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When Gigi Melillo moved back to Greenwich after 20 years in Las Vegas, she wasn't sure what she wanted to do. She had owned boutiques on the Boulevard but didn't want to open a store in Connecticut. But Gigi's husband, Tony, came up with a solution. "He said I was a natural salesperson," she says. "He suggested I sell real estate."
Gigi joined William Pitt in the mid-'90s, working first in Stamford and then in Greenwich. It wasn't long before the late Mr. Pitt himself noticed her and moved her onto the management side. "He asked me if I knew anything about relocation," she says with a laugh. "I didn't."
Today, Gigi is the manager of the William Pitt/Sotheby's International office in Darien as well as its smaller sister office in Rowayton. She says her job is "a little hard to define," but she has to know everything that's going on at all times.
"I go to all the open houses and I always preview our new listings," she says. Any agent who needs help making a sales presentation to a homeowner knows to call Gigi. The same goes for agents involved in tricky negotiations.
Gigi feels blessed to have a diversified office with seasoned agents willing to support the "newbies." Under her management, the roster of agents has grown from 30 to nearly double that number. She credits the Sotheby's International brand for inspiring her team. It also gives Gigi and her agents access to top-notch marketing people as well as to a global clientele. "The connotation of the name 'Sotheby's' has raised the bar," she says. "We all strive to be better professionals."
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