Glamorous real estate company names new CEO

Just three years after launching Living Vogue with his wife, Jamie, Mark Coppens is stepping back from the day-to-day aspect of ownership with the announcement of a new CEO. 

The luxury real estate company in Sarasota named Matthew Hickey the new CEO and managing broker. Hickey, who was one of the first agents Coppens hired initially, has been with the company since 2020. He most recently served as COO. 

Courtesy photo

Mark Coppens will stay on as chairman and founder, focusing more on marketing and the brand. 

“The genesis of this is we’ve just grown leaps and bounds,” Coppens says, noting the brand has grown from the husband-and-wife duo to over 100 agents in three years. He credits the success to how the company has been marketed.  

The Living Vogue storefront in downtown Sarasota doesn’t feel like a residential real estate showroom. Instead, guests are met with large artwork hanging on the walls, pool tables and a champagne bar. Music, neon lights and furniture complete the vibe. 

While Coppens declines to disclose revenue specifics, he does say revenue has grown 30%-40% each year since inception. Additionally, the company launched an international division, brokering a $420 million portfolio, and signed two Florida rental communities. 

“We were getting to be just another average brokerage,” Coppens says, adding that the growth made it hard to keep up with making the brand feel luxurious. “I didn’t have time for the stuff I was passionate about that set us apart — the edgy brand and doing marketing a little differently than everybody else.” 

Coppens looked over his options. He could sell the brand entirely, which would have been easy, he says, with the number of people who have already approached him about purchasing Living Vogue. Or he could offload some of his responsibilities so he could ramp up marketing and branding efforts. He chose the latter. 

Taking the time to interview a few outsiders to step in as CEO didn’t feel right, he says. That’s when Hickey was promoted. 

“He was with us from the beginning,” Coppens says. “He knows the blood, sweat and tears that we’ve gone through, and he has become very much a part of our culture.” 

Now, Hickey is responsible for reinvigorating everything Coppens has “grown numb to” like the company’s processes so Coppens can focus on growth through marketing and branding efforts. 

“Getting back to the basics of our edgy brand,” he calls it. Coppens goal going forward is to create a brand that can be franchised. 

As of August 21, Hickey officially stepped into the CEO role. They’re waiting on legal filings before the managing broker responsibilities can be turned over to Hickey.