Mosaic Realty is thrilled to announce that Casey Conner has joined our group of top-notch Asheville area real estate agents. Mosaic’s Hillary Edgin caught up with Casey on a brief interview. Learn more about Casey here.
Share a bit about your background (how you got here; any family, pets, etc.)
I came to Western North Carolina for college and never left! (Laughs) I grew up in West Virginia and started at Marshall University, but realized I wanted something different. I had started thinking about a Parks and Recreation major and Western Carolina University had a great program, so I moved here in 1996 and finished my undergrad degree. Then I did what a lot of recent grads do and traveled around the country a bit before landing a job taking kids on outdoor adventure trips in Maine and the Pacific Northwest. From there, I landed in Lake Tahoe, snowboarding for a couple of years and working in ski resorts. After my eldest daughter was born, I started working with Tahoe City Parks and Rec and running after-school care and sports programs. Eventually, it became a pain dealing with all the snow, and we realized we wanted to be closer to family, so we moved back to WNC in 2002. By that point, I already had a job lined up with Black Mountain Recreation and Parks, where I also became director—and I wound up working there for 16 years!
So, over the last 20-some years, I’ve raised three daughters (two of whom were born here) and gotten my masters degree from NC State—graduating with a 4.0 GPA, even though I had a family and was working full time! I’m extremely proud of my daughters, but I’m really proud of that GPA, too. I learned so much about myself—what I was capable of, and that I did belong in that group of people, and in that job as Parks and Rec director, too. It taught me I was capable of doing a lot and doing it well.
So what made you want to be a real estate broker?
The first thing that started me thinking about it was that I added onto my house, but I didn’t want it to be obvious that there had been an addition. Though I had contractors, I wound up designing the build and doing some of the build myself. (Don't worry—I had the contractors for the electric, plumbing and HVAC.)
Then my neighbor moved and I ended up buying his house and gutting that. Most of that work I did myself (again, outside of the HVAC, electric and plumbing). I just loved working with my hands and being cheap! (Laughs) Still haven’t flipped a house—don’t really know that I ever could bring myself to—but it got me thinking I might be able to renovate homes and make a living doing that. That’s when I really started to think about becoming a realtor.
I already knew a lot of people, and via the job at Black Mountain, I got to know a bunch more folks. I didn’t have much sales experience, but I talked to a couple of mentors, who suggested it was all about relationships to people and showed me that I was already selling, even at my job with BMRP. After all, I sold the town my recommendations, program designs, etc. So I completed coursework in 2017 and got my license in 2018, after stepping away from my Black Mountain post.
What are your passion projects/subjects?
Besides my kids, sports! (That passion even found its way into the P&R job.) I’m also a massive Pittsburgh Steelers fan. And I firmly believe that my sportsman’s competitive nature is key to being successful in real estate!
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But I have a nurturing side, too. I’m a plant dad—with 53 houseplants! (Laughs) It started when I’d buy plants as closing gifts and then I got to where I’d buy one for myself too. I also have gotten into my “rescue” plants—plants needing some TLC that I’ve bought from markdown tables. It keeps me tied into nature, and gives me something to tend to, now that my girls are older and don’t need me as much.
Another passion is really good pizza. In fact, my whole family are kind of food nerds. When we were younger, my grandmother used to take me and my little brother to get pizza and we just sort of bonded over it. About 10 years ago, a friend had a wood-fired pizza oven, so my brother and I borrowed it for a party. Well, the neighbor left it, so we just made pizza every day! We wound up buying it and doing some stuff at breweries and so on, and then got into catering about 6-10 events a year. During that time, we got our recipes down and made it a really solid product. Then we opened Good Company Pizza! We even went to the National Pizza Expo—and came in second place for the best cheese slice in the Southeast! And then Helene happened. We worked super-hard to get it reopened quickly, so my renovation skills came in handy again. We re-opened only 10 weeks after we got flooded!
The community must have been thrilled with having some good hot pizza available again! What are some of the other ways you enjoy giving back to our community?
I have a seat on some local boards, I especially enjoy working with Friends & Neighbors of Swannanoa. We do a lot of community events, which perfectly dovetails into my background. I’ve also been a board member of the Black Mountain Center for the Arts (although I stepped down last year; my kids attended classes there) and I am a diehard Owen High Athletics booster. My youngest plays volleyball and basketball there, which also provides me good visibility as a realtor.
What are your realty superpowers?
Relationship-building—connecting and working with others. I’m a people pleaser and really want to help my client meet their goals. Since they’ve trusted me with that job, I hold myself to a high standard.
Also, understanding the working parts of a house really helps my clients suss out problems before they buy. That knowledge really helps them set reasonable expectations when they read the inspection reports.
Do you have certain neighborhoods/communities in which you especially love to work?
Geography doesn’t matter to me as much as my connection to people. Of course, I know Black Mountain and Swannanoa very well,, so I know some things about those areas that others won’t. I also am fond of places like Burnsville and Cullowhee. (WCU Catamounts, represent!)
What is the most special thing about the AVL area?
One of things that sets Asheville apart is that so many people CHOOSE to live here. I think people are happier if they choose to live in a place, rather than the place choosing them. The people here seem a little bit happier because of that. I know I am!
Connect with Casey at 828-777-0583 or Casey@MyMosaicRealty.com
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