A broker who listens differently: Deaf Elliman agent featured in new book

From the February issue: When Jackie Roth, then an actress and public relations consultant, decided to try real estate seven years ago, she approached a manager at a large city residential brokerage. He told her that she simply wasn’t cut out for the business. Sure, Roth was whip-smart, a hard worker and a skilled communicator. But, the manager reasoned, she was also deaf. “I said, ‘I have ways to overcome that — I have technology, tools and I’m good at what I do,’ ” recalled Roth, who reads lips and speaks with only a hint of an accent. The manager still discouraged her, but Roth was undeterred. In 2005, she joined another brokerage, Douglas Elliman, where her recent successes include the $2.9 million sale of a three-bedroom condo at 200 Chambers Street in Tribeca. [more]