LORIMER CINDY

“The Boss”

Cindy is essentially a true LA native, even though she was born in the bustling city of Saigon in Vietnam and immigrated to the US as a small child to escape the Vietnam war.

Cindy is the V8 engine behind PLG Estates as she is the operations manager for the company. With a keen eye for detail she keeps the agency running at top speed with the efficiency of fine German engineering. Also a keen real estate agent in her own right she manages to don both hats of management and agent with dexterity and ease. Always quick to help and even quicker with a smile Cindy is an integral and essential part of the PLG family.

Cindy has a BA in Science from Cal State Northridge and was a professional actress on screen and T.V. After acting she was a senior account manager for American Express and was successful in catapulting one of the products in their Corporate Sales department from inception to implementation and huge national success.

It was a natural and obvious transition for her to team up with husband Peter to form a Real Estate alliance. Cindy and Peter compliment each other which has galvanized a very blessed and successful partnership. With sights set high Cindy and Peter look forward to providing, their trademark of top knotch service to all clients and agents in their brokerage.

First off what’s it like to be married to Peter? The energy this guy puts out is extraordinary along with his obvious talent and intellect. How do you get a word in edgewise?

I actually do a lot of the talking if you can believe it! But he does have a lot of energy, that’s for sure. He’s extremely creative and very much the left-brained one in the relationship and I’m the right. It sounds cliché, but the combination works pretty great; he’s the yin to my yang. I feel extremely lucky that we get to go on this amazing journey together with our three kids… We seem to work so well together that no matter what we decided to do with our lives, I think we would be successful at it as a team. If say it was something small like running a lemonade stand, or something bigger like starting PLG, we would make it work. And yes, he is really intense :)

Tell me a little about your background. Did you always want to be in real estate, let alone running a cutting-edge real estate agency? How about your family. Did anyone (family, friends) encourage your interest? Discourage?

I think most people don’t know what they really want to do in life. Unless you knew you wanted to be a doctor or lawyer and had to put in the time in school I believe most of the time your purpose falls into your lap. I met Peter when he was a record producer. Shortly after that he decided to get his Real Estate license and that’s when everything changed. Six months in and I saw him drowning… It was just too much work for one person. At the time I was an Account Manager for a gift card program. I was great at what I did and really liked the work, but decided to up and quit my job to help Peter. He kept asking me if I was sure, and I just knew that I was. And that’s how it all began.

That’s a lot of blind faith in each other! Ok, so if you weren’t in real estate, what do you think you’d be doing?

The thing is, I didn’t really have the chance to have a dream of becoming something when I was a child. I was an immigrant, or a “boat person” as we called it. I came to this country at five and didn’t speak English. It was more about survival and acclimating. I suppose now as an adult looking at my skills and what I like, I would probably have a key role supporting someone building a business. Hmm… I guess I already did that though!

I’d say so. Ok, what were like as a youngster? Your interests, passions. Do you have siblings?

I’m the youngest of four and was your typical youngest child. We all share a unique bond from taking the crazy journey to America together and having had to start a whole new life together. We all actually ended up in California, which is nice. I have to say that we are all extremely different and that I think it’s really interesting, how people can have the same starting point in life and end up in completely different places; That’s what makes life so great.

“I was an immigrant, or a “boat person” as we called it. I came to this country at five and didn’t speak English.”

We are all 1 out of 3, right? We are all somehow affected by it. It can be represented in so many different areas in life, which I think is the key to it. It’s putting a spotlight on instances where you feel alone and isolated and it let’s you know that you aren’t. So it’s about time and it’s amazing! It’s giving people who feel shame and like a victim, even outside of just sexual misconduct, the chance to feel unified and powerful. For me it’s wonderful that the #Metoo movement is celebrating all people who are brave enough to stand up and stand out for any negative experiences they have had and shed light on them.

I see myself not working as intensely as I do now. I’m a born workaholic and it’s hard for me to stand still. My ultimate goal is to slowdown and be there for my kids in their teens. Not sure exactly how I’m going to do it, but that’s my plan! And something that is already set in motion now, is that I’m planning on building my portfolio of homes, so I can flip them one by one. It’s something I love doing. When you create something with your own personal stamp, that is unique, and put love into it, there is no feeling more satisfying. With this endeavor I can work at my own pace and hopefully slow down a bit.

How did PLG come into existence? What do you think your role in it has been?

We were both at another brokerage and decided we wanted to create an environment and a space where there weren’t any clicks and everyone was equal. We wanted to create a culture that we didn’t really have in the previous place we worked at. And the beautiful thing is that though that is what we set out trying to accomplish we didn’t necessarily know exactly what that was or what it looked like. Somehow, with those intentions everything organically developed and became our vision and what PLG is today.

What’s your vision for the future of PLG and how does it align with your future?

It’s hard for me to answer this question because honestly, PLG is where I want it to be already… I couldn’t be more thrilled with what we have accomplished and anything on top of what we have today is truly just a bonus. Maybe another cliché, but it’s the truth!

What’s been your biggest learning experience, one that may have shaped your attitudes about what you do and why?

I have to say, the major one that shaped my attitude on my life in general was my stillbirth. It’s the kind of thing that really put the important things in perspective. I always say to Peter, when things get tough, that just as long as our loved ones have their health that everything else is gravy. When you experience true loss you realize how beautiful and special all the good in life is. I hold onto that and try not to focus too much on the small stuff.

Aside from Peter, who do you admire the most and why?

Assuming that I even admire Peter… Hmmm. That’s a tough one.

And that’s the last word from Cindy! Perhaps we’ll have to revisit her another time and see if she has an answer to that question.