Karen Tillman-Gosselin & Renynold Gosselin Sell More Than Just Luxury Homes

The husband-and-wife team of Renynold Gosselin & Karen Tillman-Gosselin of Smith & Associates Real Estate can help you buy the luxury home of your dreams or help you sell your home.

According to long-time Tampa-area real estate agent Karen Tillman-Gosselin, whether a person is looking to sell or buy a home, it is most likely the most important and largest financial decision that they are making.

“Having a real estate agent who can listen to your wants and needs and help you find that one house you will make your home is crucial,” Karen says. “That agent needs to put you first, then properly coordinate all aspects — from negotiations and inspections to ensuring that the transaction becomes a reality.”

Karen knows what it takes to do that.

During her decades-long career in real estate, she has sold more than $150 million of real estate. She has been so successful, in fact, that she was named one of the top 25 agents in the Tampa Bay area in 2005 by the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

Karen currently is one of the top 10 producers at Smith & Associates Real Estate, a boutique firm based in South Tampa that has been in business 45 years and is the largest independent real estate office in the Tampa Bay area, with 245 agents and $1.2 billion in transactions in 2016.

Karen joined Smith & Associates in 2012.

“It’s a big company, but not as well known in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel as it is in South Tampa,” she says.

The Gosselins specialize in luxury homes (such as this one in Westchase that is currently listed by Karen and Renynold), although they can help you buy or sell virtually any home in any price category.

Prior to joining Smith & Associates, Karen worked for many years for local offices of Florida Executive Realty, Keller Williams and Casa Fina Realty.

“I find Smith to be a good fit for me,” she says. “It just feels right. I like their reputation and that the company is really big on giving back to the community, in both time and money.”

Smith & Associates’ commitment to the community is especially important to Karen.

She is highly involved in many community organizations that are meaningful to her, including the Rotary Club of New Tampa, the Board of Directors of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (as its current membership chair), and several other organizations, including some at the University of South Florida.

Although Smith & Associates is known as a luxury firm — and Karen does sell luxury homes and specialize in relocating executives to the Tampa Bay area — she also represents buyers and sellers at any price point, even first-time home buyers.

Karen’s husband, Renynold Gosselin, has worked with her “behind the scenes” since they both got their real estate licenses in 2000.

Renynold recently retired from a 30-year career with Verizon and is now Karen’s full-time partner in real estate.

While Renynold was born and raised in Tampa, Karen has also lived here nearly her entire life. She moved to the area as a child, when her father was stationed at MacDill Air Force Base.

“We know the Tampa Bay market so well from living here,” she says.

The couple bought a home in Tampa Palms more than 30 years ago, back when the closest grocery stores were either at S.R. 54 or in Temple Terrace, where their daughter attended school because there were no schools built in Tampa Palms yet.

“We’ve seen such growth in this area,” Karen says.

Setting The Stage Properly

Karen first got into real estate when she was working as an interior designer, often staging homes for sale for real estate agents. She uses that background in interior design to be sure her clients’ homes look their best.

“My experience as an interior designer means I can stage a house so it looks good and sells faster,” she says.

Karen and Renynold agree that one of the most important parts of selling a house is ensuring that it has great photographs online.

“First impressions are so important,” says Renynold, “and now, those first impressions are the pictures they see online.”

He adds, “So many people are moving into the area from up north, and buyers tell their agents which houses they want to see, based just on pictures.”

So, Karen and Renynold provide a 3D tour of each home they list. The tour is so comprehensive, it can even be viewed in virtual reality to feel like you’re actually walking through the home.

While they take a lot of photos themselves, they will hire a professional photographer — and will even do drone photography if it’s needed. And, with all of their years of success helping buyers and sellers, they know when it’s needed.

“We make sure we have the right price, the right pictures, and the right advertising,” Renynold says. “Each house is unique.”

Karen says she and Renynold are by their clients’ side throughout the entire process, paying attention to every detail.

“It can be very overwhelming to sell a house,” she says. “It’s not easy to put a house on the market, especially with kids and pets, and people often want to see it at the last minute, so we try to have a calming effect on all of that.”

Their expertise can make the entire process much easier on buyers and sellers.

“There are always new situations and you have to figure out what to do in that situation,” Karen says. “If something unexpected comes up, that’s why we’re there. We try to keep everything as simple and open as possible. An inexperienced agent doesn’t know what to do, but we know how to handle those problems.”

Dennis and Fran Loomis are currently working with the Gosselins to sell their home in West Meadows and buy a home in Tampa Bay Golf & Country Club, located just north of Wesley Chapel in San Antonio.

They are repeat clients who love working with Karen and Renynold, first selling their home in Tampa Palms in 2004, then moving to a new construction home in Tampa Bay Golf & Country Club (TBGCC), then selling that home and moving back to the New Tampa area, in West Meadows, in 2008.

“We’re probably the only people who moved into the same retirement community twice,” jokes Dennis.

He says he continues to work with Karen and Renynold because, “they do a fabulous job. We have a lot of trust in both of them.”

On a recent Monday, Dennis told us, “Our home in West Meadows went on the market on Friday, and we had five or six people look at it over the weekend, and we expect to have a contract today. Karen goes to all the showings, even when she’s not representing the buyer, and she also shows up at inspections.”

He says Karen also has been a constant advocate for him and his wife.

“In my experience, most real estate agents want to get the sale and get the commission, and aren’t really interested in what’s in the best interest of their client,” Dennis says.

Not so with Karen, he adds, citing how she helped him list his home at a higher price point than expected, and negotiate aggressively so the final price of the home remained high.

He says he also appreciates Karen’s attention to detail.

“During the construction of our first home in TBGCC, she went in and put tape on the wall everywhere the paint needed to be touched up,” explains Dennis. “Well, we walked in and saw 50 or 60 pieces of tape. The builder just repainted the whole thing.”

Dennis says the most important thing is that she treats everyone well.

“Karen represents larger transactions, but (even for smaller transactions) she spends time with you just like if you were selling an $800,000 home,” he says.

Karen says that’s a hallmark of her and Renynold’s business.

“We work with everyone, from CEOs to first-time buyers, and it doesn’t matter who the seller is, they all deserve to be treated the same,” she says, adding, “We love what we do, because it is all about making sure that the client’s needs are met.”

For more information, or to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation in your home with Karen Tillman-Gosselin, visit FineHomesOfTampa.com, call (813) 629-1502, or see the ad on page 2 of this issue.

Young YMCA Lifeguards Earn Kudos For Saving Teghan

Teghan Theile (center) with the New Tampa YMCA lifeguards who rescued her (l.-r.): Alfred Briceno, Emma Cutkomp, Aviana Jividen and TJ Hernandez.

On a sunny day just before school let out for the summer, the New Tampa Family YMCA pool was busy. Four teenage lifeguards were on duty as people enjoyed the pool and young synchronized swimmers were training for the upcoming Junior Olympics.

Teghan Theile, a 10-year-old who has been on the synchronized swimming team at the New Tampa YMCA for three years, was participating in the practice, doing what she does most afternoons, for several hours at a time.

As Teghan and her teammates were swimming laps, something about the way her legs were moving caught lifeguard Aviana Jividen’s attention. It didn’t look quite right. As Aviana watched, Teghan blacked out and sank to the bottom of the pool.

Aviana jumped into action, and TJ Hernandez, another of the lifeguards on duty that day, helped pull Teghan out of the water.

“We do practices every month,” recalls Aviana, “so when you actually see it happen, your adrenaline kicks in and you think of all the training that you went through.”

Assisted by lifeguards Emma Cutkomp and Alfred Briceno, Aviana and TJ began lifesaving procedures as 9-1-1 was called.

“They stayed calm, worked together and did what was needed to save Teghan’s life,” says aquatics experience director Lacey Boldman. “All the monthly drills and scenario practice was put into action and they remembered all the steps necessary to make the rescue quickly and efficiently. A life was saved because of their vigilance and quick action.”

Teghan’s mom, Brenna Fender, was in the shower when she got a call that something scary had happened to her daughter. She immediately headed to the pool.

“When I arrived, Teghan wasn’t moving, but they said she was breathing,” says Brenna. “Running out to the pool and finding it silent, with onlookers frozen against the fence while a small group huddled together over a figure that I knew was my daughter, was an experience I’ll never forget.”

Over the next couple of days, Brenna pieced together what had happened.

“Teghan did several laps in a row with very few breaths,” Brenna explains. “She then attempted a 50-meter zero under, trying to swim the distance without taking a breath.”

“I thought I could make it because the wall was just a few yards away,” Teghan remembers. “The next thing I remember, I was out of the pool, lying on a towel, and I was so confused.”

Tampa Y aquatics experience executive Amanda Walker explains that what happened to Teghan is called a shallow water blackout.

“With shallow water blackouts, you don’t even realize sometimes that you need to take a breath,” explains Amanda. “Your brain genuinely plays tricks on you and you pass out.”

Thanks to the quick action of the four lifeguards, Teghan was conscious by the time paramedics arrived, and was transported to the hospital, where she stayed in the pediatric ICU for a couple of days, while doctors ran tests to ensure that there was no underlying medical cause for her blackout.

When Brenna considers that the four people who saved her daughter’s life were all just teenagers, “it was stunning to think about,” she says. “They were so attentive. It was a pool full of people, so who thinks they need to be watching the experienced swimmers? The lifeguards were so prepared and obviously took their training seriously. I absolutely credit the YMCA for that — selecting the right people for the job and training them so well.”

Brenna says that on the way to the hospital, Teghan was already asking if she had to miss school the next day. She was given the all-clear to return to her fourth grade class at Lake Magdalene Elementary just in time for the last day of school later that week.

Within just a couple of weeks, Teghan was back in the pool again.

In early July, just barely a month later, Teghan and her team travelled to California to compete in the Junior Olympics.

Brenna says there was never a doubt she would get right back in and swim again.

“She’s worked too hard,” Brenna says, “I couldn’t keep her from competing at the Junior Olympics.”

Brenna says Teghan has always loved to be in the water. “She was the kid who thought she could swim before she was two years old,” she says. “I’d tell her to jump to me and she’d jump into the water next to me.”

Based on research she’s since done, Brenna understands that it’s unlikely to happen again, as long as Teghan makes different decisions. That doesn’t make the lingering anxiety go away, though, as her daughter continues swimming. “It’s been over a month now, so it’s getting easier,” Brenna explains, “but I’ve had a knot in my stomach that’s been hard to get rid of.”

Brenna is incredibly grateful to the YMCA lifeguards. To provide just a glimpse of the appreciation she and Teghan have for them, they hosted a thank-you pizza party with homemade brownies and goodies, where Teghan had a chance to talk with the lifeguards who saved her life. “It was really good for Teghan, especially,” Brenna says, “because she wanted to see them all.”

Now that Junior Olympics is over, Teghan is getting a brief break from her synchronized swimming practices. Her mom says she loves reading Harry Potter and making her own music videos, and is excited about joining her school’s safety patrol as a fifth grader in the fall.

But, when the swim season starts again, Teghan will be right back in that place she loves the most, practicing synchronized swimming in the New Tampa YMCA pool again.

Luckily for all of us, the New Tampa Y lifeguards will be there, too.

New Tampa DoE School Grades Are Still Among The County’s Best

School grades have been announced for the 2016-17 school year. Of the 12 public schools located in New Tampa, most maintained their grades from the 2015-16 school year. However, two schools — Liberty Middle School and Tampa Palms Elementary — improved by a letter grade, while just one school, Heritage Elementary, dropped a letter grade.

Letter grades are assigned by the State of Florida Department of Education, based on statewide standardized assessments. High schools also have a graduation component, based on how many students graduate in four years. The letter grades then reflect the percentage of points received, of the total number of available points.

Both New Tampa middle schools are now rated A, with Benito maintaining its A rating and Liberty improving from a B.

Turner/Bartels K-8 School maintained its B rating.

Congrats to Chiles Elementary in Tampa Palms, which earned an “A” grade from the State of Florida Department of Education for the 15th straight year, and scored the highest among New Tampa schools in English Language Arts Achievement, Mathematics Achievement and Science Achievement.

Of the elementary schools in the area, Chiles, Clark and Pride all maintained their A ratings, with Tampa Palms jumping up from last year’s B. Hunter’s Green maintained its C rating, and now Heritage is the second elementary school in our area to also be rated C.

Both high schools in our area, Freedom and Wharton, maintained the C grades they received last year.

While the school grading system has many critics, they are widely used by parents as a measure of how well their child’s school is performing.

“The school grades are a snapshot based on school grade calculations and assessments which are subject to change by the state,” says Tanya Arja, a spokesperson for Hillsborough County Public Schools.

“While we celebrate the successes and look for ways to improve,” she continues, “a parent really needs to look at how well their child is doing and if they are making gains. Parents can get a much clearer picture of the education their child is receiving at a school by touring a school, getting involved and talking with the teachers and administrators to see the hard work they put in every day to ensure student success.”

STANO Foundation Sends Care Packages To Support Military

(Above left): Paula Stano and her son, Jordan Viches, by Melissa Korta Photography.

When single mom Paula Stano’s only son, Jordan Viches, went into the Marines straight out of Wiregrass Ranch High in 2013, the only way she could communicate with him was via old-fashioned letter writing.

Jordan told his mom that receiving the letters “felt like Christmas,” but that some of his friends never got any letters at all. So, Paula started writing letters to Marines other than her son as well.

That became the beginning of a journey that has led her to where she is now, as the founder and president of the STANO Foundation, a 501(3)c non-profit organization that sends care packages to members of the military who are deployed and stationed both in the U.S. and abroad.

As her son’s military career continued and she became aware of needs of his fellow Marines, she began soliciting donations from friends and acquaintances. Jordan was stationed abroad in Japan, but some of his friends were deployed to countries such as Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, so she started sending them packages.

“They would ask for things like two-ply toilet paper or black crew socks,” she says, “or a certain kind of cracker or chips or candy they couldn’t get where they were stationed.”

So, as her efforts grew, she created the STANO Foundation (which is her last name developed into an acronym: Supporting Troops Area-wide, Nationally and Overseas), and her efforts continue to be supported by the community and continue to reach more members of the military in more areas.

“We send out packages every month now,” she explains. “We reach out to the community and ask if they have loved ones stationed in the United States or overseas, and then we send them packages.”

STANO Foundation volunteers mug for the camera.

Paula says that, twice a year, the foundation sends out an especially large number of packages. First and foremost, prior to Christmas, about 600 boxes are mailed. In late June and early July, roughly halfway through the year and just before the time we celebrate Independence Day, the STANO foundation sends out another 300 boxes.

“We make sure each person gets an individual box,” she says. “We ask them about the things they miss the most, their favorite snacks and allergies, and then we try to accommodate each person’s individual needs.”

While her efforts grew from simple letter writing into an official nonprofit serving hundreds of troops, the operation is still based out of her Wesley Chapel townhouse. At our press time, she was getting ready for her big July shipment.

“You should see my living room right now,” she says. “It’s amazing.”

It takes an incredible effort, a lot of donations of supplies, and additional donations to pay for the shipping.

“Shipping is our largest expense,” Paula says. “It will cost $6,000 to ship the boxes in July,” which means her cost is closer to $12,000 at Christmas time.

Paula is thrilled that Tech Data, based in Clearwater, has partnered with her to pay for shipping the July boxes and also to collect many of the items that need to be donated.

She’s reaching out to the community to solicit the additional donated items and to provide the funding for boxes that are shipped throughout the rest of the year.

A supply list can be found on the STANO Foundation website at STANO.org. Some of the most wanted items include sunflower seeds, beef jerky, protein powder, travel-sized shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste and deodorant, to name just a few.

“Items can be dropped off at Ideal Massage (in the Summergate Professional Park) in Wesley Chapel (behind Sam’s Club) or people can contact me and any of our Board members will do a pick-up of items that you would like to donate.”

Anyone who would like to sign up a loved one in the military to receive a package from the STANO Foundation also can do so via the same website.

Jordan is still an active duty Marine, currently stationed in Moscow.

“He’s loving it, and I’m hoping to go see him in September,” she says, adding that  Jordan is one of the foundation’s Board members, helping the foundation to know who needs what and help make sure the packages meet the needs of those who receive them.

“There’s no way I could do this by myself,” she says. “It really does take a village.”

For more information, visit STANO.org or find the foundation’s Facebook page by searching “STANO Foundation.”

A Sneak Peek At Cypress Creek Middle/High School

Carin Hetzler-Nettles is the principal of the new Cypress Creek Middle High School and was previously principal of Wesley Chapel High, where she earned Pasco County’s Secondary Principal of the Year in 2012. 

We spoke with Hetzler-Nettles during staff training week at Cypress Creek, located off Old Pasco Rd. As the entire staff worked together to create the culture of the new school (which is set to open to students on Pasco’s first day of classes for the 2017-18 school year, on Monday, August 14), Hetzler-Nettles reflected on all the work that’s being done to get the school ready for its first class of students. Here are some highlights from that conversation:

Neighborhood News: How different is this process of opening a new school, compared with the typical summer routine at other county middle and high schools?

Carin Hetzler-Nettles: Really different! Every principal does a lot of work this time of year, but it’s very rare to have this opportunity to be side-by-side with the entire staff, building something new.

We’re setting the stage, creating our culture here. We’re setting our school-wide expectations and motto, and talking about what a Cypress Creek “Coyote” looks like.

An aerial view of the sprawling new Cypress Creek Middle High School campus on Old Pasco Rd., near Overpass Rd.

Cypress Creek will be a pilot program for “trauma informed care,” so we had training for that. We learned about ourselves as a staff and to be mindful that everyone comes in with their own trauma (which could be something minor), and we react in different ways. When a student acts out, it’s because of something in their life, and it’s on us to figure that out, and then to build resilience, grit and perseverance. Those are life skills.

On the last day of our staff retreat (which was earlier this month), our teachers will get their schedules and find out their classrooms, which they’re so excited about. Then, as teams, they’ll head out into the community to commit random acts of kindness. We want to say “hi” to our fellow community members and tell them we’re hoping for their support.

NN: What’s your favorite thing about the campus itself?

CHN: The look of this school reminds me of a community college. It has beautiful brick paver accents. There are amazing (floor-to-ceiling) windows in the classrooms. There’s so much natural light and every classroom has a great view. We are the only high school in the county that will have a rubberized track, so we’ll be able to host some big meets. We also have a large cafeteria and an enormous band room, and the most beautiful gym floor I’ve ever seen.

We had been working out of two classrooms at Quail Hollow Elementary. To move into the new campus, we needed to have the wi-fi working, a place to sit at and something to sit on. That happened last week, so this is our home now. The trailers will go away, but we will have a district employee and construction subcontractors finishing up around campus, for probably six more months.

NN: What are you most excited about?

CHN: I am most excited about the opportunities for students. It’s so cool to have middle and high school students together. I have seen the power of kids talking to kids, and of kids showing leadership, like when eleventh grade students help ninth grade students transition. They explain, “This is why you need to do your homework,” or even say, “Let me sit with you at lunch.”

I see that happening.

Outside of school, you don’t necessarily see that part of them all the time, but we see that kids have big hearts and truly want to help others.

We have a “Pack leader” program where, over the summer, eleventh graders will be trained in leadership and eighth graders will be trained in peer counseling. Then, those trained students will be scheduled into core classes in the lower grades.

So, an eleventh grade student might be scheduled into a ninth grade English class and they are the “Pack leader” in that class. We partner them up in one of their strong subjects to help kids in that class. They might set up a texting app to remind the class that there’s a test tomorrow, or take kids outside the class to help them, or just talk, if they had a fight with a friend, for example.

We’re trying to help kids stay engaged. The Pack leader might say the same things as the teacher, but in a different way.

So many things divert kids’ attention, whether it’s that they don’t see the purpose of school, they’re looking for fun, or they’re making bad choices. It’s on us as educators to engage them and find what works for them. It’s different with every kid, so there are a lot of different ways to do that.

NN: How deep are your roots in Pasco County schools?

CHN: I am a product of Pasco County Schools. I graduated from Land O’ Lakes High. I started my career in 1996 as an ESE teacher at River Ridge Middle School. I spent a year in Hillsborough County but found it very different and came back to open Mitchell in 2000. I got my educational leadership certificate and became assistant principal, then became principal at Wesley Chapel High in 2009.

I’ve actually worked with people who were my teachers in high school. When I was at Mitchell, I became an administrator and one of the teachers there was a teacher I had in high school. The same thing happened when I was principal at Wesley Chapel. I was principal of a teacher who taught me.

NN: How does the size of Cypress Creek Middle High School compare to other campuses in the area?

CHN: We are starting with 650 high school students, which is very small. The next smallest high school in Pasco County is 1,100 students, so we’re about half the size of that. It’s almost unheard of.

Four Cypress Creek Middle High teachers from the school’s Athletic Dept. showed up at our office on June 22, and all four were obviously excited to talk about the opening of the new school.

But, our middle school has 850 students, which is pretty typical. As those middle schoolers age up, we will end up being the size of a traditional high school, so we will grow quickly. We will have about 1,500 at the high school and 900 at the middle school (in the next few years).

In about four years, we hope to have a completely separate middle school built adjacent to this school. (Right now,) Cypress Creek Middle High School is a way to relieve a booming population that is necessary at our feeder schools. We’re embracing it as a unique opportunity to create a dynamic culture.

We’re doing vertical teaming, so sixth through eleventh grade teachers in each department (math, for example) will meet every week. There will be no “they didn’t learn this in middle school.” We will have a seamless campus and curriculum. And, when that day comes when there’s a separate middle school campus, we expect that culture will bleed over into that campus, as well.

NN: What do you want your students to know as they get ready to come to Cypress Creek?

CHN: Life is full of possibilities. That’s how I approach every day. I know parents teach their kids they can do whatever they put their mind to, and that’s what’s being instilled in our school. It’s easy to be worried or concerned about having sixth through twelfth graders on the same campus and sharing buses, and it’s right to have concerns. But, we are planning for that. We already have schools with this model.

We can also look at what an amazing situation it is that a middle schooler has access to criminal justice, business, and journalism classes. If they want to take Spanish or American Sign Language, they can walk across campus and take it. They have easy access to accelerated courses. They don’t have to do it online. It’s a great opportunity and it’s very exciting to me.

It’s easy to stay comfortable. I loved working at Wesley Chapel with those kids and teachers and parents and staff, but I took a leap of faith to come here, and so did all the other staff. We are looking at the possibilities and all the doors that will open for all of these students. It’s gonna be really cool.