Long gone are the days when Ryan Serhant was merely selling New York’s million dollar listings on Bravo.
Since becoming a star of the small screen back in 2012, Serhant has turned his name into a brand and built an empire of personality that mixes media (books, TV, TikTok, even education) with the hard-nosed business of real estate.
In 2020, during the upheaval of the pandemic, he left the NYC brokerage NestSeekers to launch his own firm, simply dubbed, SERHANT — what else?
Since then his firm has grown to 600 agents operating not only in New York, but also in Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and elsewhere.
Last year, the firm did more than $4 billion in sales.
Now, next to broker, CEO and founder, Serhant is adding producer to his business card with today’s premiere of “Owning Manhattan” on Netflix.
“After selling real estate for 12 years, I decided to start my own company,” Serhant says in the intro to the eight-episode series. “And if you can’t sell, you can’t be here.”
After two years of filming, the show takes audiences inside Serhant’s brokerage to gawk at the cutthroat competition to rise to the top in the only way a broker really can: by selling its top properties.
Much of the drama centers around his team’s battle to move the firm’s crown jewel listing, the 17,545-square-foot penthouse of 217 West 57 Street, aka Central Park Tower.
The highest residence, with the highest terrace, in the world, it’s currently on the market for $195 million.
“Welcome to the most expensive apartment in the world,” Serhant tells his agents in the series. “The first one to get it sold, you’re going to get $10 million. So it’s time to step up and sell!”
Now, that’s what we call motivation — and speaking of, we asked Serhant to share the products that keep him motivated and at the top of his game. Check them out below.
“The only thing I love more than wearing a suit, is wearing a sweat-suit. Whenever I wear my Eleventy ‘sweat’ suit jacket, people always ask me who makes it.”
“I’m all about efficiency, even when I sleep, and I am always on the move — whether it’s running to showings, or running my company. So the WHOOP activity monitor is amazing for tracking my fitness. Knowing where I stand with my workout and sleep helps me stay optimized.”
“I am meeting with clients, developers and seeing properties all day. I use these headphones for everything: to take calls on the go, work out, and everything in between.”
“I can’t talk about my favorite things without including a Netflix subscription to binge watch ‘Owning Manhattan,’ of course!”
“Guess what? I take my skincare really, really seriously. I had acne growing up, and swear by this brush combined with a cream cleanser. This is a product that changed the game on my skin (and here is my YouTube video about my skincare routine!)”
“Workouts are non-negotiable for me, so a good workout shoe is essential. Lately, I’ve been wearing Nobull.”
“After a good workout, I need to refuel and I always have a shake made with two scoops of chocolate whey protein powder. I’m currently into Optimum Nutrition, which the Olympic weightlifters also use, which is cool because then we have something in common.”
“When I first started out in real estate I used to wear fake luxury watches. Now, I’ve upgraded to this one, which I love because it’s lightweight and goes with everything.”
“I’m traveling non stop these days — whether it’s to Australia for a keynote speech, to Palm Beach to scope out multimillion dollar mansions for my buyers, or to Greece with my family — so a good travel bag is essential. Both my wife, Emilia, and my birthdays are in July, so we love this brand.”
“Staying connected with my family while I’m traveling is the most important thing to me. I use the Lovebox to send messages and pictures to my daughter, Zena, so she knows I’m always thinking of her.”
“Being a salesperson is not for the faint of heart, which is why I created an education platform. ‘Sell It’ is detailed and practical sales training for everyone. You don’t need a fancy college degree to be successful in sales, you just need this subscription to our educational content.”
“I spent two years writing my third book, and a decade of work living it and building it. ‘Brand It Like Serhant’ shares my system and blueprint for helping entrepreneurs and ‘solopreneurs’ build their personal brands.”
