Adam Brawer on Storytelling, Film Production, and a Fiji Listing

So I my specialty in film was selling pitches. I would go into studios into very cold rooms with executives who are paid to say no and I would get them to say yes. And those are very challenging sales. And I spoke to some friends who are in real estate, not in LA, one in my college roommate in Miami, a friend in New York. They both said just get your real estate license. Like you'd be good at it. And so I figured it can't be harder. There's no way it's harder. You're selling a necessity. People have to live somewhere.

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Go to 10xarch.com/ownit. That's the ad. Let's get into it. Hey, Adam. >> How are we looking now? >> Looking great. Perfect. >> Great to see you, man. Thank you so much for um going to one of your listings. >> Yeah, my pleasure. >> Well, I'm really excited to have you here, man, because uh you are very interesting. So, I'm just going to get right into it. I'm going to tell you the research I've done on you and then you let me know if it's accurate or if there's anything anything wrong.

Okay, Adam, thank you so much for being here. I just want to tell everybody who you are for those that don't know you. Adam Brower is an authority on the Los Angeles residential real estate market, having called Los Angeles home for the past two decades. Adam's knowledge, meticulous attention to detail, and best-in-class client service allows him to offer an exceptional experience when buying or selling property.

Combining his personal and professional network with a highle entertainment background, Adam helps helps clients prepare and market their homes with a Hollywood flare, ensuring each property is uniquely positioned, offering expert guidance throughout each phase of the process. Adam looks at each sale as a partnership where he and his clients are fully aligned in the outcome. Adam is often praised by clients for selling their properties for above market value in the shortest period of time.

Depending on each client's unique circumstances, Adam builds a team around them, ensuring their needs are met. Whether it is groundup development, renovation consultation, or real estate investment guidance, Adam and his team provide a complete custom service. This service-based approach has led to extraordinary results as evidenced by his remarkable track record and client loyalty. As a former film producer, Adam believes storytelling is an essential aspect of marketing, so he weaves narratives into every campaign.

Known to some as the spiritual realtor, Adam's approach is unique, often employing energy healers and burning sage in homes prior to listing them. When not selling property, Adam is known for his healthy lifestyle. Yoga, tennis, hikes, breath work, cold plunges, and meditation. I can tell you at least five clients I have that could use some breath work right now. >> Was that an accurate description of what you do? >> Very accurate. So you now >> so I you know it's it's very interesting.

Nobody I'm yet to meet anybody who was a child saying when I grow up I want to sell real estate and we all have our own paths to get there. You have a very interesting one and I'd love you to to share with us. >> Yeah. So uh moved to LA 22 years ago initially to work at a talent agency William Morris Agency. I thought I wanted to be a music agent and uh quickly realized that being a music agent is not a creative pursuit. It's interesting, but you're not actually you're routing tours and you're you're booking dates.

You're not in the studio. You're not involved in music making. So anyway, um from there got into TV first uh representing showrunners and directors and writers and then producing some pretty lowbrow reality TV. From there I transitioned into film packaging and producing. And in 2019, I had a series of setbacks, like some pretty uh like like right at the goal line, you know, in in hard prep.

I had Amber Herd's next film after Aquaman and um right as we were entering prep, the Johnny Depp Amber Herd divorce scandal erupted and she got blacklisted. No one would work with her and that movie died. It was a big bummer. I actually bought that as a pitch and developed it um almost into production but but not quite. So lost a bunch of money on that. And I had a couple other I I sold a a big package to Harvey Weinstein. We acquired the rights to Chip and True Story. We had Ben Stiller and Seth Rogan and Alan Ball wrote the script for us.

It was an amazing project right before he got me too. And I had a series of those situations and decided it was time to leave the business. >> Wow. That is >> that is remarkable. That's incredible. >> Yeah. I didn't have any aspirations for real estate. >> So So then how did that's all happening. You're having I mean both of those are really well-known um things that that blew up. Um, how did it go from there for you to make this choice? >> So, I my specialty in film was selling paid to say no.

And I would get them to to live somewhere. So I started studying. So I missed my flight back from Paris to LA. It was the last direct flight. This was right when the movie blew up. It was called Run Away with Me. And I had a choice. Either get a hotel room or figure something else out. And I decided rather than rush back to LA to tell my business partner and our investors the movie's not happening, we've lost the money that uh I would go to Reikovic, Iceland. So I went to Reikovic, chilled out. I didn't really chill out.

I was having an existential crisis, but I got really quiet and I decided that I never wanted to feel this way again. The anxiety was like off the charts. I felt totally out of control and I wanted something that gave me some more stability, even if it was like a temporary thing. So, I started studying, got my license quickly, and I got my license December 2019 on my birthday, actually. >> Another hell of a time to jump in. >> Totally.

I figured if ever there were a time to jump in, entertainment shuts down like after Thanksgiving basically. >> So now is the best time. So >> similar in real estate as well. >> Yeah, exactly. [laughter] >> So there you go. >> So yeah, I dove in and that's how I landed here. So tell me about your your journey of figuring out how to do this in in so much as you you okay you get your real estate license but there's everybody's doing it completely differently. There's a thousand different systems you can use.

There's coaches and people trying to sell you their way of doing it all day long. What was your process? >> So I didn't know what I didn't know and I didn't really know much at all. Had no experience. I had just read the Altman Clothes Josh Alton's book. Mhm. >> Um, and I thought there were some, you know, I'm not a huge fan of Josh Alman's, but I felt like there were some really useful tools in there. You know, everyone has their own style. He's doing quite well.

So, I gleaned some nuggets and I right when I got my license, I got a bunch of different letters from some brokerages, one of whom wet signed the letter and it was Rodeo Realy. And so I met with the, you know, I I called the branch manager and he said, you know, come on in. A nice guy. He's like French, plays tennis. I play tennis. >> You specifically though said they wet signed the letter. That was meaningful. >> Yeah. That's the only reason I called them. I didn't call anybody else. >> That's really interesting.

>> Yeah. So I met with him and he said I actually got the letter like when I signed up to take the test. They must have gotten a list of people who, you know, >> they do that. >> Yeah. So I met with him. I was taking the test the next day and he was like, "Hey, I think you'd do great. I would be open to giving you a great split and mentoring you." And so the next day I passed the test, called him up, came in, signed up.

He said, "Listen, I'm going to spend three days a week, couple hours a day just mentoring you." And I said, "Wow, that sounds great. I need it." And, you know, he taught me contracts. He he was a very experienced guy. His emotional intelligence wasn't great, but he was super proficient at the way the business works, transactional, and he was very generous with his time. So, I said like, "How do I get leads?" And he said, "Well, I have this lease listing.

If you want to start showing it, you can like represent the uh leie." And I said, "Sure." I had nothing going on. So, I started showing that, leased it out pretty quickly. I met with the title officer. Rodeo owned a title company and I said, "Who who's doing the best in the company? I got a list of people and I called them and I said, "Hey, I'd love to see your open houses." Two of them were cool and said, "Yeah." So, I started to get buyers off of open houses.

is one of the guys introduced me to a seller, a friend of a friend, and ended up getting a listing and it just started to snowball like like pretty quickly actually. Faster than I thought. Yeah. My first listing, you know, I intentionally priced it a little bit low. Was not an it was like a $600,000 home. >> Wait, in in LA there's a $600,000 home. >> Not anymore. This is like six. Uh, and I priced it like slightly below 600. It's my first like open house of my listing.

And I get there 15 to 20 minutes early and there are 20 people waiting in front. And I was like, "Wow, wow, >> this is crazy." >> Mhm. >> And we had just gotten somebody who somebody called in and like just submitted an offer. We hadn't accepted it, but it was above asking. And so I opened the door. People were coming in. I mean, it was like a feeding frenzy. I I kind of couldn't believe it. And one couple came up and they said, you know, we love the home. We're ready to pay full asking price right now.

And I said, you know, I just want to manage your expectations. We have an offer above like significantly above ask right now and the seller's reviewing it. You're you're probably not going to get this house. So, they were really disappointed. But then they called me that night and they said, "You know what? Thank you for being honest with us. um would you help us get a house? And I said, "Sure." And then they said, "You know, our mother's looking to sell her house close by.

Would you be interested in meeting with her?" >> So, did this end up being your first buyer and first listing? >> This was my first listing, my second buyer, but then it became my second listing as well. And then I got another I got like two two buyers in a listing off of it, and I sold the listing. So, >> it did start snowballing. >> It really did. None of them were big deals, but I I cut my teeth and I, you know, I learned how to win bidding wars and it was cool.

>> So, this was only seven years ago, >> 6 and a half years ago. >> Six and a half years ago. That's like no time. >> Um, fast. >> So, I want to get to the present day, but I just want to back up for a second cuz I think that this is I'm sure this there's other ways that this really relates the entertainment world that you were doing and what you're doing now.

But walk me through when you're walking in to pitch a script or a film project knowing that on the other side of the table are people who just want to say no to you. >> How do you prepare for that and how do you handle that to get a yes? >> So [clears throat] being able to tell a great story is a very useful skill regardless of industry.

I would say it's probably one of the top skills because whenever you're selling uh there's an element of story in there and like in my opinion the best salespeople aren't selling they're you know they're kind of like guiding I would say and sometimes that is through sharing a story painting a picture you know creating a a dream that the other person can kind of inhabit. So most of these pitches it was myself and a writer and we would he was this guy was really talented in a room like extremely talented very charismatic.

>> This guy writing all your listing comments now. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> It's not a bad idea. >> His name is Matt Sernik. He wrote Rambo and he he's written a lot of things but Rambo wasn't actually his his best work. What we would do is we would practice quite a bit. I would open the room up.

So, I would, you know, set the tone, share the world we're about to jump into, introduce myself and the writer, especially if we didn't know the executives, you know, maybe pose a couple questions to engage them, and then Matt would start telling the story and and I would kind of just jump in and it was a bit of a tag team. Um, but we really had fun doing it. And in my opinion, the best stories are discovered by the storyteller as he or she is saying them. So, it's not like pitch. It's kind of like a revelation.

You're you're like you're almost wrapped by your own story. Just like enthralled. you're like, you know, you're just like genuinely so enthusiastic about it because you're not just telling a story, you're like reliving it >> in a wall. And so we would go in there uh sometimes there was uh source material, sometimes it was a true story, sometimes there was a book, sometimes it was totally original, and those are the toughest to sell. Um >> so the toughest to sell is when it's not derivative of something else. Exactly.

Those are the toughest. Just because executives don't want to risk their job on something that they can't like lean back on. If there's nothing there, you know, if they buy three original pitches, none of which get made when it's time for their review, they might be a little nervous. >> I get it. >> Yeah. We would go in there, we'd have a great time doing it, and we had a great track record. I mean, a really, really, really solid track record for for any of us who are walking into a listing appointment. >> Yep.

>> And the seller is meeting five other agents. Everybody's amazing. Okay. all five, you know, super wellknown, super amazing, and they're exhaust, you know, they're just tired of meeting with so many people, and they're [clears throat] also ready to say no to everybody. What do you do? >> Um, I don't really think about my competition, and I don't don't comment on my competition. >> I I mean, for me, it's all about rapport.

If somebody likes you and is comfortable with you and then, you know, trusts you and knows you're competent, I think you have a really good shot. So, I want to connect with the seller first and foremost. Uh, ideally, maybe get them laughing. Um, get them like thoroughly engaged. Ask them a ton of I interview them, so I'm asking them a ton of questions. This isn't a one-way interview. I also don't, you know, I don't need your listing and also I don't want to unless I want to speak to you. I don't want to work with you.

So, I'll ask a lot of questions to figure out, especially if I don't know the person, who what kind of a person am I dealing with? Is this a rational person? Is this someone I want to be my business partner? The answer is no. If the answer is no, but it's a high price listing, I might still jump on board. If the answer is no, and it's just a normal home, I'm not interested. I'm just not, you know, I'd rather like keep that space for something else that's more aligned. So, I'll, you know, I'll go in there. I'll have them tour the home for me.

I'll ask them a bunch of questions about like their life, the reason they're selling, if if there's a deadline, what's going on, so I get a full clear picture. What I'll do prior, the day before, I have my assistant drop off a really nicely bound um it's not a listing presentation. It's more of like a marketing piece from a deck, >> like a me. So, they've already done their research on >> and this is like a this is like a binder kind of thing or a bound book or a what is this?

>> It's a bound book that's inside a custom like metallic enclosed box. >> Interesting. >> So, like with my logo emlazed on the front. So, it's like it's an impressive looking piece. They'll open it. They'll read it. They'll, you know, who knows what they'll do after. They might, you know, who knows what they do after that, but they've, at that point, they've done enough research to kind of know who I am.

>> So, by the time they actually you show up there in person for the right, you know, if it's the right match, they're already kind of sold on you. >> Yeah. >> And then it's just about you guys learning about each other, and it's not as much you don't have to tell them who you are. >> Exactly. I I should be like 90% there by the time I open the front door and then it's mine to win. >> I love that. That's such a great idea. >> It's a It's very effective. I highly recommend it.

>> The personality and delivery by somebody else other than me is is really nice. And also >> and then they're not expecting it, right? It's just they get a knock at the door. >> Yeah. It's like a knock at the door. I mean, I have a a friend who's a client who told me we were friendly before we started working together and he told me he was like, "Adam, >> that was a real flex." He's like, "I did not expect that, you know." So, yeah, it's the little things, small touches. >> That's great. That's amazing.

So, we we got to talk about Fiji because um you you know, I like to talk about people You know, obviously this is the Own It podcast, right? And and um I like to talk about, you know, what I mean by that in a big way is is is people owning their life. Like something comes along, an opportunity, an idea, and the average human would say that's impossible or no, I can't do that and have all these really, really convincing reasons why they can't do it. And I was thinking for myself, you know, I like I like to think that I do go for those things.

But after learning about your Fiji listing, if somebody came to me and said, "I need you to list an island in Fiji for me." I would reflexively be like, "Oh, I'll go find you someone in Fiji to do that." Like, I can't do that. >> And so I want to know how that happened, how you do it. Like what what do you what does somebody do when they have a place for sale like that? I I'll start out uh by telling you like how it happened. So, a friend of mine produces Love Island, which is shot in Fiji and she's a good friend.

And a couple years ago, I met the I I I met she, you know, I was at my favorite restaurant, Tanga. She rolled up unannounced with her friend Shauna, who I met. We had a great time. We just hung out. It was like impromptu dinner. Um, and then like a week later she's like, "Oh, that's my friend who owns this island in Fiji." And she shared the island with me and I was like, "Wow, this island is insane. It's like 75 acres, new construction, like pristine paradise.

Wow." And at the time, I had been approached by a French agent a couple years ago to sell a 4 acre island in French Polynesia also for Yeah. Originally, he wanted more than 10 million bucks, but in in the similar price range. And that was an interesting situation cuz it was like the seller got permits to build with the understanding that he wasn't looking to sell. So, it like had to be like an offmarket situation. It was super duper tricky. We ended I I got kind of close with one buyer and it ended up not selling.

And so, but I had a little experience with islands because of [clears throat] it. All of a sudden, you have a niche out of nowhere. >> Yeah. Out of >> And so, um, actually, so a year later, Shauna reached out and said, "Listen, um, we're planning on selling our island and, you know, you come highly recommended. Do you have anyone who might be interested?" And so I said, you know, I might maybe have this one couple who goes to, you know, Polynesia all the time. They live in the bay. I reached out. The answer was no.

So I said, you know, no. >> I would have loved to have been on that conversation. >> Yeah. I'm wondering if you'd like to buy a 75 acre island in Fiji. Just going. >> So um months and months pass and about 3 months ago, I really badly sprained my ankle. I thought I broke it. I ironically putting open house signs up. I slipped really hard on a curb while running. And the next morning I'm [clears throat] doing breath work and meditation. I can't hike. I usually hike most mornings. And so I'm like, okay, I can't hike.

Let me dive really deep into this quantum meditation that I'm doing. And so my intention for the meditation, I am selling a $10 million property. And so I dive really deep into the feeling. There are no visuals actually. It's just how wonderful it feels to sell a $10 million property. And I'm really I'm really having a great time with it. I get out of my meditation, open my phone, and at 10:10 a.m. I got a message from Shauna. And I haven't talked to her in like 6 months, maybe more.

and she said, "Hey, Adam, I just got out of a meditation and I wanted to let you know that we are finally ready to list our island and I wanted to reach out and see if you might be interested. Please let me know if this feels like it's in alignment for you." And I said, "Shauna, that's ironic because I too just got out of a meditation." Oh, and she's like, "And by the way, I'm looking for $9.5 to $10 million." H So I said, "Sean, I just got out of the meditation. You're not going to believe it." Blah, blah, blah.

We have coffee at Soho Malibu maybe 5 days later and I lead her through a breath work and meditation and a week later she introduces me to her husband and we shake on it and I say, "Listen, you know, I'm based here in LA, but I'd like to build a team around you. You know, if you had just a local agent in Fiji, you might find your buyer for sure, but I suspect there's a good chance this is an international buyer that's not >> local. I would say more likely than not. So, what I'd like to do, so what I did is Compass owns Sabes now.

>> Mhm. [clears throat] >> And so, I was introduced to I'm trying to think, was I introduced or I just reached out? No, I was introduced to the president of Southern Fiji and met with him, introduced him to the owners, blah blah blah, and we partnered up. We listed it like a week or so ago. >> So, you were able to deal with all the contracts and whatever the specifics of Fiji are because you were connected to the president of Southern Fiji. >> Exactly. >> Yeah. That's great.

>> So, so the license was necessary. Then like interest like amazingly enough it's funny the listing I'm sitting at right now a really talented director shot a couple really short films like vignettes I'd say in here as part of the listing materials and he reached out and he was like hey um I see you're listing this island is anyone shooting it for you and I said you know nobody's shooting it for me um yet you you know, I'm planning on going out there in a few weeks. We do have like some pretty good drone shots.

And he's like, I'm just going to stop you right there. I would love to shoot, you know, I would love to put together an entire content package for you. Cinematic drone, lifestyle, reel, like full-on commercial, you know, aerial twilight photography, like the entire thing. I would be willing to fly myself out there on my own dime to fly out my videographer and assistant director and put this together for you. And >> he just wanted to write off a vacation to Fiji. Let's be real. >> Pretty much. >> Yeah, [laughter] I get it.

That's good. >> Yep. So, we're going there in like 10 days and uh we're going to spend about three days just doing some incredible content and, you know, making the island come alive and then then we'll finally have marketing materials that we can really get behind. Right now, the like Rob Report, I don't know if you saw the Rob Report article. They did an article on the island. >> No. And as a matter of fact, I want to make sure anyone listening can can find this if they want to see it.

So, >> I'll send you >> How do people find this? >> They can what? Find the island or find the >> like I don't I don't mean literally find it. I just mean online. >> The island's called Vawwa V Awa. Vawa Island. It's the northernmost in the Yasawa archipelago. If they want to read the Rob Report article other than me sending you the link, they could Google cannabis mogul 75 acre VAWA Island. Yeah. And I I can share a bunch of other materials with you. >> That's awesome. Yeah, that's great. >> Yeah.

So now, you know, once we have all the materials, then it's time to like roll up our sleeves and actually do the marketing. The photos that we have now, the drone photos are cool, but the photos of the interior and exterior of the home were shot like on an iPhone by the owners. So, they're not >> Yeah. Yeah. >> So, I mean, I I plan on doing robust digital marketing campaign.

I mean a lot of direct outreach but also um a lot of geo fencing a lot of um like I I'll do there's a company called lead genen labs that allows [clears throat] us to do hyperargeted um digital campaigns where we can draw a digital fence around certain businesses. Anyone who enters that business gets pooped on their phone and they can get fed most likely our ads when they open Chrome or Safari. Um, >> it's called What's the company? Say the company again that does this. >> Lead Gen Labs. >> Okay. Lead Gen Labs.

>> Interesting. Check that out. >> Yeah. So, we're going to do uh geo fencing around a bunch of private airports in the area. Um, I I pitched, you saw I pitched on Realm, so I'm doing direct outreach to a bunch of high-profile agents in Asia and Australia. Um, a lot of we wolf manager conversations, business manager conversations, some advertising as well, and we're going to roll it out piece by piece and press, of course. >> Let's talk about Realm. You brought it up. I think a lot of people still don't know what that is.

Um, it's actually how we were connected cuz we're both members of Realm. How did you find out about it? How did you Why did you join it? Like I mean one of the thing I've been there for four or five years and I have known of a couple agents who are stateside who like one in particular who also sells property in Italy and you know just fascinating that you know so you're you're in good company but I want to know how what your how you ended up at Realm.

So, I was using chat to kind of like reverse engineer where to find affluent international buyers like on what sites do they mo top 10 sites they frequent and Realm came up like in the top five. Interestingly, >> that's fantastic. So I looked into it and right around that time somebody from Realm actually like reached out like unrelated at all and they were like hey we'd love to talk to you about membership and so I talked to them about me membership. I was like this seems interesting. Yeah.

And then there there was an event at the Compass annual retreat last year. I went there [clears throat] met the owners and I was like you know what this seems pretty great. I'm I'm going to join. Yeah. So, I'm a year and change in. Met some great people. Glad we met. >> Cool. Me, too. See you in Austin. >> See you in Austin. >> So, I'm assuming like I know you work with a lot of uh A-listers and people people in entertainment. I I imagine some portion of that must be must need a certain level of discretion and be off market.

Is that accurate? >> I'd say like yes.

like in ter like definitely I do sign NTAs on the listing side often times I would prefer I mean it's better for press when you can be like hey this is so and so's house >> sure >> it also might add some perceived value to the home >> it's a [clears throat] good conversation piece um so it depends like sometimes clients will allow me to publicize sometimes they will not Um, on the buy side, you know, just you just I just try to like clear homes and make sure as few if any people are in them so we have privacy and we can just kind of walk around without oversight.

>> Ideally, [clears throat] >> often times I'm dealing with the business manager most, you know. That makes sense. >> Yeah. Um, and so it's like I've got limited contact with the buyer, you know, and they're not making all the decisions anyway. >> Yeah. So, you know, and I know I know Compass obviously was sort of leading the charge for these offmarket um private listings. How has that I'm very curious about that. There's very little of that where I am.

How do you feel that that affects a sale or exposure or do you feel like it's beneficial? It's not beneficial. It's neither. It depends on the case by case basis. What's your feeling about it? I >> think it depends case by case. I mean, it's much harder to sell a home that's off market because you've got way fewer eyes on it. So, you know, if I'm a seller and I'm looking at the most in the shortest amount of time, I would want to put it on the market for sure.

Sometimes I'll I'll do like an artificial ticking clock where I'm like, "Okay, this is offmarket, but I'll let people know, hey, this is offmarket for 2 weeks. If you want it without competition, make an offer." I would say I mean I've done a bunch of offmarket deals and like it is cool if I've got someone looking for something specific that's not on the market. It can be very very helpful and also the client is like super appreciative. >> It's a privilege to you know be one of the few to be able to tour.

Um so I definitely see some benefits for it's also a good way to test a price. Like I'd rather test a price off market without any days acrewing and then realize like oh this is the wrong price. [laughter] >> Right. Totally. Especially when you have a seller who who thinks they have the greatest house to ever be built. >> Yeah. Exactly. >> If you have an offmarket listing, how do you how do you make sure it gets to the right people to, you know, for people to know it's there?

I feel like at a certain level most buyers are represented like at a certain price point. So what I'll So it's usually like you sell the agent first and then you sell the buyer. So I have um I've got my lists of like the top agents in all of these neighborhoods and I'll do direct outreach or I'll have my assistant do direct outreach and it's like hey wanted to introduce you to this offmarket property. It's amazing.

>> And they're thrilled probably to get that phone call because then they get to be a hero >> by going to their person and saying, "Yeah, >> usually or or maybe they're a dick. Who knows?" >> I mean, who knows? Adam, I want to get into the the spiritual aspect of this. You you've talked about breath work. You've talked about quantum meditation.

First of all, uh I'm wondering that thing that happened to you with Fiji where the client then called and said, "I was in a meditation and etc., etc." Do you find that happening um more than just that one experience? That kind of thing? >> I do. Yeah, definitely. It's pretty it's it's a fun game. It, you know, I I I notice little, you know, serendipitous events or like miraculous invitations that kind of come out of nowhere and I'm noticing more more of them, which is nice. Yeah.

I I what one thing that I do is I work on elevating my frequency to attract the most aligned people in my life. >> So what does that mean? Like if somebody's listening to this has never done any of this and they want to dip their toe in, >> I would say I I would suggest they start doing breath work. Could be Wimhof. There's a teacher um who I studied with for a long time, Johan Herb. Um, pyramid breath. I'd recommend doing pyramid breath to calm the mind and bring your energy into your body.

And then I would start simple in terms of meditation and do like a Joe dispensa morning meditation where there's like an induction. It's almost like hypnotic where you are guided into the space and then you can start to create the life that you want to create using visualization and your emotions. There's also there's podcast to be magnetic Lacy Phillips. She has a place here in Tanga as well and she teaches similar techniques of manifestation. Um, yeah, I would say if if they try any one of those things, they're on the right track.

>> That's that's great. I love it. Do you miss the film world at all? >> I mean, in short, not really. I do miss having like creative conversations with writers >> um and crafting story, but there's so much that I don't miss about it. There's so much I mean it's it was a very toxic landscape and it's just so >> I know just from the just from the two people you mentioned. >> Well aware. >> Yeah. Yeah. So thrilled to not be in that anymore.

And and what do you what do you hope maybe I won't say hope what are you manifesting next? What's happening for for the future? >> I'm building a team. I just uh about a month ago hired a chief of staff who's she's incredible. She was uh VP at the agency for agent experience. So she was essentially hiring, recruiting, training agents and building teams. So we're about a month in. She's great. Got a new agent joining this week who I'm super excited about and kind of creating. >> What about right now?

Do you have like what's your team look like now? >> Small team. It's uh myself, an operations person, a chief of staff, and a TC. >> Okay. And so, you're bringing on more agents now? >> I am. Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. Bringing on more agents. Um I'm excited about scaling. I'm excited about getting into development. I've helped clients develop, but I've never developed for myself. Looking forward to getting deeper and deeper into luxury. And you've got some some really big listings on the horizon that I'm super psyched.

>> You allowed to you allowed to give us a teaser or no? >> Um I mean there are two of them. One of them is a project like a $20 million maybe 23 million on on a good day. A spec build in Beverly Hills just behind Beverly Hills Hotel. large big lot, really nice finishes. It's It's at least 6 months out. Then there's another one in Brentwood that's also around the 20 million level. Um, beautiful traditional home, pool, large backyard, great family home. Like both of these, I'm excited about the content that we can create.

I I like to create like twominut kind of short films in a home that showcase the lifestyle, not just the features, but how it feels to live inside this place. >> So, give give me an example of of how you would do that. >> Well, there this house that I'm in right now, I did a few pieces. >> So, it might be narrated.

There are actors or models who are in the home doing things, washing dishes, jumping into a bath, swimming in a pool, making a meal, you know, the the light changes throughout the day, and you're, you know, telling a really short story about how I I mean, I should just I'll send you a couple links. >> Yeah, I love that. I mean, it you're also in a place where you have some of the top talent for all of this stuff. >> Totally. So, you're really leveraging that. It's amazing. >> Most of them working right now.

>> Most of them are not working right now, did you say? >> Why? Why is that? >> I mean, not a lot is being shot in LA. >> Oh, right. Another good reason you got into real estate. >> Amazing. I did. It's funny. So, right before I got into real Are you familiar with the AOSIc record or an aashic reading? Um tell me tell me about it.

So um it is a school of thought that you can gain sort of an omnisient perspective by accessing these aosic records and there's a way in I actually did a training there's a way to access the records and then see potential futures and so like I sat down with a very accomplished reader and I said I was like should I get out of entertainment and should I devote myself to real estate? And she said, "Yes, absolutely." She said, "Treat it like a game. You're going to win the game." She's like, "You need to get out of entertainment.

The entertainment industry is actually going to shut down." Then she was like, "There are going to be riots on the streets of LA. LA is not going to be a safe place." She was like, "There's going to be a health scare." This was in like November, end of November of 2019. In January, she decided to get a a house out of LA and move. And then COVID hit. Then the Black Lives Matter riots. Then the entertainment industry shut down. Everything that she said came true. And I was thinking, what are the odds?

Like the entertainment industry shutting down? I was like, that's never happened. Very cool. Yeah. >> I don't know how I got on that tangent, but >> keep finding tangents. Totally totally good. >> Well, now you're in a place with a lot of luxury. Do you have any thoughts for maybe somebody, you know, anyone listening who is sort of maybe even quite success, but sort of at their, you know, the median price of wherever they're at of ways to start to elevate and and break into luxury? >> Yes. I I mean a few things.

Um like practically if they could sit open houses for a luxury agent and start [clears throat] to meet potential luxury buyers. Boom. Um I would say more than that I'd recommend I love to socialize. Um I started playing Padell recently which is kind of like pickle ball meets >> I've never seen I've never heard this will be the first time I've ever heard of that which is awesome because I'm sure this is the next huge thing. all know that Adam Brower is the one who introduced me to this. >> Podell, you said >> Podell.

It's spelled. >> How is it different than pickle ball? >> So, it's an astroturf course. It's not like astro. It's basically like an astroturf court. There's plexiglass, so you can hit off the glass. The paddles are different. Ball is a specialized tennis ball for Pedell with the air in it. >> You have to be much more athletic. It's like more strategies involved, less dinking. >> Yeah. Cuz you can be like uh in quite an advanced age and play pickle ball. >> Yes.

>> And then tennis is obviously extremely athletic. So this is somewhere in the middle. Maybe you don't want it to be as chill as pickle ball, but not as wild as tennis. So somewhere in the middle. >> It's somewhere in the middle. And I'd say like I I've had some bad injuries playing tennis. I I It's a softer court. like you're not going to, you know, break your ankle, I don't think. >> So, you love to socialize.

>> So, I would say like if someone wants to get into luxury, they need to socialize with high net worth people. >> Yeah. And so, they should figure out ways to do things that they love where high net worth people aren't. Could be joining a members club, could be joining a pedel club, could be joining a golf club or a tennis club. >> So, Adam, how do you find time for everything? Like, how do you structure your day? You're you're you're this busy successful agent in LA. And how often are you doing this?

Like how how do you do it? >> Um I delegate a lot, which is super helpful. I'm on the go every single day. I'd say I social. I mean, today I'm hanging out with a client. You know, tonight I'm hanging out with a client. I've got a client dinner. Tomorrow, Wednesday, I've got another dinner. Uh I, you know, I do dinners and lunches. If I'm doing like when I go to the gym, I run into I joined a new gym recently. I run into a ton of friends and clients.

And so for me, the metric is number of conversations had, meaningful conversations had >> in a day or in like a do you have like a >> day and it's either like directly with a buyer or seller, potential buyer or seller, or someone who can refer you to buyers or sellers. And so I would recommend get an expensive gym membership. >> The convers the conversations aren't necessarily about real estate, right? They're not >> they're not it's just you're interacting now. You're front of mind. They're thinking about you.

Their friend says, >> "Uh, I want to buy or sell a house or whatever it is." And they're like, "I just ran into Adam today." >> 100%. >> It's like two birds, one stone. You're working out, you're prospecting. It's, you know, it's it's great. So, um, and then also when I'm socializing, you know, like I'm I'm I'm trying to like stack. So, I'm getting my workouts in and socializing at the same time or like dinner and socializing. >> Um, and it's about prioritizing what's meaningful.

And for me, it's like I don't door knock or cold call or do anything like that, but I love, you know, playing raet sports and I love hiking and I love meditation and I love lifting. So, I'll do all those things. and, you know, reap the rewards. >> I love that's great. Um, I got a couple more questions if you're if you're all right. >> Let's go. >> Um, so I'm wondering like a couple things I'm wondering.

one is uh you're dealing with so many people who and I know that you're dealing often with with business managers um and not not not the principal themselves but these are people who have to very carefully and um consciously curate their brand their image. Mhm. >> Have you have you learned anything from watching how these celebrities do it >> for how you >> It's great curating your own brand or image.

I'd say for me it's more about like leaning into what's authentically me and not, you know, not like putting on a bunch of flare and like, you know, it for me it's like when I first got into the game, I was wearing suits and like nice shoes. I was pretty uncomfortable to be honest. And the more myself I was, I realized the more comfortably I dressed within reason, the better I did, the more comfortable people felt around me. So it's like I like custom hats. So I have a bunch of custom hats. I wear custom hats. They become conversation pieces.

People ask me about them. >> Oh man, I wish you had some of the hats with you. I know you're listening, but I want to see what they are. >> Yeah, I've got some some very cool ones. Um Yeah. So, it's like I will I love fashion, too. It's a way to express. I'm very dressed down today. It's like a super chill summer day, but I have a lot of custom suits and like I'm I'm big into watches and I'm big into shoes. I love curating outfits. Um, yeah.

I don't know if I've I've like taken tidbits from celebrities necessarily, but I just know that the more me I am, the better I do. >> And that might be the opposite from celebrities actually. >> Yeah, that's what you learn the exact opposite. You're like, yeah, no, I'm going to the more on myself, the more I lean into myself. I have a a similar story where at a certain point I was like, man, because you know, I'm here in Portland, Oregon.

It's it like you know the joke is like black tie is if you show up in pajamas you know >> um it's not really true but it's it's almost true. I'm originally from the east coast and I wanted to I was like man I just want to do something more elevated. I start wearing suits. >> I get this this call on a listing you know it's like I don't know one and a half million or something. I show up in a like perfect show up in my suit. I knock on the door and the door opens and there's wealthy hippies and tie-dye answering the door.

I knew instantly I just lost this listing. >> Like I don't even want to wear this suit. Like what am I doing? You know, and then I So I had the same conclusion which was okay, I'm never doing that again. I'm going to be me. >> I'm going to be comfortable. I'm going to I'm going to exude that that energy. >> Of being comfortable. And that's it. I've never worn a suit again. >> I like it. Another thing that in terms of like um style or brand, I I leaned into my own practices. So, I burn sage every day.

I I I smudge myself every day. And so, I leave I gift my clients my own brand of sage and I trademarked the phrase from staged to saged. And so, yeah, I was just like everything that I do that I'm going to introduce to my clients, especially if they're open to it because it it differentiates me. >> Yeah. So, you're you're just you're almost um it's it's like you're radically yourself. >> Radically, unapologetically just Yes. And it sounds like if somebody didn't like that or it turned them off, you don't want them anyway.

>> Exactly. This is an alignment case study and it's like are you know is this mutual or not? >> That's very inspirational. I I very cool like hearing that. >> I've got one last question and it's really about communication. Um you know you've got this history of talking to really difficult studio executives.

Um, now I mean you you probably is total assumption you're probably attracting people who you communicate well with, but like how do you like how do you handle it like with communication like you when you're we're all in this situation where we're often advising sellers who disagree with what we're saying, disagree with us, whether that's like, you know, it's very commonly priced, but it might be something about presentation in their home. They think it's spectacular. You know, this is actually going to chase buyers away. Yep.

>> You communicate through storytelling, all this stuff, but how how do you how do you deal with that in that situation? >> Like specifically if somebody's like, "Hey, you know, this dog art on the wall is amazing and buyers are going to love it if I don't agree with that." >> Yeah. Especially maybe maybe look, you're maybe you're dealing with someone with a tremendously huge ego. >> Yep. and and you have to either make them understand the price is wrong or that dog art or whatever, you know, whatever it is.

>> I'll give you an answer for both. So, if it's dog art, I I'll tell a seller, listen, a buyer is not buying your house, they're buying their house. And so, what we want to do is mirror all of the things that most buyers are looking for. We want a blank neutral canvas where they can project their lifestyle on it, see it, and fall in love with it. And often times that means no dog art. So in terms of what buyers are looking for, they're looking for generally like light, bright, neutral colors, you know, not too cluttered.

It usually involves a stage, often a sage, whether or not they know it. You know, we want the energy of the home to be inviting. Also, it's not my it's not either of our opinions. It's not like my opinion or your opinion. I'm just going to share, you know, the opinion of the market. And this is what this is what the market is saying. And if you're willing to take a major risk and lose money because the dog art is super valuable to you, we can talk about that.

Well, what I love about that is is you're you're saying, "Hey, I support your decision if you want to leave the the the velvet dogs playing poker." >> You know, that's >> that's totally, you know, I support you. >> and uh and wow, I'm really impressed at the giant risk you want to take financially. [laughter] >> And then they're like, "Oh, oh, [clears throat] okay. Wait, what?" >> Or Yeah.

Or it's like, "Hey, why don't we test this off market?" Like if if they really really push back and say, "Why don't we test this off market for a couple weeks and just see what the reaction is?" >> And then you just share it unfiltered and it's everyone else telling them how horrible their taste is, not you. >> Precisely. If it's price, I'll sit down and share like a scattergram, a graph of the most relevant comps, you know, with the, you know, square footage and price and then like a line of value. So, it's like, okay, cool.

Like 2500 square ft, you know, 3 million bucks. Like, that's kind of So, here's the line of value. Here are the comp sales. where in this graph do you think your home sits? And if they're if it's like a 2500 foot home and they're like, "Well, it's like 4 million bucks." You know, the market's saying it's worth three, like out of curiosity, where are you getting this $4 million number from? Like, are there other comps that I should be aware of? Or is there anything specific about this house that raises its value about a million dollars?

Because >> Yeah. uh one day a year light comes through this one window and that's another h 100red grand. >> If they like maintain that the house is worth a million dollars more than it is then it's not a listing I'm interested in. >> Ah >> what I what I love what I'm hearing a lot of from you know we always hear that success is is paved with nos not yeses. It's something I've always personally struggled with is saying no.

Especially if business is slow and then all this, you know, some something pops up, you meet with them, your gut says, I should not be. This is going to be not enjoyable. >> But you say yes anyway because you're like, well, I don't have much else going on. >> Y >> um I'm hearing what I'm hearing from you is uh you're saying no with with with a lot of faith, knowing um hey, I'm leaving that space open because good things are going to come fill it. And if I fill it up, it's not >> exactly. Yep.

I did that today with with a a buy a new buyer or an escrow or like negotiating, you know, inspections, negotiating more and then, you know, this is it's a developer buyer who's like kind of unethical. and they were like, "Yeah, you know, um, we really need like 100 grand off, another 100 grand off to remove contingencies." And we had gotten like like 70 grand already off on a home that's like under a million bucks. And I was like, you know what? I'm I'm going to be frank with you.

This is very unprofessional and this is not the way that I do business. If you're not interested in the already negotiated deal, which is in your docu sign, if you're good with that, great. But if you're not, I think this is the end of the road. And that was it. And then I just called I called the listing agent and I was like, "Hey, this is a new new buyer relationship and it's it's ending now and unfortunately we're going to have to cancel." And >> they were cool with it. It is what it is, but I I'd rather not like try to squeeze.

It's not worth it. My relationship, my reputation is more important than this deal. >> Absolutely. And then also with the time that you were going to spend with them, you could be playing Pidell and meeting somebody else. >> Boom. Exactly. >> Right. >> The moral of the story is I need to play more. >> Yeah. How did I say it right? Pel >> Podell. >> Okay. All right. >> You got >> Okay. I'm going to I'm going to check this out or I'm going to be the one to bring it to Portland, Oregon.

So, >> Oh, man. >> Um, >> this has been amazing, man. Thank you so much for for joining me and um I want everyone to know how to find you. So, uh maybe if you want to talk about the markets you work in and um give everybody your your Instagram handle or anything you want. >> Thank you. Thanks for having me. Instagram handle is Adam Brower.

a dam b r a wer adambbrerestates.com I work predominantly on the west side of LA Malibu down to the marina I've got a listing in Beverly Hills right now I do Pastadina I I do a pretty wide swath but mostly on the west side >> and Fiji >> and Fiji [laughter] yeah I mean I do some international deals as well with international partners but if you're looking for a place in LA you know whether it's uh investment property primary primary residence development property. Would love to help. >> Wonderful.

I look forward to seeing you in Austin, if not before, maybe in LA. >> I'd love that. Let me know when you come. >> I will. Thanks, man. Great to talk. >> Pleasure. >> If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who would find value in it. For more conversations on leadership, business, real estate, and building what's next, follow along and connect with us online. [music] Until next time, keep raising your standards and keep owning your next chapter.