CHICAGO-Nooshin Felsenthal has been with Jones Lang LaSalle here for seven years now. But the 29-old vice president, who came to JLL straight out of the University of Wisconsin (where she majored in finance) found her niche two and a half years ago when she joined the capital markets office investment sales team. Felsenthal, who had no plans of getting into real estate before she interviewed at JLL, now reports to Bruce Miller and Jim Postweiler, who together lead the Midwest initiative. Felsenthal recently saqt down with GlobeSt.com to discuss the five most important things newcomers to this industry needs to know.

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She apologizes for her first point, because it sounds “trite, but it’s so true that everything else is tangential to this. You’ll have to work really, really hard. If you want to be successful, you will have to work your butt off.”

She knew this going in, but admits she was surprised at exactly HOW hard she had to work, the hours she had to stay late and the weekends she had to go in. “You have to work harder than everyone else,” she warns. “It’s very competitive, so it’s especially important early on as you come up the curve. You have to put in the extra time and do the grunt work.”

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Felsenthal, who has just completed her MBA, has developed a take-no-prisoners approach, and therein lies her second tip: “Be the expert,” she advises. “My goal when I walk into a room to meet with a client is to have the answer to every question. Brokers are not typically the best managers. They won’t bring you to a meeting just to give you exposure. They’ll bring you in to add value. If you know your stuff better than anyone else, if you know the building better, if you know the tenants better, if you know the numbers better than anyone else you’re going to get the visibility with clients.” And that’s how you build relationships, she adds.

But doesn’t that approach alienate older, more established team members? The cure for that lies in the approach. “My boss leads the conversation, and I don’t talk over him. But he may not be in the weeds like I am or know all the details. I’m there to be the person who has all the minute answers.”

Which brings us to the next point—selecting your team. That’s right. Felsenthal says it’s up to you. “Make sure you’re working for a good team and aligning yourself with people you view not only as leaders in the market but whom you trust and respect.” You can’t succeed on your own, she notes, so attach yourself to a strong team that complements your skills and wants the same things for you that you want for yourself.

Admittedly, some of this is luck, but she insists, it’s also the result of “doing your homework, networking and getting to know these people through their market reputation.”

Once you’re settled into that team, “Be patient but be persistent,” she says. “My generation is somewhat notorious for wanting instant results and success. That’s not reality. Nothing happens overnight.” And that ties back to doing the hard work. “You may see your boss taking clients out to ballgames or playing golf and think you should be doing that right away. It takes time to get there and build those relationships. Don’t get so caught up in the long term. Focus on the now, show up every day and work your butt off.”

On the flip side of that, persistence and a thick skin will guard you against the failures, the deals that don’t pan out, even if you’ve worked on them for months. “They could die,” she says. “There will be ups and downs, and you just have to keep pushing forward.”

Finally, while mentoring is key, a formal approach to that within a company may be hard to come by. So Felsenthal urges you to “Seek out people who you admire and trust, people you work for, people you work with, clients and even people outside the industry.” Develop from these groups models for your professional development.

The hours are long, the work is hard and the competition is fierce. In the midst of those realities, Felsenthal adds one last bit of advice: “Have fun while you’re doing it. And stay positive.”