Jonathan Macht is an agent for EXP Realty in Los Angeles. After joining the firm in 2023, he grossed more than $100,000 in commissions in his first year. Jonathan Macht was previously with Coldwell Banker in Los Angeles. Beginning his real estate career by knocking on doors and cold calling, he placed in the President’s Elite Circle of the top 2 percent of performers. He attributes his success to weekly contact with his customers and a caring attitude.
Earlier, Mr. Macht served as a project manager for Snow Construction in Los Angeles, where he determined the objectives and purposes of custom homes and commercial buildings. He also assembled the proper resources for completion and handled all necessary documentation.
In 2017, Mr. Macht graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans with a BA in political science and Latin American studies. He competed on the school’s club baseball team and taught English to immigrants. He also worked in the sports marketing department, arranging in-game activities and ticketing promotions that increased attendance. In addition, he canvassed for Project Inform, an organization that raised money for the San Francisco AIDS Walk. His other interests include the housing market for the middle class, governmental policy, and home improvement.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
I usually wake up at around 6:30 am and spent about 5 to 10 minutes meditating before grabbing my morning cup of coffee. Upon returning from my local coffee shop, I grab my daily edition of The New York Times and park myself at my kitchen table to read it. After spending about an hour reading the newspaper, I usually go to the gym between 7:30 am and 8:30 am. My workout consists of 10 to 15 minutes of cardio in the form of running or walking and then about 30 to 45 minutes of lifting weights through various compound exercises, including bench press, squats, deadlifts, and rows. After a good workout, I return home to make phone calls to past clients to check-in to see if they’ve had any changes in their life related to their finances or their property. I then spend a majority of the day cold-calling prospective clients throughout the Los Angeles area to inquire whether or not they wish to list their home. After a day of work, I usually meet up with friends for dinner or stay-in and read a good history book before calling it a day.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I bring ideas to life by listening to my favorite podcasts—including The Daily, which is The New York Times’ audio edition of the paper—or through various forms of literature. I love reading and set a goal to read one book per week. This allows me to stimulate creative thoughts on various topics, such as politics, history, the environment, and business.
What’s one trend that excites you?
One trend that excites me is the advancement in artificial intelligence. Each generation of Americans has witnessed some form of a technological or cultural revolution. As a millennial, I’ve witnessed the internet age, the information age, and the age of artificial intelligence. AI can become one of humanity’s greatest resources for uncovering new ideas for innovation, for solving complex social, legal, and political problems. It also will likely become an amazing asset for businesses across the world as they continue to innovate and outsource various production methods and phases to automation and AI.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
One habit that helps my productivity is my daily meditation practice. I find that taking a few minutes each morning to center myself allows me to remain focused throughout the day. It’s natural when trying to meditate for the mind to wander or ruminate on random thoughts, feelings, or emotions. But it’s an integral part of helping my mental health.
What advice would you give your younger self?
The greatest advice I would give to my younger self would be to get sober from drugs and alcohol at a younger age. I’ve been sober from all substances for over one year and struggled with mental health problems and alcoholism in my teens and early 20s. I’m currently 29 years old and look back on the last nine years of my life with some obvious regrets. Failed relationships, impulsive decisions, hangovers, and arguably wasted years all define my days of drinking and doing drugs. I’ve found no greater gift in the world than the gift of sobriety.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
Most people would say that I’m naturally extroverted given the fact that I’ve worked in a sales profession most of my career. However, I’m actually naturally an introvert. I much prefer to read a good book on the couch and spend time with my dogs than go to a social function for several hours. Although I’m quite capable of handling myself in social situations, I find the experience to be rather draining after the fact.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
One thing that I have found to be beneficial to my intellectual development has been my daily practice of reading 50 to 100 pages of a good book. I try to read at least 50 books per year, one book per week. I find the act of reading not only intellectually stimulating, but also incredibly helpful for my mental health.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
When I feel overwhelmed or unfocused, I try to take some time to take deep breathes or go to an AA meeting to calm my thoughts. I find that through my daily spiritual practice of meditation, as well as by attending regular AA meetings, I’m able to find a deeper connection to a power greater than myself and realize that everything happens for a reason. Recognizing that most situations are out of my control gives me a certain emotional freedom in approaching difficult situations or dealing with difficult people.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
One strategy that has helped me grow my business has been shifting my mindset from one focused on self to one focused on service. When I was in active addiction, I was motivated by selfish thoughts. What could I get from this person, what could I take from this other individual? However, I reached a point in my sobriety where I was able to reframe my perspective on day-to-day interactions with clients or community members in a way where my first thought is “what can I do to help this person?” I found it to be immensely helpful not only for my spiritual and emotional well-being, but also a great way to improve my business.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
One failure in my career involved a conversation with my very first client as a realtor. I had put together a detailed financial valuation for my client’s home and told them I expected we could get them $1.2 million for their home. Unfortunately, I learned very quickly that the market decides what a property sells for. Although I sold the property for $1.15 million, only $50,000 less than my projected valuation, the client had an expectation that they would receive a higher price. Consequently, they felt somewhat betrayed by me and were unhappy with the result. I learned in subsequent transactions never to make any promises on what price you can sell someone’s home for.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
I have found Dialpad and RingCentral to be paramount to my success as a realtor. Each of these are cold-calling software applications. Rather than taking out my phone and dialing a number, I can simply input a spreadsheet of clients into the program, and the program dials the numbers for me.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
My favorite book changes every month, but I would say that my favorite series of books is Winston Churchill’s series on World War II. Churchill was not only a political visionary or renowned world leader, but a brilliant historian and strategist. He foresaw the events of World War II long before the war began.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
I recently watched the film Dark Waters starring Mark Ruffalo and found it deeply moving. The film focuses on the legal efforts of a personal injury attorney who is involved in holding corporate polluters accountable for contaminating a water supply in a rural, poor area of Ohio. Unfortunately, large corporations have a tendency to take advantage of the communities their operations are based and look for ways to avoid social and financial accountability for the environmental toxins they emit. This movie was great because the character Ruffalo portrays is dedicated to his efforts not for the profit motive, but rather for humanitarian or moral reasons.
Key learnings
- Reading regularly is intellectually stimulating and fosters the creative thinking necessary for brining ideas to life.
- Daily meditation supports productivity and focus, as well as mental health.
- A service-focused mindset not only improves business but promotes spiritual and emotional well-being.
- Empathy is the greatest tool for social interaction and understanding different perspectives.