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UP CLOSE: Leslie Nylund

Posted On: Jan. 15, 2012 12:00 AM CST

UP CLOSE: Leslie Nylund

LESLIE NYLUND

NEW JOB TITLE: Woodbury, N.Y.-based president of Sterling & Sterling Inc.

PREVIOUS POSITION: Woodbury-based vice chairman for Sterling & Sterling

GOALS FOR NEW POSITION: I will manage all... top-line revenue and the profit component. I am in charge of all sales and recruiting, account executives, teams, finding talent, and acquisitions. Taking that into account, I want to take this company to the next level.

INDUSTRY CHALLENGES: We are in a difficult economy and a fairly soft market. There are a lot of people knocking on the doors of each other's clients. I also think another challenge is to recruit, manage and develop our best talent.

BEST THING ABOUT A BAD ECONOMY: It provides us opportunities to compete against brokers who don't have the resources, the infrastructure and the financial strength to be able to continue to offer all the tools, the consultations and all our expertise. Being in business 85 years, a lot of the smaller brokers tend to suffer during tough economic times and have to downsize, whereas we haven't had a layoff here.

FIRST MARKET EXPERIENCE: My father owned his own brokerage firm (Nydec Brokerage Corp.) in Manhattan for 55 years. It's been in the family for a long, long time. So my first job was working in his office as a teenager.

OUTSIDE THE INDUSTRY, A DREAM JOB: To be an entrepreneur and CEO of my own company, to build one from scratch.

HOBBIES: I play tennis and ski.

CAN'T-MISS TV SHOW: “Criminal Minds.” I love the scientific aspect of crime solving, and I love what the FBI does. I love the plots and story lines. It brings the dark side of criminal life into your living room and the whole process to scientifically and psychologically profile serial killers.

ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON: I am usually doing things with the family at home, but I am never too far from my email.

EMAIL OR PHONE: I love email. It's convenient, it's quick and to the point. Regular business, I prefer email. New clients, it's face to face.