Diane Turton

Always Connecting Diane Turton

It's been a tumultuous journey for Diane Turton, she navigated a tough childhood marked by her parents' bitter divorce and her dad's early and tragic death. The oldest of seven kids, she grew up painfully shy, overweight, and relentlessly bullied-until her dad enlisted her to help with his business transactions and taught her to negotiate. By the time she got through college, Diane had bargained with car dealers, store owners, policemen, and clients selling their homes. She was the only woman in her real estate business classes in college, earned her real estate license at age 19 and launched her career after graduation without a dime to her name. Over the next few decades, Diane went from standing-room-only Tupperware parties to one of the top sellers of real estate in New Jersey, from appearing on NBC's "Today Show" as the guest weather girl to sharing stages around the country with motivational speakers Zig Ziglar and Tom Hopkins in front of thousands of people. Diane faced open hostility and even sabotage as a female entrepreneur, inspiring her to fight the gender issue by deploying some pretty innovative ideas about selling, branding and service. The kid who was too overwhelmed to deliver a book report in front of her second-grade class became a nationally known speaker on entrepreneurship, business and values-based leadership. It's a story she's shared in bits and pieces over the years. So why put it all in a book? Because she got a SIGN.