Rapid Realty CEO Anthony Lolli, a rental market guru known for convincing his brokers — about 60 at last count — to get company logo tattoos, is no stranger to getting creative to motivate the troops.
But his most constant effort on that front, it turns out, involves a series of pictures and slogans that he calls “Lollisms.” Sprinkled all over his Facebook and Instagram pages, the GIFs — that is, Internet slang for a type of digital image — feature him, friends, co-workers, and even a rueful Anthony Weiner mugging for the camera below inspirational messages. Think motivational posters meets Grumpy Cat.
Most bubble with positive encouragement (“If you want the best the world has to offer, you have to offer the world the best”), while some get down to business (“Money talks so learn to speak fluently,” “The more you slack the less you stack”) and others coax through hard times (“Are you going through it or growing through it?” with Weiner).
“When you’re in the leadership business, you have to be pouring and oozing out positivity all the time,” Lolli told The Real Deal. “People look to you as their rock, their support. And that’s just in my DNA, to be positive no matter what the circumstances are.”
Lolli also draws some inspiration from his background as a Jehovah’s Witness, which he said may have inspired him to use illustrations along with his pearls of wisdom. As for the words themselves, he said he draws ideas from a variety of sources: a movie or something he heard in a rap song. “I jot it down, make notes and keep it in mind,” he said.
The reaction to his “Lollisms,” which he sometimes pumps out at a rate of several per day, has been huge. Lolli said that he has been crafting his GIFs “for a while,” and that his Facebook page and email inbox has grown fat with messages from thankful readers.
But Lolli has been surprised that the most popular GIFs haven’t been his ultra-positive messages or tongue-in-cheek quips.
“The ones that talk a lot about betrayal get the most reaction, I think because a lot of people are hurt by things – the economy, their employer, friends and loved ones,” he said. “Those are the ones that really resonate.”