Home   >  About Tom

About Tom Tom was born in Novato CA and shortly there after he moved with his family to Hawaii where he spent his first year. Tom moved back to Santa Rosa CA as a toddler and developed his love for swimming, Music, cars and hiking. An accomplished swimmer Tom learned about setting goals and working towards them while on his high school swim team. While taking some general education classes at the Santa Rosa Junior College and working at the local video store Tom met his future wife Bliss. Tom decided to join the Army to further his education and provide service to his country.  In the military Tom earned his Physical Therapy Assistant certification and lived in San Antonio TX and Springfield MO. After finishing his active duty training Tom went back to Carmel CA to work for awhile while awaiting his permanent reserve duty post. In Carmel,Tom and his wife worked at Nielson Bros Market a family owned business. It was not uncommon to have customers ranging from Clint Eastwood, Bjork, John Travolta or Mario Andretti shopping at this store. It was while working in this store that Tom learned about the importance of customer service in running a business. Once Tom received his permanent reserve duty posting in Washington state he relocated to Bellevue WA. As much as Tom and his wife enjoyed the city life of Bellevue, after several visits to Bellingham, they realized Whatcom County is where they wanted to call home.  To save money Tom and Bliss lived in Deming for several years before buying their first home, a small rambler, by Lake Whatcom. It was while living in this home that Tom decided he wanted to pursue the field of massage therapy. Tom took the program at Whatcom Community College and graduated in 2003 and became a licensed massage therapist. After selling their home by the lake and buying a fixer upper  in the lettered neighborhood, Tom learned enough about real estate that he realized it would be a great career to go with his growing massage therapy business, Blue Heron Massage. Both jobs had the flexibility that Tom could schedule ample time for his clients needs, whether it was an appointment to look at houses or an appointment to massage away the stress of looking at houses, Tom was able to accommodate. While going to Real Estate school  Tom was slowly fixing up his craftsman in the lettered streets neighborhood. It was during this project that Tom learned how to tile, paint, hire out the electrical, dry wall, fix plumbing, paint, not fall through rotted decks, and paint some more.. It was also where Tom realized his talent for working with hardscapes such as rock walls and pavers stones. Currently Tom and his wife and their 2 large dogs live in the Barkley neighborhood where they take advantage of the wonderful trail systems and the close proximity to down town and all it has to offer. Tom is also taking classes for his certificate in personal fitness training. Want to know even more about Tom: Go visit his blog Whatcomtom's Weblog