‘Owning Manhattan’ Star Ryan Serhant Reveals His Secret to a Happy Marriage With Wife Emilia

After starring on Million Dollar Listing New York for 10 years, real estate agent to the stars Ryan Serhant took a giant leap and opened his own firm. Now he’s running the show with 500 employees and billions of dollars on the line.

“The stakes are so much higher,” Ryan, 40, says of branching out. “I look back at Million Dollar Listing , and it was like kindergarten compared to what I deal with now.” His new Netflix series, Owning Manhattan , captures the intensity and the pressure of wheeling and dealing in the Big Apple. “It’s not easy when you’re trying to be No. 1.”

Here, the dad of 5-year-old Zena (mom is his wife of eight years, attorney Emilia Bechrakis ) talks to Life & Style ’s Fortune Benatar about being the boss, marriage secrets , and the famous face who left him starstruck.

What have you learned since starting your own firm?
RS: I’m now responsible for the livelihoods of hundreds of people. There are a lot of things I can’t control, but there are also a significant amount of things I can control.

Tell us more about the show.
RS: It’s an insider’s look into the Manhattan real estate scene and a workplace reality series. It takes pieces from Million Dollar Listing , Selling Sunset , Vanderpump Rules , and a little bit of Succession to bring a new show to people, which is very exciting and a little scary. We start with 12 agents and end with 10.

What’s your biggest sale to date?
RS: Just under $140 million for a house in Palm Beach in 2021.

So, why Manhattan?
RS: There’s nothing like NYC. It’s the only city in the world that’s so concentrated on one island with so many different industries and people. Everybody still wants a piece of it.

What’s your secret to a happy marriage?
RS: Never stop dating. And know you’re both in the same canoe. As long as you’re going in the same direction, you can paddle together. When you try to canoe in different directions, you go in circles.

Who does Zena take after?
RS: It’s a mix. Like me, she has no time to waste. And she’s a performer. I did theater my whole life, and then I came to New York and ran out of money, and that’s how I got into real estate. She wants to go to Broadway. There’s nature and nurture, and it’s pretty wild to watch it happen in front of you.

You posted your daily schedule in an Instagram story in May, and people went nuts. Can you explain your 1,000-minute rule?
RS: I didn’t think that day was that crazy! I’m the creator of my own chaos. Harvard Business School wrote a case study on the 1,000-minute rule: On average you have 1,000 minutes a day to be productive. I think about those minutes in 15-minute blocks, and that’s how I schedule my day. If I have a really bad meeting for 15 minutes, it’s only 15 out of 1,000. It’s not the day!