By: Nikkia Adolphe, PR Director

Guts and well, eventually, the glory. 

It’s the first thing that comes to mind when I’m tuned in to one of my guilty pleasures ‘Million Dollar Listing’, Bravo’s hit reality show. Pursuing a career in New York City’s current competitive (yet deteriorating) real estate market takes a certain kind of fortitude, a characteristic every broker – or cast member – that’s featured on the show possesses. For these brokers, the journey of fortitude is eventually met with triumph from closing multi-million dollar deals – but not without some learned lessons along the way.

Watching the show is often a reminder for me when thinking about how creative agency professionals navigate the ebbs and flows of agency life. Sure, it can be challenging, but there’s no better feeling when you achieve amazing results and even better, happy clients. 

Let’s take a look at how agency professionals can take a page out of the book of Million Dollar Listing’s high-energy brokers.

Face-to-face networking is still very important – even in a digital-first age.

Out of all of the cast members on Bravo’s hit show (biasedly speaking), Fredrick Eklund is the one that knows his way around the art of networking. After years of building his empire in New York City, he recently decided to take his talents bi-coastal opening an LA Office boasting a pretty stellar team. From executing vibrant, swanky broker house parties and building strong relationships with local brokers on top, Fredrick was able to launch a successful business arm in La La Land – proving the power of networking is unmatched. 

While it can appear to be daunting, the power of networking in PR is still very much alive despite living in a world where we’re glued to our phones where connections can be made much easier thanks to social media. For PR professionals, the key to conquering modern-day networking is being intentional about who and where you’re spending time. Seek out a network partner with similar interests and goals as you, and make this someone you attend relevant events with. This could be an agency colleague or even someone you know from an association you’re a member of.  And if both of your goals involve strengthening relationships with the media, source out events where media professionals are attending.

Go big or go home.

All of the Million Dollar Listing cast members have a lot in common; big personalities, but even bigger are their guts and never shying away from taking risks. From bold negotiation tactics to upping the ante with brokering multi-million dollar deals, they never let fear get in the way of the reward. This is how agency professionals must much approach creative thinking when assessing unique approaches for clients. At Media Frenzy, our mantra is ‘Go There’, meaning we push ourselves to go beyond the traditional approach to brand storytelling when it comes to bringing our clients’ concepts to life. 

Big idea thinking requires you constantly craving information, being curious, and even more, staying inspired. Seek experiences outside of the office to spark your creative juices, or better yet, take that trip to Bali you’ve been putting off for years. It is in those uncomfortable moments you find growth and big possibilities that could tie back into the work you’re creating for clients.

Never take yourself too seriously.

One Million Dollar Listing broker that never takes himself too seriously is none other than Ryan Serhant. With a quirky (and somewhat peculiar) sense of humor, Ryan goes to no end to close deals – even if it makes him look outlandish. Case in point: Ryan decided to show his awkward dance moves in a plight to sell an extremely unique loft he knew would attract a very specific buyer. As he anticipated, his strategy worked; the video went viral and he eventually found his buyer.

The moral of the story is that you must have fun in what you do. As an agency professional, it can be easy to fall into a trap of being someone you are not – even if it means appeasing a client. Truth is, there is strength in being authentically ‘you’. There’s a saying that goes, ‘No person on this planet is you, and that’s your superpower’. When you’re able to dig deep, find your unique voice and allow transparency to seep through all efforts you give across clients (and even in developing media relationships), you’ll find just the same success as quirky Ryan.

Whether it’s real estate or agency life, the road to ‘guts and then glory’ comprises many of the same variables. Let the entertaining cast of Million Dollar Listing be the wave you catch when navigating the rollercoaster of agency life.