JOYCE REY

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E x e c u t i v e A g e n t M a g a z i n e . L o s A n g e l e s C o u n t y . J a n u a r y, 2 0 2 1

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to travel.” Joyce used a flight pass to go to Acapulco over Thanksgiving weekend, when a famous actor moved from first class to coach to sit next to her. He was on his way to the international film festival and asked her to be his date. His name was Alejandro Rey, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The couple eventually married, and traveled to Brazil for a major movie project, and later started a family.

“I loved house hunting every time we moved,” Joyce recalls. “I thought I’d get a real estate license to know about the business.”

An exciting moment where Inman News named Joyce as the first recipient of the Golden I Club Luxury Hall of Fame award.

Written by H. K. Wilson - Photography by Ian Wiant

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oyce Rey is a legend in international luxury real estate. With more than four decades of experience, nearly $5 billion in closed transactions and awards too numerous to mention, Joyce has secured her reputation as the “Grand Dame of Real Estate” per the Los Angeles Times and one of “The Los Angeles 500 Most Influential People” per the Los Angeles Business Journal. Her peerless knowledge of real estate is matched by her exceptional character, qualities that culminate in a real estate brand known throughout the world for integrity, innovation and service.

Joyce’s real estate story reads like a Hollywood movie script. She was a young twenty-something training student teachers for the University of Southern California, where she had been a scholarship student with a passion for “teaching in underserved schools and trying to solve the racial problems of America.” There, she encountered a recruiting advert posted by an airline seeking teachers to be part-time flight attendants. “I hadn’t ever really traveled anywhere, and I was teaching welfare recipients typing at night. It was the first time in my life I was able

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The Art of Living Well and Doing Good With her gregarious nature and keen attention to detail, Joyce was a real estate natural. In 1979, she founded the first company to only handle million-dollar listings. She heads the Global Luxury division at Coldwell Banker Realty throughout the company’s brand transitions, and after many years as a leader in the luxury marketplace, she built a team of experts to expand her well-known brand. Today, Joyce and her team of nine are like a family. Together, they serve clients in the luxury sector with unparalleled sophistication, working with high-networth clients and their advisors to execute flawless real estate transactions around the world. The relationships Joyce has fostered over the years yield access to offmarket properties and ensure smooth negotiations during complex transactions.

in January. I’m very involved with the Children’s Action Network, which advocates for foster children and adoptions, as well as Childen Uniting Nations. In 2020, I helped raise money for LA Family Housing, an organization on the forefront of getting houses for homeless families, and over the years, I’ve raised a lot for the St. Joseph’s Center for the Homeless. I’m also a longtime supporter of the LA Music Center. I’ve been a member of the Blue Ribbon for almost 30 years. We support the children’s cultural education programs. I also serve on the CB Community Foundation Board. We raise money among our agents and give it to the charities of their choice. I feel very strongly about the importance of trying to make the world a better place.”

During her real estate journey, Joyce has never lost sight of her original passion for helping the disadvantaged. She continues to give her time and resources to numerous causes, and she comments on a few of them. “I budget time each day to work on those,” she says. “I just accepted the position of co-chair of the Southern California regional board of UNICEF beginning

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Through her career in real estate, Joyce feels she’s had an opportunity to make a difference for every person she has encountered. “Real estate has a connection to my passion for helping others because when someone finds a home they love, it’s a joyful experience. It enables you to develop a close relationship with people during that process. I feel like in my business I am enhancing peoples’ lives.”

Over the years, Joyce has appeared many times in the media. She has been quoted in Forbes magazine and The Wall Street Journal, and has appeared in numerous television shows, including Today, E! Entertainment News, CNN’s Money Shot, and several foreign television shows. But her most notable television appearance was on 60 Minutes in the 1970s, when she told her story as an adoptee searching for her birth mother.

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“I was adopted when I was six days old, and after having my son, I was curious about my genes and went searching for my parents. As a result of that show, I found a half-brother. I now have two wonderful families, the one I grew up with and love, and my newfound family. I’m so fortunate to have so much love in my life.”

spirt of gratitude. “I try to start each day with a moment of gratitude. I’ve had so much good fortune in my lifetime.

My favorite quote is the Golden Rule. Thinking of how someone else feels is the basis of empathy. If you live by that, you’re going to have a positive and successful life.”

As the new year begins, Joyce finds it is a good time for reflection on where she’s been, who she is and what there is for her to do next. At the heart of it all is an abiding

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Joyce Rey Coldwell Banker Realty 301 North Canon Drive Beverly Hills, CA 90210 Tel: 310.291.6646 Email: joyce@joycerey.com Web: www.joycerey.com DRE # 00465013 ExecutiveAgent Magazine