It takes grit, passion, and determination to be a rising star in Connecticut real estate. For Leslie Terres, hustling has always been the name of the game. From the time she secured her license at just nineteen years old, she has had one goal in mind: to be the best.

Terres entered the industry as many young people do – prepared to put in the legwork to build a solid foundation for a successful long-term career. She found work on a team with realtors in the Madison area to help increase her confidence. With a drive for success guiding her rapid ascent, Terres made her first personal sale within two years of starting out, and has completed over 100 transactions since.

Of course, when things are going well – life finds a way to throw a curveball.

Terres joined a small brokerage in her hometown of Milford during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The housing market was unlike anything many working realtors had ever seen, and for a young agent still finding her way to success – a global shutdown was just the challenge she needed to spark an even quicker climb.

When that curveball hangs, a good hitter can knock it out of the park.

“Yeah, I loved it,” she says.

Terres says she took advantage of the tools at her disposal during the pandemic – selling condominiums over FaceTime. She says many people she knew had friends or family who were looking to buy or sell, and she built her network that way – despite a rocky market situation. She focused on those close to her – and at just twenty-one years old, she had a secure enough financial situation to better set herself up for the future. At that point, she was hooked… real estate was all she ever wanted to do from then on.

Fast forward to 2024: Terres has partnered with another realtor in her age group, Michael Tarantino, and plans to maximize that partnership for mutual gain. She watches trends in lead generation and marketing and spends much of her time studying real estate. Terres says she is fine-tuning her craft to build connections and scale up her clientele and workload as soon as she can. She works for a small, family-run office and, on top of her impressive sales acumen, has rented dozens of spaces in the last year. Terres says she wants to bring in rental-focused agents to her operation so she can continue to focus on building her sales resume.

While the hustle continues in the office – Terres keeps her nose to the grindstone in other areas of her life. She is close to finishing her bachelor’s degree in marketing, as a personal goal, putting significant effort into her continuing education. She goes to the gym and runs on the boardwalk near her home every day, loves taking her dog for walks, and spends plenty of time with her family and social circle. On top of that – if a skyrocketing career in selling and renting properties wasn’t enough for her – she loves home design as well. She works hard and fills her time – with her eyes on as much success as she can attain with her future always top of mind.

Now, about that goal of being the best, as soon as she possibly can… if she keeps this up, she’s on her way.