As the daughter of The Agency’s founder, Mauricio Umansky, the longest-running consecutive Real Housewife, Kyle Richards, and the niece of Rick and Kathy Hilton of Hilton and Hyland, Alexia Umansky is a unique hybrid of real estate and reality TV royalty. She grew up on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and then starred on both seasons of Buying Beverly Hills after she got her real estate license.
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When we left her on Buying Beverly Hills, she was finding her footing in the challenging world of LA real estate as a new agent, while her parents were beginning to navigate a public separation.
Since then, Alexia has hit a career high, helping buyer clients purchase a $14 million listing; married Jake Zingerman; and furthered her business as a social media influencer, landing paid partnerships, including one with Starbucks.
As RHOBH wrapped up Season 15 with Alexia’s wedding footage, Inman caught up with her to find out how her career and life have been since Buying Beverly Hills wrapped. What follows is that conversation, edited for length and clarity.
It’s been 2 years since ‘Buying Beverly Hills.’ What’s been going on?
[I’m] still doing real estate. Still love real estate. I miss the show. I really do. But, despite the market being not as amazing as it was when I first entered the business, I still love it so, so, so much. I’m so happy.
What’s been going on at The Agency?
We did an office makeover. It’s been really nice. You know, when we had opened our most recent, current Beverly Hills office, I feel like our aesthetic was very cool for the time, but we’ve been here for a long minute, so we went for a more natural, very loungy look.
We have more communal seating … we tried going for a Soho House type of feel, so everyone could come sit [together] … I started doing this thing called “Simply Socials” with some of the people at the office, where you kind of get together and just simply socialize for the sake of keeping our office energy up and feeling connected with everyone, and keeping up the collaboration, but kind of removing that work piece just a little bit.
We want to keep that familial tie between everybody. And I feel like that’s something that our company has always done really nicely, because my dad is who he is. He’s always been such a family man, and he considers The Agency his family. So having that personal connection is just really important. So, just refreshing our space and focusing on our connection with one another has been a very strong point for us the last two years.
Speaking of family, are your sisters still at the brokerage?
Farrah [Brittany] is. Farrah is absolutely killing it. She’s always been one of my biggest inspirations. Sophia [Umansky] is not anymore. She was doing our marketing for a minute, but now she’s full throttle on her own social media.
Has your dad named a successor yet? I know that was a big thing on the last season.
I feel like my dad had a moment where he was just like, “I’m not going anywhere,” and there’s almost been this resurgence of excitement for him lately. It’s always been there. But I just feel like he’s an absolute animal right now.
He’s traveling the world, opening up offices, partnering with Tony Robbins — he’s doing all these incredible things. And so I feel like taking a step back and slowing down is like the last thing on his mind. So if anything, he’s just so focused on taking everything to the next level for the company, for himself. He’s very, very in it right now.
What about the rest of the cast? Are they still around?
Melissa [Platt] is back in Dallas. We love Melissa. She was actually one of my bridesmaids for my wedding. She’s one of my closest friends, and I just love her so much.
And then there’s Santiago [Arana]. He’s still killing it. He’s running the Brentwood office as usual.
Jon Grauman actually moved out of LA, and he lives in, like, Ojai [Ed. note: Grauman lives in Napa Valley], or somewhere where there’s a lot of wine, which is very fitting because he and his wife love wine, and decided to open up his own brokerage.
Zach [Goldsmith] is still at The Agency, Farrah and me. Brandon Graves is still with us. Sonica [Vaid], she left after Season 1.
We saw that Ben Belack just departed for SERHANT. What’s the general take on SERHANT. entering California?
I’ve always thought that Ryan [Serhant] has been an amazing agent, and I love his marketing. And I just think he’s such a charismatic guy, and I’m really excited for Ben [Belack], actually.
He’s always been someone who carries himself as a leader, and I feel like he gets to be put into this leadership position with SERHANT. And I feel like it’s an amazing partnership. I’m excited for them both.
You have the advantage of working with your dad. Is there one lesson he’s taught you that sticks with you?
This is something that he has said to me my entire life, and he quotes, is it Napoleon Bonaparte? That’s what he says, at least. But it’s actually, “Dress me slowly, I’m in a hurry.” He’s been saying that to me my entire life, and a lot of that goes for work too, where it really just [means] take it slow, or else you’re gonna mess things up. Take a deep breath, one step at a time, get through the day.
So you just got married. Tell us about the wedding.
I loved every second of [wedding planning], and my mom and my dad were both very hands-on with the planning process. I was so grateful to have both of them to run ideas by and talk to them about everything. And we ended up doing a Midnight Garden theme, which I was really excited about.
And I just basically wanted it to feel like a fairy tale in the mountains of Topanga Canyon, and it felt exactly that. Everyone always says your wedding day is the best day of your life, and I was like, “I really hope it is, because it’s a lot of pressure to put on a day.” And I’m so glad to say it actually was.
And so now you’re married, and you have your career. What’s next on the horizon?
Well, we have a honeymoon coming up this summer. Then I feel like I’m kind of in this place where I’ll enjoy my summer, and then once that happens, maybe talking about a baby soon. I’m in this headspace right now where I’m enjoying married life, and I definitely want a baby. It’s just a matter of when.
In The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion trailer, Andy Cohen asks your mom, ‘If you do file for divorce, will you be asking for half of The Agency?’ To which she replies, ‘Well, it’s mine.’ What happens in that eventuality?
That’s a good question. I guess that’s something time will have to tell. But the reality is that my dad and my mom still care for each other very much … I don’t know necessarily the inner workings of how all that has been set up, but I know my dad wants to share his success with his daughters and his wife.
And they have an amazing relationship still. Our family is still so close. We still hang out all the time, so I don’t see that being a problem … But if it’s hers, it’s hers, and I think that’s something my dad would support.
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