Despite Phillip Salem thriving in New York’s cutthroat residential real estate market, success wasn’t enough for him to feel seen.
At a brokerage meeting, a director handed out a dress code manual indicating the proper attire for male and female agents—suits for men and skirts for women. Salem wasn’t sure if this was a subtle jab at them, but it chained their style to an archaic system of personhood where every agent looked the same.
Salem felt they needed to change how they talked, acted, and ultimately presented themselves to potential clients to be worthy of their commission. Although they had previously run their own fashion boutique in Chelsea and worked with the likes of Cher and Beyoncé’s stylists, they were scared to channel the bold fierceness that once defined them.
Of course, cowardice is now the antonym of “Agent P,” as the real estate world learned to call Salem. Today, Salem is an personality who dresses for no one but themselves and has amassed over $150 million in sales across the city and in elite markets like Beverly Hills and Los Angeles.
On a “hot ass summer day” in New York, Salem chats with So.Gay, while wearing a mesh tank, cute nylon shorts, and Rastaman boots.
“It is what it is,” he says, and perhaps more importantly, he is who he is. “Something clicked, and I just couldn’t do it anymore. Fuck the ties! It was time to start living authentically. I remember throwing the dress code manual away and leaving in an elevator… The next thing I knew, I was in a pink latex jumpsuit and selling real estate.”
Salem reflects positively on the day he stared the grueling patriarchy in the face and decided to hell with it. He switched to Compass in May 2020 and found a team that embraced his uniqueness, helping him cement a client base that gravitated to breaking heteronormativity and appreciated a larger-than-life personality with a grounded pulse on the market.
It’s a return to form as fashion has always been at the center of Salem’s endeavors, even when he lived in Ohio and landed his first job at 16 working at American Eagle (yes, it’s a form of fashion!) before moving to Manhattan to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology.
“I’m gonna quote Mariah Carey here,” warns Salem. “Forget the image, the ensemble, the rumors, the short skirts, the big hair, whatever!”
In other words, Salem had to forget all the pain and the insecurities of their bleached hair or painted nails and just let themselves be free. It was a recipe for the world to get a taste of their ubiquitous hashtag #NotYourBasicBroker.
“Why do we have to live by these arbitrary rules that people put in place, whether in real estate, law, or business finance? Why should we conceal our true identity?” asks Salem.
Whether the world is ready to see corporate lawyers battle it out in couture or women searching for a man in finance, with a trust fund, 6’5, avant-garde…remains to be seen.
But certainly, home buyers and sellers were ready to spice up the scene.
Salem forging his own road helped him cross paths with clients with the same business mindset, aka big money ballers. In 2021, People reported Salem represented the buyer who bought Ariana Grande’s former apartment for $13.5 million.
No amount of commission could’ve bought Salem’s happiness, but perhaps more looks. A scroll through Salem’s Instagram is a fashion catalog of vibrant colors, texturized trenches, jumpsuits, and sometimes even a bikini because New York’s residential market is scorching, baby!
When not running around town doing showings, Salem hosts his podcast, “The Agent P Show,” and volunteers to help dogs find their forever homes, often with his clients.
Salem’s favorite aspect of the job is showing clients that they can reach higher than they think.
“I feel like queer people in general are always told that you can’t do something or you can’t afford something,” says Salem. “So it’s embedded in our brains that we can’t do certain things or afford a certain lifestyle. It’s my job to connect them with the right people and resources to show them their full potential.”
