Beatrice Caponnetti Jackson was born and raised in Trieste, with the real estate in DNA. He began working very young, inspired by his parents’ passion, exploring the sector, continually testing and collecting professional and personal experiences that allowed her to build an international career that brought her to New York. Hard gavetta, radical choices and no shortcuts. Today he is the youngest agent with a team in Compass and one of the most authoritative voices of the luxury real estate New York. But its path is also and above all a history of identity, resilience and special ties.
Beatrice, we start from the beginning. Your family works in the real estate sector: how much did this environment affect your choices and your interest in real estate?
It’s a world where I grew naturally. At the age of 16, during summers, I helped my mother in the office and looked closely at her work. Their passion has plagued me little by little, without force. It has always seemed like a fascinating, concrete sector, made of important relationships and responsibilities. There has never been anything else that attracted me the same way. At 18 I started working immediately: I was very young, but I felt that was my way.
What were the key stages of your journey between Italy and international contexts?
After training mediators I started working for a large real estate group in Trieste, which ran about 700 properties. It was a very complex role, especially for one of my age, but it was a real school: I learned to manage difficult situations and great responsibilities immediately.
I then entered Engel & Völkers, who had just opened the office in Trieste. There I met a more international real estate, with customers from all over the world. Having attended an international school and speaking well English, I felt comfortable in that context and began to think that this work could take me beyond the Italian borders.
Then New York comes, a radical choice. How was it starting from scratch in such a competitive city?
It was the hardest time in my life. I left everything: work, home, certainties, and I started with the idea of stopping three months. I lived in a tiny apartment with two roommates and I was looking for any work that allowed me to stay.
After a first job as a waitress, I entered a group of builders and developers in Brooklyn making cold calling: 200-300 calls per day, in a windowless basement. I knew English, but not enough to handle difficult conversations with people who didn’t want to be called. It was a total immersion in American culture and resilience.
Just that little water, though, formed me deeply. I learned how to manage the waste, communicate directly, not to break down. But I wanted to go back to doing what I loved, I wanted to take care of real estate. So I got my driver’s license in New York, and I started again from below as an assistant. It was not easy, but it was necessary. From there began the real construction of my path in the United States.
For personal and professional reasons you traveled to New York several times before moving in. What was your idea of the city at the time?
I had been on vacation and I didn’t like it: Dear, uncomfortable, chaotic. My family had made great sacrifices to allow me that trip and I was disappointed. It wasn’t one of my ideal goals at all. Today everything has changed: I don’t see myself living anywhere else.
The first six months in New York were the most difficult of my life, perhaps comparable only to the first months of maternity. I missed home, my culture, my people. I moved here for love and love, that was what motivated me. Today, that love made New York my home: It’s where I have to be and where I want to stay.
Was there a precise moment when you realized that New York would not be just a stop?
More than a moment, it was a year: 2024. This is the year I really felt at home, because I realized that my people were here: My husband, my friends, my mentor, my career. I live a lot through the ties, perhaps in a very Italian way. Without a “village” it is difficult to imagine in a place. In Italy the sense of belonging is very strong, from north to south. Here bonds often depend on status and it is more difficult to create authentic and deep relationships. It takes time to adapt to cultural differences and traditions.
When you completely revolutionized your life, how important was your family’s support?
Basic. Without my family’s support, I’d probably be home. Having someone who says “you do it”, who is proud of you, gives you a huge force. In New York, where everyone does a lot, you never feel enough, never really up to it. Humanity and love of home are indispensable to move forward. Family support, even from afar, is almost more important than what you can find here.
Getting to New York often means reinventing yourself. What were the toughest challenges?
The constant competition. In each sector you are always replaceable, and this feeling has been the most difficult to manage, both personal and professional. I had to differentiate myself, maintain a very high standard and not do “any thing” just to stay. My American dream was not just living in New York, but professionally fulfilling me here.
I had to face so many “no”, which are given here without problems. On the personal level, it was complex to understand cultural differences. In the first two years it was difficult to say that he had a friend, in the deep and true sense of the term: I had my husband and my husband’s friends, but it’s not the same.
The luxury New York real estate is one of the most competitive in the world. How did you cut out a credible space?
Relationships are everything. I was lucky to work with extraordinary people who helped me get to know me better, especially my mentor. I give 100% to every client, like family. It is a very Italian approach, perhaps. Every customer becomes a relationship that goes beyond the sale.
I try to really understand the person, the moment of life that is going through. It’s not just about opening the door of an apartment, but building a relationship that lasts over time. This is what separates me: not the transaction, but the goal of the customer. I want to help him reach him. The attention to detail and desire creates an almost magical atmosphere. Buying or selling home can be stressful, but with the right person it becomes a beautiful experience, to remember for the whole life.
What are people really looking for when they buy a luxury home in New York?
Beyond everything, numbers must come back. Even when the price is very high, who buys wants to be sure to buy correctly: price per square meter, return potential, investment solidity. They are very attentive to what they spend. The work on details and numbers is fundamental.
The most amazing house you’ve ever seen?
A penthouse overlooking Central Park, for sale at 180 million dollars. A stay suspended on the park, something never seen. It was like being inside Central Park and at the same time in the heart of Midtown, on the clouds. I didn’t sell it, but still today, when I think about it, I’ve never seen anything more spectacular.
Do you meet many famous customers?
Yes, of many I can’t make the name, but many of my customers or customers of the group are famous. We talk about entrepreneurs, Ceo, big companies, fashion world – also Italian. singers and their companions and companions, such as the former wife of Stevie Wonder, but also actresses and actors… Robert Downey Jr hit me a lot!
How much did the encounter with your husband affect your vision of the city and life?
That’s the main reason I liked New York. The city has not changed, the way I lived it has changed thanks to him. My husband is African American and brings with him a history, a culture and a tradition that deeply enriched me. This has also changed my way of seeing life, and what it means to live in the United States, today and in the future, especially for our son. It was not an easy love, but it was a chosen love.
You have become parents: what values do you wish to convey to your son by growing up in New York?
It’s a huge challenge. Transmitting Italian culture here is not easy: from food to language, to deeper values. The moment of the meal, for example, in Italy is sacred, here is very different. I speak Italian to my son and try to send him everything I can. My husband’s culture, on the other hand, will be more natural for him to understand it growing.
New York is extremely international: a real melting pot. Our son will grow surrounded by children of every origin, learning about different cultures and traditions, while we will build our family identity. It will not be simple, but it will be a wealth.
What are you keeping with Italy?
We often return, at least twice a year, and spend a whole month in summer. I wish my son lived the summers there. My mother and my sisters come to visit us regularly. My husband fell in love with Italy especially for food: He says he’d go alone, just to eat. Our son has a year and is already a good fork.
In Italy I feel a sense of deep belonging, which I would like to convey to him. In Trieste whoever I meet makes me feel at home. It is the place of my roots, a feeling that makes me free and happy. Italy has so many inefficiencies, from bureaucracy to transport, but it remains home: it is like the sofa of your life, what has your shape and smell.
Between work, family and millionaire negotiations, what is your idea of success today?
She’s changed a lot. At first success was to arrive where they are today. Now, as a mother and leader of a team, success is balance. It is to build a group of women who do what they love, grow my son, spend time with him and with my family. It is keeping alive the Italian culture that belongs to me. Today success is done more than sensations than numbers.
How can you reconcile professional and personal life?
It’s very difficult. Like all mothers. I’ll help, I’ve got a nanny, and thanks to my team, I can devote afternoons to my son. In the morning I am focused on clients and work. I also try to cut out time for myself, to be a person as well as a mother and a professional.
If I had to tell New York beyond the myth, what city is it?
It is a city that demands enormous sacrifices, but which in return offers equally great possibilities. It opens doors you wouldn’t even imagine. It needs courage, strength, fatigue, and a great ability not to get down. In this, we Italians are very good.
Would you return to Italy?
Our project is to return to Italy later, maybe when our son is in college. Trieste would be the natural choice: is unique, with the sea, the mountain, a perfect dimension to live well.
L’articolo Beatrice Caponnetti Jackson, from Trieste to the top of the luxury real estate New York proviene da IlNewyorkese.
