With the name Tay Hasselhoff, it’s pretty clear she’s got one big Hollywood connection — but it’s one she was hesitant to milk for all its worth when setting out on a new career path.
While she appeared on a season of “Rich Kids of Beverly Hills” (more on that in a minute) and the extremely short lived “The Hasselhoffs,” Tay currently works as member of high-profile Los Angeles real estate agent Aaron Kirman’s team. The job actually led to her return to reality TV, as CNBC’s new series “Listing Impossible,” premiering Wednesday, follows the agency as they try to sell multi-million dollar mansions.
According to Tay, she first got interested in the business after witnessing her mother, Pamela Bach, get “completely screwed over” by an agent as she tried to lock down a bachelorette pad. “It was a horrible experience for her,” Hasselhoff told TooFab, detailing how her mom learned about an illegal gas line under the property after moving in.
“I feel like I’m the one of my friends and family that always tries to find ways to get people out of situations or help people out. And in that situation, I was completely baffled,” she continued. “I wanted to learn as much as I possibly could about the real estate world, so that if this did ever happen to, let’s say, me or my friends or family in the future, I would kind of know how to steer them in the right direction.”
She then started networking with different agents and agencies and quickly realized the industry was just as competitive as the one in which her father makes his living. After getting her license, she joined Aaron’s team at the John Aaroe Group, which has since changed names and sees Kirman as its president.
The season premiere of “Listing Impossible” shows Tay debating whether she should use her famous last name in her new profession, hoping to make a name for herself without capitalizing on her dad.
“Growing up, a lot of times the first question people would ask, instead of ‘Tell me about you,’ it was, ‘Tell me about your dad. I want to know about him, him, him,” she explained. “I’m used to it now, but for me, I just want people to know, ‘That’s Taylor-Ann, she got this on her own and she worked her ass off for this and she is who she is.”
“I kind of wanted to go into a field with me just being Tay,” she continued. “It was one of those things where all my friends and even Aaron was like, ‘Use your last name.’ But for me as a woman and trying to be an entrepreneur and a boss lady, I’d love to be able to be known for who I am and kind of what I’m about and it takes away the preconceived notion that just because of my last name, I get X, Y and Z.”
Tay said she knows that situation is something a lot of celebrity kids she’s spoken to over the years can relate to and while it was something she struggled with, she does go by Hasselhoff professionally now. And with that name came one of her first big clients: her own father, David Hasselhoff.
The “Baywatch” star himself also appears in the first episode, as he works with his daughter to list his $3.5 million home. Tay noted that a lot of her family members reached out to her as soon as she got her license and having that close relationship with a client only led to more honesty from all parties involved.
Admitting she was “never too keen” on the agents her dad was initially working with, her “protective” side made her speak up. “With me, you know, his eldest daughter, we have such a strong relationship that the first thing he said, he was like, ‘Hell, I wouldn’t go with anybody. The minute you get your license, we’re gonna do amazing things,” she explained. Adding that The Hoff wanted her to be his “point person,” she said it’s “because I tell it how it is.”
“With him, I asked him all the hard questions that he doesn’t really think about it,” she continued. “It has been a fun, interesting ride, especially just because when we are in the process, he’ll tell me, ‘I f–king hate that house, what was that, that was horrible!’ I don’t think a client would ever say that to me in those terms, but it’s a funny back and forth.”
“Listing Impossible” is a far cry from her “Rich Kids” days and part of the reason she was interested in the CNBC series was to show how much she’s really grown in recent years. Saying she did the E! series with the hope to highlight her singing career and show what it takes to make it in the business, Hasselhoff admitted it didn’t quite go as planned.
“Of course, it wasn’t exactly all about that. Those producers, they love to do what they can to make as much drama as they possibly can,” she said. “And I think for me, I’m the least dramatic person in my life. I was like, holy shit, this is insane. I don’t know what I signed up for, but I’m stuck and I’ve just got a look at the positive side to it.”
This new show will highlight where Tay is now, showing her start with Aaron’s team. “I’m in a very different place now, which I think is really cool to show people just your journey and where you started to where you’ve gone,” she said. “I think it’s awesome for people in the business world, for people that are looking to kind of jump into a new career but are nervous to get into that career.”
She also loves the business aspect of the series and its place on CNBC, which she called a “fantastic network.” Said Tay, “If I was going to be on a reality show, I would only want to be on a show that’s going to be able to inspire and show people what the real estate game is. It’s not gumdrops and lollipops. It’s a hustle, it’s a grind, it’s a 24-7 job, you never put your phone down.”
Hasselhoff also explained what sets their show apart from other similarly-themed series, calling hers more authentic. “I think other real estate shows that are out there, to be quite honest, are very well, ‘We got this listing, it was super easy, we made all this money, we’re onto the next,'” she explained. “That is not how real estate is!”
“Listing Impossible” premieres January 15 on CNBC.
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