This week we sat down with Real Estate Specialist Josh Heyer. A native of Iowa, we learned about his upbringing and his cooking aspirations.
Where are you from?
I’m from a tiny town called Titonka, Iowa.
How do you spell that?
T-I-T-O-N-K-A. It’s like population, 500 now.
Wow that’s the size of my high school.
I graduated with 25 kids.
So you must be super close to them still.
Yeah, two of my best friends still live there working on their family farms since they graduated from college so it’s nice to go back and see them. It’s a different experience. From the time you’re a freshman to senior year, you know everyone in every class. I wouldn’t change anything. But the school’s closed now. It just wasn’t sustainable.
You could probably fit the whole town in two floors in our office building.
For sure.
What’s Titonka known for?
Uhhh.. not a lot. They say it in the movie Dances with Wolves with Kevin Costner. It means “Big Black Buffalo” or something like that. I would not say we are well known for anything.
When did you decide to come to New York?
Really late. I didn’t ever have traditional dreams of coming to New York. After I graduated from the University of Iowa I didn’t know what I wanted to do or where I wanted to be. I got a job opportunity in New York and jumped at it. You can’t really do that at an older age. As a 40 year old you couldn’t do that the same way a 22 or 23 year old can. To answer your question: I knew when I got the job offer and accepted it I had to move to New York.
What was the job offer?
I worked in advertising for about four and half years. That was my first offer. I was an Assistant Media buyer at Mediacom, which is like two blocks from our office. I worked in that building my entire advertising career before switching to TripleMint.
What made you switch?
I couldn’t do anymore Microsoft Excel. That was a big part of the job. I worked there for a long time and knew I wanted a change. It was a great place to work and I learned a lot — a lot of skills that I now use in my real estate career. I was at the point of my life where I wanted to try something different. So that’s how I ended up here.
Growing up what did you think your career path would be?
I’ve always wanted to retire. I’ve never really felt destined to do one thing. When I went to college I thought I wanted to be a sports anchor. But then I realized that maybe I didn’t want to do that or work at a local TV station like everyone does. I wasn’t really sure what I was meant to do. I think I was meant to one day retire.
You’ve got the long-term goal down.
Yeah, exactly.
What’s your family like?
I have a fantastic family. My mom and dad still live in Titonka. My dad’s a chiropractor and my mom works for the telephone company in town. I have two younger brothers, Andrew and Jesse. Andrew is 23 and just got married last fall.
Congratulations. To him.
My younger brother Jesse is in college and 21.
Oh, our age.
Yeah! Which is kind of.. weird to think about. They’re great. I’ve always been blessed to have a really strong support group. Whether it’s family, friends or colleagues. It really starts with my family. They’ve always been supportive of whatever I want to do. That stability is a big reason why I’ve had the success I’ve had in my life and careers because I always knew I could fall back on them and they would support me no matter what. No one really leaves Iowa, so both sides of my grandparents so we make up 10 of the 500 residents there. I also have tons of cousins on both sides. So the Thanksgivings and Christmases I’m able to make it to are huge gatherings because now there are grand and great-grandchildren. Grandma’s house is getting a little tight.
What’s your favorite neighborhood in New York and why?
My favorite neighborhood? I dig the East Village. It’s weird and different. It’s different than any other neighborhood. A lot of neighborhoods in New York have overlapping characteristics. I don’t know if there’s anything quite like the East Village. Any time I’m working there I always feel like I’m in a different world. It might not be the world I would choose to live in but the vibe is cool and unique.
Is there a dream apartment of yours?
I don’t know. I live in Hoboken. I moved here five years ago, almost. I haven’t moved since.
Do you take the PATH?
Well it depends on where I am. Sometimes I take the bus, sometimes I take the PATH. It’s easy enough to get in the city. I’m very much a creature of habit, so I probably should have moved, but..
So do you go through the new Transport Hub that opened up near the World Trade Center?
There are two different PATH lines. One that goes to the World Trade Center and that beautiful hub and another that goes to Christopher street and a lot of other stops.
It’s like a metaphor for.. a lot of things. Anyways, any funny stories from TripleMint?
Anyone that knows Joel.. hahaha. He’s just a character.
Feel free to say things you shouldn’t say. Everyone else has.
I’ve only been here for slightly longer than you guys have – I started in October. But one time, Joel told Eric Barron (the day or two after he became CRO) that he should be the President of the Fedora club. I don’t know why I thought that was so funny, and I can’t believe he said that to him. But of course he said that. I got a good chuckle out of that.
What’s one fact people might not know about you?
Most people can’t even understand where I came from. I can tell you it’s a town of 500 or that it is a high school class of 25 and a school size of 85 but you really can’t wrap your head around it, especially in New York. That would be smaller than one city block, but in the middle of nowhere. I think for most people who don’t know me or know where I’m from, they would probably not suspect that now that I’ve been here for 5 years.
Do people just think you’re a New Yorker?
I don’t think they think I’m a New Yorker because I’m still somewhat polite. Still have decent manners. And I kind of move at my own pace – it’s my personality. But I think most people don’t know I’ve been learning piano. I took piano lessons for a year in second grade but quit, stupidly. Then I realized it was awesome so I bought a keyboard in college and have tried to teach myself since but I’m still not that good.
What are you working on now?
I haven’t worked on anything in awhile but I usually watch YouTube tutorials and try to figure it out from there. I’ve also been trying to learn how to cook, but cook well. To cook a real meal. Where you don’t just boil pasta and dump sauce on it. So that’s been a two year adventure.
What’s your best dish?
I made some really good pork chops with an apple glaze that’s pretty good. That’s a continual process. I’m just trying to learn new things even if I’m not good at it.
Best of luck with your cooking endeavors!
