🎙️Episode 17 — *From Real Estate to Reverence: The Reinvention of Marc Altheim

Mark Alim's journey is absolutely fascinating. From a top top ranking real estate executive to someone who tried to introduce a sport into the United States. I sat with Mark. He was real. He was authentic. He was emotional. And his story is absolutely fascinating. Find out more this week on Jewish Grit. I'm here today with Mark Aline. Fascinating individual. Mark, thank you so much for joining us. >> Thank you for having me. >> Okay, Mark, I'm going to jump right into it. >> Okay. How does a top real estate executive with, I don't know, 5,000 units in Manhattan and the Bronx end up running a yoga studio where we actually are right now? >> It's an easy question to answer. I had known a lot of people who were very wealthy and continued to pursue that path of wealth and wealth building. And I noticed that many people were not having a meaningful or necessarily happy life. That just having more was not necessarily more. That actually less could be more. I wanted to help people heal. And being not a doctor or a rabbi, I wanted to help people have a life that has more quiet in their lives, a life that has a healthier body. Yoga was something I had benefited from immensely. I mean incredibly. It was lifestyle changing for me and I wanted to share that with people and therefore I pursued a goal of owning a yoga studio but more importantly being a teacher at the yoga studio. >> So it was like an exit strategy from the real estate world or it was just another chapter in the book that you're writing. >> There's not been much strategy. >> Got it. in this person's life. I went to pursue a yoga school to learn more about yoga and understand what I was doing and then it was a byproduct that I had been asked to substitute teach or sample teach as it's part of the curriculum and it just met me teaching. You could tell people what to do and they listen to you. Not happened in my household very often. So you tell people what to do, they listen to you and they could benefit from that message that you're sending them. It's a very very meaningful way to conduct my life. I live comfortably and I was successful and for me it wasn't just chasing the next dollar. It's much easier to make that decision if you have money. Right? >> In other words, I'm not saying >> our viewers always say that that everyone says, "Oh, money is not where it's at." That's because they have the money. >> Correct? So I'm not suggesting that I would have pursued yoga as a first pursuit but because of the benefits of what I had done I didn't feel that I needed to build another thousand units. I just felt that I wanted to make a change in my life and this really works. >> What was your education like? >> My Jewish education was I like to call it to the left of reformed which is deformed. So I was deformed until I went to Israel in 1990 and uh at 1990 I was 27 years old. I was fortunate enough to go to on a U.J mission. My parents cajjol my wife and I to go to Israel. Until then I was pretty bereff of any Jewish element in my life honestly and sadly but >> and what happened in Israel that >> so I went to Israel. We visited the hotel the western wall. I had a a moment capitals all capital moment where I felt my I felt as if God was talking to me literally at that wall. He didn't say anything specific, but it was almost like you're a Jew. What are you doing? And when I came home, I started studying with the folks from Osame. Label is uh was my mentor, my rabbi. And I'm intellectually curious person. And what other place to be in Judaism because you can just have a field day. It never ends. And my journey has been where I wear to fill in every day where in my circle of people of deformed and semideformed folks who you know don't consider Judaism a centerpiece of their life. I'm considered the pious one which I know is is so it's like it's insulting to the word pious. What what would you tell a 25year-old person who's starting young young professionals just starting their career? What would you tell them first of all is the most important thing for them to know professionally? I think you have to be very organized. I think you have to be hungry for what you're doing. It could be whatever you're doing. And I think you have to be super disciplined and make that career choice the second priority in your life after your family, not the first. And you need to learn from others. You need to learn that making mistakes is part of the journey. And you have to have you really do audacity. >> You have to have, right? >> Yes. >> You not gonna have all the answers, especially if you're young and want to be an entrepreneur. Believe in yourself. You'll make mistakes, but you need to have just do it. Try it. I've had many more failures, probably lost more money than I have. And certainly, I'm not proud of that. Sometimes I didn't know what I was doing. I don't think I used all the available resources. I think that's also a huge thing. Using all available resources. I used to have something in my office like seven or eight tenants. Some of it stolen from Steve CVY. Uh some of it my own. And I remember use all available resources. Meaning that you're not going to know. I know what my weaknesses are. and you don't wanna you want to exploit your skill set and you want to learn about your weak part of your game and then you want to fill the weak part of your game with either people around you, right? You want better people. Almost any place I worked, especially my real estate company, I had smarter people around me, you know, I was a good generalist, but I had people around me who were super smart and that was really helpful. >> Do you have a mentor in your life? I think my dad would be he's not a mentor, but I think he led by example with his work ethic, with his um treatment of people. He treats everybody nicely, race, color, creed, and my mother, too. And I think that that has helped me throughout my life. >> My followup question is, so you also have the platform to talk to a 25-year-old that's just starting their career, >> probably hyperfocused on being successful financially. What would you tell them is important for them to understand about their heritage, their Judaism, their roots? >> Well, being a latecomer to Shabbat and and not necessarily a full throttled Shabbat observer, I would think if you're super hyper object and and doing your job like all the time that Shabbat is a super convenient thing to embrace. You need to take your foot off the gas, right? So, and then that just leads to so many nice things because you could study Torah, you could study the Psalms, you could really avail yourselves of the resources that really are a lot of common sense things. But I think like a person who meditates twice a day, if you drive from here to Florida, right, you got to take a pit stop, you got to slow down. And meditation, Shabbat, things to quiet your mind, to give yourself time to absorb is is hugely critical. I did not have that when I was really at in my top of my career. I did have the Shabbat Friday break and I needed it. Saturday did not work. And I was so proud of the fact that I said I didn't work. And I always admired my colleagues in law school. I went to Cardoo. So our school was closed on Saturdays and the guys who were the most observant seemed to be the best students I think because of the teaching, learning, learning, learning. Right. Just always learning. >> What other interesting pit stops did your career have? >> So I had a dream to introduce a sport to the American sports landscape. At the time, beach volleyball was very hot. So I came upon a sport called beach tennis. I tried to launch it. Launch it. It was on ESPN. It was on the Tennis Channel. It was pre-pickle ball. It was a confusing endeavor, but it allowed me to pursue a dream of mine, which was to I love racket sports. I'm a Kadea player. Me and my son have a record of 1,269 hits back and forth, but not like kind of fluffy, but just it happened on December 31st in Miami. I remember it well. It took like 25 minutes, the rally. Has your definition of success from when you were early in your career to at the peak of your real estate career? Has that definition changed? That means you're in your early 20s. You're an attorney, right? That was also part of a stop. >> I never practiced, but yes, I did pass the bar. Unlike John F. Kennedy, I passed it the first time. >> So, you had some some definition of success, I guess, as you're starting your career. Let's fast forward 25 years into your career. Did your definition of success change at all? >> I think so. I think as you you learn that you're not going to win all the time and that sometimes the losses are actually even better than the wins in some way because they add to your ability to gauge what's really most important. I think dealing honestly with people in your business and having integrity which is builds on our Judaism also that you know you have perk aos but it's really how you make the money sometimes as opposed to what you're making. When you look back at the last, I don't know, your career was about 30 30 years or so like that, what was a really low moment and how did you climb out of that low? My company was associated with a fellow who was unbeknownst to me was being followed by the FBI and he ran a sports book, an illegal sports book, but he also was an excavator for one of my subcontractors and he was also a fixer in the building department of New York. I had no idea. I am a hugger. I like to hug people. I would make I'm a little naive. I think that's a quality that's good and bad. >> Sometimes good, but sometimes bad. >> And I tend to believe people. I don't really see people through because I see the good parts in people. >> And like I said, I could really curse you. So this one dude, Rich Kelly, ended up being followed and they would see me hugging him on job sites and then they thought he worked for my company. There were people in my business that didn't like how successful my partner and I were. And we think somebody tried to like turn a dime on us and my office was raided by the New York City Manhattan District Attorney. That was rough because and this guy who I befriended who gave me like a bottle of Louis something fancy who I he just totally tricked me and it cost us a lot of money to defend ourselves. We were vindicated. So we ended up unscathed. Uh and that you know I really had a lot of gratitude for getting through that period of time in my life. And I think that's another thing that I would say is really important, right? We start off the day mod, the mod prayer. I mean, how brilliant is that? Right? You get up. I mean, I didn't write that, right? It's like, I'm going to get up like all this, a lot of the yoga stuff is a little, you know, cosmic and feel good stuff. There's a lot of gratitude. There was like the gratitude movement. It's like we've been on the gratitude thing forever, right? We get up in the morning and we have gratitude, right? So, that's also something that's really important for whatever. So I was grateful that you know that period of time I made it through. It tested me. My wife was so supportive of me during that time. Uh I learned to turn to prayer and it was a it was a low point. That that's for sure. It was really not something I would really recommend to anybody get involved. >> How you it seems like you came out of it intact. I mean there was a good verdict obviously. What did you do to cope while the world's coming down on you? I definitely turned to Hashem, right? I turned to, you know, why do good things happen to bad people? Why do bad things happen to good people? And I was able to through working out and doing stuff that was keeping my mind busy and realizing at the end of the day I knew what I knew and I had faith that it was going to become vindicated. So, uh, I was able to have a peace of mind even though, you know, was scary as hell, but I I did have peace of mind. >> Looking back, was it a growth experience or you just made it through? >> Oh, yeah. It was a big- time growth experience. One thing I didn't mention also is I I when I started my business, I it was me and a partner, $10,000 each. We put it into the pot and we built a really very successful business. When I started my business, I realized that I needed an outlet at the same time and I learned karate. So, it was kind of like that the more you do, the more you can do kind of thing, but you don't want to keep doing the same thing. So, I learned karate for four years, which is totally against the grain. First of all, I don't I'm a lover, not a fighter. I don't like to punch anybody. I've never really been punched. But when the karate became to a green belt, it came into combat and I was like, I'm done, you know, I'm done. But I think it's important just for these folks who are considering doing something, leaping into a place is to not just be in that one bucket. That really served me. I think that was unusual, too, that I said, "Honey, I'm starting a new business with a partner. I don't know how it's going to work out. I'm also starting karate because I need to add some discipline and outlet for myself." And I I really felt that was good. I know you mentioned to me off off camera that you went to Israel not not that long after October 7th. You know, I know your father was already a very philanthropic person and very involved in the Jewish community and it's probably what you grew up with as somebody who has I guess their finger on on the pulse and in a strong way in the Jewish community. How have we changed since October 7th? >> So I went in February uh 2024 visiting Israel. You saw the strength of the people, right? I don't think that strength was tested at least in my lifetime uh like it was and I think that the Jewish people some of them have showed a resolve and a dedication to the state of Israel. I mean I wear this all the time. I was in Spain in aa Spain and uh Mayorca and you know there's a lot of people say don't wear your locket or whatever this is called. I'm like there's just no way I'm not wearing my locket. You know if someone's going to say something I mean I'm not going to get shot and if if that's how I got shot for that for doing this I would be okay with that because I'm not sure what's on the other side but I probably get some good points on the other side. So, you know, for me, I think either you got more into what you were or you became more out of what you weren't. There's a lot in the middle and just even with this Mandami thing, you know, it's frightening. And you see Jewish people, I just it it's staggering to me. So, I think there's a lot of I've been impressed by the strength of our people, by their ability to deal with stuff that's unspeakable. And then there's been just a lot of disappointment. >> Can you talk a little bit about the importance of of charity, of giving, of generosity? My father's name is Phillip. The word philanthropy is philanthropy. If you look up philanthropy, a picture of him, >> he definitely he boxed in a higher level than his weight. Okay? He was amongst titans of philanthropy at the U.JS and the other institutions that he's involved. and he would definitely give a higher percentage of money that he had compared to some really wealthy people. So that was an example that was set for me and like when you guys called right I'm involved in kabad on campus right I'm very involved in a lot of different kabads so once your name's on the kabad list you get called from manhassid you get called from lake success I have a home in Vermont I get called by Rascin in Vermont and most people kind of run from it but I run to it you know I maybe I can't give $100,000 what's the I kind of feel I know it's maybe a little >> that's not my money I'm kind of like >> a vest vessel for the money. I know a lot of people were smarter than me, worked harder than me, and did not have the luck that I had, the masle, whatever you want to call it. And I really appreciate the money I have. And I like giving away money. It feels good. And when you read about Eli Beer and Hot Solar and you see that there are other people like you, which is not a high percentage. A lot of my friends make a lot of money. And you know, I used to tell them, you know, your dining room table cost you $10,000. you can't give $5,000 to this organization. I also have another thing that the more money I spend on myself, the more money I like to give because I feel like if I buy a new car, I should give more money because I'm treating myself to something, so I should do something else. So, these values I think are unusual and I'm really grateful I have them. I didn't I'm just fortunate that it's part of my being. >> Mark, it's been a real pleasure uh a very meaningful experience to talk to you. What's next? Okay. So, there was real estate, there was >> beachennis, >> beach tennis, um >> JTS, >> JTS, yoga, >> yoga. >> Now, what? >> So, I'm a breath coach also. >> Okay. >> So, I'm trying to maybe add the breath coaching element into the yoga studio. Mentoring could be in my future. >> Uh also, let's do it. I also am involved in a movie right now, a documentary on a woman named Anna Rosenberg, who's not one of Ethel or Julius Rosenberg. She was a Jewish woman who became the assistant defense secretary uh underneath uh Roosevelt and Truman, small 5 foot1 Jewish immigrant from Lithuania and she's been lost to history. So I got I read a book. It's called The Confidant. It's about her life and I was so interested in it that I contacted the author and found out if they're making a movie that and he said that someone contacted about making a documentary. Now, these people who are making the documentary, if I'll tell them to their face, they're very left of the dial. So, it's a little bit of a negotiation, but I did recently fund uh I gave $60,000 to develop a it's like a a reel, like a sizzle reel or they call it something else, forget the name, to bring this person's Anna Rosenberg's story to the people. >> Why does it talk to you so much? because she was an underdog. She had definite kutzbah. She was a woman in a man's world. There was very few women in the in that rank of government. She worked for field reel LaGuardia also. She was spunky and I was captivated by her. Actually, my father deserves credit. He turned me on to the book. He's very well read. So that and um you know I thought about going to film school myself because I think I'm pretty creative and I like to build things real estate. I'm not sure that that train has passed but but most importantly I'm a grandfather now. So I have three grandchildren and they're like my priorities. They only live 15 minutes from me. So if anything I could give them to make them the best person they could be, it would be great. So wishing you lots of success, uh lots of nahas from your grandchildren and keep doing great things. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you for listening to Jewish Grit and Ol mentorship podcast. At OM mentorship, we believe that everyone needs a mentor. What better way is there to tap into your personal and professional potential than with a Jewish mentor at your side. Learn more at olami.org/mentorship. Don't forget to keep listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.