AUGUST 2018 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 93
LAST LOOK
DEIRDRE O’CONNELL: LI’S TOP REALTOR
As CEO of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty, Deirdre
O’Connell has played a key role in its success and the development
of strategic initiatives and goals for the future as the company
approaches its 100th year in business.
O’Connell oversees the sales management of a $3.3 billion organization
that has 950 sales associates in 26 offices spanning
Nassau, Suffolk and Queens, with another location opening
soon. She has also been instrumental in the company’s
growth and expansion over the past decade.
We recently caught up with O’Connell to get her
take on what makes her company and the Long
Island market so unique, and how her family and
growing up here have helped her achieve success.
Here are excerpts from our conversation:
What is your company’s mission? Our sales associates are
trained, experienced and committed to diligence, discretion and
luxury service. All are well versed in our philosophy of caring
service and strictly adhering to the company’s code of ethics, with
genuine knowledge of the local communities, as well as unequaled
skills in the arts of marketing and negotiation.
What do you like most about your job? While our traditions
of service, integrity, professionalism and always doing the right
thing will forever be at the heart of our organization, with our
100th birthday approaching, it’s critical to our success to demonstrate
to today’s market that we are 100 years young and reflective
of today’s sellers and homebuyers.
How did you get started in realty? I got my first taste of real estate
doing public relations for the real estate department of a large insurance
company (MetLife.) I had two children at the time and wanted to be in
more control of my career, so I went to work at Thomas O’Connell and
Sons, a real estate company in Manhasset owned by my husband’s uncle.
How significant is the Long Island market for your company? While
we are a Sotheby’s International realty affiliate with sister offices around
the world, Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International is owned and operated right
here on Long Island. We opened our first office in 1922 in Huntington. Long
Island has the best of the world right here.
What specific challenges are present in the Long Island
market? One of the largest problems in the Long Island real
estate market today is that buyers, regardless of generation,
are looking for homes that are completely done, smaller in
size with smaller yards, and convenient to town and transportation.
Our agents are, therefore, working very hard with
sellers of larger homes on multiple acres to price the properties
appropriately, stage them to attract today’s buyers and
market them with professional photos and video on digital
and social media platforms.
How much of an impact did growing up on Long Island
have on your worldview? I grew up on the North Fork of
Long Island in the small town of New Suffolk. My mother
taught me entrepreneurship, hard work, love of family.
Born in Ireland, my mother came to the states at 18. She
married, had five children and began a pie-baking business,
in peak season selling over 100 pies at a farm stand. We all
helped — peeling, chopping, mixing, labeling and other
tasks. Later, both my parents opened a specialty market
and deli in Cutchogue and that is where I learned from
my father the significance of quality versus quantity and
concierge customer service. Our store provided only
the highest-quality meats, cheeses and specialty items
and we were all trained to engage with all customers in
a professional, warm manner, which included carrying
bags to cars, delivery to homes and always smiling.
What philanthropic effort have you been most proud of?
Every October, each of our offices becomes a coat drive drop-off,
collecting hundreds of coats to be donated to the local charity with
the greatest need in each market. Then, in the spring, we sponsor
a Dress for Success month and collect professional clothes for men
and women. Our company, agents and employees love Long Island
and want to help our fellow Long Islanders.
Do you have any sayings? Kent Gale had a saying, “Do the right
thing,” and Pat Petersen, our chairman and president, continued to
build the company around that saying. At our company meeting in
February, when I was announced as CEO, we unveiled our new company
campaign, “Your Way Forward.” I believe in our deep, strong roots of
luxury, professionalism and doing the right thing and I will always bring
those values forward as this very special Long Island company continues
to grow.
Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty CEO Deirdre
O’Connell is leading the company as it marks its
centennial. (Photo by Matthew Kropp)
“I believe in our deep,
strong roots of luxury,
professionalism and doing the
right thing.”
By JEFF BERMAN