UPDATED Wednesday, May 27, 2020, 6:39 p.m.: Molly Townsend has landed on her feet — at Triplemint.
Townsend had been Douglas Elliman’s executive manager of sales and oversaw 600 agents from the firm’s Manhattan flagship at 575 Madison Avenue, but was laid off in April amid sweeping cuts driven by the pandemic.
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Townsend said Triplemint’s outgoing vice president of sales Amy Kane reached out to her in early April and over “casual conversation” told Townsend about succeeding her. Kane, who joined Triplemint in 2018, is leaving Triplemint to move to the West Coast.
Townsend officially began yesterday with a title different from Kane’s: senior managing director.
“I’m really drawn to the small boutique culture,” said Townsend on joining the startup brokerage, which has 170-odd agents. “My managerial style is extremely high-touch, very hands-on … and I thought that I could be really effective on a small scale.”
Townsend is part of Triplemint’s leadership team and reports to the firm’s CEO, David Walker. She said her focus will be on coaching and helping agents increase their gross commission income.
At the start of April, Triplemint, which has raised $17 million in venture capital, laid off two employees and opted to pay 15 percent to 20 percent of the salaries of the firm’s leadership team in stock options. Co-founders Walker and COO Philip Lang reduced their salaries to zero.
Townsend said that her starting salary is “in line with the other executives, meaning we’re not back to work 100 percent.”
While at Elliman, Townsend was the sales director at Quay Tower, a new development that closed Brooklyn’s priciest sale last month. She oversaw the firm’s Park Slope sales office from 2014 to 2018 and said that under her coaching agents increased their income by 40 percent. Townsend became executive manager of sales at the 575 Madison office in July 2019.
An Elliman representative said “we wish her the absolute very best.”
Before Elliman, Townsend handled luxury rental leasings for Rose Associates and new-development condo sales for The Developers Group.
Townsend said that she expects New York City’s residential market to be challenging but that she will lean on her experience as an on-site sales agent during the financial crisis to help agents through the pandemic.
“Those that spend this time really sharpening their tools will come back even stronger,” she said. “It’s just a matter of keeping your eyes on the prize.”
Write to Erin Hudson at ekh@therealdeal.com
Correction: Amy Kane’s title at Triplemint was vice president of sales, not director as initially stated.