JOHNGOMES

we represent people. We know that there’s fair housing laws that were created and amended. It should be noted that while there are fair housing laws that protect people of race and color and so on, we are not protected by sexual orientation, nor by gender identity.

So that everyone is aware, there is an Equality Act, which is a bill that has been proposed in Congress, but it has not become law. We’re very excited about the recently passed Respect for Marriage Act which acknowledges all gay marriages or same sex marriages in all of our states. Even if you can’t get married in each state, at least each state must acknowledge it. I want to underscore the fact that gay people and people who are gender identifying as a different sex than what they were born as are not protected classes.

Then of course we had are all sorts of practices like redlining that made things really difficult for black people. Redlining is when the banks just drew a red line and said, “nope, we’re not going into that neighborhood.”

That also caused further segregation and all sorts of problems. My point is that we don’t see a lot, or certainly enough representation from black people in our industry and it’s no wonder it’s been difficult for black people to ultimately own real estate. It’s important to me that we talk about this and make black people more visible in our industry, specifically because we want other younger generations to see people like them who will inspire them to want to enter the industry.

It should be noted that more than 75% of the people that are real estate executives are white men. Only 2% are black men of all those men that are in the C-suite. Also important to note, there are differences within our industry between commercial real estate and residential real estate. Commercial is far worse. That is a male dominated sector for sure. Only one third of the people practicing in commercial real estate are women. Here, I’d like to share some of the conversations we’ve had with our team on these issues.

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JOHN GOMES: Janet, because we worked together on the Black Lives Matter initiative, I would like you to tell me about representation. How do you feel about racism in real estate in general, and racism towards black women specifically?

JANET TEMIDAYO: There’s definitely not enough (representation). I’ve had the pleasure of building a network of black and brown brokers, but the reality is we want to be part of a bigger real estate community that involves all colors, races and genders.

Black agents don’t get invited to a lot of the top launches and listings. Even when we’re invited, it’s kind of this feeling of, “Oh, that person’s probably not going to do a deal here.” I know when I first started, I was looked at a certain way, even though I came to the table ready, looking like I was about business. The first thing they saw was that I was a black woman. The energy was like, “Yeah, she’s probably not going to really do much.” I remember one time I was told, “Well if this doesn’t work out, you could be a model.” And I’m like, if I wanted to be a model, I would be a model. Trust me, gotten offers, don’t get it twisted.

For representation, I think it’s more so about inclusion, really connecting with brokers that are people of color. I feel like a lot the agents in this industry don’t make it a point to know who the black brokers are, even though a lot of them are doing top deals.

JOHN GOMES: That’s amazing. Jase, I would like to have your perspective being a trans identifying human. Maybe you could give us a new perspective from your time of being in the industry?

JASE CANNON: Absolutely. There’s so much gratitude in my heart to have these types of conversations that bring awareness. From the first walkthrough in your offices on Broadway, you were very much, “I wanna change the industry, really spearhead these types of conversations and most importantly, take action.”

The fact that we’re all here on your and Fred’s team is incredible. The best way to approach this conversation in a big corporate setting is to ask: “Where are we lacking as a company, as a team? Where can we show up? Where can we learn?” All the companies are trying to hit that diversity inclusion mark, but I think when you do it with integrity and with intention it means everything. There are some trans individuals across the US in real estate, but we have zero platform, not like the one we’re having here. There’s great responsibility within this. It’s education, it’s continuing these conversations throughout the industry. I noticed this past year there are more parents raising gender nonconforming children and they feel unsupported. I want them to feel like their organizations are there for them. The statement that you all are going to be making with this magazine with us being featured is huge.

JOHN GOMES: I think that’s what we as a team and as leaders, are trying to do for the industry. I would like to bring our attention to Corey to talk about all this recent anti-Semitic crap that has come out of left field and has really disturbed me.

CORY CHARLUPSKI: The crazy thing is, it’s not that recent. It’s recent now because of Kanye West. But we’ve been dealing with this in LA even before “Ye.” It was around the Black Lives Matter movement and the riots we had in LA when people were afraid to walk into a synagogue.

There was a really great story about this martial arts master that offered to walk orthodox Jews to and from synagogue or even drive next to them as they were walking to feel safe. That’s the first time that it really hit that I need to pay more attention. Let’s say I’m a grandchild of Holocaust survivors. So I based my entire life around my grandparents who both lost most of their families in the war and didn’t know each other before the Holocaust. But my grandparents are both Auschwitz survivors and my grandma was even in line for the gas chambers before she was sent to another camp. So it’s an issue that I’m aware of and I don’t know, maybe I’m not doing enough to speak out against it. I think some people are just ignorant. Some people just suck and I don’t have time for it and I don’t want to give them attention.

JOHN GOMES: Speaking of white Jewish men, one of my heroes is Eli Weisel, who has now since left us. He had this quote when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1986. He said that “we must always take sides. Neutrality helps the opressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the normented. Some times we must interfere.” So, I think what happens so often in our society is that we all see and hear these little acts of hate and kind of tune it out because it doesn’t specifically involve us. I’m just trying to encourage everyone to be a little bit bolder, tune in more, turn your ears up, to be alert, to look out for what’s happening. I would like to ask you, Ari, how you feel as a white woman working in the industry where women are very underrepresented, particularly in commercial real estate?

ARIANA GAFFOGLIO: I feel like people all wake up the same, go to bed the same, so we should all be treated equally. I’m a big believer in treating others how you want to be treated. It’s crazy to me that we're going into 2023 and this is still an issue. But working as a woman in this indus- try has been very challenging. I’m going on my 12th year now and I’ve worked my way from the bottom making $12 an hour as a receptionist to now being on this amazing team. It’s been hard freaking work. You have these super powerful successful male brokers who look at me like I don’t know what I’m talking about.

I’ve learned to have a tough skin. When I first started, I was very just sweet and innocent and a little shy. But you’re dealing with super high net worth people. You have to put yourself on their level.

And when you’re dealing with men, I’ve learned to be more assertive and firm in my conversations. I educate myself on real estate, what’s happening in the world economy markets, so that when I’m speaking to people, I am on their level and can have those conversations. And it’s just, as a woman, when you are successful and strong, people just will naturally consider you to be a bitch.

But you’re just assertive, you’re direct and you have to deal with these super powerful men and you have to be on their level. If a man walks in, they’re assertive, direct, they’re not considered a bitch or rude. They’re just being successful at their job and assertive. In order to be seen, you have to just be firm. And I always laugh and say there is work Ari, who is super firm and direct, then there’s Ari at home, who is super shy, laid back, quiet. And just for them to respect you, you have to have that confidence because otherwise why would they want to work with you as a woman in the business where you have all these super top dog amazing men?

JASE CANNON: Alright, that just hit such a chord for me in my heart right now. I’m vibrating a bit. I represented as a male most of my adult life in suffering. Now I know in certain situations I’m perceived as a bitch, or complicated, but I never had the conflict that I had as Jason in these spaces.

And so, I have to make sure that I go for it, that I demand respect. And most importantly, I think what I learned this past year is owning my worth and owning my value. And I feel that women, we always go to our work as our value, our work ethic, how we show up. And men, they just go in and they just take, so it’s really owning and navigating that space and letting go.

JOHN GOMES: By the way, I just want to say that this is a new revelation for me, this whole bitch thing. And I want to be completely honest. I have been on the side where I’m a male and I’m dealing with a female broker who is what I think overly assertive and aggressive in that way. And I myself have actually caught myself thinking of that woman as a bitch and I’m ashamed of it. And at the same time, I’m proud to acknowledge it, I know recognize thatit was coming from a place of ignorance. And a lot of our ignorance comes from our society where we ultimately learn bad habits. So, it’s this kind of stuff that I want people to read about. We have to be willing to be open, we have to be willing to admit our own faults, to share that with others, to lead by example, to propel things forward.

JASE CANNON: I appreciate that responsibility that needs to be with an individual. I have my own accountability to be in this workspace. I have my own responsibility to uphold the team’s legacy and name. So I have to present my best self. It goes both ways.

JOHN GOMES: I wanna throw a little spice into the conversation and get a Latin perspective on things. So Angel, you’re in a unique place, right? Because you are of Latin heritage and you’re living in a city like

Miami that’s known for having a large Latin population. You mainly work there, but you did work for years in California as well. I’m curious to hear your perspective.

ANGEL GONZALEZ: There is a huge difference in the deal making in the industry in the day-to-day from being a Latino in Miami and being a Latino in California. Latin American culture in California and doing business and real estate altogether is almost nonexistent. In California, the first thing that comes to people’s mind is, are you Mexican? And I’m like, no, I love Mexicans, but ‘‘I’m not Mexican, I’m Cuban, but you wouldn’t know because there are no Cubans here anyway. There are not many Cubans, there are not many Puerto Ricans, there are not many Dominicans. And I would say the same, even about African Americans, and I sold property everywhere from Westchester by the airport all the way up to Beverly Hills.

So, it wasn’t like there’s different areas, it’s just across the board. Whereas Miami is the complete opposite. I think everybody knows that you’re basically living in Latin America here. It’s almost like you don’t need to speak English. I don’t know that I love that so much, but I do feel more at home, more accepted. Something so simple as communicating with an agent in Spanish and this and that. I feel more at home and not so much because I’m from here, but it’s just friendlier. People say that in California, there’s a lot of diversity. I disagree completely. I would say New York and Miami have way more diversity in general.

ANGEL GONZALEZ: Eklund | Gomes is, of course, very diverse and there are all walks of life in this team, but I don’t think people see that from the outside yet. They will soon enough.

JOHN GOMES: I agree with you there. Our goal on this topic is to make a huge dent on the topic of diversity in RE. Our hope in doing that is that together we can fix the problems we’ve inherited from the past.