Summary
Known affectionately as the Hat Lady, commercial real estate broker Marie Zere is also a colorful and opinionated champion of business on Long Island. A real estate veteran for 31 years, Zere is the founder and chief executive of Ronkonkoma-based Zere Real Estate Services, one of the Island's most prolific brokerages. She's been involved in numerous multimillion-dollar deals with international corporations and local small businesses looking to buy, sell or lease commercial properties and vacant land. Zere is active in several real estate and development trade associations, as well as charitable and philanthropic causes.
There are very few women in commercial real estate on Long Island, yet you've been very successful. How have you overcome gender bias and the old boys' network? I just had to be smarter. I had to work harder, be smarter and be a little different. I think women have that advantage over men. We're very honed in and trained to be service-oriented and to care about the customer and to really listen. I think it was a big advantage for me. I did work very, very hard and I believe that I probably can run rings around some of my competitors.See the full content of this document
Extract
Q&A: Zere Real Estate Services
Has competition increased among brokers lately and why? Actually I found the opposite. I found that brokers are more cooperative. They're friendlier and more willing to listen, a...
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