Dylan Maddox is no stranger to managing an influx of texts and phone calls. In fact, the Baltimore residential real estate agent has two smartphones so she can be available to her clients.
But last spring, before boarding a nearly 15-hour flight from Qatar to Baltimore, she received a message that caught her eye. It was a casting agent from the Netflix reality TV show “Love Is Blind” asking Maddox if she was interested in participating in the show’s seventh season, set in the Washington, D.C., area.
The show follows singles who date and get engaged without ever seeing each other in person. Each season films for about six weeks, following a number of couples as they get to know one another inside individual rooms divided by opaque walls equipped with speakers and microphones. The rooms, called pods, prevent contestants from seeing one another but allow them to have date-like conversations and couples get engaged sight unseen before they're allowed to set eyes on each other outside the pods. In the following episodes, they move in together and have a wedding.
Maddox, 30, said she’s “very much a yes woman,” so after consulting with two close friends, she took the call with the casting agent and pursued the opportunity.
“I typically will just do something for the sake of doing it,” she said, “because you can't regret something you've done in the same way you can regret something you haven't done.”
While Maddox was cast in the show, she wasn't featured and only appeared briefly in the first episodes.
Though the show was recorded about a year ago — Netflix said it doesn’t like sharing specific dates — it wasn’t until Sept. 18 that Maddox’s role in the seventh season, with its first three episodes airing Wednesday, was revealed. Between filming the show and its release, she had to “continue on” with her life “as normal.”
“I love the element of surprise, so I, for the most part, didn't really tell anyone,” she said. Now, when clients learn about her reality TV experience, she tells them “you’ll have to tune in.”
Career balance
As each season airs, there are inevitable questions about how contestants manage to leave work for such an extended period of time, especially because they don’t have access to their phones or other personal technology for portions of filming. This season’s cast of 29 includes a quantum physicist, a lawyer, a journalist and four real estate agents.
Maddox kept the show a secret during the casting process, she said. It wasn’t until she made the final round that she let her then-team know there was a possibility she’d be unreachable for some time. The team's indifference to Maddox's news was a signal to her that she needed to be at a more supportive brokerage, a move she eventually made in January.
“There wasn't really much excitement on their end,” she said. “They didn't really care one way or another if I wasn't there, because I wasn't really a valued team member.”
With her team aware of the situation, Maddox started preparing her clients for her absence. “That was more of a challenge,” she said.
She ended up giving her work phone to a good friend who also works in real estate.
“I basically was just, like, here's my phone. Please do as you see fit. If someone calls, tell them I'm unavailable,” Maddox said.
As for her active clients, some of whom were under contract at the time, Maddox said she set up appointments far in advance. She lined up inspections, appraisals, lenders and closing meetings that would all run in her absence. Ultimately, she didn’t see any negative effects on her business.
“I didn't get pushback,” Maddox said. “I think my clients, since I was so readily available, they had a sense of trust in me.”
Real estate lessons
Earlier this year, Maddox joined a new team of agents, the Batoff Group with Compass. She said her decision was partly influenced by the show.
“I wanted to choose people who this sense of like reality fame didn't scare, who didn't feel threatened by it, and knew kind of how to manage it and navigate through it,” she said. “That was a big factor of me choosing them. So, I think ultimately, right away, they had a good understanding and were a fantastic support system moving into this year.”
Maddox has closed 11 transactions this year, according to CoStar’s Homes.com. She said she's also had three off-market deals close and has four deals set to close in the next two weeks.
Looking ahead, Maddox said she hopes to grow her brand in real estate while also incorporating her passion for art and architecture.
And she thinks her experience on “Love Is Blind” will help her achieve those goals.
“There's so much that you can learn about other people when you're under pressure,” she said. “That will help me navigate real estate, especially if you’re familiar with working with a client, people are so different, and people, when you're under pressure, like buying a house, can react in so many different ways. So to be able to keep calm, to be able to know how to manage other people's expectations, to manage people's feelings, I think that that is one thing I was able to get further insight into being a part of the experience.”