Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another SL2M Your host, Alvar and Union to bring you another successful and interesting guest. Today we have with us a former supermodel that turned into a luxury real estate broker's celebrity. You might have seen her at the Emmy-nominated TV show Selling Sunset. And she's gonna come here with us today to tell us on how she has transformed her career to now be selling.
Some of the most iconic homes in Beverly Hills in Los Angeles and combining the passion of beauty, fashion and real estate to take her career to new heights. Her name is Davina Putraz and I'm super thrilled to have her here with us. There she is. Hello, we're Gates.
That's it, good day, good day, good day. Very good. I forgot to mention she's originally from German. So her German is super fluent and you are a world traveler.
You've been all around the world and now we get to see you on TV selling some of the most amazing homes. So super excited to have you here with us. Thank you so much. How are you?
Fantastic, fantastic. You know, I gotta say that not only I've seen you on selling sunsets, but also I've seen you on the TV show with Marcel from Mallorca. Oh yeah, yeah, I'm so glad you saw that. I love Marcel.
He's awesome and Spain is incredible. I met a lot of times in Spain as a kid. I grew up in Germany and my family used to have a house in Ibiza. We went there every summer and I know I went very well.
So I love it there. The people might like to go in and out. So we're doing a light. You look great.
Don't worry. So listen, I just wanted to start off by asking you, how has it been for you transforming? Because you've been on real estate for 10 years, but you were before us. In 2016, since 2006, no, since 2006.
Oh, so time keeps on flying. So even more. Almost like 18 years. Yeah.
It's crazy. Yeah. So how is it because you've always been a public figure. You've always been putting yourself as a personal brand first and then your business second because you've been always been as a model and then turning into real estate and now with the TV show.
So how has it been for you all these years in real estate, re-transforming yourself? You know, real estate is almost like a lifestyle, right? Because you always, you're always networking and people want to work with you because of you and your energy because they trust you and your knowledge and they just have a connection to you, right? And that's usually how a lot of people, agents meet their clients through a party or referral or a doctor's office or something.
So it's really about you and who you are. And that's why people are magnetized towards you. And that's how you kind of meet your clients. And I used to work for many big developers like Riz Carlton and some projects in Beverly Hills, the W Hollywood and all of those jobs that these were a little bit more corporate, you know, and working for big developers and investors for billion dollar projects.
And those were always referrals of friends. And so other people I had worked with and they said, oh, you have to work with Divina and I met them and then I would end up getting the job. So it's really your network is critical and I know people say that all the time, but it really is your friends, how you speak, what you project out the energy you bring and that's what people are attracted to. And that's how you kind of meet your next client, your next job, things like that.
You know, you said something about your network and people say your network is your network. And you are having to take your network into action because you might know a lot of people, but then you need to do something with those contacts, right? And it's all about the brand, how you position yourself. You decided one day, 18 years ago, I'm going to sell real estate and you started to brand yourself as such.
What made you do that leap of faith to get into real estate? For me initially, I just wanted to know what it takes to buy a house and what does that entail? Like what are the steps? What's the process?
What's the title? What's an escrow? Like how does the loan work? And so I just wanted to know for myself.
That was my initial motivation through mysterious circumstances. A friend of mine who was buying a condo in the marina from Sunshine Corcoran Group, which was one of the best sales marketing companies for development inside of New York. They represented a big building. He got a job there.
He referred me again, my friend and I knew him from modeling. And I got this job there and we kind of learned the world of new development and it was luxury, ultra-luxury development. They were highly organized and we learned how it works. And we're like, oh, this is a different way to do real estate versus just being an agent.
I didn't even really think about being a real estate agent. I was still modeling. So there wasn't a time where I had my license and I was just kind of overlapping real estate and worth modeling. And so I was still going to cast things doing jobs and I actually lived in London for a year.
And so I was kind of just dabbling. And then I had a listing in Napa. That was my first listing. And so I was kind of getting my feet wet and I was a complicated listing.
So I was learning little things, you know, zoning. And so I was like, what's zoning? How do you change? Oh, you can't change zoning.
That's very difficult. And stuff. So you learn the licenses just step one, but you really learn by doing. So there was probably four years, three or four years where I was doing kind of modeling, but a little bit of real estate and talking to people.
And it's really what you share. People are like, what are you doing? And I got a friend who had a furniture store and I was just like, oh, I got my real estate license. And he's like, oh, I have a listing in Napa.
Do you want to help? So it's kind of like what you project out and your network. And I do a lot of people in fashion and art and photography and modeling and all that kind of stuff. So you can also pull from that group.
Sometimes they're very diverse and live in other countries. But yeah, there's always a connection and people from Germany, specifically like to work with me because they don't understand the culture. They don't understand every word of the language. So it really helps them to work with me.
Amazing. But you said it right there, you know, in real estate, we're in the people's business. So we got to be always meeting new people, establishing those relationships and connecting on a deeper level. So you were leveraging those relationships that you built for your model and career to them, bringing them into your real estate.
And look, some people that go and see the Stevie shows, like selling sunset, they see you looking amazing, selling multi-million dollar homes, everything blink. And it looks like, oh, I should get into real estate. It's so easy. But it's not been that far from the truth.
It took you a lot of years. How long did it take until you actually started to close some big deals and start building your career? It takes a long time. And it's not that the job is so difficult.
It's like, sure, you can get a license and you can technically, sorry, I don't know if you hear the drilling outside. Yeah, so technically, yeah, sure, you can get a license and be an agent. But to actually get people to trust you and to know the business or really understand nuances, like, is there at least penance on the title? Do you know how to deal with that?
Like, that takes practice and experience. And, you know, there are so many agents out there and people are like, who am I going to work with? Right? I want to work with the most experienced person that really is like 100% all in real estate.
You don't want a part-time agent. So it takes a while. And I want to say, yeah, like maybe three, four years to really get going and to really know, like feel confident in what you're doing. And also, because people feel the energy more than anything you say, right?
You can feel if your hesitate or if you're like, no, I know this, like I got this, right? Like, they can feel it. You can feel when you go to a doctor and they're brand new off of residency and they're like, oh, sorry, I don't know what you know, or if they're like, it's okay, I got this, you know, so you can feel the energy, right? So it's the thing it takes a few years to get really comfortable and confident.
You have to be in it for the long run. You really have to be committed. You have to love it and be obsessed. That's the only person I'm going to work with in whatever category, right?
So that's the thing. There's so many different agents. So you have to really read all the different, you know, articles and drives, you know, I see drive construction sites for a year. I mean, that is a grind, you know?
So you really have to want to do this and be very, very obsessed with it. And you always want something new every day. So no, I think it's fantastic what you're just saying that it's about the compound effect of doing something consistently every day, right? Whether it's starting for 30 minutes, more about the loss of real estate, whether it is 30 minutes on doing those phone calls or checking on who are the real estate brokers that are currently selling those top properties, it's understanding the market and it's that compound effect.
And you mentioned something that is very important, the energy, right? A lot of people that are getting into real estate, they try to figure it out. And sometimes they feel defeated because it's not as easy as it looks, right? A year passes by and they cannot sell the properties that they thought they will sell.
But there's one thing that you can take control right away, which is your energy. I always say energy is a current currency for personal and professional success. And people feel that right away. And you'll get your opportunity, right?
You got your chances when you started to bring that positive energy with the people that you already knew and that opened the doors. But tell me about mentorship's courses because a lot of people feel a little bit intimidated but not knowing too much. Did you ever go and have a mentor or take certain courses? I can tell you that that would be my strongest recommendation for anyone starting out in any category in anything, but especially real estate because you want to learn how someone who's successful at top producer in their area, wherever that might be, whether Chicago, Miami, New York, anywhere, right?
Could be a small town in Georgia. I don't know anywhere. You want someone who's successful at what they're doing. So you can learn how they spend their time, what they do to find leads.
How do they spend their marketing dollars? What works for them? Is it A-frames? Is it online marketing?
What are they doing for online? Are they sending personalized emails? You really want to learn from someone who knows what they're doing. And I personally, to be honest, didn't really have that.
And so I'm extremely motivated as an individual in general. I always want to be the best that I can be. But it's hard when you don't have an example or an advisor to guide you. You can definitely make it happen on your own.
I did. And you can by reading inspirational books or biographies about people, just any successful entrepreneur or even someone in real estate. But in particular, I think working for someone who's successful is a game changer. Because it really shows you like, okay, this is how I should be spending my time.
This is what this person does every day. And for me, when I worked for Corcoran Sunshine as the first place, which was a complete random coincidence. They're one of the most successful sales marketing companies out of New York for a new development. They were highly organized.
Probably one of the most organized offices I ever worked for. And I was like, oh, wow, this is a whole world of real estate. And I learned from one of the very best. But it wasn't a personal thing.
It was a job. But it was like learning from a group of people and how the structure should be and how this works. And so that helped me a lot. And it gave me a lot of insight of how to kind of proceed.
But I didn't have one individual person, which I did. But that would be my strongest recommendation. No, you're totally right. And it builds the foundation, right?
It gives you the confidence of knowing that you're walking through a path that it's been already built successfully. And it works. So a lot of people need to leave that ego aside and understand that at first you need to be there to learn as you mentioned, be curious and then put the energy while also adding value. So I totally agree with you.
And now we see you at one of the most watched shows of real estate. But would you say that getting into the Oppenheim group and lending into TV was a breakthrough for you? Or where was it that moment that you said, wow, now my career changed? You know, it was definitely an evolution of menomorphists joining Oppenheim Group.
I met Brett at a transaction. I actually represented the seller for like a $5 million condo, Pant House in Beverly Hills. And he had the buyer. And we became friends that way.
It was a little bit of a struggle negotiating a lot of details and stuff. And we became friends throughout the process. Right? And so he was like, you should join the Oppenheim Group and my brother's going to come by and at first, just like everybody else, I'd mix them up too.
And Jason came by and I was like, oh, this is Brett. His energy is different today. And I was like, why is he being weird? And he's like, oh, you're mixing me up with my brother.
And I was like, oh, okay. So they are very different. But they look very, very similar. So it's funny.
But and initially, I was a little bit hesitant to join me because I said, oh, well, I'm comfortable here. You know, I'm doing great here. I don't know if this makes sense for me. And I socialized with them.
We went out a lot and was like, I don't know if I want to do this. And I joined them, I think in 2017, I want to say. And I worked there for my year, which was very different than where I had worked. And, you know, I got to meet everyone and we socialized and stuff.
And slowly, it was really the show came around. And Brett has said, oh, you know, we're talking to Netflix. And I was like, it wasn't not my goal in any way or shape or form. I didn't even want to be on reality TV.
I had no intention of being on the show. And then he was like, well, just meet with the producers. Because you really have so much real estate. It just makes sense.
And you're different from the other girls and everything. I was like, okay, you know, I mean, I met the producers. And we thought it was going to be very similar to Million Dollar Listing, right? Just a real estate show, just pure real estate transactions and deals and real estate drama.
And we didn't know what it was. And right off the bat, I mean, I met all the girls and I was like, everyone here is very unique. Everyone had a very specific personality. And I think this could take off and do well.
So I had a strong feeling that it would do well. But I was like, I really thought it was going to be a real station. But so actually, Jason and I called the Altman Brothers and I think one or two other agents from Million Dollar Listing were like, hey, this is really where for clients, you know, because specifically Maya and I, Jason and Brett really did the show to get clients. That was what we were trying to get out of it.
And we had no idea what the format was going to be. We had no control over that. You know, so that's what we thought it was. And they said, oh, you have to hang in there for a few seasons to start to get clients, but you do get clients.
And so that's what we were doing. And so we had no idea what we're doing. So that was kind of way, but I did believe in the success, but because of the people in the world. Right.
And you just summarizedly said something very important, which is put yourself where the attention is and just stay consistent on that, right? Because eventually, I mean, we saw all the agents on MDL, like they're all, they were taking off and we're like, at this point, I mean, you know, I have a very, very extensive background, especially in new development. And I was like, why is this agent getting a listing? And we would talk with Jason and we're like, what the hell are we doing wrong here?
And it's like, well, the one thing they have is the show. And so we were like, all right, well, then that's the way we got to go. You know, this is going to transform your whole life. So we're like, all right, we had no idea we were signing up for honestly, none of us.
So, so that's how we got in there. No, it's great. Look, it's working. But for those that don't have access to being on an Netflix show, right?
And they have their social media. What would you suggest will be a first step to get themselves closer to create that attention? I think consistency is important. I think you have to show your passion for what you're doing.
So if you love real estate and you really want to do this, you're committed to real estate, then I would really just post about, you know, I should go drive construction sites. I would show the construction site and be like, all right, this is a four unit building in West Hollywood. And you know, we're checking it out today and just talk about be consistent, show consistency to your audience and share something new, funny, show a different perspective. You know, you can be like, broke agent is hilarious.
And it's a real estate page, you know, so there's, you could have a quirky personality. I think you could show funny sides. You can show unique things. And I would just really show your passion in some way on your social media.
Right. It's about finding the unique angle. And that's what makes you an outlier, right? Following your patches and put them all together, which is some of the things that you're also doing, because I saw your trip to Egypt and how you were combining all the beauty and the traveling and all that.
So tell us a little bit about that. Yeah. So my passion has always been beauty, you know, I'm not a biochemist or anything like that, but I have a lot of experience with modeling and to transform your look and a lot of products. And you know, many women love you as well as men, but it was just a passion project.
And I was like, well, this is my opportunity. And you know, you only live once. So YOLO and I threw incredible circumstances, met an investor. And so we put it all together.
I spoke of crew to Egypt and filmed a pilot for a show there. It was actually more like a documentary. And yeah, it was just Egypt is iconic for beauty and the pharaohs and the history, ancient history about beauty and they developed wigs and fragrance perfume and bronzer lipstick, eyeliner, so many things. And of course, the pyramids are incredible.
So we were like, this is where we are. This is where I want to film it. And we made this happen. It was so incredible.
And it's just such a fulfilling experience to do something that you really love. That's like a dream to you that you almost, you don't think it's not possible, but you're like, I don't know how I'm going to do this. So the key is to know what you want. And even if you don't know how knowing somehow this is going to come together for you.
And you can literally apply that to any part of your life. But you have to know what you want. And then speak it and take this and literally everyone I would meet, I would be like, I don't know how I'm going to do this, but I love beauty. I'm going to take a kriti.
This is my vision. This is what I'm doing. I really believe I was like, I don't know how, but somehow. And it happened quite quickly within two months actually.
Well, listen, I look at you, right? Somebody that has built a very successful career looks very charismatic, very positive, but you've always had at some point those dark moments. So if I could ask you, what was the hardest moment of your life and what did you learn from it? Again, like not having a guide and it's like, yeah, my family or whatever, but they don't necessarily know my specific situation or have experience with the situation that I would be find myself in.
So it would be hard, like not having a guide. You know, I'm an only child to you and a lot of people think you're so spoiled, but actually, it's hard because you don't have support, right? So just having to figure it out and believing yourself in things are hard. I mean, like I had spine surgery, which was not fun.
And excuse me, I had a metal plate is much fine as a fusion. And it's fine, you know, but you have to kind of choose on that moment. Are you going to be a victim to your circumstance? Or are you going to be somehow be a creator and believe that somehow you're going to figure it out.
And it's actually making it through these really tough things, whatever it is, whether it's work or money or personal relationship or whatever it is, knowing that you're going to like, if you want to make it through something difficult, you kind of feel like, okay, like nothing really can happen to me at this point. Like I made it through that, you know, and things are not as scary as you think. And it's a lot of stuff is like, maybe you're fear about it, but then it ends up not being that bad. So we're also here, you know.
So I think, yeah, just not having an advisor and like, or a guy sometimes, you know, or let me see, I made some notes here. And just, yeah, I think another thing is like on the show specifically, you know, we, since we had no idea what it was or we have no control for editing, just being shown as this very nasty person for a few seasons and getting this insane online hate. I mean, I'm not, I don't regret what I said or I'm not mad at anyone, I'm not sure anything like that, but it was just a world I didn't understand. You know, we had no idea what the show was.
I didn't know what reality TV really meant or entailed. I did not understand, not as could have predicted the insane success of the show, especially doing COVID, right? And then getting this tidal wave of online hate for a couple seasons early on was like, wow, this is like, you just cannot prepare for this. You just can't prepare.
And there's very few people that can relate to you, right? Like my friends in normal life, they can't relate to this. They're just like, I don't know what to tell you, like this, you know, they're just, they're like in complete shock. And, and you don't really know what to do with yourself.
So my definition, you become very close to some of the people on the show, just because they're in the same situation. And I know what really happened and they know how it all went down. And so those are the only people you can relate to. So we share all of this share this intense bond because it's obviously, it was a, you know, yes, it was a huge success and we have a lot of blessings and I'm so grateful.
But there's another slice of a coin. And so it's like, there's a price you pay to, you know, and, and the hate was really a lot. So like it takes a lot of strength to kind of get over that and you do get over it and it gets better. But then you have a whole new perspective and respect for people in the spotlight in general.
There are people that are much more famous than us, you know, and so for them, they, I see they get hate too. And it's like, wow, you know, now I, I understand. It's like, you have to be, it's to be pretty tough to suck that up, you know? It's a great point because even what we were talking at the beginning on how some people are getting just on social media to get started to build a personal brand and they post something even like a cute dog and it's like, oh, ugly dog or you know, like they, they go by God.
Yeah, it's like, and they get so offended by having a negative comment and then they stop posting. But in your case, you had no control. The show was out. So it's just keep on going.
And what would be like an advice for those that cannot handle the haters? Like, what can you do? Well, that's where you have to have a lot of interest strength and you have to really know who you are, what you are about, like what you stand for. And you have to find like a wholeness and a piece inside that is like not codependent on anyone's approval or verification.
You have to. You don't have a choice. I mean, I've heard it all literally. I've heard it all.
So at this point, I don't know if it's not because it's not a negative thing, but to me, it's like, I really just don't care. Like, if you have a negative perception or opinion about me, that's not my problem. That's your problem. Like, I don't care, you know?
And it's like, the most difficult stuff is something you might be insecure about. Like, if someone, I don't know, if they feel like they're overweight and people are like, oh, you know, you're overweight, it's like, it hurts them more, right? But if it's something you don't care about, like someone's like, oh, you're bald and you're clearly not bald and that would be that's all, then you're like, whatever, I don't care about this. But like, people will comment about the craziest stuff, like nail polish nails, even imagined stuff, like hair, I have really nice hair before, like, oh, yeah, you know, your extensions are showing.
I'm like, I don't wear them. So they can't be showing. It's just crazy stuff. Weird stuff like that, you know?
And it's like, this doesn't even matter. And then you start, you stop having reactions to it, not only online, because you can see when someone, like someone that's new in the spotlight and they're responding to the stuff, that's like, okay, you're new to this because you feel the need to defend yourself. And I've been there too. We all understand.
We used to all defend each other. You know, I would see here on my friends page and defend her and vice versa. And it's like, that's just so petty. Like, I don't care.
I think whatever you want, you know? Yeah, it's so true. And it takes so much of your energy. It takes so much of that energy that we talked about.
You don't want to invest in that. No, absolutely. You have to find that real serious core confidence. Yeah.
I need to just explain my effort. Yeah. It's worth it. It's worth it.
It's a tough lesson to learn. And I think at first, everyone would be really shocked and upset. But I think once you get over the initial shock, then you start really getting serious confidence. And then you just don't do it.
You want to think? Yeah. Indeed. Well, listen, Davina, you're amazing.
And I just want to finish up by asking you a question that we ask all of our guests, which is, what is luxury to you? What is luxury? I think I would define it as a calm nervous system. A calm nervous system?
Wow. Interesting. Yes. I think a calm nervous system is luxury.
So you're not stressed out or triggered by something. And you have a lot of control over that. And I think, are you going to let people upset you? Are you going to let scenarios or bills or any problem, your car broke down, you're going to let that trigger you?
Are you going to just be like, it's fine. You know, I can deal with this. So I think staying very calm, peaceful, that's the ultimate luxury. It's like not letting anything trigger you.
By the way, and it's so aligned with what we just talked about. This is so on point. I've asked this question hundreds of times to all of our guests. It's the first time that I hear this answer.
And it's interesting because I just came back from doing this 10 day silent retreat. And it was one of those things that it helps you. It helps you build that equanimity, which a lot of people don't even know what equanimity means. But remaining in a quantum is just to not react to anything.
And as humans, we are so reactive. And the whole idea is to observe. And what you just said in there, it's one of the things that we can have all the things in the world we want. But if we don't have peace and calmness on our head, we're never going to find that through luxury.
So I totally agree with you. Oh, thank you. Yeah, I mean, you know, reality TV is it's just what it is. It's built on this cortisol, dopamine rollercoaster.
And it's basically intermittent reinforcement, which is highly addictive. And it's kind of like gambling. And you know, I'm going to find it a little bit, but that is more or less how it works. And that's what gets people to binge shows.
And it's very like anxiety inducing. And it's exciting to look what can happen as entertainment, right? But in general, you don't want your life to be like that. So you can have a calm nervous system.
Everything else is a bonus, you know, and of course, you know, I love air filters and luxurious fabrics and all that kind of stuff in real estate, but a calm nervous system, you can be the most $100 million property overlooking the ocean. But if you're nervous, it doesn't matter. Wow, now this is great. And I really appreciate it.
So again, I mean, I really appreciate the conversation for those watching or listening, please make sure to follow her see what she's up to. And I'm super excited to see what's ahead for you. So best of luck. If you're coming to Miami, let us know.
Thank you so much. I love Miami. Have a good day. Thanks for having me.
We'll see. Bye bye. Bye. And thanks again for everybody tuning in today.
We hope you enjoyed it. I remember embrace it's beautiful success in life. My name is Alvaro and I'll see you next time.