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Agents with even a passing connection to the industry will know Josh Team from his time as a prominent leader at Keller Williams. million dollar list Ryan Serhant has appeared on numerous reality TV shows, not to mention his global online sales program, Sell it Like Serhant, and his eponymous luxury goods brokerage company.
But how well do you know about the talented group of women behind SERHANT.’s success?
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, Inman seeks to shine a light on women, the underserved majority in the real estate industry.
Natalie Vitebski, Jennifer Arese, Renee Fitzgerald, and Kristen Kipila are core female leaders at SERHANT., contributing to a leadership team that is 55% female. These women help keep the company on track across finance, new development, strategic operations, design and marketing.
If you’re not focused on Ryan Serhant’s overall star status at the firm, why not take a look at the women who are powering the fast-growing brokerage firm.
Natalie Vitebski | Serhant.studio
Natalie Vitebski
CFO
Natalie Vitebski is an experienced financial executive with nearly 20 years in the real estate industry in such roles, many of which have been in management positions at Douglas Elliman and Compass. Prior to entering the real estate field, Vitebsky led financial planning and analysis at Avis, a global provider of real estate and travel services, Budget Group and Cendant.
Vitebski said the strides women have made in the industry since the beginning of her career have been significant. She feels that the focus on putting more women in leadership roles and increased remote work opportunities are providing more opportunities for women.
“Because we were in that era, [workplace management] “It used to be mostly men, but now we’ve moved to at least a 50-50 split, and I would say they’re more cooperative,” Vitebski said. “I think male environments tend to be more competitive by nature. I think if we had more women, it would be more collaborative and less competitive. I think that would create a better culture.”
Vitebsky said that when his career began in the 1990s, he regularly faced discrimination in hiring. That’s because she assumed that most of her potential employers would quit if she became pregnant, and that she would be fired up and quit her job.
“When I was interviewing for a new job, I was told, ‘You’re just going to have a baby and then you’re not coming back.’ Even though I shouldn’t have said that, that’s what I was told. ” Vitebsky said. He said. “It was hard to fight back against those predisposed emotions and stereotypes.”
Although she has more opportunities now than she did then, Vitebski still feels she has to work much harder than her male counterparts to get the same recognition and promotions. He said he was there.
“I’ve always had to work harder to accomplish what men accomplished with much less work,” she told Inman. “That’s a fact of life for me. I still work hard. I probably work seven days a week now. I don’t know if this sets a good example for women, but I think it’s true that I work very hard, probably seven days a week now. I hope that women entering the industry will find it rewarding and growth. [opportunities]”
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Jennifer Ares | Serhant.studio
jennifer allers
Director of new development
Jennifer Ares thought she was going to work in title insurance for the rest of her life. But it wasn’t until she met Serhant by chance nearly 10 years ago that she became fascinated with the world of real estate. She joined Serhant’s team, who were at Nest Seekers International at the time, and she started out on loan and learned the ropes from there.
When Arese got her first taste of the new development, she was hooked. “I fell in love with interacting with developers, being a part of it, and coming up with creative marketing ideas,” she told Inman. “This is very different from reselling. You learn different ways to sell the same type of product to different people, and you change the script by seeing how they react to what you’re saying.”
New York City’s new development field has traditionally been male-dominated, and Arese certainly felt the need to prove herself.
“The biggest challenge I’ve faced is when I’m in a meeting with a table full of men, and I have to admit that I’m the only woman in the room, and I have to speak up and prove my point. “It was,” Arese said. “I think that was something I had to learn how to do pretty quickly so that I didn’t feel like I was less than them or that I wasn’t going to be respected. It was just a mindset thing. It’s a transformation.”
Today, Alese is SERHANT’s go-to point of contact for new developments. We have managed more than $10 billion in new condominium development inventory across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Long Island City. She said she hopes her example will get more women interested in the new development as well.
“I think it’s really important to have more women involved in new development, even on the development side, because I think sales and marketing and the sponsor/development side are still worlds apart. ,” Arese said. “I have worked with female developers and it was a really great experience to see a strong woman at the head of the table and leading the room as a lead developer. I don’t think it’s common.”
“Even in the way we operate as a sales and marketing team, it’s important that we always advance women and promote them into leadership positions. That’s why we hope leaders in New York and around the world will continue to do that.” I hope you do.”
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Kristen Kipila | Serhant.studio
Kristen Kipila
Director of Creative and Marketing
Like Arese, Kristen Kipila first connected with Serhant in 2015 while leading the Serhant team at Nest Seekers International. Kipilla is a graphic designer, design manager, and creative and marketing director for a team he graduated from in less than five years. Meanwhile, he also worked on marketing his campaign for Serhant’s online sales course “Sell it Like Serhant” and also worked on consulting for some of the courses. Top member.
Currently, Kipira leads SERHANT. ID Lab, the company’s creative agency, will work with SERHANT to create his brand identity for new developments, properties and agencies. A studio that produces video content.
She said it was thrilling to work in such a supportive and empowering environment.
“[Ryan] It’s collaborative, but it really empowers people to make their own decisions. He trusts our expertise,” Kipira said. “He’s basically my marketing mentor and that’s what got me this far. So he trusts me to be an extension of his creative and marketing expertise.” I think it is.”
Kipila says that being a female marketing leader at one of the country’s up-and-coming companies doesn’t necessarily feel like a special position, as she regularly works with many women at SERHANT. Told. However, because of the prejudice traditionally associated with women’s emotions in her workplace, she sometimes finds herself unconsciously trying to suppress her emotions in her professional environment. .
“Sometimes I try to seem less emotional, [avoid reactions] Because men might judge that,” Kipira said. “So I try every day to be very practical and logical and to refrain from emotion as much as possible. I think that’s something that’s ingrained in me.”
![](https://assets.inman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/RENEE-Fitzgerald-scaled-e1710441234590.jpeg)
Lennie Fitzgerald | Serhant.studio
Renee Fitzgerald
Operations manager
As Director of Operations, Renee Fitzgerald is responsible for the growth and expansion of SERHANT. Expand into different markets.
Although Fitzgerald doesn’t usually stick to working with majority-female groups, female leaders within the company have a special connection and are open to collaborations that allow them to grow together. said he has a similar approach.
“I think we call each other out and really celebrate each other’s wins,” Fitzgerald said. “That gives us the courage to keep going and share that knowledge with others.”
In general, Mr. Fitzgerald said he feels it is very important to represent diverse opinions in leadership.
“Everyone has life experiences that influence how they spend their days,” Fitzgerald said. “The more diversity we have in these experiences, the better we can meet our customers and employees. [we make sure] We believe we are leveraging all of them and incorporating the best wisdom. Because no idea is the best. ”
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Email Lillian Dickerson