company received its very first order that same day. More than 13 years later, RELTCO provides title and escrow services across all 50 states, serving residential and commercial clients, lenders, investors, and specialized programs. Despite its national reach, the company remains woman-owned and family-owned, with hands-on leadership and personal service at the heart of its operations.
The idea behind RELTCO came partly from a challenge Woodring had observed across the industry. Clients operating in multiple states often had to manage different title companies, contacts, processes, and service levels, creating unnecessary complexity. She saw an opportunity to simplify that experience by giving clients one trusted national partner while maintaining the attention they would expect from a local title agency. “Relationships matter, integrity matters, and clients should never feel like just another transaction,” Woodring says. That principle continues to shape both her leadership and the way RELTCO serves its clients.
Leading Through Change
Building a company for more than a decade has meant navigating changing real estate markets, economic downturns, periods of rapid growth, technology shifts, and the difficult decisions that come with running a business. Woodring has experienced seasons when RELTCO needed to grow quickly and others when the company needed to become leaner, adapt, and rethink how it operated. She learned to face those moments directly. “Resilience has been one of my greatest lessons,” she says. “You cannot control every challenge, but you can control how you respond, learn from it, and keep moving forward with purpose and integrity.” Integrity, accountability, humility, and leading by example form the foundation of her leadership style. Woodring believes a CEO should never ask someone to do something they would not be willing to do themselves. She remains closely involved with the business, listens to her team and clients, and makes decisions with the company’s long-term health in mind. For her, growth is important, but it should never come at the expense of values, relationships, or reputation. That philosophy also influences the culture she has built within RELTCO. Employees are encouraged to share ideas, improve processes, and find better and more efficient ways to serve clients. Woodring believes empowerment means giving people ownership, trusting their experience, and allowing them to grow through challenges.
Technology with a Human Touch
The title and escrow industry is changing rapidly, with technology, automation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and changing consumer expectations reshaping how transactions are handled. Clients increasingly want faster transactions, greater transparency, and seamless service across multiple markets. RELTCO is responding by investing in technology, streamlining processes, strengthening security, and adopting tools that allow its team to work more efficiently. Woodring, however, does not view technology as a replacement for relationships. Her approach is to use innovation where it adds value while preserving the human connection that has always defined RELTCO. Better systems can improve efficiency, automation can simplify processes, and AI can support certain aspects of the work, but clients still need people they can reach, trust, and hold accountable. That balance has become an important part of RELTCO’s national model. Its centralized approach allows lenders, investors, and real estate professionals to streamline their title and escrow needs through one relationship while receiving consistent service across all 50 states. For Woodring, national capability and personal attention do not have to be competing ideas. They can work together when a company is intentional about how it serves people.
Measuring Success Beyond Transactions
One of Woodring’s proudest accomplishments is watching RELTCO grow from its first order in 2013 into a national title and escrow company. Along the way, the organization has developed long-standing relationships with lenders, investors, and real estate professionals while expanding into residential, commercial, and specialized transactions. A recent milestone came when RELTCO was recognized as Tampa Bay’s 2026 Best of the Best Title Company. The recognition was meaningful to Woodring because it reflected the reputation her team had built through years of consistent service. Still, awards and growth figures are not how she ultimately defines success. Remaining a woman-owned, family-owned company while expanding nationally is an achievement she values because it demonstrates that growth does not have to mean losing the identity of a business.
Her understanding of visionary leadership follows the same principle. She believes leaders need courage, integrity, resilience, humility, and the willingness to evolve. A vision has value only when a leader is prepared to turn it into action, listen to others, make difficult decisions, and change direction when circumstances require it. Most importantly, Woodring believes leadership is about people. Building trust, empowering others, and leading by example create an environment where meaningful change can take hold. “Success may be measured in results, but a leader’s true legacy is the positive impact they leave on others,” she says.
Creating a Legacy for the Future
Woodring’s vision for RELTCO is centered on continued growth without losing the personal service and relationships that built the company. She plans to strengthen national partnerships, continue embracing technology, and create opportunities for the next generation of leaders within RELTCO. Her ambitions also extend beyond the company itself. As a woman, mother, and entrepreneur, she hopes her journey can show her daughters, her team, and other women in business that it is possible to build something meaningful through hard work, resilience, integrity, and faith.
That sense of responsibility gives her vision a personal dimension. She wants RELTCO to be remembered not simply for the transactions it helped close, but for the relationships it built and the people it supported along the way. More than 13 years after its first order, RELTCO has grown from a single idea into a national operation serving clients across all 50 states. Yet the principle behind the company remains much the same: give clients the reach and capabilities they need without making them sacrifice the personal service they value.
Paula L. Woodring has built her leadership around that balance. Her journey demonstrates that meaningful growth does not require a company to lose sight of its original purpose. Instead, it can strengthen that purpose by bringing it to more people. As the title and escrow industry continues to evolve, Woodring is preparing RELTCO to evolve with it. Technology will continue to change how transactions are handled, and market expectations will continue to shift, but her commitment to integrity, relationships, and accountability remains firm.
For Woodring, the next chapter is not simply about making RELTCO bigger. It is about making it stronger, creating opportunities for others, and maintaining the standard of service that has guided the company since the day its first order arrived. That is the foundation of her vision for the future: a national company that continues to grow while never losing the personal connection that made people trust RELTCO in the first place.
