Beverly Hills agent and TV veteran remembered as ‘a force’ 

Jennifer Berman, an accomplished agent with more than 25 years of experience in the industry — including several leadership positions and starring roles on real estate reality shows — died this week after a years-long battle with cancer.

Most recently, Berman was chief operating officer at Direct Offer, a company that provides tools and solutions for international real estate sales, as well as a cast member of CNBC's "Listing Impossible" series, which follows agents working in the high-end Los Angeles market. Berman had also previously been featured on Bravo's "Million Dollar Listing."

Berman previously served as general manager for the Beverly Hills-focused Hilton & Hyland brokerage and was a longtime moderator and host for industry events. On a podcast, Berman discussed the roots of her career in real estate, saying that she had planned to go to law school but fell into a sales job with a construction company and realized that she "was a born salesman."

"I was selling windows and siding and was too stupid to know that that was 1,000% a man's job back then," she said of her early experience. "I was the only female throughout the entire United States and then I ended up being their third top salesperson." 

After going public with her illness on social media, Berman said she heard from people all over the country — in real estate and beyond — who felt inspired to open up about their own struggles with cancer. "It's just a journey and I did it with positivity," she said. 

Chris Pollinger, a former business partner of Berman's, described her as "a force of nature" who had a natural ability to "cut through the noise, to see beyond the facades, and to get straight to the heart of the matter" in a eulogy shared on Facebook.

"Her legacy is not just in the deals we closed or the strategies we crafted; it's in the way she made us feel—valued, respected, and above all, capable of reaching heights we hadn't imagined," he wrote. "Jennifer taught us that to lead with integrity, to speak our truth, and to face each day with unyielding enthusiasm was the real essence of success."

Direct Offer also published a remembrance for Berman, highlighting her leadership qualities and noting that the company plans to plant 50 trees in California to her memory. 

"We are heartbroken and saddened by the loss of our good friend and amazing COO Jennifer Berman," the post read. "She was a brilliant, smart, and genius force to be reckoned with. She was everyone's sweetheart, hero, and inspiration in the real estate industry."