“My goal is to leave everything better than I found it.”
Katie Crocco was born to be a REALTOR®. As a third-generation broker, her early “training” didn’t involve CE classes or licensing courses. It looked more like tagging along with her mom to showings, helping where she could, and absorbing the inner workings of the business by being around it all the time. Somewhere along the way, that turned into a career, but more importantly, it fostered a unique perspective on curiosity.
“You can choose to let fear make you afraid or you can let it make you curious,” she said. “I’ve always chosen curiosity.”
If you’ve spent any time around Katie, that frame of thinking tracks.
Today, Katie is the Managing Broker of RE/MAX Winners, a role she’s held for more than a decade. On paper, that means running a brokerage, managing operations, supporting agents, handling finances, implementing systems, keeping up with industry changes. In reality, it means doing a little bit of everything, all the time, and rarely sitting still.
And sitting still, she doesn’t.
Katie is always the person in the room asking, “why are we doing it this way?” followed closely by, “okay, but what if we just fixed it?”, putting into practice that ability to turn fear into curiosity.
That mindset carries through her involvement with Columbus REALTORS®, where she’s taken on leadership roles across a multitude of committees and initiatives, from Recognition & Sales Awards to REALTOR® Care Day to the Scholarship Committee. She’s also been closely involved in shaping the Young Professionals Network Advisory Group, which she sees as where the next wave of leaders will come from. What makes Katie unique, other than her mindset and jovial personality, is that she specializes in rural real estate. Her day-to-day often involves walking land, crossing streams, climbing into crawl spaces, or dealing with whatever wildlife happens to show up that day.
“Sometimes you’re dealing with raccoons,” she said. “It’s just part of it.”
Katie officially earned her Broker license in 2010, meaning that she built her career in a time before most of the tools that agents rely on now, existed. No texting. No AI. No new TikTok trend. Just showing up, having face-to-face conversations, and building relationships the long way.
“I really pride myself on the personal connections I have with my clients,” she said.
And it’s those relationships that keep her grounded, especially when things inevitably get messy, which, according to Katie, happens more often than people think. In fact, she recently went through a stretch where everything seemed to fall apart at once: deals going sideways, problems stacking up, one thing after another.
“For the first time in almost 25 years, I thought, ‘Can I actually keep doing this?’” she said.
But then, as it usually does, it all came together. Problems got solved and deals closed, making clients excited about their next step. And just like that, the reminder showed up.
“That’s why you do it,” she said. “When it works and they’re happy, it makes everything worth it.”
Outside of real estate, Katie brings that same level of involvement into her community in Marysville, where she serves on local boards, supports community initiatives, and volunteers. Some of that involvement is visible, her peers noting that she’s somewhat a sort of local celebrity. Some of it isn’t. But the common thread is pretty simple: she shows up and helps. She references this in her advice to any new REALTORS®.
“Just care,” she said. “Be of service, to your clients, your community, your industry. Ask, ‘How can I help?’”
It sounds simple, but she means it literally. Stop by the house after closing. Follow up. Be present. Put in the time. Build real relationships. Do the things that don’t always show up on a checklist, but end up mattering the most. She’s also quick to credit the people who shaped her along the way, especially her parents, who she says taught her not just how to work, but how to think.
“They taught me to stay curious,” she said. “To always ask why.”
It’s a mindset that’s carried her through nearly 25 years in the business, and being named Broker of the Year reflects all of that. Not just the transactions, or the leadership roles, or the years of experience, but the way she’s approached her entire career: fully involved, a little unconventional, and never afraid to do things her own way. Even if that occasionally includes crawling under a house or arguing with a raccoon. Because for Katie Crocco, that’s just part of the job. And honestly…she wouldn’t have it any other way.
