Dottie Herman is the quintessential American success story.  She exemplifies the qualities of a great leader, mentor, and role model. After attending Adelphi University, Dottie began her real estate career in 1978 working as a broker for Merrill Lynch on Long Island. In 1989, Merrill Lynch sold their real estate division to Prudential, where Dottie stayed on as one of their leading brokers. With the change in ownership, Dottie was convinced she could run the company herself, so in 1990 she borrowed $7 million dollars from Prudential to purchase Prudential Long Island Realty. Despite being told she would never succeed, she turned the company into the powerhouse brokerage on Long Island and then in the Hamptons. Ready to conquer the Manhattan market, in 2003, Herman and her business partner Howard Lorber purchased Douglas Elliman, Manhattan's largest and most prestigious brokerage firm. Since then, Douglas Elliman has become the largest and fastest-growing real estate residential brokerage in New York and Dottie the most successful woman in real estate.

In only two decades, Dottie climbed to the pinnacle of the housing industry –when she became the CEO of Douglas Elliman, ranked the third largest real estate company in the United States. Today, thanks to her extraordinary leadership, Douglas Elliman is New York's largest residential brokerage and 3rd largest in the USA, operating 115 offices in New York City, Long Island, The Hamptons, Westchester, Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida, California, Colorado and Massachusetts with over 7,000 real estate professionals and 675 employees. Moreover, Douglas Elliman has a strategic global alliance with London-based Knight Frank Residential for business in the worldwide luxury markets spanning 60 countries and six continents.

As a true visionary and prominent role model in business, Dottie will launch her new leadership venture in 2019 for women who aspired to be entrepreneurial. While Dottie has a love of real estate, her real passion is inspiring business leaders in all fields. She is currently writing a book, planning the launch of her new podcast aimed at women 50+ (who she refers to as the invisible generation) and she plans to expand her purview into coaching, speaking and television.