Finding time to speak with Eleonora Srugo, the star of Selling the City, may be the only thing as hard as finding an apartment in New York. With a calendar packed with jaw-dropping listings that would even make the Oppenheim twins do a double take, selling luxury real estate isn’t just a 9 to 5 for Srugo: it’s her calling. 

But obtaining the glamorous lifestyle on display in the upcoming New York City-based edition of the Selling franchise, which premieres on Jan. 3, didn’t come easy. “You see me on the show with diamonds and helicopters, but that’s not what it always was,” Srugo tells Tudum. “That’s actually an honor and a blessing that I get to experience based on years of hard work. In New York, we’re scrappy and dream big, and it’s nice to show that those dreams can come true, and they come true here.”

A native New Yorker through and through, Srugo was raised in the Soho neighborhood and graduated from the prestigious Stuyvesant High School before launching her career in real estate. After years of sacrifice and pounding the pavement (in stilettos, no less), she climbed the ranks of the male-dominated, high-end real estate market to become one of the city’s top individual agents. But instead of resting on her laurels, she decided to build a legacy: assembling a team of women agents at Douglas Elliman, who round out the cast of the upcoming occu-soap. 

Fans of Selling Sunset and Selling the OC will certainly find plenty to love about the new spin-off, which doubles down on what the franchise does best: high-stakes real estate, juicy personal drama, and a group of women pushing the boundaries of office attire. But Srugo believes her team is cut from a slightly different cloth than the one led by Jason and Brett Oppenheim, who she says have been a “great source of support throughout this process.”

“I have a lot of respect for those guys and what they’ve built,” Srugo says. “But this is a little different. We’re a little grittier, and a woman is leading the team. The city also takes everything to another level. There’s a really high barrier to entry in this market, and it makes it extraordinarily competitive.” While she has been approached to appear on reality television in the past — she won’t confirm or deny those The Real Housewives of New York reboot rumors — Srugo was waiting for the right moment to let the cameras into her life. 

“It’s taken time to get here,” she says. “I didn’t look like this when I was building the business. I didn’t date, socialize, or even have a drink for years because I never went out or had friends. It’s been a lot of sacrifice. But it’s made me really good at what I do and able to share more of my personal life. Now I’m excited to finally tell my story.”

Of course, others have tried their best to do that for her. With success comes plenty of scrutiny, especially for high-powered women. Over the past few years, rumors have swirled around Srugo’s meteoric rise in the industry, especially given her ties to current New York City mayor Eric Adams. “If people cannot justify a woman’s success — whether it’s by having connections, wealthy parents, or who your husband is — then there is certainly a default to try to talk about her behavior,” she says. “There’s a belittling that happens with women in business, and it’s a constant struggle and fight to work against those narratives.” 

As for her connection to Adams, Srugo was introduced to him through her work with the Stuyvesant High School Alumni Association and the school’s Mentoring Program, which she founded at just 26 years old. “It’s something that’s deeply important to me because it represents some of the lowest income students in the city,” she explains. “At that time, [Adams] was supportive of maintaining these specialized science high schools and expanding those programs. He’s been a good and loyal friend. Like me, he is very community-minded and supportive if I need something.”

Aside from Adams, Srugo also found her name in the headlines over speculation surrounding her personal life. But when it comes to romance, Srugo wishes she had more to report. “There is zero going on with my dating life right now,” she adds. “It’s just not my strong suit, and I’ve traditionally been a lot more guarded.” And it’s not hard to understand why, as she’s dealt with a fair amount of tumult in the press. “Unfortunately, a very disparaging and nasty rumor was created and spread about me and someone who I was not even remotely romantically involved with whatsoever,” she says. “It was a challenging time in my life, and I think that people need to be a little less reckless with women’s reputations and their careers. It was really an experience that shaped me and jaded me.”

But Srugo is nothing if not resilient. Plus, now she’s got a team of powerhouse women at her back. Under the pressures of a cutthroat real estate landscape, the group has formed into a quasi-family — albeit with some classic Selling drama, of course. “A lot of them are longtime friends that I pulled into this and we’ve built a lot of really deep experiences together,” she says. “Now all of the girls are putting real numbers on the books. They are financially independent, self-starters, and in control of whatever their business means for them. But I’m not fulfilled yet in the vision that I have and what I want to accomplish.”

If history is any indication, Srugo’s ambition will continue to propel her to new heights. And no matter what changes lie ahead, New York City will be there to witness it all. “The city is where all of these hopefully momentous things happen in our lives,” she says. “I really hope that its magic translates on the show. That’s the most important thing to me. I would love people to watch it and say, ‘I want to move to New York and I want to sell New York.’ ”