Celebrity real estate agent Taylor Middleton has no regrets about leaving her small-town life behind to embrace the fast-paced world of New York City.
Middleton, who was raised in Nashville, Tennessee, moved to Manhattan after graduating from Vanderbilt University. Since launching her career in 2013, Middleton, who is starring in Netflix’s new reality series “Selling the City,” has closed over $500 million in luxury real estate sales.
During an interview with FOX Business, Middleton recalled her experience when she first relocated to the Big Apple.
“Growing up in Nashville – and it was such a small town when I grew up there – and then moving to the big city, as they say, as soon as I landed here, it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m with my people,'” Middleton said.
“People who are go, go, go and so driven and ambitious,” she continued. “And it was very empowering and exciting for me because so much of my community in Nashville – and I love them so much – but so many of my friends were having their second, third, fourth child and were married and living this country club life.”
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“Which, if I’m being honest and candid, I always – I wanted that for myself,” Middleton added. “And I felt very different and apart from [that]. And so when I came to New York, it felt like, ‘Oh my gosh, everyone is living such independent, different, unique paths and exploring different things.'”
“It felt like anything was possible. And so it invigorated me to do more.”
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Middleton noted that succeeding in New York was similar to building a winning team in professional football.
“You can play up or play down to the team that you’re playing against,” she explained. “So when you are surrounding yourself with people who are smarter, better, more successful than you, it just – some people may cave under that pressure. But for me, I really thrive in it because it inspires me to do better.”
Middleton, who Netflix dubbed “the Southern belle dominating NYC’s luxury real estate scene,” told Fox Business that she originally hadn’t envisioned embarking on a career in the industry. However, she recalled that she had been “obsessed” with real estate from an early age.
“It’s funny because my parents moved around a lot [when I was] growing up in Nashville, and I always thought that they made horrible real estate decisions,” she remembered. “So, literally from the age of 8, I was calling up our real estate broker at [Nashville-based real estate firm] Fridrich and Clark, going, ‘Hey, Whit. Taylor Middleton. I just saw that there’s an open house coming in the paper. And so if you could take my mom and my dad … and he’s calling my parents, like, ‘Are you guys in the market? And they’re like, ‘No, stop taking her calls.’”
“‘Like, this is ridiculous,” she said with a smile. “So I always was kind of a real estate junkie. But then moving to New York, it wasn’t actually my plan to get into real estate. I kind of fell into it, thankfully and luckily. Just being super naive, thinking, ‘OK, I’ll figure this out, I’ve got this.'”
Middleton explained that she saw unlimited potential in a real estate career, which appealed to her since she was unable to work for many years due to a long battle with Lyme disease.
“I had a lot of lost time to make up for,” she said. “And so not having a ceiling was very compelling, and anything that’s very entrepreneurial, I’ve always loved.”
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“Selling the City” is a New York City-based spin-off of Netflix’s mega-hit show “Selling Sunset.” The series follows both the professional and personal lives of the ambitious realtors at the Manhattan branch of the firm Douglas Elliman as they “navigate the cutthroat world of luxury real estate in New York City,” per the streaming network.
In the show, Middleton candidly opened up about her marital woes and her past struggles with Adderall addiction. While speaking with FOX Business, Middleton explained that her efforts to overcome her substance abuse issues had given her the drive to succeed in New York’s challenging real estate market.
“Each person’s method is different for cracking the Big Apple,” she said. “And to me, there’s a phrase in recovery that I always stand by where it’s like, ‘Don’t miss the miracle. Don’t give up before the miracle.’ And I think that that’s what sets people apart who make it in New York or who don’t.”
“And for some people, it’s just not for them,” Middleton continued. “And that’s all respect there, too. But for me, it’s like you just have to keep going — during the markets where you make no money, during the years when you make no money.”
“If you have that belief and confidence in yourself, if you just keep going — and the universe is also telling you you’re on the right path — then it’s going to work out.”
Middleton, who numbers celebrities, CEOs and other wealthy individuals among her roster of clients, told FOX Business that she had recently closed her biggest real estate deal to date. The TV personality was part of a development team that sold a Manhattan penthouse for just under $17 million.
“That was definitely a team effort. I did not do it alone, but that was a big milestone sale for me,” she said.
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While closing transactions with high price tags is always a cause for celebration, Middleton explained that the sales she has found most rewarding were often those she made by establishing strong personal connections with her clients.
“It’s not about even the sale number or the deal volume, it’s about the relationship,” she said.
Middleton recalled meeting a couple who rented an apartment that she listed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though she had not represented the pair in that deal, they stayed in touch and reached out to her when they were looking to buy a property in Manhattan.
“We ended up finding them the most amazing apartment that worked for them and their family, where they started having kids and then their parents ended up getting a pied-à-terre” here in New York,” Middleton said.
“They’re originally from the South,” she continued. “And so to be able to work with multiple family members on multiple deals, that’s the most rewarding, because you become really ingrained in a part of the fabric of these people’s life decisions. That’s the most rewarding part, where people feel comfortable enough with you that they refer you to family and friends.”
In addition to Middleton, the “Selling the City” cast consists of seven other Douglas Elliman real estate agents, including team leader Eleonara Srugo. Srugo, who has drawn comparisons to “Selling Sunset” patriarch Jason Oppenheim, executed Douglas Elliman’s biggest real estate deal of 2023 after selling a $75 million listing.
The New York native is ranked among the top-selling real estate agents by sales volume nationwide, according to her biography on Douglas Elliman’s website.
During her interview with FOX Business, Middleton recalled that she was working at another firm before Srugo recruited her to Douglas Elliman. She hadn’t anticipated that her new gig would lead to reality TV fame, but she jumped at the opportunity to be part of the series when it came along.
“I joined [Srugo’s] team and then from there, all of a sudden, this show is coming about, and it was just kind of like, ‘OK, I’ll take both,'” Middleton said with a laugh.
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Though she noted that starring in a reality show was uncharted territory for her, Middleton told Fox Business that being part of “Selling the City” was “amazing.”
“It was such a great experience,” she said. “But it’s like the wild, wild West. There’s no manual for how to do it and how to balance it all — all the personalities and everything like that. Overall, 95% of it, I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was fantastic.”
“I feel like I learned so much about myself, and it was really fun, and it’s cool to be able to share your story, your professional life,” she continued. “It’s a highlight reel.”
“It was very positive.”
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