Michele Peters, CEO and owner, Weichert Realtors — Peters Associates
As told to Melissa Dehncke-McGill
I was born in Portland, Ore., to a middle-class family from Ohio. My ancestors were the original settlers of Ohio, so I come from a long line of farmers. My folks moved to New Jersey to a small town, North Haledon, which was essentially blue-collar, hard-working folk, and where the aspirations of the kids I went to school with were little more than graduating high school, getting married and having children. I didn’t find that particularly inspiring. I always dreamed of living in Manhattan.
I went to Syracuse University and graduated with dual degrees in music and education. My graduate work there was in theater. I had aspirations to be a great actress. I think real estate sales is pretty close to theater. Years later, when I was 42 and had been in real estate for 11 years, I received a juris doctorate from New York Law School.
After college and moving to New York City, I temped as a secretary for a company with the politically incorrect name Laurie Girls. It was a good way to make money while I went out on auditions. I learned quickly that as a 90-word-per-minute typist, if I dressed well and smiled a lot, I could get the highest-paid jobs that had the least amount of work. My first real job was as assistant casting director for Cunningham & Walsh Advertising. My boss, the casting director, was Maxine Marx, daughter of Chico Marx of the famed Marx Brothers.
I taught music and film classes and volunteered as a photography teacher. A girlfriend suggested I try real estate. I began working as a rental agent at Feathered Nest and then became the first on-site agent at the Savoy condominium on East 61st Street. I got hooked on real estate.
So where did real estate eventually lead but to law school? I went to law school and went on to Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, working in the corporate restructuring department. And there I sat making a lot of money in a beautiful office and hating my life.
An important part of life is learning what we don’t want, and I have learned that over the years, it often will eventually lead you to what you do want.
I’ve always had this vision of being in the arts. While I was working as an agent, I was also managing the Grammy-nominated RCA recording artists the Hampton String Quartet, and produced their last album on EMI. I sing with St. Cecilia Chorus, which performs at Carnegie Hall.
One of my proudest accomplishments, and biggest disappointments, was as director of project development for a luxury condominium in Harlem. Hours were spent in discussions, and then I was called in for what I thought was a marketing discussion and was handed my walking papers. I was told, “You did a great job, but we just don’t think you have the name presence in Manhattan to complete the project.” That was pretty deflating.
Having lost the income from that project made me dedicated to finding another to make up for it. I did find it, and it’s a project of which I’m even more proud. And as a postscript, that project I lost still hasn’t sold, and that’s reward in itself.
It’s important to give to others. Right now, that means being the exclusive site selector for the State of New York’s Dormitory Authority, finding homes for the developmentally disabled in New York City.
I’ve done it all as a single woman, and it’s not easy — I don’t recommend it. My close friends truly keep me going. This town is great and needs great people, especially women and minorities, to work in real estate.