From Helping Her Mom Buy a Home to $1.5 Billion in Sales: Michelle Fermin on Reinvention, Coaching, and What Success Really Costs
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Some careers start with a plan. Michelle Fermin started with a promise to her mother.
At 21, Michelle watched her immigrant mom try to buy her first home and get dismissed.
They were approved for less than market value. They walked into a real estate office looking for guidance. Instead, they were “pooh-poohed away.”
Michelle remembers feeling crushed for her mother. Not because the process was hard, but because her mom’s dream was treated like it didn’t matter.
So Michelle did what many women do when someone they love hits a wall: she found a way through it.
“I said, don’t worry, I will get my license,” she told me, “as if I could just go down to the local bodega and get it.”
She got licensed. She helped her mom buy the home. And then something happened that changed everything.
Her mom’s best friend called. Then another friend. Then the neighbor. The demand wasn’t just for a realtor it was for someone who understood the community, spoke the language, and didn’t treat them like a burden.
That “one deal” became a business. And that business became the Fermin Group an elite team that has sold over 5,000 homes and $1.5 billion in sales.
But Michelle’s story isn’t a straight climb up.
It’s a reinvention story.
The Crash That Took Everything (and Forced a Reset)
By 2007, Michelle was in her late 20s and living what most people would call “made it.”
She was a self-made millionaire. She owned multiple properties. She helped open a brokerage (Century 21 McLennan, Ortega, and Fermin). She was building wealth and momentum.
And then the market collapsed.
“All of a sudden, this projection of wealth and success and leadership just went, crash.”
She started selling assets. Then more. Eventually, she short-sold her home. She was on the verge of bankruptcy. She was broke.
And here’s the part that gets real: Michelle wasn’t just managing a business crisis. She had three small kids.
She told me she saw the fork in the road clearly:
Become a victim of what happened
Or reinvent herself and fight her way back
That second option wasn’t motivational. It was survival.
“It was either I feed my kids and stick with this… or I’m going to be forced to go on welfare.”
So she “put her big girl pants on” and went looking for what most people don’t look for in a crisis:
the opportunity inside the rubble.
The Most Practical Thing She Did: Follow the Trend, Become the Expert
Michelle used a term I wish more entrepreneurs understood: megatrends.
She didn’t rebuild by “hoping the market would correct.”
She rebuilt by asking:
What is the market leaning toward now, and how do I become valuable there?
In that season, the megatrend was short sales and foreclosures.
So she became the expert.
She positioned herself as someone who could help people navigate out of a bad situation into a better one, and that’s where her second chapter started.
This matters for anyone rebuilding:
Reinvention isn’t just emotional. It’s strategic.
What Changed Everything: Becoming Coachable
One of the strongest moments in our conversation was when Michelle said something leaders don’t like to admit:
Before the crash, she had the mindset of: “I know what I’m doing.”
After the crash, she realized that her mindset was a liability.
“I needed help, and I needed someone that’s done it before… that I can copy and duplicate.”
So she hired a coach in 2008 when she didn’t have the money to spare.
And she didn’t stop there.
She told me that today (in 2025), she still has at least one coach at a time and currently has three, depending on what her business needs.
But she made an important distinction:
Hiring a coach isn’t the flex. Doing the work is.
She admitted that her first year, she wasn’t fully invested; she showed up, but wasn’t “all in.”
And she called that a mistake.
Her advice was painfully practical:
Take notes
Circle one or two things that actually apply
Implement them now
Then build on them
Because information doesn’t change your life. Execution does.
How She Leads Now: Transparency, Numbers, and “In the Trenches” Leadership
Michelle doesn’t talk about leadership like it’s a title. She talks about it like it’s a system.
She sets goals by quarter (Q1–Q4). She does it collaboratively. She calls her team “partners” and assigns roles based on strengths.
And then she does something most leaders won’t do:
She shows her team her own numbers daily.
Calls. Conversations. Appointments. Metrics.
“I’m showing them what I’ve done throughout the day. That’s me leading by example.”
Her approach is simple: if you want to grow, you track. If you track, you can course-correct early before things become a disaster.
And when I asked what separates agents who grow from those who stay stuck, she didn’t hesitate:
“Coaching. 100%.”
She said newer agents often outperform veterans because they’re not attached to old methods.
They don’t have the “this worked for 10 years” bias.
They’re more coachable.
Grief, Loss, and the Decision to Stop Running
The most human part of this conversation wasn’t about business.
It was about grief.
In 18 months, Michelle lost her mother, grandmother, aunt, cousin, brother, a team member, and her dog.
And she said something that many high-achieving women need to hear:
After her mother passed, her body and soul told her to stop.
She’d been working nonstop since she was 14.
So she took four months off. She went to China and Japan. She gave herself room to grieve.
And while she was gone, her nine-agent team became #1 in the world.
That detail matters because it cuts through the lie we tell ourselves:
“If I stop, everything falls apart.”
Sometimes the truth is:
If you build systems, if you build people, if you lead well, the business can breathe without you.
And you can breathe again, too.
The Motherhood Moment That Changed Her
Michelle also shared something unexpectedly honest about parenting.
For years, she thought she was a great mom because she provided:
great schools
travel
opportunities
beautiful homes
Then her daughters reflected back a different reality:
“You weren’t present. You were always working.”
That moment landed because it’s the lived tension for so many women:
We work to give them everything. And the cost is often our attention.
Her takeaway wasn’t shame. It wasa responsibility.
“I did my best… and now I can be present now.”
That’s what emotional maturity looks like: not collapsing under regret, but adjusting course.
Her Final Advice: Don’t Be Afraid to Fail and Don’t Be Afraid to Be Real
Michelle told me she doesn’t use the word “failure” the same way anymore.
Now it’s:
a struggle
a learning point
a moment of feedback
“What could I have done differently? What do I do now?”
And her parting message was direct:
Be authentic. Be coachable. Stay humble. And don’t be afraid to fail.
Because failure is part of winning.
Want to Connect With Michelle Fermin?
Michelle leads the Fermin Group and mentors agents at all stages. If you want to connect with her, check the links.
Comments