What was your most notable transaction in 2015? I closed a new construction Walgreens in Franklin, NJ at $9,141,200 setting a new record price for the area. How do you manage the work/life balance? I set goals for all areas of my life, such as working out a certain number of times a week or volunteering at my children’s school a certain amount of time. But I’ve learned you have to be easy on yourself, because each week is different. Sometimes I work late all week and there is no balance, but the next week I may be able to take a full day off to spend with my kids. Who has been the strongest influence on your career? My father has been Nationally ranked as one of the top brokers within Re/Max for the last 35 years. I really started my real estate career when, as a 5-year-old, I went on sales appointments with him. He would always tell me the strong points of the property before we arrived and some tips for selling it to the buyers. I took my “job” very seriously. As I got older, he impressed upon me that selling real estate was really about people, not property. Knowing the technical elements of your job/profession better than anyone else goes without saying, but the true art and foundation of success is being able to read people and know what they are going to say or do before they do it. What impact has social media/networking had on your business? In-person networking is a key part of my business. No email or LinkedIn message can come close to the strength of an in-person connection. What qualities and/or personality traits make you most successful? I am almost never intimidated by anyone, no matter how successful they may be. This gives me the ability to attract very successful clients and to work with some very high-profile companies. You want people to be wowed by you, not the other way around. Do you feel being a woman is an advantage, disadvantage, or no advantage in today’s business world? Why? Why not? Commercial Real Estate is overwhelmingly a male-driven world, especially on the brokerage side. Being a woman is an advantage, in that men are typically less guarded when a woman initiates a professional discussion, but actually getting the business is harder. Women have to prove themselves and their competency more than their male counterparts. Any successful broker has to be good but, the women have to be even better. If you are the primary caregiver to your children, what obstacles/challenges do you meet on a day to day basis? Juggling the schedules of everyone in the family gets a little crazy. I don’t want my children to ever feel that I wasn’t there for them, so I bend over backwards to make it to all of their events and also try to find time to share the day-to-day parts of their life. If I can pull off family breakfast and nighttime story time most days then I feel like I am doing ok. What word of advice would you give to a woman about to go into your allied field? There is incredible opportunity for sharp women in the industry. Women are naturally better connectors and so much of the business is facilitating deals by putting two parties together. Also, remember that everyone you meet professionally can teach you something. Know the financial analysis inside and out, but go beyond the book-learning and find a take away from every interaction. Build your knowledge and then let your confidence radiate – it’s an unstoppable combination.