Artists drawn to real estate careers

From a very early age, Rhonda Ross imagined herself pursuing a life on stage or in front of the camera. The daughter of Diana Ross, she grew up in a world full of actors, singers and artists.

“It was always understood that that’s what I wanted to do,” said Ross, 35. In the past 10 years, she’s been a full-time singer and actress, receiving a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for her role as Toni Burrell on the soap opera “Another World.” And she’s led a charmed life with roles in theater and film productions, plus jazz tours in Japan and Europe.

Yet Ross also has a real estate life. She’s been an agent at Citi Habitats for two years.

Ross credits her arts career with her success in real estate. As a performer, she developed strong communication skills and a fierce determination to aggressively market herself through countless nerve-racking auditions, she said.

In fact, many arts professionals are drawn to the real estate trade for its flexible hours and promise of greater financial gain. Also, real estate and the arts are both industries where individuals are largely responsible for their own success.

But balancing passion and career requires astute planning, not to mention a reassessment of how one measures success.

“I don’t idealize or idolize fame,” insisted Ross, saying she follows the example of her mother, who developed a full life outside the arts.

Ross continues to perform on the road for months at a time, switching back into her real estate life on a deal-by-deal basis.

Handling rejection

One broker/songwriter is having his moment in the limelight. Rick Kelly, a Prudential Douglas Elliman vice president, wrote a tune, “Work it,” that over the past two months climbed the charts to become the number one single in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The song is the B-side to the song “Shame,” released by the group Monrose, winner of last year’s European Popstars competition.

Yet for most professional artists, fame remains fleeting; the Screen Actors Guild, for example, says that only 5 percent of union actors are working at any given time.

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And it’s possible that the thick skin artists develop serves them well in the real estate business. “There’s a tremendous amount of disappointment and dead ends in real estate, but it’s nothing like what you run into in the acting business,” said Eric Rath, a broker with Bellmarc Realty. Over almost 20 years he has landed gigs in television, film, theater, teaching and helicopter traffic reporting.

As in real estate, you have to continually market yourself in a creative manner or you’re not going to work, Rath said.

“A successful career,” Rath added, “is achieved by those who are able to move forward while bettering their skills and being a productive member alongside the people they work with — in whatever industry.”

Actor-brokers consider themselves successful if they have an agent, are auditioning and finding work, said Adam McLaughlin, a Julliard-trained actor who has been with the Corcoran Group since 2005.

Making it

Success in real estate can also create opportunities in the arts. With improved finances comes freedom to create a more flexible schedule for auditions. With luck, there comes a time when one of the two careers has become successful and so real estate work is farmed out to a partner or the number of auditions needs to be limited.

McLaughlin said he’s seen actor-brokers successfully manage their real estate challenges while moving on to full-time acting careers.

One key, suggested McLaughlin, is to view your acting career as a businessman would. For McLaughlin, that translates into persistent self-promotion and effective time management.

“George Clooney’s career changed the moment he realized he needed to be his own CEO,” McLaughlin said, adding, “now I look at myself more as a businessman than an artist — and the challenge is to try and compartmentalize the two.”

Some dual-career brokers feel the need to protect themselves from the perception that they are distracted and unprofessional about real estate.

“If you tell people, they think, ‘how dedicated can you be to me,'” said Rath, who chooses to not disclose the arts aspect of his life to clients.

But those pursuing dual careers are doubly dedicated, agents said. For them, closing a deal can be as invigorating as the thrill of live performance.

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