Tricia Lee moved to New York City to work at the MAC Cosmetics counter. There wasn’t a nearby counter in her home state, Arizona, so she moved across the country to dip her toes in the competitive world of makeup artistry in 1998. She quickly rose through the ranks to management.
Just seven short years later, she applied those skills to opening her own nail business, Polish Bar, to offer a similar client experience in Brooklyn.
She spent the next decade building that business into a recognized local brand, earning her the nickname the “honorary mayor of Brooklyn.” She became interested in the real estate relationship between landlords and small business owners. Just a few short years later, she got her real estate license, and within six months, she knew she was going all in.
After sending a transition email out to her 23,000 Polish Bar clients, Lee officially launched her career at The Corcoran Group in 2015, where she was named Rookie of the Year with $14.6 million in sales. That’s when the recruiters came calling.
The following year, Lee moved over to Compass, where she stayed for five years before taking a meeting with former Million Dollar Listing New York star Ryan Serhant.
Fast-forward to today: Lee and her partner — in business and in life — Jeffrey St. Arromand, star side by side with Serhant on Owning Manhattan, a real estate reality TV show and Global Top Ten on Netflix. The show follows 10 agents at SERHANT., a four-year-old independent brokerage that did $5 billion in the first half of 2025, according to the company.
READ: Meet the SERHANT. agents on ‘Owning Manhattan’ Season 2
Despite being very present in Season 2 — always giving her colleagues straight talk, especially social media personality Jessica Markowski — Lee is only featured in the new season’s trailer for one second (literally), which her fans did not take kindly to.
As per usual with reality TV, Lee’s brief appearance can be attributed to the fact that she isn’t usually entangled in the drama. Her simple philosophy is: If it doesn’t impact her bottom line, she’s staying out of it.
Inman sat down with Tricia Lee before the season launched to talk about her rise from selling MAC to selling Manhattan and find out how she really feels about being snubbed in the trailer and Markowski. What follows is the conversation, edited for length and clarity.
Inman: I see that you moved to SERHANT. about 4 years ago, and before that, you had done about $200 million in business. What’s your business like today?
Lee: I would say our business has grown about 30 percent since the show came out. And that visibility has helped us a lot. I think that we’ve actually been able to capture some of the clients that I think knew us before, but maybe just didn’t really actively work with us.
Year to year, we try to transact anywhere between $65 [million] and $100 million a year, as a team of two. That’s always our goal. But it’s different every year, and it’s different every year because of the focus.
I’m definitely an entrepreneur who takes advantage of being an entrepreneur and making my own schedule and making my own way. So there are years I go really, really hard for my business, and then there are years that I will transition and I’ll definitely step back; I’ll enjoy the break.
You had been at Corcoran, and then you were at Compass for five years, and then you moved over to SERHANT. What was the decision-making process like for you?
The search began because I was getting ready to hit a five-year anniversary at Compass, and that’s a long time for me to be anywhere. So I was just naturally like, “Oh, let me see what else is out there.” I was just open to everything. I met with everyone. The original goal wasn’t to get to SERHANT. The original goal was really just to shake things up a little bit.
I had been named top five Black brokers in Brooklyn two years in a row, and so I definitely had the phone ringing a lot, and people were trying to poach. So I just decided, for once, to actually have those conversations. But I decided that I was going to leave Compass; I just didn’t know where I would go.
I interviewed with everyone, and I had a great interview with Ryan [Serhant], which made me curious … When I left his meeting, I asked specifically to talk to three people who worked with him at Nest Seekers and decided to join SERHANT., and I asked to speak to three people who worked with him at Nest Seekers and decided not to join SERHANT. And that helped me make my decision.
In previous interviews, you’ve said that you got positive audience feedback, and then in this season, you weren’t featured in the trailer for more than 1 second, which we understand you have no control over. What was the fan response, and how did you handle it?
I didn’t end up in the trailer, and in the back of my mind, I know it’s because a lot of my content is not quite as trailer-specific … I have strong moments. I don’t have trailer-esque moments. I don’t, and I don’t think I had that for Season 1 either, honestly.
I understand that because I’m in a show, but your audience is like, What the hell? Where are you? What happened? Are you still on the show?
It was not well received by people who pay attention to me in my role, let’s just say that. And so I just did a public announcement.
It was like: I don’t have anything to do with that. That’s not my decision. That’s not my thing.
But I did it as a way to let it be known that I acknowledge the fact that I was left out of the trailer for the most part. I wanted it to be heard that I was aware of that.
But that’s not my contribution to the brokerage … We brought $141 million worth of inventory to this brokerage this year … We have been recognized as Real Estate Board of New York’s Deal of the Year. Those are huge accomplishments to make while you’re also making a goddamn TV show, right?
So I wanted to make sure that people heard from my mouth, she is still about her business. She is still here doing the work. And, trailer or no trailer, I know what I contribute to this brand, this brokerage and to the show. And I just needed to state it so that there would be no other conversation, no other questions. I’m going to always approach things head-on.
I posted it, and I’ve never gotten that much engagement on anything I’ve ever posted in my entire career … I think I was just probably quietly sending a message to, whether it be the audience, Netflix, the producers, the brokerage or anybody, if I have something to say, I will say it. And I think that was the power move for me in making that statement — the fact that so many people engaged with it and reacted to it, and it did so well, further speaks to what it is that I bring to the table.
In Season 2, you voice concerns over co-star Jessica Markowski’s social media. Why does that strike such a chord in you?
I’m 10 years into this business. This is the second business I built from dust and scratch. And I think anyone who promotes an agenda of this being a career that you can just get really glitzy and glammy and dressed up for, and whoopsie do, a $5 million property fell into my lap: It’s just not truthful.
And I don’t have an issue with Markowski. I’m cool with Markowski. We don’t have any issues at all. Do I speak how I feel? Absolutely, I have the freedom to do that.
But for me, it’s how you are making me and my career look that I don’t appreciate … Now, imagine, in 2025, we filmed a show for the first time. We’re working in a really, really tough real estate market. We come out of that scenario, and we get a Deal of the Year Award for the very sale that’s highlighted on that show.
Imagine all that goes into that. And would you be annoyed if anybody tried to make it seem as if you just show up with feathers and great earrings and deals close? Like hell, yeah.
And I’m a girl who’s standing there in feathers and great earrings. I’m not somebody who’s not into all of that. I love it. There’s nobody who enjoys that more than me. But what I’ll say to you is, I am well dressed and well put together on a television show after I have already been a great goddamn agent, not before. That’s my point. That’s what I’m passionate about.
What is your rose and thorn of Season 2?
So my big thorn was just that struggle for two years, to be honest with you, trying to reestablish myself in Manhattan and trying to figure it out, and then just coming to a point of understanding that [I] do really well in Brooklyn for very specific reasons.
So I think that was my thorn, but I think it was also kind of my rose … I have not seen this season, but I believe you start to see me figure that out in Season 2 … and so it kind of becomes a rose, too.
When I closed out Season 2, I had such a new fire for Brooklyn … not to say that we don’t do great business in Manhattan … But I definitely closed out Season 2 fired up.
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