Social media can be a great way to make connections, advertise one’s business and find inspiration. It can also be incredibly toxic.
San Antonio-based eXp Realty agent Ryan Noonan unfortunately learned this the hard way when he tried out a collaboration with a local menswear company on TikTok and was brutally mocked in the comments. Many people might shut down or lash out after such an experience, but Noonan’s responses largely stuck to “Thanks for your engagement.”
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Inman spoke with Noonan about how he kept his cool and the ways in which he’s now working to grow from the experience, despite the slew of negative feedback.
The ill-fated TikTok
When Hammer Made, a menswear store with a location near Noonan’s home (and where he walks his dog every day) approached him about advertising an upcoming discount event they were hosting, he saw it as an opportunity to advertise his luxury real estate services to a wider audience.
“I [first] thought, I could take a picture of my blazer and post a story and be like, ‘Hey, I’m doing this event,’ and just put words on the screen,” Noonan said. “But I felt like that was just a little low effort.
“Then I thought, or, I could make a video and try to tie in me as a Realtor with some of these homes that I’ve done open houses for. So that was the idea.”
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In the video, Noonan introduces himself as a luxury Realtor at a property that his eXp Realty office is representing. He then goes on to say how he believes “success is in the details, from your mindset to your suit jacket.” He gives details about the event that Hammer Made is hosting, and says that anyone who mentions his video will get an extra discount. The video closes out with a few shots of the store’s merchandise.
And the haters started hating.
Some commenters made some pretty personal attacks, comparing Noonan to the character Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, wondering if he was taking a shot at satire, criticizing his fashion sensibility, and on and on.
Fortunately, there were some positive comments combating the hate, including some who praised Noonan for putting himself out there, and for responding with such grace and professionalism to such acidic comments.
“Dude, you have kept every one of your responses that I read civil in this comment section and that is awesome because some of these people are really testing you! You passed, btw!” TikTok user PrincePaul commented. “I wish all the best for you as you continue to build a name for yourself in real estate.✌🏽”
Noonan told Inman he was just “trying to be unique” and avoid creating real estate content like other agents out there. He added that “it didn’t feel great” receiving all the negative feedback, but it ultimately got him a few leads.
“I [had] a luxury custom homebuilder reach out to me that wants to meet and discuss some things, and then I had a few subcontractors for renovations that reached out to me,” Noonan said.
An active-duty Air Force member with a calling to real estate
Real estate is not Noonan’s full-time gig, even though that might not be immediately apparent by looking at his social media channels.
The active-duty U.S. Air Force member is an air-traffic controller stationed in San Antonio, Texas, and just got his real estate license in August 2025.
Ryan Noonan | Courtesy of Ryan Noonan
Noonan’s late father was a real estate developer in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Noonan grew up, and his brother is an agent with SERHANT.’s new office there. After being immersed in the real estate world for most of his life, this year Noonan felt like he was in a place where he could give it a try.
“I’ve been around [real estate] for a long time, and I really like the freedom that being a real estate agent offers,” he told Inman. “You can build your business and build your brand the way you want to — and I like the autonomy of that.”
Although it’s not his full-time job, his social media posts have quickly filled up with real estate-related content.
“I dedicate most of my off-time to real estate,” Noonan said. “So although it technically is part-time, it doesn’t really feel that way to me.”
Having to give instructions to pilots as an air-traffic controller has helped him communicate clearly both on- and off-camera in his real estate business, the new agent added. Noonan also said that the determination he’s developed while in the military is something that has helped him stay motivated in building his real estate career.
“Just being in the military and having to wake up early and train physically has cultivated a huge amount of drive and willingness to work hard, even during my time off, until I’m blue in the face, basically,” he said.
How he stays poised
Noonan told Inman that, even though he’s only just started his real estate career, he has a strategic vision for his brand and his pathway as an agent — and he won’t let haters get in the way of that.
“I’m going to post things and do things, and take constructive criticism and feedback intelligently,” Noonan said. “And if I’m doing something that’s flat-out wrong or illegal, then I’m going to change. But I’m not just going to let the little voices [get in the way.]
“The way I see it, I’m like a gladiator in an arena,” he continued, “and there’s a lot of spectators. I see myself as somebody that’s playing the game — I’m not watching the game.
“Maybe my video didn’t quite execute the way that I wanted it to, but I know that I’m going to get better, that I’m a quality person and that I’ll figure it out eventually. The fact that I’m getting all these views means that I’m doing something right; I just have to tweak my process.”
Amid all the other noise in the video’s comments, Noonan said he was able to pull out some constructive feedback, and said he’ll probably try to make more focused, shorter clips on TikTok in the future that just tackle one thing at a time.
The experience was also a good lesson in resiliency and risk-taking, Noonan said.
“If you’re going to be successful, you need to have thick skin, and you just need to know how to take feedback from people,” he said. “I think I did a really good job of staying calm and not letting it break me down, keeping it professional.
“You just have to take risks and you need to be OK with not exactly hitting the mark that you were intending for, but having a growth mindset and saying, ‘OK, I got 95,000 views and I got a bunch of hate, but I learned from it. And the next time I do a video, it’s going to be even better.’ You just have to have this relentlessly positive attitude about it,” Noonan added.
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