She has been working in construction and real estate her entire life, and at twenty-nine years old she has more experience in business than those twice her age. She knows how to work a sub-division plot plan, market and sell a $5 million dollar home, and coddle a client base that is comprised of Boston’s rich and famous. Her name is Samantha Stumpo, founder of Newbrook Realty in Brookline, Massachusetts, and Construction Manager for C. Stumpo Development, a company made famous by her mother, Cindy Stumpo, who has been building luxury estates and mansions for the better part of three decades. Her mother, Cindy, who was the subject of a national television show, Tough as Nails, is no stranger to the limelight. Her multi-million dollar mansions are often featured in magazines like The Robb Report or Altitudes Private Aviation Magazine. As well, Cindy herself is regularly featured as a keynote speaker and public ambassador on women empowerment issues.
What some didn’t realize is that the luxury builder, reality show star, women’s empowerment speaker, Cindy Stumpo, had a very special shadow for these last twenty-nine years; her daughter Samantha. Samantha has spent a lifetime watching, listening, taking notes, answering phones, fielding questions, and learning from the best of the best in business, her mom. Whether she realized it was happening or not, Samantha silently grew into her own brand. Now when people hear the name Stumpo, they still think luxury, success, and cache, but now people ask, “Which one are you referencing, mom or daughter?”
Samantha now sells north of $20M a year in real estate, which is no small achievement, considering that it puts her in the top 10% of all real estate agents in the country and further considering that she’s still sort of a rookie with only 4 official years under her belt. But perhaps affluent clients continue to choose her for their real estate needs because once you spend five minutes getting to know her, you realize she’s a twenty-nine year old luxury real estate tycoon with decades upon decades of experience. I recently sat down with Samantha to get her take on building a luxury brand, realizing big dreams, and leveraging her spot in the shadow of her highly esteemed mother. Here is Samantha Stumpo, the next generation of greatness:
It’s More Than a Transaction: Samantha says that when you work in real estate, you are working on the biggest financial transaction of a customer’s life. In her experience, she says the client needs more than just sound business advice, they need a friend, a confidant, and a shoulder to lean on. Samantha says that she learned this from her mom, who built a massive luxury development business over 30 years by being really good at two things; building luxury estates, and becoming engrained in the life of each client she worked with. Samantha says that her mother taught her the importance of building a long term lasting relationship with every client, a friendship that extends beyond the closing table. She says she can hardly believe her ears when some real estate agents say that they are only available during business hours. Samantha says if you make the decision to be in real estate, then every hour is a business hour and when a client calls her at 11 o’clock at night for questions about a house that just came on the market, or potential changes to upgrades in the estate they are building, she stops what she’s doing and responds. Samantha says that the first step to building a well-respected brand is to realize that real estate is not a transactional business, it’s a relational business, and that success is a byproduct of rapport, which may be instantly built with trust, authenticity, and candidness with customers.
Living and Working in a Shadow: I asked Samantha if it was difficult growing up in the shadow of such a huge personality as Cindy Stumpo. Everyone across New England knows Cindy from her television show, Tough as Nails, or for being recognized as a top developer in her industry. Samantha notes that growing up Stumpo is akin to achieving a Harvard business degree. She feels she has received the crème-de-la-crème of training and education on everything from customer service, to sales, to follow up, and to building a business, from being in her mom’s shadow. She says the best thing that ever happened to her as a business woman is that she got to shadow her mom her entire life. The downside, if there is one, explained Samantha, is that others sometimes give her little credit for her own success, as some assume that being Cindy’s daughter has given her a leg up in business. Samantha says she cares very little what competitors believe. She says what most don’t realize is that she’s been on job sites since she could walk, and can answer highly technical questions about construction and land development because of her experience as Cindy Stumpo’s daughter. She says there’s really no downside to being Cindy Stumpo’s daughter except perhaps one: failure is never an option. That being said, Samantha says that there’s pressure in living up to the name that her mom has built throughout Boston, but she says that she’s cool with it. Samantha says she knew when she launched her real estate business two years ago that she’d be closing $20M a year in no time, because anything less was just not possible. Why? She’s Cindy Stumpo’s daughter. Samantha says she thrives under pressure because she’s learned from her mom that all great things are possible outside of one’s comfort zone.
Be Happy for Other People: Says Samantha, the world of high-end real estate can be very cut throat. She offered a handful of stories of others in her business who cut her down both to her face and to clients. Samantha says that in her first year of real estate she felt resentful that people who didn’t know her at all would say things that weren’t true just to prevent her from getting business. Over time, Samantha says she has learned to let go of the comments and criticism of others and to instead stay extremely focused on building her business with people who know, like, and respect her. Samantha says that the harsh judgment others have cast on her has taught her to do the opposite. She says that no matter how much she’s pushed, she never judges the words or actions of others because everyone has their own story and their own reasons for what they do. Samantha says that her mission in life is to bring people up, not knock them down. She says that potentially she loses business here or there because she won’t stoop to badmouthing or knocking other people, but she’s content with that. Samantha says there’s enough high-end luxury estate business out there to go around and the customers who stick with her are the ones who have spent time getting to know her and who have had the experience of accessing the 29 year knowledge base on construction and development that she has developed throughout her lifetime. Samantha says that she cannot expect anyone to know what it was like growing up with a highly ambitious mother who engrained the children in the business from an early age. As well, Samantha says she can’t pretend to know what others have gone through in their lives or careers. Therefore, Samantha says she lives by a simple philosophy to celebrate the success of others and to never judge someone’s words, ideas, or actions, because why they do what they do has everything to do with their own personal life history and perspective.
Samantha Stumpo is now a brand in and of herself when it comes to Boston, Brookline, and Newton real estate. She’s intelligent, humble, and highly ambitious… which makes her a chip of the old block when compared to her highly esteemed mother, suggesting that she really is the next generation of greatness.