Amy Calandrino: From Boutique Brokerage Founder to Corporate Pivots

Welcome to this episode of The Tori Nook Talk Show! In this episode, Tori sits down with Amy Calandrino, a 15-year CRE veteran who made a bold pivot—closing her boutique brokerage, Beyond Commercial, to join Cushman & Wakefield in Orlando. Amy is also the host of The Performance Mindset Show (top 5% globally on Apple Podcasts), author of From Perfect to Real, an avid golfer, wife, and mom of two.

After running her own brokerage since 2010, Amy reached a turning point in 2024. She realized if she wasn’t going to scale, it didn’t make sense to stay a “glorified solopreneur.”

So she explored her options, had 20+ conversations, and ultimately chose Cushman for the runway, support, and family culture it offered. Nothing about her entrepreneurial spirit changed—she still hosts her podcast, invests, writes, and mentors—but now she has a team, resources, and the freedom to focus on deals instead of operations.

They dive into intuition, integration over balance, the power of saying no to assholes, and why your past doesn’t define your future. Amy shares how she paid her way through college working every job imaginable, why she left her brokerage after 15 years, and the one phrase that changed everything: “Consider yourself a free agent.”

Topics covered:

Why Amy closed Beyond Commercial after 15 years to join Cushman & Wakefield
The moment in Vermont when everything clicked
Work-life integration vs. work-life balance
How her podcast and book support her CRE business
Growing up in a trailer park and paying her way through college
The teacher who believed in her and built her first resume
Why intuition is your biggest asset in business and life
Her “no assholes policy” and protecting your energy
How golf mirrors business: stay steady, don’t get complacent
Building brick by brick and not selling yourself short