Gisela Nightingale of Nightingale & Ptrs. details the obstacles she has overcome to become successful

Gisela Nightingale is the president/CEO at Nightingale & Partners, Inc. Nightingale manages the overall business operations and agents at the firm. She has received awards/recognition: * Received Town Proclamation for Ongoing Philanthropic Efforts and Support within the Local Community; * One of the two real estate professionals in the U.S. honored by the Merrill Lynch Organization at its executive Broker Conference in Monterey, Calif. for Creation of Unique Tools to Motivate a Sales Force; and * Received "Value Added" Award for Outstanding Support and Dedication from Major International Corp. Nighingale is affiliated with the Certified Real Estate Institute, GRI, CBR, CBA, International Real Estate Federation, FIABCI, National Association of Realtors, NY State Association of Realtors and LI Board of Realtors. What obstacles have you overcome to get where you are today? As I thought about this question, I realized that there have many obstacles in my life which I had to overcome in order to obtain the level of success which I have today. While some may view these obstacles in a negative light, I feel that they serve as a framework upon which success can be built. I am a true believer that inside every negative or challenge which we encounter can be a positive. How you look at the challenges in life can determine your success. The following will demonstrate that theory: Having been raised in East Germany as a child of a capitalistic family, I learned many valuable lessons in life at an early age which has molded my business career later in life. Work harder, work smarter and you will succeed As a child in a communist regime, I had to succumb to many challenges and make many sacrifices in order to survive. The communist government, in which we lived, did not provide the same privileges to children of capitalist families as others within our community. We had to work harder and work smarter in order to succeed and to survive. Working-class children were provided better opportunities. Capitalist children were restricted and not allowed nor provided the same basic opportunities as others. We were not allowed to attend high school. We were interrogated constantly about such things as what radio stations my parents listened to, etc. Success is not always easy; Sacrifice is required for success Eventually we fled to West Germany, where we had to re-establish a new life, leaving behind our extended family, our beloved pets and friends. If we stayed in our situation, we would not have survived. I learned at a young age that sacrifices must be made to become successful. My parents decided that for us to have a better life we needed to sacrifice our present life and seek a new one. Strategic plan of action can lead to success In order for us to be successful in our life, we needed to implement a strategic plan of action in order to escape. We needed to become "refugees" in order to survive. It was a sacrifice my family had to take. We divided up the family and went "underground" one by one to escape, meeting as a family hundreds of miles from our home. We were not sure if we would all make it but we did. Eventually with little money, we purchased a small hotel, that was about to go on an auction block; a hotel that became a landmark within the community and which my family ended up running for over 50 years. That piece of almost foreclosed real estate became our livelihood, became our family's foundation and the reason for our survival. Being successful is not always defined by how much money you have Before we fled East Germany, we had many possessions and were considered "successful" from a financial standpoint. We were not successful from a personal standpoint. We did not have our freedom. Our former success brought with it a heavy burden and fear for survival. We were not free to be happy. When we fled, we lost everything we had. With barely any money, my family began a life. We had no financial means, but now we had our freedom and we were very successful. Success is possible with commitment and dedication to a goal Meeting my husband, who was an American in Germany, and starting a new life in the U.S. was a major change for me. Once again, I moved to a new country with a different language and new customs. America provided a platform with plenty of opportunity to have a successful, peaceful and comfortable life in this country. I came here with my husband to live the "American Dream." And we achieved that dream. We both worked hard and built successful businesses. That lesson has been transferred to my children, who also are entrepreneurs and who each own their own company. Success can happen if you focus on the ultimate goal My decision to become a real estate professional arose out of my history in learning from an early age that real estate is one vehicle that anyone, regardless of age, can utilize to obtain success and happiness. Real estate is one of the best financial investments to have. My real estate company was created because we wanted to help other people and corporations obtain their own success-the ability to own an American Dream. Gisela Nightingale is the president/CEO at Nightingale & Partners, Inc., Spring Harbor, N.Y.