The following is the second in a series of Top Agent Profiles.

I was born in Miami and spent my first twenty one years in Florida, attending the University of Florida, as had both my parents (Go Gators!). Upon graduation, I said good-bye to my Southern accent and started my life in New York City, moving in with dear friends from college (our apartment accommodated anywhere from four to six of us in any given week) to live in a two- bedroom, one-bathroom walk-up railroad apartment on the Upper East Side. I worked for seven years as a management consultant with Accenture, which was a fabulous job, not the least of which because it gave me a great grounding in the professional world, though it was never my passion. It wasn’t until I was 28 that I thought I had finally figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up: a US ambassador working in some capacity with the State Department in one of our overseas embassies. I actually quit my job as a manager at Accenture in order to study for the grueling screening exam, but what I hadn’t counted on was the four month waiting period prior to learning if you could proceed within the organization. In the interim, having no savings whatsoever, I tried my hand at temping but was less than enthused finding work at the same kinds of companies I would have encountered as a consultant. Fortunately, during our wait, my friend with whom I had taken the Foreign Service exam suggested checking out real estate and getting our licenses, which we promptly did, and what can I say? I never knew you could love your job until I became a broker!

July 2003, just as the market was really starting to take off, could not have been a more perfect time to embark on what truly did end up being my calling. Looking back, I know I never would have quit my job as a manager to become a salesman (in fact, it was six months into my job as a realtor before I even realized that this is what I actually was – I mean, it wasn’t like I was selling knives or encyclopedias!) but truly, God’s hand was on my life and I enjoyed success in rentals and sales pretty much from day one. I had reached out to anyone and everyone I knew – even those I didn’t but whose email addresses they had been unfortunate enough for me to capture – and advised that they now had a connection in the real estate business. Friends, and friends of friends, starting referring me not because they knew I was a good agent, but because they knew I was honest, ethical, hard-working, and intelligent, qualities that did differentiate me from many of my fellow realtors at the time. After the first year of working 6-7 days a week, I had established a rhythm and a foundation from which my business has continued to grow, and it was at this time that my younger sister Elizabeth graduated from UF and moved up to the City to work with me. While I think we both initially thought she would be better suited to on-site work, Elizabeth very quickly transitioned to my partner, and it is such a blessing and a joy to work with her – I 100% would not be where I am today if it were not for this amazing working relationship we share! There is no one I trust more, not only in terms of covering me and all my client obligations, but also in representing me as I like to represent myself as far as work ethic, decisions, diplomacy in all situations, etc. That isn’t to say we always get along or have the same opinion on how a particular client or case should be handled, but we respect each other’s experience and are constantly learning from each other. It also helps that we do not work together on every transaction, listing, buyer or renter, as we have our own private clients and customers, but we are always there for each other when needed.

An unusual facet of Elizabeth’s and my relationship is that, in addition to being sisters who are both business partners and friends, we are also roommates and co-owners of our condo which we closed on in March 2009. We had actually signed contracts for the apartment in June of 2007, quite arguably close to the peak of the Manhattan market, and like so many people at the time, blithely put down our 10% deposit for a pre-construction project without thinking about the consequences of embarking on a contract that was not contingent on financing. At that point, we were poised to have the year of our lives in 2007, and while it did end up being our best year to date, in no way did the second half of 2007 live up to the promise of the first half. 2008 was another year that, while a success by most people’s standards, did not bring the financial rewards Elizabeth and I had been counting on in order to save the additional monies we needed. Fast forward to early 2009, when our lovely condo was built and the seller expected us to close … Elizabeth and I had good credit and not that much else going for us! We had only been able to save an additional 10% of our purchase price, and while we were approved all over town for 70 or even 75% financing, we were unable to come up with a penny more. This brought on a time of much prayer and reflection, and a return to the 7-day work week for me. The reality was, had we not, in the nth hour, found our miracle loan for 80% financing, we would have had to have left our original 10% on the table and walked away from our purchase. Now this was not an insignificant amount of change, but had the worst happened, at least Elizabeth and I still had savings left over to carry us through whatever uncertain times lay ahead, as opposed to moving forward with the very little left in our bank accounts that was our reality in March of 2009. However, I knew that God was not setting us up for failure – we weren’t being allowed to close, just to turn around and have to foreclose! It is a humbling testimony that God did indeed provide, and Elizabeth and I ended up having the best year of our careers, with the additional unexpected bonus of being recognized in 2009 as the #1 salesmen out of our entire 600-person company! Thankfully, 2010 has been an amazing year as well, as Elizabeth’s and my rental and sales business continues to grow.

It hasn’t all been sunshine and roses along the way – a lesson I quickly learned when I started work in real estate was that you can’t get too excited about the good things or too down about the bad things, as there will be just as many of the one as the other. Oh, and hold off on buying that new couch until the check clears! Many times a seemingly ‘sure thing’ deal has ended up dying for one reason or another – sometimes due to a rookie mistake of mine, but more often than not, courtesy of some fact or circumstance completely out of my control (e.g., a landlord who had already approved my client changed his mind and rented the apartment to his friend; a renter is finally ready to sign a lease after weeks of searching, and then that same day her cousin is transferred to London and leaves behind the perfect, below-market apartment she’d be crazy not to take over; a coop board turns down a wonderfully well- qualified buyer who turned out to be not quite as divorced as presented when he signed the contract with his new fiancé, and the not-yet-ex-wife couldn’t, or wouldn’t represent that she would have no claims to the new apartment). It does no good to dwell on the failures, as debilitating as they may seem, especially when a particular deal may have been what you were counting on to pay that month’s rent. What has consistently saved me is an overwhelming sense of God’s providence and provision. In fact, my faith in God and my Starbucks gold card are my two absolute keys to success! I really don’t understand how it is possible to make it in this crazy wonderful business of ours without God. I pray every day, multiple times a day, and truly believe that God cares if I catch that cab, if that lease or contract gets signed, if I am making enough money to survive…

While real estate is not rocket science, there is always something new to learn and each deal has some little quirk to it that makes it unique. I will say that I feel I use as much if not more tact and diplomacy as an agent than I ever would have as a diplomat at the US embassy to Uzbekistan! But most importantly, I do love how every day is different, how I can schedule my time as I like, and can vacation whenever and wherever strikes my fancy. It is fascinating to see all the unique and different properties there are in this one-of-a-kind city of ours, and I am privileged to meet and work with so many interesting people every single day!

Lastly, one thing you don’t often hear people talking about is that you should never forget that, first and foremost, you are selling yourself. Selling yourself as a trusted adviser, shrewd businessman, a strong negotiator, and just a fun person to spend time with as some hard financial decisions are made, someone who has their clients’ best interests in mind at all times. Because I have always stayed mindful of the fact that it is not my living experience nor my money when working with people, and instead focus on securing the absolute best deal for my clients (be they renters, buyers, landlords or sellers) I believe this is one of the major reasons I have flourished in this business and why my tagline of ‘Your Real Estate Professional for Life’ has been proven true. I love what I do, and I thank God that I get to do it with friends and family!

#1 Sales Agent Companywide 2009
Ranked in Top 5, Company Producer & Top Office Producer 2005-2007, 2009
Designated 1 of Top 100 Brokers in NYC, TopAgentGuide
Platinum Award Winner 2004-2009
Citi Habitats 2003 Rookie of the Year, Citi 1