Welcome to another episode of our serious SLG Meetups, my super luxury group, where we connect with some of the most interesting players in the Luxury market. My name is Alvaro, and today we'll be having with us a very special guest. Her name is Luciani, and she is the CEO and founder of Luxium International Realty. In this conversation, our guest is going to be talking about the insights on the Luxury Realty market in New York, as well as the approach she's taking when working with high net worth individuals.
Luciani also will be talking about how she ended up coming from Brazil all the way to the US, and the importance it has been for her to build strong relationships and using technology to reach high levels of success. I didn't know how to speak English, so most immigrants when you come to the United States to come to live the American dream. I came here and I really worked very hard, and what I realized was everyone who was extremely successful or wealthy, they weren't real estate. I got my real estate license when I was 20 years old, and no one wanted to hire me, and I didn't even know why.
Well, first of all, I was 20 years old, I didn't know how to speak English, I didn't know anything about New York City or about real estate, but one thing I had that most people don't have, I think, is the drive and the hunger. So one real estate company, who was a small real estate company, today they didn't want to hire me, but I kept calling them so many times until they just said, okay, let me just give this to her. She just doesn't stop. That manager gave me a chance, and the rest is history.
I've been doing this for now 18 years, and it's been an exciting journey. It's been up and down, I think, like most businesses, but I think every time I was given an opportunity in different parts of the real estate world, I always took those opportunities and just ran with it. I started as an agent, moving to a system manager, senior manager, director, VP, EVP. Now I'm the CEO and running my own company.
I think that's what life is all about, right? Get excitement of growing and being better person every day. You're so right. You're so right about it.
That's such an exciting journey to see you from where you were, until where you have become today. And what's still ahead, because I believe there's so many other projects and opportunities ahead for you. So very excited to see what's next. So tell us a little bit what you currently see with the international connections and how is that helping you with your business.
Yeah, so I've been very fortunate to be given opportunities and look, they weren't handed to me. Every opportunity I had, I worked for it, right? Or I asked for it. So an example, when I was in a system manager, I was working very hard for four years, and then I asked them to promote me.
Then they promoted me. And at that point, then I kept asking for promotions and to keep growing and build some of the most successful offices in the country. So the last position I had before I opened my own company was with a company that I was a direct army to national sales. And because I speak multiple languages and because I'm from Brazil and I have the international background, my job was really building alliance partnerships with companies all over the world.
So when I was working there, it was only about 10 months, I believe it was about 10 months before the company went out of business, believe it or not. I built nine signed alliance partners, which includes one that has 102 offices all over the world. And I was traveling the world meeting the CEOs of these amazing luxury real estate companies. And I just basically, when I opened my own company, I moved those relationships that I've built over the years.
And I spent another two years basically traveling and building those amazing personal relationships that today I benefit from. A lot of those clients are coming from all over the world. And it was all breaking bread. And it was not an easy one.
It's expensive, but it was definitely worth it. So important. And I'm glad that you're saying that because a lot of people think nowadays, oh, you got successful or you got to where you are today because you knew this person or you was able to work with this other. But it's about building your relationships by being in the right places and it requires for you to get out of your comfort zone and go to certain locations and engage in certain levels that not everybody's able to do.
So it takes courage to do it and moving from Brazil to New York, you already know what that is. Nothing was harder. Nothing was harder than coming to a country. No, no one.
Not speaking the language. Like everything else is a piece of cake. Exactly. After that, if you have the hunger and the desire to really make it, you're going to find a way.
So now with everything that is going on in New York and you're also working with a very niche market, you know, you work with celebrities. How is it in New York and how is it working with these type of clients? Yeah. So in New York, because of the COVID, it's definitely a very different place than it was when I first opened my company, right?
But that actually I benefited from because when I started my company, I was selling people on the first virtual real estate company and most people didn't know what a virtual real estate company was. And you know, this was a year before COVID as a matter of fact, I opened a march of 2019 and the peak of the pandemic in New York was in March of 2020. So that I actually benefited because I knew how to use technology to be able to help people buy virtually. So I've done multiple transactions with the clients that never saw the space.
Now with the ultra hangout work individual and the hangout work individual, for the most part, they all left New York. So they're either in Aspen or they're in the Hamptons. They are all pretty much living in their second home currently. It's definitely a different experience in New York right now.
And I think it's temporary until things are much stable. And you know, the hangout work wants to be safe and the homeless in New York has definitely increased. There's a lot more homeless people in the streets and the crime rates have gone up and they want that to be stable. They think before they are all back to New York City.
Well, listen, not just Aspen or Hamptons are good locations. We are here in Miami. That's right. I'm sorry.
I said that they went by the floss. I actually lost three friends that they all moved to Florida. So I know it's popping over. Of course.
And you know, a lot of people, as you mentioned, they're actually looking into a more safer location and lifestyle is becoming one of the main priorities. You can have most of your business and things going on through your phone. So there is no need to be in the city. You know, you can actually be in a different location such as Miami, where you can enjoy the weather and you know, have the kind of lifestyle that you cannot have in New York.
So, again, Miami is a six-bar of New York. That's what we say. Exactly. Exactly.
So look at the other day, it's very important to build that bridge and to have those connections. There's no other way to get ahead in life and especially in this business. You will set it, you know, you're doing transactions without even showing the place in cursive. We have right now these type of conversations via Instagram Live and you know, it's amazing.
So we need to leverage technology. Now, there's one question to Zyanita that I always like to ask because you are so much into the luxury space with working with this high network individuals. But what is really looks really to you? Luxury, to me, is really, it's not only about a price point, but we do more of a lifestyle and experience, right?
So if you think about it, what makes a rich, called and different denomaria, although they're the same brand. They are just same ownership, different brands, right? So the meria experience, you go at its average. When you go to the rich, they want to make sure that you have the best experience.
Everybody's been trained to smile. They don't think they don't do spoon-feed you, right? That goes almost. And that's what's the difference.
People are willing to pay more for a better experience. And that's what I think a luxury experience is. What a luxury brand is, is providing you high quality products and a better experience. So in the industry of products like cars, you're going to drive a luxury car.
It's going to be a high quality. Then if you're driving an average car, when it comes to service, you're going to have a better experience. They're going to communicate better. They're going to deliver on their promise.
And I think that's what luxury is. I love it. And you know that exact word experience slash service, that's what it's all about because somebody looks at a property, but it's the experience from getting that property that really puts you in that space. And that's why the connections are so important because we had a conversation in the past between you and I, where we were discussing how you arrive inside.
Like, okay, let's fly them private yet and showcase them this property and then have them enjoy their favorite restaurant or the little side things that really makes the whole experience of purchasing or even to sell real estate. I'm more pleased with one. So very happy to have you here. And you know, Luciani, I mean, there's so many things going on and you've been 18 years in the business.
I'm sure there's been crazy stories, but what are some of the lessons that you've learned throughout all these years in the industry? That the business is cyclical, that it goes through ups and downs. And I've been doing this long enough that I've seen three cycles, right? So I was in the business of during 9-11.
I was in the business during the crash, which was 2008, and now they're in the pandemic. And what I realized is that you have to really be ready because it's just when it's going to happen, you know, it's always going to happen and you need to prepare yourself for those rainy days. And at the end of the day, even the rainy days, if you build amazing relationships with people and you really care about your customers and you go above and beyond and you build that trust and that relationship, then you're not going anywhere and you'll be able to survive the industry. Now, people that look for shortcuts and they just want to make a quick buck, but they don't care about that person and they don't care about their relationship, they are not going to survive.
And I think that's a difference. And then the other thing is that I also want to start in real estate. I had a bulletin board where we hung all the listings in the piece of paper and there's like, you know, the thumbtack. Now, it's just like technology has evolved so much and I've been pretty much capped up with technology because that's the future.
And if you can't adapt, you will die. And that's extremely important today, more than ever. We're still going to go through a lot of changes. There's so much happening in the real estate industry with technology, a lot of competition, but it's again, it doesn't matter.
It's about relationships. So people spend all this money buying zip codes and go search and they'll get close from like 10 realtors and they'll come right back to the person who recommended to them. That's why building those relationships is extremely important. I love it.
You said it all. And those are great takeaways and great advice because there is no shortcuts in life. It requires hard work, determination to take that risk and to specially focus in one thing that you believe in, which in this case is building those relationships. And go forward with it.
How can you serve those around you? How can you give rather than just asking? And then eventually things are going to fall into place. And technology, I mean, there is so much technology advancement these days that you need to keep up to it.
So you decided right, one year ago, you were selling properties virtually where a lot of people didn't even know that even existed. So I really like to see how you are using technology for your advantage and also to stay on top of your relationships because sometimes we don't even know where we stand with certain contacts and it's important to keep that aligned and technology helps us with it. So, it's always a pleasure having you here. If somebody wants to reach out to you or find more about your business, where can they look?
My website is deluxian.com, T-H-E-L-U-X-I-A-N. And you can email me, Luciane, at deluxian.com. So L-U-C-I-A-N-E, at T-H-E-L-U-X-I-A-N.com. Thank you so much.
I love your post. I love your page. I'm following it. I continue to follow.
It's such an amazing job. It's so inspirational. And I think we're keeping inspiring each other and I'm very grateful for that. That's all about, find that people that invite you and stay together.
And you are definitely that person that keeps everybody around with a smile and moving forward. So thanks again for joining us today. I look forward to seeing you in Miami end of this month or in November and we'll stay in touch. Thank you.
And thanks again for everybody tuning in today. We hope you enjoyed it. And remember, embrace its beautiful success in life. My name is Alvaro and I'll see you next time.