Petaluman Kassis helps develop local youth

Volunteer basketball coach also aides kids off the court|

Realtor Mary Kassis evinces a no-nonsense zest for life, fueled by her twin loves, family and basketball. Kassis played basketball in college and says she still has a passion for it that she wants to impart to her own children, as well as the teams she coaches for the Petaluma Boys and Girls Club.

“I work like crazy to teach kids and watch them develop their skills, because I want them to love basketball and embrace the sport,” she says.

Kassis has been helping high school students develop different skills lately.

“I talked to seniors at Casa Grande High School and presented an entrepreneur class to them,” she says, adding, “I spoke to them about developing networks, learning something about yourself and making connections out of yourself. The strength lies within to do all these things.”

She also tells her students to listen to their parents, their friends and the people around them, to help them develop ideas of what they can do as they go through high school to prepare for what they do after graduation. Kassis reminds listeners that the habits they are forming now as high school students are what they take with them.

The success of her talks with the seniors led to a call back from the career counselor asking Kassis to speak to freshmen as well as seniors.

“I’ve garnered amazing feedback from my ‘Success 101’ classes and it’s been a powerful experience with major positives,” she said.

Kassis credits her mom and dad with inspiring her with a passion to help others, “…immigrants to our country, seeing what they went through for us and what sacrifices they made for us always stuck with me. They are my foundation, my rock.”

Launching her career as a banker, Kassis worked for Chase Union bank for 10 years. A turning point for her occurred when, she says, “I got in an accident with my sons in 2012. We were rear-ended by a guy looking down, and it resulted in me getting to be a stay-at-home mom for a month. I saw that I was missing so much.”

Kassis restructured her life as she recovered, deciding to change careers, and obtained her realtor’s license in March 2015.

“It’s been great, I’ve completed eight transactions to date and I love my job,” she said. “Real estate, for me, is doing your best for your clients and having a finance background helps me counsel them.”

As a realtor, Kassis came to realize how much a house for sale could benefit from being staged for client viewing, which led her to launch her own staging company, Bella Design and Staging, with a partner.

“I saw a need so we started it,” she said, “and we’ve been in the black ever since.”

Following her own advice to her children to, “Be the best that you can be and surround yourself with the best,” Kassis finds satisfaction in her career.

“I love what I do,” she said. “It’s so rewarding when you’re helping someone buy their first house, to find their home. I am so honored and respectful of the confidence invested in me by my clients.”

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