I attended Asbury College, Wilmore, Kentucky, studying for a degree in Secondary Education, English and History.
My vocation for many years was in the field of accounting, working in a Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Savings and Loan in the internal auditing and accounting departments. My education continued with them, taking many of the available job related courses. Later, I entered the the challenging and interesting field of construction in Tulsa, Oklahoma as a job costing accounting person, and continued in that field back to Stuart, Florida with a construction company building beautiful, million dollar homes and commercial buildings.
Our family spent many summer vacations visiting the Smoky Mountains of Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee. The favorite area for our two children to camp was the mountains of East Tennessee , specifically the Gatlinburg, Sevierville and Pigeon Forge areas. They loved getting in the cold creeks, looking for bears, gathering blackberries for dumplins and fishing for mountain trout in the ponds, then cooking them on the camp fire. We all loved everything the mountains had to offer, so It seemed like a natural progression for us to finally make a decision to live here full time.
During our trip here in 1994, Wayne (husband) and I had to take an alternate route from Gatlinburg to Townsend, because the old Hwy 73 river road had been washed out. That route brought us on our first trip down Hwy 321S (aka Wears Valley Road) into Wears Valley. It was love at first sight. The following year we purchased our lot in Sugar Tree Valley Estates with a wonderful view of Cove Mountain. It was not until 2002 that we could make our move, and it was a good move. Our vacations take a little different twist now. We go back to South Florida to visit family and do some surf fishing, or head West to the Rockies in Colorado or New Mexico, to many places we love to visit.
Job costing jobs were not as plentiful in East Tennessee as they were in Florida, so my career took another turn. In August 2002 I took the Tennessee Real Estate Agents exam. I became a licensed member of the Great Smoky Mountains Association of Realtors, the Tennessee Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors. This has been both challenging and rewarding. Challenging since the real estate market has had to overcome some trends not seen in several years and I was determined not to give up. The rewards come when I can connect the Buyers with the property they need or dream of finding and when I connect the Sellers with the people who love the property they are selling.
My education also continues with this career. In order to keep our licenses updated and to be aware of changes in the local, state and national rules, regulations and laws we are required to have a set number of hours for each renewal period. In 2007 I became a Licensed Tennessee Broker, I am currently working as a sales Agent and also studying for additional certificates available through the National Association of Realtors.
Ruby Hickey, Agent
