I grew up in the real estate business. My mother began selling real estate in 1987 after we moved to New Jersey from living overseas. She was an instant success due to her work ethic, appreciation for her clients and her generosity. She is my inspiration to work hard each day to support my own agents. My first job was being Mom’s helper!

I assisted with marketing and other tasks for my mother until I was old enough to become licensed and expand my responsibilities. I worked my way up with the support of my mentor, Pat Mazzone, and the two owners of Prudential Rubloff, who believed I could be successful as a managing broker. I poured my heart and soul into my work, too.  I became an assistant manager in 2004 and immediately began learning all of the various responsibilities of a managing broker. The combination of my upbringing in the business, experience as an assistant manager, coaching from my mentor and the support of my superiors made for a smooth transition.

I never assume that I know what is going to happen in a given day. What I learned quickly in my career is that there are challenges no matter what the market conditions, company, location, etc. As long as you are prepared to be surprised, you should be just fine. I can’t think of a single piece of advice that shaped how I conduct myself as a managing broker. Instead, I was inspired to develop a set of values by which to work.

NATASHA O’CONNOR, MANAGING BROKER, PRUDENTIAL RUBLOFF, NORTHBROOK