Connie Yoshimura.

• Position: OFF THE CUFF

Improbably, Connie Yoshimura parlayed an MFA in poetry from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop into a career finding homes for Alaskans. The owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Alaska Realty learned to close a deal before she ever sold a house, beginning as a waitress. "I would try to figure out what was good in the kitchen that night," Yoshimura recalls, "and then I would try to figure out what the customers might enjoy. If I could put those two together, then I got a larger gratuity."

As the daughter of a Japanese-American father, she grew up with her Caucasian mother and stepfather, always feeling out of place. "When you feel different, you work harder," she says. "You try to make a place for yourself."

Yoshimura came to Alaska to earn enough money to live as a poet, yet she ended up becoming a prominent local realtor. "I have found that real estate is every bit as creative as writing a poem," she says. After brokering home sales in the '80s, by the '90s she started developing properties through her CY Investments, creating subdivisions like Sandhill Reserve in Sand Lake.

By making places for others, she's made a place for herself.

Alaska Business: What do you do in your free time?

Connie Yoshimura: I have a group of friends that I walk with. I like to do, on the weekends, at least 10,000 steps... And I have a neighborhood bridge group.

AB: What's the most daring thing you've ever done? Yoshimura: Lost 100 pounds. Twice... It's scary to lose weight because it changes others' perception of you.

AB: What's your favorite local restaurant...