Why I'll Never Leave Fountain Hills

There's a version of this post that's just about real estate — market stats, home values, the usual. But if you've followed along with me for any amount of time, you know that's not really how I do things. Fountain Hills isn't just the market I work in. It's the only home I've ever known, and it's the reason I do this job the way I do it. So today I want to slow down and tell you the whole story — where I came from, how I got here, and why I plan on raising my own kids on these same streets someday.

A Childhood Built Around the Fountain

I grew up just down the street from our library, and to this day I think that's one of the luckiest things that ever happened to me. Our neighborhood was full of kids my age, and our parents were close, which meant we were all close too. Some of my best memories are as simple as this: a group of us hopping on bikes and scooters, riding down to the library and the fountain, and just hanging out until we had to go home for dinner. No plans, no schedules — just a pack of neighborhood kids who genuinely loved being around each other.

Every Thanksgiving, without fail, we'd get a street ball game going. It became this little tradition nobody had to organize — it just happened, year after year, because that's what our street did.

Looking back, I don't think I fully appreciated at the time how rare that was. Growing up on a street full of kids my age, with neighbors who felt more like family, in a town small enough that everyone actually knew each other — I will never take that for granted. I honestly can't picture what my childhood would have looked like anywhere else, and I don't want to. It's part of why I know, without question, that I'll never leave. I want my own kids to have a childhood like mine — bikes to the fountain, neighbors who feel like family, a town that shows up for its own.

Fountain Hills High School, Volleyball, and a Passport Full of Stamps

I went all the way through Fountain Hills schools, preschool through graduation in 2019, and it shaped every part of who I am. I played indoor and beach volleyball for Fountain Hills High School and was part of our state championship team for both — something I'm still incredibly proud of. Being part of a team like that teaches you things that stick with you long after the season ends: how to show up for people, how to compete with heart, how to be a good teammate even when things get hard.

I was also part of Sister Cities during high school, which is honestly one of the most formative experiences I had growing up here. I traveled to Germany and Poland through the program, and prior got to host students from those countries when they came to visit us in Fountain Hills. Opening up my own home and my own town to kids from across the world — and getting to see Fountain Hills through their eyes — gave me a completely different appreciation for where I grew up. It reminded me that this little town in the desert has something special to offer, something worth sharing.

Somewhere in there, from about sixteen until I was twenty-two, I was also working at Wicked 6 Bar & Grill — a true hometown job, in a true hometown spot, surrounded by people I'd known my whole life.

The Winding Road to Real Estate

After high school, I went to ASU for a year and a half, chasing a degree in interior design. Then COVID hit, and trying to learn something as hands-on and spatial as interior design over Zoom just didn't work for me. So I made the hard call to step away from that path.

From there, I went in a completely different direction and became a personal trainer. I worked at Alvea Spa out in Trilogy at Rio Verde, teaching group fitness classes and working one-on-one with clients. I loved that season of my life — there's something really special about helping people become stronger, healthier versions of themselves — but I kept feeling this pull back toward that "interior design" space that had drawn me in the first place.

That pull is ultimately what led me to real estate school. I got my license in August of 2023, and I have loved every single day of it since. Looking back, it all makes sense now — real estate lets me combine everything I loved about design and space and homes with the parts of personal training I loved most: sitting with people one-on-one, walking alongside them through something big, and helping them get to a stronger place than where they started. Except now, instead of a fitness goal, it's one of the biggest decisions of their lives — buying or selling a home.

Learning From and Working With the Best

Part of why I love this job so much is who I get to do it alongside. I'm with MCO Realty and The Pellegrini Group, and I don't take that lightly. This isn't just a brokerage and a team I happened to land at — these are people who built this town, and who continue to show up for it every single day. Being able to learn from people who have that kind of history and that kind of investment in Fountain Hills has shaped me into the agent I am, and I'm so grateful for it.

Getting to work with Susan and Tony Pellegrini has been one of the best parts of this whole journey. They've built something in this town that goes so far beyond real estate, and I learn so much from Tony — the way he approaches this business, the way he treats people, the way he's stayed so connected to this community over the years. Having mentors like that, who've already put in the work to earn this town's trust, is something I don't take for granted.

Michael Gant, in particular, is someone I've learned so much from as well. His knowledge of Fountain Hills — the history, the neighborhoods, the way this town has grown and changed over the years — is honestly unmatched. Getting to work alongside people with that depth of knowledge, and having The Pellegrini Group and MCO Realty in my corner, means my clients aren't just getting me — they're getting the benefit of an entire team that knows and loves this town as much as I do. I feel incredibly lucky to be surrounded by people this good at what they do, and I don't think I'd be the agent I am today without them.

Why This Town Is Worth Advocating For

I don't think I could ever fully put into words what Fountain Hills means to me, but I'll try. It's the community events that bring the whole town out. It's the family-owned and small businesses that make this place feel like ours instead of anywhere else. It's the way we show up for one another, again and again, without being asked. This is a town that takes care of its own, and having grown up on the receiving end of that, I will spend the rest of my career and my life advocating for it.

I plan on raising my own family here. I want my kids riding their bikes to that same fountain. I want them to have neighbors who feel like family, teachers who remember them by name, and a town that shows up for them the way it showed up for me. There is nowhere else I would rather build a life.

So when I get the chance to help someone find their home here — whether they're brand new to Fountain Hills or they've lived here as long as I have — it's not just a transaction to me. It's an invitation into something I love more than almost anything: this town, this community, and the life you can build here. I've lived every version of this story — the kid on a bike, the teammate, the student who found her way, the trainer, and now the agent — and every version of it has led me back to the same place: home.

If you're thinking about buying, selling, or just want to talk about what makes Fountain Hills so special, I'd love to hear from you. This town raised me, and I couldn't be more honored to help take care of it now.