Tribute to the QUEEN
Having grown up in the 60s and 70s when many women first began choosing careers in real estate, I view Leona Helmsley as a REAL pioneer.
When she divorced her first husband, she had very few job skills that qualified her to work above a secretary. With a son to raise, she got a real estate license and made a small fortune when many NYC apt buildings were being converted to coops. This is when she met Harry Helmsley and together they forged a commercial real estate empire that included the Empire State Building.
Unfortunately, she will most likely be remembered as the woman who wrote a $1m check on TV to pay her taxes and who left millions so that her dog would be taken care of after her death.
I believe she pioneered as the first REAL ”Apprentice” before the Trumps, that her “the Queen slept here” ad campaign for the Helmsley hotel chain was EXQUISITE by camping on her rep as the Queen-of-Mean, and that she suffered much like Martha Stewart suffered by being put in prison for something that really was not a crime.
Most likely, her reputation will not earn her the place in “feminism” history that she deserves, so I wanted to acknowledge her place among women in real estate.
SHaving grown
You’re right on, especially compared to Trump.