A one-way train in the middle of the might with three suitcases and $1,200 in your pocket, is one way to jump-start a life and career. Just ask Jordan Hurt, former Toledoan, real estate agent and one of the stars of Netflix’s reality series Owning Manhattan.
Early stages
It was about 14 years ago that Hurt made that late night train trip from Toledo to New York City with no plan, no job and not enough money. According to Hurt, prior to his departure, he worked 80 hours a week as a home healthcare worker to save for his new life in The Big Apple. At the end of his last shift, he cashed in his two weeks paid vacation and put in his two weeks notice at the same time. Hurt then headed to catch his train that left at midnight.
“I wasn’t necessarily running from something, but rather running toward something, Hurt said. “I knew there was a big life waiting for me in NYC and I just had to get there. I can’t explain it, other than, a gravitational pull to somewhere I knew I belonged.”
While sharing a sofa bed with a friend in a single room apartment in Brooklyn for the first three months, the former Toledoan landed a job in the luxury hospitality industry. Starting as a bellman and slowly working his way to the industry, he eventually landed himself in a managerial role in hospitality. After realizing he relished in the sales component of the job (selling room categories, taking guests on tours, etc.), Hurt decided that real estate might be the way to proceed.
Meeting Ryan Serhant
In true-to-self form Hurt pursued his career he thought himself to be well-suited. He was hired as an assistant to a top broker at a major firm in the city, while simultaneously taking classes to earn his real estate license (which took him a few months). After about a year, he met Ryan Serhant, a successful American real estate broker, author and reality television star. At that time, Serhant was one of the subjects of a successful TV reality show on Bravo, called Million Dollar Listing New York, which followed the lives of several luxury real estate agents.
Hurt left the major firm to be Serhant’s assistant, where he remained for five years. During those five years, he watched Serhant’s empire grow. Hurt then stepped out of his assistant role and became a full time agent.
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“I saw a lot of growth and potential with Ryan. He had already started a name for himself in the industry but still wasn’t nearly as big as he is now. We were a small team of 11 people in a tiny office in Tribeca… I knew he was going places and that I wanted to be along for the ride,” Hurt said.
After Million Dollar Listing New York was over, Hurt says Serhant was pitched the idea of having his own show following his firm. Hurt was a natural fit for the TV show because of his longtime work with Serhant and, according to Hurt, the producers thought it may be interesting to follow him and see his transformation from assistant to full time real estate agent.
“I learned a lot from my experience in the industry before I went out on my own, so I knew what I was doing. Pretty quickly, I became somewhat successful. I was doing good deals and building a name for myself in the industry,” Hurt said.
Reality star
From his humble beginnings in Toledo, Ohio, Jordan Hurt says he always had to fight for who he was and was never given anything. He adds that growing up a gay man in the Glass City in the 2000s was not an easy sell, but today he is much more confident in his skin and more certain about the direction he wants to go in life – up. Not only does Hurt own his success (and his high-rise condo in NYC), his confidence is infectious and there’s no doubt that one day he could own Manhattan…maybe in some ways, he already does.
“I feel more free here to be who I am and there’s a lot less judgment for being different. I think of younger Jordan – Jordan from Toledo, Ohio. I think of that kid that took a chance on himself and got on that train and didn’t have a plan, and look what happened. If you throw yourself out into the world, amazing things could happen – you just have to take a chance on yourself,” Hurt said. “In a lot of ways that boy from Toledo still lives inside of me and I walk with him every day. Everything I do is for that kid. I always want to make him proud. I would like to think I am exactly who I would have wanted to be when I was 10 or 16 years old and that feels really cool.”
Catch Jordan on the Netflix original series Owning Manhattan. Now streaming.
