Justin Abrams Aims to Reinvent The Real Estate Industry With Tried and Proven Disruption Of The Normal Business Flow

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Phillip Lanos. Today’s guest is Justin Abrams! Justin Abrams is all at once the CEO of FlagshipRTL vying to reinvent retail by bridging luxury brands with commercial real estate opportunities, a marketing mogul with skills honed from an impressive 8+ years at Red Bull, and a practicing classical cellist who has performed all over the world. You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! What was life like before RTL? (2:22) Justin was at Red Bull for roughly 10 years before Flagship. He was studying in Montreal, the only place he likes living outside of New York City. He was a music major, and he was studying with an incredible teacher at the time.  To satisfy the business outlet, he decided to explore opportunities, and Red Bull came up. Justin was a student brand manager for the company. He said it was an incredible experience.  If you take it seriously, which Justin did, you become a GM or CEO of college canvas. You’re looking at sales, marketing, and different distribution channels and gaining experience in those areas.  You are constantly chatting with media outlets and sports teams, and so it was a good way to use a brand and an incredible company to explore different avenues that Justin might’ve chosen to pursue down the road. When Justin finished school, he ended up in sports marketing in particular. He had no background in the area, but the head of marketing on the East Coast liked that Justin had played the cello and wanted someone different for the organization.  Does Justin have a musical family, or are they more business orientated. (4:12) Justin’s mom was in engineering and then financed, and his father was a narcotics prosecutor. Justin took a completely different path from either of them. Justin’s dad’s mother was an accomplished violinist, and so his father always knew his children would have the opportunity to play music.  Justin states that he doesn’t think his father realized how far his children might take music. He says he was lucky that they grew up so close to the Lincoln Center, a hub for music and culture in New York.  Being in those surroundings and having tough parents and inspiring people around Justin, who were all taking their music skills to the next level, led him to do the same with the cello.  Justin’s brother is a bass player, and they perform together regularly. Being in the right environment pushes you to go further than you thought you’d go.  When did Justin officially decide to leave Red Bull for Flagship? (13:38) Justin starters as a student back in college and then spent several years at a broad range of sports marketing functions. He was mostly working with athletes. He considered it the most fun job in the world.  Justin really loved his job at Red Bull and the people he got to work with. They had a high-performance department, and he was working with the athletes and employees within it. It was an incredible workspace that was constantly leveling up, so it was quite different from a normal job.  Justin always wanted to start his own business, and it hit really close to home was. He loved working at Red Bull; they always found smart and safe ways to go against the grain or bend the rules responsibly.  He loved the side of Red Bull that were pushing boundaries, and he was excited about the sleeping real estate industry that needed some disruption, so he started bending the rules within that industry.  Landlords have been excited with the outcome because even though they are doing things a little different from the past, many of them are getting faster deals done and getting more cashflow in their spaces.  Flagship RTL Flagship RTL is physical retail made easy. They supply flexible access to a turnkey, premium space-optimized to scale your brand. Whether you're an emerging brand looking to open your first store, or an established retailer looking to scale, Flagship supports you every step of the way. Resources Connect with Justin: LinkedIn Flagship RTL: Website Connect with Phillip: LinkedIn