By Katelyn Norkowski
Staff Reporter
Jason Torey is a licensed real estate professional that specializes in apartment rentals and sales in Manhattan. Through his brand, The Torey Storey, Torey “produces happy clients in the search of a perfect home at Halstead.”
Torey graduated with honors from Sacred Heart University in 2015 with a communications degree. He uses this degree along with multimedia platforms to connect with clients.
“When I first created The Torey Storey, I made an Instagram to use towards building a business one day,” said Torey. “I used Instagram as a marketing platform.”
“I had an interest in real estate and thought New York City was a good fit for me based on the lifestyle,” said Torey.
When asked what his marketing plan was, Torey said, “I am young, starting my career and figuring it out.”
Torey not only pursues the closing of sales; he also strives to build strong relationships with his clients.
“Clients purchase merchandise from the company and use them in their own homes,” said Torey. “When people see our name on these products, it starts conversation. We gain clients this way.”
Social media also plays a role in gaining clientele for Torey.
“What is marketing?” asked Torey. “It is awareness.”
Torey realized that in order to spread awareness, he needed to keep building his media platforms.
“I quickly realized that I needed audio and video on Instagram,” said Torey. “I was better at Public Relations and needed someone who could help me create videos.”
In response to this insight, Torey reached out to Aaron Burrel, a Media Studies alumni of Sacred Heart. Burrel attended Sacred Heart for both his undergraduate and graduate years at Sacred Heart and graduated in 2016.
“I connected with Aaron who was on the soccer team and he was a good production student,” said Torey. “He understood more than others.”
“I’ve been working in media since graduation and am in the process of founding my own production company,” said Burrel. “I am glad to get to work with you since we were friends in undergrad and now have the chance to build something together as alum.”
Together they have worked to build The Torey Storey in many different ways.
For example, they started posting “Quotes of the Day” on their Facebook page.
“The ‘Quotes of the Day’ are good attention grabbers and once our clients like them, they come back to our page for new quotes every day,” said Torey. “We also post articles on our Facebook and LinkedIn each day to get people updated on the world of New York.”
“Another field we went into is video podcasting,” said Torey. “One of our clients knew students from Sacred Heart.”
“I then reached out to Sacred Heart students and shared ideas with them, and I must say that they get things done fast,” said Torey. “You just never know what people can do for you and the relationships you can build with others.”
To connect and bond with clients even more, they created two hashtags, one of which is trademarked.
“We made ‘#WellHeyHowAreYa?!?!’ and ‘#TheToreyStoreyWantstoKnowYour-Storey,’” said Torey. “These hashtags allow us to communicate with our clients and engage with them.”
“Business is just starting and we just keep chipping away each day,” according to Torey. “We need to keep building, building, building.”
Torey and Burrel’s connection began at Sacred Heart and grew into a professional partnership.
“We got an emotional feeling and we wanted to get our word out there,” said Torey. “He is a very smart guy.”
“To think that common friendship and two kids getting together and thinking outside the box of their own companies has grown to this is unbelievable,” said Torey.