28 | APRIL 27 • 2023
L
ike millions of Soviet
Jews who left the
U.S.S.R. in pursuit of a
better life, Yelena Nisnevich
and her family (the Pliskins)
immigrated from Kiev to Oak
Park in 1992.
The 35-year-old KW
Domain director of
operations, who was 4 at the
time, learned many important
lessons from her family’s
sacrifice that she carries with
her today.
With Soviet higher
education degrees being
virtually unusable in the
United States, her parents had
to start over and rebuild their
careers from scratch. It taught
young Yelena and her older
brother Victor the importance
of perseverance and hard
work.
Always interested in
business and marketing,
Nisnevich worked multiple
jobs and applied for and won
scholarships to pay for her
undergraduate and graduate
education in full. It was
something she wanted to do
on her own, and her tireless
effort paid off.
She graduated from Wayne
State University with an MBA
in business administration
in 2011, where she was chief
operating officer of the School
of Business Administration
student senate and event
planning director.
While attending college,
Nisnevich got a taste of real
estate. What she didn’t know,
however, is that it would one
day blossom into a successful
career.
LEARNING THE REAL
ESTATE TRADE
Working a front desk job at
Coldwell Banker Weir Manuel,
Nisnevich learned about
entering listings and real
estate processes. She did such
a good job that her colleagues
eventually asked her if she
wanted to be on their sales
team.
Nisnevich said yes, and
began to create virtual tours
on Windows Media Player and
videos for real estate agents
for their listings — something
that was new at the time.
Eventually, the Bloomfield
Hills resident realized it would
be beneficial to become a
licensed real estate agent.
She built up her career and
was instrumental in growing
business at Coldwell Banker
Weir Manuel.
Then, in 2014, she received
an offer from Howard Hanna
Real Estate Services to open
a new real estate office in
Birmingham. It was a chance
for Nisnevich to blend her
business background with her
hands-on experience in real
estate.
Just 26 at the time,
Nisnevich was tasked with an
enormous duty: to help find
a location, recruit agents and
develop the operations that
would eventually drive the
business.
“I was the boots-on-the-
ground in Birmingham,” she
says. “I went to as many events
as possible and met with as
many agents as possible to get
them to consider joining us.”
Her goal, she says, was to
“keep things moving in the
right direction” and to grow
the business. “I had to figure
out how to do that,” she
laughs. However, figure it out
she did, and Howard Hanna
opened a successful real estate
office in Birmingham.
Nisnevich went on to
get her broker’s license and
became the managing broker
of the office in 2015. She
worked there until 2020, later
taking a role at sleep brand
Reverie as director of special
events and then director of
operations. There, she ran the
COSTCO sales partnership
and managed the relationship
with the wholesale giant.
A RETURN TO HER ROOTS
In summer of 2022, shortly
after becoming a new mom
to her firstborn, Finley,
Nisnevich received an
opportunity to return to
real estate and pursue a
dream career. She joined
KW Domain, a top luxury
brokerage, as director of
operations.
Full
Circle
Meet KW Domain director
of operations and Ukraine
native Yelena Nisnevich.
ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Yelena and Boris Nisnevich
with son Finley, who
turned 1 on April 8
MIKHAIL STEINBERG
EUGEN MUNTEAN
NEXT DOR
VOICE OF A NEW GENERATION