FEATURED MOVER | Cindy Ariosa, Long & Foster

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Cindy Ariosa, senior vice president and regional manager at Long & Foster Real Estate, has been elected as chair of the MRIS Board of Directors. Ariosa, who heads Long & Foster’s Baltimore and western Maryland region, will serve as chair of the board for a one-year term. Ariosa has served on the MRIS board since 2006 and previously held the role of vice chair. In her role at Long & Foster, Ariosa oversees 35 offices throughout the Baltimore area and in western Maryland. She is responsible for the region’s operations and finances, including all budgets, and she leads the area’s recruitment efforts, as well as mergers and acquisitions.

ABOUT CINDY ARIOSA

Resides in:

Towson

Education:

Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Towson University

What drew you to what has become a very successful career in real estate? 

I started my real estate career when I was 27 years old. I wanted to help all my friends and family attain the American dream of homeownership. I believe there’s no greater feeling in life than helping a first-time homebuyer purchase a home, and there is a sense of pride and accomplishment, not to mention economic security, that you have helped provide.  I am also a very solution-based leader and a “doer,” and those skills lend themselves well to the real estate industry. In my career, I quickly became a branch manager because I had the ability to train and educate other agents on technology and explain to them how that could help consumers and their clients. Real estate is all about relationships and how we can help each other and the consumer and I thrive in that space. In fact, by the time I was 39 years old, I was a senior vice president in charge of hiring and training agents, among other strategic initiatives. I currently oversee 3,000 agents and 46 real estate offices, which sell more than $5 billion in real estate annually.

If you had not chosen real estate as a profession, what profession would you choose and why?

If I were not in real estate, I would have attended law school and become an attorney because that would present me with another way to help people.

Favorite vacation:

I own a beach house in Ocean City and love spending time with my family there. I also love anywhere tropical and sunny.

When I want to relax, I:

Enjoy golfing and spending time at my beach house in Ocean City.

Favorite book:

I like easy-read books that I can finish in a day on the beach. For example, novels by John Grisham or Elin Hilderbrand.

Favorite quotation (not their own):

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney