Her Big Why
As an assistant team leader for The Kondo Group, Michelle Nishide, 28, admits she can be the 12-agent team’s “bad cop.” But her aim is good: pushing people to achieve their personal and professional goals. “I lead an exercise called ‘The Big Why Deep Dive,’ where agents uncover their true motivation,” she says. “No matter how different we seem, we share similar goals: to make our parents proud, to make sure our family is taken care of.” Nishide’s Big Why is based on an understanding that “people want support and representation.” She’s amassed a broad swath of contacts: the best friend she recruited into the business, Japanese clients who rely on her to translate contracts, the agents building their businesses and working toward personal goals on her team, and others. Adds Nishide: “I always feel that if I don’t push for more, don’t fight to make things better for people, then who will?”