NEW YORK (WABC) — This week on “If You Can Make It Here with Mike Marza,” Mike sits down with someone who knows New York City hustle better than almost anyone: Ryan Serhant. He’s a CEO, entrepreneur, author, dad, and the face behind one of the fastest growing real estate firms in the world, SERHANT.<\/p>\n
From the very start, Ryan is candid about the two roles that define him most: CEO and father. And he doesn’t hesitate when Mike asks which is harder:<\/p>\n
“Being a father for sure, because you don’t know the job you’ve done until much, much later.”<\/p>\n
Ryan opens up about his early life, and the unexpected starts and stops, including acting gigs in New York and being killed off on a soap opera “pretty quickly.”<\/p>\n
What came next was a period of rejection, recalibration, and a decision making philosophy he still lives by:<\/p>\n
“I think people put too much weight on decisions,” Ryan said. “I see these books, these podcasts, and people talking about how to make decisions and decisions are only big in hindsight. Big decisions are made up of micro decisions, like the little decisions and the little behaviors you have changed to get you to a point where you are making a big decision but actually, it isn’t that big. It’s kind of like this is the next step in my decision tree, right? My decision ladder.”<\/p>\n
He talks about the moment he pivoted into real estate, and he had to deal with rejection. Ryan shared how he deals with disappointment and changes his mindset.<\/p>\n
“I would go into my calendar 30 days out from anything bad happening, and I would make a calendar invite that just says ‘read me’ and in the notes section I would write all the feelings about the terribleness that was happening. Like, this deal just died, or I just got fired, like this awfulness, or she just said this because what always happens is 30 days goes by, I get to that day in my calendar, I see the read me, I go oh God, because now I can’t remember right, time heals all wounds. I open it, and one of a few things has happened; one, I fixed it, two, something better happened, or three, I just don’t care anymore,” he said.<\/p>\n
He also tells the legendary story of his short lived but spectacular run as one of the top hand models in the industry. He said googling his hand modeling photos is “a wild ride.”<\/p>\n
Ryan also dives into the relentlessness of real estate life .<\/p>\n
“It is relentless, it is unforgiving. You learn very, very quickly that a grandmother can save $5 if she can lie to your face,” he said.<\/p>\n
He kept going and after an open casting call joined Million Dollar Listing, and eventually building SERHANT, during a global pandemic.<\/p>\n
In classic Ryan fashion, it started by doing the opposite of what everyone else thought was safe.<\/p>\n
“It’s like Forrest Gump and Lt. Dan riding into that hurricane, and everyone else bailed because obviously there’s a hurricane coming, but they rode it out and they stayed through it. And who got all the shrimp. They did,” Ryan said.<\/p>\n
SERHANT led to his Netflix hit reality series, “Owning Manhattan,” now in its second season.<\/p>\n
He gives us his sharp take on NYC’s luxury market, saying “luxury never goes away,” but the people who are buying sometimes change from local to international. Ryan breaks down how he runs his company with a unique annual ritual: choosing a company “animal.” After last year’s orca, 2026 is the year of the wolf:<\/p>\n
“Just don’t move in pods, because the weaklings will fall into the background, and it won’t do anything, and we’ll just have bloat, so how do you remove bloat? We eat each other as wolves.”<\/p>\n
So what’s next for him? He doesn’t sugarcoat it:<\/p>\n
“World domination. I want to build the greatest real estate firm of all time.”<\/p>\n
But amid the ambition, Ryan shares a softer philosophy, especially when it comes to raising his daughter:<\/p>\n
“The job of a dad to a girl is to instill unbelievable, yet humble, self confidence.”<\/p>\n
His advice to others trying to make it in the greatest city in the world?<\/p>\n
“Meet 15 new people every day, get their contact information, and follow up with them for the rest of your life.” But above all use the two C’s compliments and connection.<\/p>\n
After you compliment them and find something in common, “Ask questions and people will like you.”<\/p>\n
This is an episode about drive, fearlessness, parenting, failure, reinvention, and what it really takes to make it here, in New York, and anywhere.<\/p>\n
Watch the full episode and subscribe for more conversations with the people shaping the greatest city in the world.<\/p>\n
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