Courtney Poulos, Founder of SERHANT. CA and Team Lead of ACME | SERHANT. in Los Angeles, believes real estate agents face a "mirror problem"—they are undervalued because of how they perceive themselves and how they communicate. She argues that while external forces like class action lawsuits damage the profession's reputation, agents bear responsibility for how they show up and position themselves.
Poulos recently completed Harvard University's Advanced Management Development Program (AMDP) at the Graduate School of Design, where she studied alongside urban planners and developers. The experience reinforced her view that agents fail to see themselves as senior-level executives. "We are not taken as seriously as we ought to be, like a lawyer," she says, citing a client who tried to negotiate her commission below marketing costs as an example of disrespect.
Drawing from her coursework with communication expert Carmine Gallo, Poulos emphasizes audience-centric messaging. "Real estate agents fall into the trap of marketing to each other," she notes, posting sales metrics that clients don't care about instead of explaining the value they provide—data analysis, risk management, and negotiation. She argues that agents protect and navigate for clients, a message most fail to convey.
To address this, Poulos is launching workshops and seminars, starting in Orlando this week, open to agents across brokerages. The goal is to help agents build messaging that resonates with clients, press, and regulators, reversing the reputational damage. "If we clarify that we are not overpaid, that we are experts, then we start to reverse the narrative," she says, adding that the housing market offers optimism despite headlines. For more on her approach, visit ACME | SERHANT..
