“Owning Manhattan” star Emilia Bechrakis Serhant is ready to own the spotlight in real estate—and silence any critics who continue to cast her in husband Ryan Serhant’s shadow.
The 40-year-old newly licensed agent, who started working at the family firm in September after forging a successful career in law and land title insurance, has quickly proven herself to be a power player in the industry, planting her own flag most spectacularly.
Speaking exclusively to Realtor.com®, Emilia reveals she brokered her first-ever real estate transaction on a $20 million property located on New York City’s opulent Billionaires’ Row.
“I closed my first deal with a friend of mine, so that was a big milestone,” she says. “I kind of brought everything together, you know, somebody that came from my network, and with the help of Ryan teaching me all the things that he’s taught me, and bringing it together.
“I think that was the most exciting thing yet ‘cause I’m a newbie,” she adds. “I’m really excited about it, and [Ryan]’s like, ‘Slow down, slow down. You’re a rookie.’ I just started in September and [am] realizing that I can do it.”
Proving to herself she’s up to snuff to make it in the industry is one challenge Emilia is facing head-on in these first few months of her new career. Quieting critics who discount her qualifications or attribute her quick ascent to nepotism is another.
Emilia is well aware of the chatter and understands that much of it comes from the very limited image she has presented during her brief appearances on Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing New York,” its spinoffs “Million Dollar Listing: Ryan’s Wedding” and “Million Dollar Listing: Ryan’s Renovation,” and the debut season of “Owning Manhattan.”
“It’s very easy for everyone to assume that I am just Ryan’s wife because that’s what I’ve shown everyone for a very, very long time, at least publicly-facing and through the context of a show or social media, and it kind of just seems that that’s all I’m doing,” she acknowledges.
“But I have a very full life and a very full career, and I have my hand in a lot of different things and projects.
“I have a massive part of my life that’s in philanthropy, and I’ve been working for quite some time, so there’s a lot of things that I bring into the mix on my own.”
In addition to “growing up in a real estate family” before earning three law degrees from top U.K. universities, Emilia has volunteered her time with several organizations, including Building Better Futures and Water.org. She was also inspired by her difficult fertility journey to write the children’s book “To the Moon and Back for You.”
Collectively, Emilia credits the diverse skill set for setting her up for success in real estate.
“It’s the perfect fit if I’m honest because I get to combine everything,” she says. “My international expertise and experience and perspective [and] network, my analytical skills from law … having a perspective as a mom and even as a family moving into a new space. So I’ve been able to bring little pieces of my life experience, as well as my business experience, into the fold.”
Yet, while the career pivot felt like a “natural progression” for Emilia, she says joining her husband’s brokerage was anything but a no-brainer.
“I considered if it was the appropriate thing to do, ‘cause the way I have approached it is I want to do it right, and I want to learn, and I want to do the right steps and moves, so I did,” reveals Emilia.
“We did have that discussion of potentially going elsewhere, but I really think this is the best place to be because it will also feel different for me—it’s fun, and it’s new, and it’s innovative. SERHANT. has a different approach to [real estate], and I don’t think that there’s anywhere else that’s exciting enough at this time to work at.”
Emilia and Ryan are both based out of SERHANT.’s New York headquarters, with Ryan holding office as founder and CEO and Emilia working alongside real estate agent Melissa Post. So far, they tell Realtor.com they’re enjoying sharing a workplace and navigating the same industry from their respective lanes.
“It’s been great,” recounts Emilia. “I don’t have much time with him, so anytime that I can get when it comes to work, I think it’s far more fun to ask him for advice or to talk about work, or whenever I have a minute, we spend it together, whether it’s at work or at home.”
“It’s great,” agrees Ryan. “She has a deep, deep network and has been off to the races. I mean, her first deal was for $20 million.”
Even though Emilia had a front-row seat to watch and learn from Ryan as he built his billion-dollar business, her real estate tycoon husband takes very little credit for her success so far.
“She learns a little bit from me, but I think it’s kind of weird,” he concedes. “I’m not in the weeds on new agent deal flow the way that I used to be.
“[When] she got her license, she’s like, ‘OK, so now what do I do?’ I’m like, ‘Go to SellIt.com and take my courses. Read my books. There’s three of them. And she just looked at me and she’s like, ‘Not doing that. I can’t listen to your voice for 24 hours.’ I was like, ‘Why not? Everyone else does.’”
For now, Emilia has been able to avoid taking Ryan’s online classes, but knows she can’t put them off for much longer.
“Because I’m a licensed attorney, I did not have to take a test, but I do have to take his courses. So whenever I do ask him a question, he looks at me and says, ‘You have to take my Sell It courses. Have you taken Sell It courses yet?’ And we kind of laugh about that, and I have to get through them. His advice is to take his advice.”
So far, Emilia is excelling as a new agent. In a stunning follow-up to her inaugural $20 million listing, Ryan reports, “she just sold a townhouse for just under $8 million in Gramercy,” which further builds upon the caliber of deals he never expected she would deliver so soon.
“She comes into the office, she’s like, ‘I did my second deal.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, like, a little rental? How’d it go?’ She’s like, ‘No, it’s only $8 million.’ I’m like, ‘OK, you have a skewed view of reality.’ It’s unfair. I made $9,000 my entire first year.”
Emilia’s initial transactions are something Ryan is, of course, proud of, though he teases he isn’t quite prepared to compete with his wife’s ambition.
“I don’t know, I think she’s gunning for my job,” jokes Ryan. “I thought maybe [real estate] was going to be this side thing, but she’s sending me emails like, ‘Hey, when are this month’s rankings coming out?’ I’m like, ‘Is it because you think you’re gonna be on them?’ Like, what is happening? Stressful.”
Luckily, the couple’s blending of work and home life with their daughter, Zena, 6, has been anything but stress-inducing.
“We’re just very good at switching on, switching off between work and home life. It’s been fun,” says Emilia.
“When two parents are working full time, balancing that is challenging, but other than that, I don’t feel much of a difference other than we get excited about deals together,” she adds.
As it turns out, Zena is equally enthusiastic about the family business. Emilia tells Realtor.com that her daughter is not only aware that her parents now officially work together, but she’s already planning to join them one day.
“She’s really funny about it,” says Emilia. “‘I want to work at SERHANT., too. When I’m older, I’m gonna take over. I’m gonna be the boss.’ That’s what she said.”
Of course, it’ll be years before Zena is old enough to work with her mom and dad, but Emilia explains her daughter’s current age—as well as her own recent milestone birthday—played a big part in her decision to change careers.
“It was timing,” says Emilia. “As Zena was starting to be in full-time school, settled in her school, I turned 40 and I figured this is the best time to get into the business. … So it’s been more of a smooth transition rather than something that was very abrupt.”
Both parents prioritize their daughter, and throughout Season 2 of “Owning Manhattan,” Ryan opens up about his struggles to simultaneously be the “No. 1 dad” to Zena and the best boss to his team.
Emilia shares that she notices all of Ryan’s efforts and believes he’s “doing the best that he can do” under the circumstances.
“It’s hard because we have a certain [amount] of time in the day,” she says. “It’s impossible to be everywhere at all times, and I think he grapples with dad guilt. He’s hard on himself.”
For her part, Emilia considers Ryan to be a wonderful father.
“Ryan is an incredible dad,” she shares. “He’s a very loving dad. I think when he spends time with Zena, he enjoys doing activities with her and teaching her stuff, and that’s a testament to who he is and who he is even as a CEO.”
Still, Emilia is committed to taking on her new career chapter with the intent of forging her own path that may run parallel to Ryan’s, but is all her own.
“What does success look like to me?” ponders Emilia. “I would say enjoying what you’re doing every single day.
“Success to me has never really been a number. It’s more of an alignment. I want my work to reflect my values.
“And when I can show up fully for my daughter and my family, when I feel proud of the woman I’m becoming, to me, that’s success.”
