This week, Ryan Serhant—real estate broker, CEO and star of the Netflix reality TV show Owning Manhattan—joins us to discuss his 18-year career selling and developing multimillion-dollar properties in New York City and beyond. Serhant talks about the power of face-to-face communication, his secret to nailing important meetings and how his approach to work has changed over the years. Below, you can watch the full episode, read highlights from our conversation and shop the products Serhant uses to fuel his success.On What He Brings To High-Stakes Meetings“An athletic sense of confidence. I can’t remember which Masters it was a long, long time ago where Tiger [Woods] was right there at the end, and it was a ridiculous putt, and he made it, and he won the money, and this, that, the other. And they asked him, ‘How do you stay calm, cool and collected?’ In those moments, that final, anybody else, your hands would shake. The pressure is just too much. And he said something along the lines of, ‘I played like I already had the win in my pocket.’ My best advice for anyone who’s going into a high-pressure situation, whether it’s to ask a boss for a raise or it’s a first date or it’s a big pitch, is always, always treat it like meeting number two.“You already got the listing, you already have the business, you already sold the product, now you’re going in and you’re just reminding them again as to why you’re there and [are] great. I promise you, it lowers your resting heart rate, and you go in there, and you are far more comfortable. You’re more human, you’re more relaxed, you’re not selling, you’re not pitching, you’re not nervous.”Ryan SerhantWant to save this story for later?No need to bookmark—get it straight to your inbox.We've sent this story to your inbox.On His Uniform In And Out Of The Office“Monday through Friday, I wear a suit.… I would usually wear a t-shirt, to be honest, underneath. I have these thick cotton t-shirts, they don’t feel like t-shirts. They’re just much more structured, and it’s simple. That way, if I’m warm, I can take [my] jacket off [and] it’s okay. I’m not being super formal. I really don’t wear ties as often as I used to. I would say that’s my uniform. Saturday and Sunday, I’m typically in workout gear. It’s just easier. I don’t have a whole lot of other clothes. I’m not a big stuff guy.”On His Work Philosophy“I’m a big believer in work hard, play hard. I think the best way to hit the highest peaks is to know where the valleys are. Like I said, I’m going to Greece for [my] 10-year wedding anniversary. I distinctly remember getting married 10 years ago…and losing a deal that day. A client was calling me and [was] upset. They were buying a co-op on East 9th Street, and they’re buying [it] for their daughter. So a co-op board turned [them] down, which is New York City, and it was blowing up, and they didn’t care that it was my wedding day. I could have just put my phone away for sure. I’ve told this story before, and people are like, ‘Just put your phone away.’ You can do that, but when you run your own business, that’s potentially a lost client forever if you don’t respond. And I had people involved and other people chiming in, but [when] you’re the face and you’re the boss, they want you. “My life is very different now, so that wouldn’t happen that way today. I mean, deals still die every day, but it affected me a lot.… So I don’t do that anymore. Now I just work really, really, really hard and really double down so that when I say, ‘Okay, now it’s time to play hard or work hard,’ you can actually do it at max capacity.”On His Morning Routine“I wake up at 4:30. I work out from 5:30 to 7, give or take. And that is my church. That is where I relax, but I don’t relax. It’s definitely the hardest part of my day physically, so I like getting the hardest part of my day out of the way.… I do emails from about 4:35 to 5:25, and I also look at the news, what happened the night before. Our business is significantly international, so there’s a lot that came in from the night before, so I’ll ping and jump on top of things that I need to pretty quickly. But I also just sort of wake my brain up by reading.”Ryan SerhantOn The Surprising Benefit Of Going Gray Early“I came to New York City to do theater. When you try to be a professional actor, you have to go out for roles that look like your face. When you’re in school—high school, college—you want to go out for roles that are impossible. You want to play a tree on Mars. You want to be an artist, but when it’s time to make money, you have to be seen for who you are, and then you can branch out from there. Being 20 and 21 with gray hair was a weird one because it becomes your defining feature.… So I would dye my hair a lot. Then when the acting thing didn’t work out, and I ran out of money, and a friend told me to get my real estate license in the summer of 2008, one of the first things that I stopped doing when I was out of money was dyeing my hair.“I saw almost immediately how my hair color benefited my business because as a young guy trying to sell multimillion-dollar apartments, there’s always a hesitancy, like, ‘How long have you been doing this? Should I trust you?’ But a young-guy [face] with old-man hair? People would say, ‘Ah, how long have you been doing this?’ I would just say, ‘A long time.’ Then as long as I knew my shit, and I was honorable and ethical and worked really, really, really hard, then everyone was super surprised to find out how young I actually was. Everyone just thought I had really great skin.”Ryan Serhant’s Tools For SuccessAn Analog Tool He Can’t Quit: “For some reason, I cannot give up on Post-it notes.… There’s only so much you can do in a given day. So then you leverage through people, systems, strategies, blueprints, and then you just drown.… But Post-it notes for immediate reminders and must-do[s] by the end of the day still work for me.”An AI Note-Taker: “I will say, [for] great salespeople today, the power of follow-up is really, really key—and memory. A lot of our top agents now will use something called Plaud, which is on the back of their phone, so that way they just don’t forget.”A Haircare Essential: “I use shea butter conditioner. You’re supposed to rinse it out, but I don’t follow everyone’s rules. So I leave it in, and that’s what works.”Watch the full interview on YouTube or stream it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. For more Forbes Talks Shop episodes, visit our YouTube page.