Austin Business Journal:
“Eating up the Real Estate Market - by A.J. Mistretta”
Who says you can’t have your pasta and sell houses, too? After years of directing event planning for her father’s famous Carmelo’s Ristorante, Luisa Mauro is launching a new residential real estate firm with partner Tausha Carlson.
While training for the Austin marathon, the two friends say they realized some of the same traits that make them successful runners would bring them equal success in real estate. The name of the company, Marathon Real Estate, pays homage to the sport the duo loves.
“I think what’s going to make us successful is the culture of the company, what we believe in,” says Carlson. “The determination, dedication, discipline, setting goals and achieving them, that’s who we are as runners and that’s who we’ll be as business owners.”
Carlson and Mauro say their friendship developed quickly through conversations on long runs.
“You spend three hours talking on a run, and you get to know someone a lot better in a shorter period of time than you could having lunch or doing happy hours,” Carlson says. “There’s an automatic trust and a bond that you have, and we know that’s going to serve us well in the business.”
Carlson helped launch another boutique Austin real estate firm, Tribella Realty, in 2003 and has been a highly successful Realtor and property investor for several years. Meanwhile, Mauro says it was actually her father who told her she should get involved in real estate.
“Most people want a doctor or a lawyer in the family,” she jokes.
Mauro compares her desires for Marathon to what her father has built at Carmelo’s.
“We want to guarantee our service and achieve the highest standards in the industry. Over time, our clients should have the same expectations for us as people have of the restaurant,” Mauro says.
Mauro and Carlson say they plan to grow the company by adding agents gradually. And Mauro says she plans to continue her role at Carmelo’s.