I Tripped and Fell in Love with Real Estate
Day 0, Every Great Career Has a Beginning
Future Million-Dollar Virtuoso,
Before we begin, I should probably explain why I call you Future. It isn’t because you’ve already made millions, closed your first deal, or built the business you’ve always imagined. It isn’t because you’ve somehow arrived before we’ve even started this journey together. I call you Future because I believe in speaking to the person you’re becoming instead of the person you happen to be today.
Every successful commercial real estate broker, investor, developer, and entrepreneur started exactly where you are now. None of them began with confidence, experience, or a book of business. They all began with one decision—the decision to bet on themselves before anyone else had a reason to. If that’s where you find yourself today, then you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be, and I’m genuinely glad you’re here.
Before I ask you to invest the next thirty business days with me, I think it’s only fair that I tell you how I got here. If you met me today, you might assume commercial real estate was always the plan. The truth is, it wasn’t. In fact, if life had unfolded the way I expected, I probably wouldn’t be writing this to you at all.
June 2004
In June of 2004, I was twenty years old and heading into my junior year at Pace University. I was a Biology major on the pre-med track, and if you had asked me what I planned to do with my life, I would have answered without hesitation. I was going to become a doctor. That wasn’t just a dream; it was the path I had chosen, and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
Like most college students living in New York City, I wanted a job and extra spending money. My parents helped me with a monthly stipend, and I never took their support for granted, but I wanted something they couldn’t give me. I wanted independence. I wanted to know that I could earn my own money, make my own decisions, and begin building a life that belonged to me.
Over the years, I’d babysat for an Editor of the New York Times, did overnights for an exotic dancer, volunteered, sold books, sold clothes, and selectively accepted just about every odd job. Those opportunities taught me responsibility, but they never made me feel like I was becoming the woman I wanted to be. Deep down, I knew I was organized, intelligent, dependable, and capable of much more than the work I had been doing. I wasn’t looking for prestige or status. I simply wanted to wake up in the morning, get dressed, go to class then walk into a new job, and feel proud when someone asked me what I did for a living.
At the time, I was dating my boyfriend, who attended college in central New Jersey. He always had a job, his own spending money, and the confidence that comes with earning it. Whenever he came into the city to visit, I wanted to contribute instead of always depending on him. Looking back, I realize it was never really about the money. It was about pride. It was about proving to myself that I could stand on my own two feet and begin creating the future I wanted.
One afternoon, while scrolling through Craigslist, I found what looked like the perfect opportunity—an assistant position at a real estate office on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The company was called Best Apartments, and the office was located on West 72nd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam. It sounded exactly like what I had been searching for: what I hoped would finally be my first “real” job.
I remember getting dressed for the interview feeling both excited and nervous. Like most people walking into an interview, I spent far more time wondering whether they would like me than asking whether I would like them. I walked through the office doors, and was guided to a single desk at the far side of the room. I walked over and introduced myself to the hiring manager, Shane, took a seat across from his desk, and prepared to convince him that I’d make an excellent assistant.
At that moment, I believed I was interviewing to help build someone else’s business. I had absolutely no idea I was about to discover my own.
Looking Back…
Looking back now, I’m pretty sure that Craigslist posting wasn’t exactly what it appeared to be. At the time, though, I had no reason to question it. I thought I was interviewing for an assistant position because that’s exactly what I believed I had applied for. It’s funny how life works sometimes. The opportunities that change us the most rarely arrive looking the way we imagined they would. Had that posting been completely transparent, I may never have submitted my résumé, and the entire course of my life might have unfolded differently.
That interview redirected everything. Not overnight, and certainly not because success came easily, but because it introduced me to an industry that would challenge me, humble me, frustrate me, reward me, and ultimately become the career I never knew I was searching for.
I didn’t choose real estate. Somewhere along the way, I tripped and fell in love with it.
