By VERNON ROBISON
The Progress
There is a new real estate agent in Moapa Valley. Ashley Barth is new to both the real estate industry and to the Moapa Valley community. But she has taken to both like a duck to water.
Ashley has spent the better part of the past year preparing to take her real estate licensing exam in her home state of Colorado. But a sudden change in plans for her long-term partner, Dustin, brought the family to relocate in Logandale last fall.
Consequently, Ashley ended up taking her real estate exam and receiving her license here in Nevada. Then, last November, she went right to work for local real estate broker Clea Whitney. Since then, she hasn’t looked back.
Ashley said that she has learned a lot in the past few months from Whitney on how to be a knowledgeable and successful realtor.
“Clea is just so smart and she is so funny, and she is a good mom,” Ashley said. “She is very successful and she has created that success by herself. She is very hardworking; and that is how I have always been too. I am a hard worker. I love to work and earn my living.”
Before real estate, Ashley worked in the health care industry for about 20 years. She spent that career always growing, taking classes to learn new skills and advancing in her field. She ended up with a veritable alphabet soup of health care industry certifications behind her name.
In the healthcare industry, Ashley worked hard and kept long work hours. But she yearned to have a little more time and flexibility to spend with her growing daughter, Peyton who is 14-years-old. So Ashley finally decided to make a switch in careers.
“I was at a place in healthcare where I needed to go back to school for nursing,” Ashley said. “But I had my daughter and I really wanted to be able to have freedom and be there for her and take care of her. At the same time, I still wanted to help others in a big way.”
She put quite a bit of thought into it and decided that the life of a real estate consultant was appealing.
“With real estate, it is really one of the most important decisions people make,” Ashley said. “Everyone wants to be a homeowner, to own something, invest their money and have a place where they can settle in and raise their kids. So in real estate I am able to meet all kinds of different people and help them in a very big way – which you kind of do the same thing in healthcare, just a little different.”
Ashley grew up in the small town of Holly, Colorado way out in the prairie-land countryside of southeastern Colorado. Population of Holly: about 700.
In Holly, members of her family still own and operate Barth Farms, one of the only “centennial farms” in the state. The operation has been run by her family for around 140 years now, she said.
“It started out with my great grandparents as just a small parcel of land,” Ashley said. “My grandparents inherited it and and then my dad and uncle took it over. Over the years it has been expanded and built up to a multi-million dollar operation. It’s one of the very few family farms that has actually made it in Colorado.”
Coming from those roots, Ashley says she feels right at home in Moapa Valley. “I am definitely used to the small town setting and small town living,” she said. “I love how peaceful it is and everyone is so friendly. It seems like it is such a great community and my daughter has made some incredible friends at school already.”
Ashley said that she looks forward to getting to know more people here and being involved in the community. “I love to be able to give back,” she said. “I look forward to having time to volunteer at the school, maybe become part of the booster club or other organizations.”
