Before Michael Chernick was a Business Development Director in the energy industry, he was selling gourmet chocolate out of his co-op.
In Episode 51 of The Padernacht Podcast: Brick by Brick, Steven sits down with a friend of over 20 years to talk about a career that went from a failed candy bouquet franchise to building sales teams from scratch — and along the way, picked up a genuinely useful crossover into real estate that most agents never think about.
The Candy Bouquet Years
Fresh out of college and unable to land the elementary school teaching job he wanted, Michael bought into a franchise — Candy Bouquet, essentially Edible Arrangements but with gourmet chocolate instead of fruit. He learned to make the product in a week-long training in Arkansas and ran the business out of his co-op in Ossining.
It struggled from day one. “I really it was a good learning experience, we’ll say,” Michael said. He spent close to $1,000 on a magazine ad and got six leads, closed two, and made about $50. No mentor, no coaching, no real plan for how many candy bouquets he’d need to sell to support the lifestyle he wanted — including the Yankees and Knicks season tickets he wasn’t ready to give up.
“You need to plan better before you start something,” he said of the lesson. “Find someone that’s done what you want to do successfully in that field and see if they’ll mentor you.”
From Candy to CRM
A connection made at a family birthday party changed everything. The customer ran a family-owned heating oil and HVAC company and offered Michael a shot at building out an inside sales program — something the business didn’t have yet.
He took it, and within a year became the company’s top salesperson, a title he held for seven consecutive years before moving into sales leadership. Over 15 years there, he built and led a team of seven to eight people with almost no turnover, expanded from residential into commercial sales, and learned the CRM discipline that still defines how he works: “What gets measured gets managed.”
When the company sold to a larger publicly traded firm, Michael got an early heads-up because of his relationship with the owners — but that didn’t make it easier. He had to let go of three of his seven team members within the first year of the transition. Between that and a shift in company values, he started looking elsewhere, using his industry relationships to open conversations with other energy companies even before positions opened up.
Choosing Family Over the Bigger Offer
Michael had multiple offers on the table. He took the one that paid less.
“I chose the one that I felt like family,” he said, “even though it was less money.” The decision came at a hard moment — his wife had just been laid off after 17 years with her company, making him the family’s sole earner with two young kids at home. He chose the smaller, family-owned energy company anyway, in part because they told him upfront how much they valued family time and would expect him at every game, assembly, and event for his sons.
His own father died young — the spring of Michael’s freshman year of college, four months after a lung cancer diagnosis. It’s part of why family time isn’t negotiable for him now.
Building the Foundation, Again
In his new role as Business Development Director, Michael is doing exactly what he did before — building the sales and marketing infrastructure a 40-year-old, woman-and-minority-owned company never had. A new CRM (HubSpot, after years on ACT, Dynamics 365, and Salesforce at his previous company). New websites, untouched for 11 years, now being rebuilt for AI search and SEO. Two new hires he’s training on CRM discipline for the first time.
The company has also expanded well past heating oil — into propane, on- and off-road diesel, gasoline, and full commercial energy accounts serving country clubs, marinas, golf course renovation crews, and excavation companies.
What Realtors Actually Need to Know About Oil Tanks
This is where the episode turns directly useful for real estate. Michael does 20 to 30 presentations a year at real estate offices, positioning himself as a free resource rather than a salesperson — someone agents can call when an oil tank, a heating system, or an energy question threatens to derail a closing.
A few things he wants every agent to know:
Biofuel blends above 14% actually burn cleaner than natural gas — his company uses a 20% blend. That’s a useful fact for a seller worried a buyer will walk from a home with oil heat.
ProGuard tank insurance, where sellers have it, is transferable to the buyer and can cover up to $100,000 in remediation costs if a buried tank ever leaks. Michael shared a real story from a Keller Williams colleague whose Long Island Sound listing ran into roughly $250,000 in remediation costs — the kind of number that can stall a closing indefinitely.
His advice to sellers before listing a home with a buried tank: get it tested first. “You should just get some sort of test done on your tank just to make sure that you don’t have any leaks,” he said, “because for sure a buyer is going to ask about that.”
He also walked through how ESCOs (energy service companies) work — and how some homeowners, particularly elderly ones, have ended up signed up for supply contracts they never agreed to. His tip: check your utility bill’s “supply charges” line to see who’s actually supplying your gas or electric.
On Coaching, and Two Types of People
Much of the conversation circles back to something Michael and Steven share: both spend real time coaching people just starting out; Michael brought up the “10,000 hour rule” from Outliers and the two to five years it realistically takes to become successful in any sales-driven business.
His line for spotting who’s going to make it: “There’s two types of people in the world. People who make excuses, or people who make it happen. Every single morning, you get to wake up and decide which one you’re going to be.”
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Legacy
Asked what he wants people to remember about him, Michael didn’t hesitate: “Loyal. I think people will remember that I was loyal above everything else, and a family person. Always put family first, and treated my friends like family.”
Find Michael Chernick on Instagram.
Steven Padernacht is a third-generation Bronx realtor with nearly 20 years of experience serving buyers, sellers, investors, and landlords across the Bronx, Riverdale, Westchester, and greater NYC.