Gulf Coast Real Producers Rising Star Angie Vasconcellos, with Century 21 Bush Group, recounted an early childhood environment that sounded like it was pulled from the pages of ‘Gone with the Wind’, with a mother growing up on a large plantation in north Mississippi, near Greenville.

“My mother was born to a family of 13 children, and when her elder brothers were coming home from the war, it created an atmosphere that was not fit for her as a child. Her aunt could not have children, was wealthy and was alone most of the time. She asked if my mother could move in with her to raise as her own, so that is what happened.” Vasconcellos said at the start of her interview.

“My mother was allowed to go and live with her aunt who lived on a plantation that had soybeans, cotton, and fish farms. It was upwards of 1,500 acres,” she said.

At the age of 15, Angie moved with her mother to Austin, Texas. The relocation came with some adjustments.

“We moved to Austin to be near my sister and her new husband. I had just finished 10th grade in a private school and had many friends there. I didn’t want to start over in another state for the remainder of high school, so at that point I decided to get my GED.” she said.

Angie attended classes at the University of Texas and within a month had achieved her goal. Afterward, she went out and found employment at a local dry cleaner.

As luck would have it, Angie met her future husband, Nuno, while traveling to her classes at UT. The couple met in 1985 and were married in 1987. Their first child, son Nuno II, was born that year. A second child, daughter Nina, arrived in 1988.

An entrepreneurial team, the couple started their longest-lasting business in 1989 that is still active today, A-1 Discount Tire. At one point the business had 12 locations around the Austin area.

When they moved to Gulfport, it was renamed Amelia’s Tire, after their first granddaughter.

In 2003 the couple opened another venture, a restaurant and bar called Nuno’s on Sixth.

“The space was where we had our first date. Once it became available my husband signed a five-year lease. It turned into a very successful blues venue. We helped facilitate a Lifetime Grammy award winner, Blues Legend Pinetop Perkins, to play there and sell his merchandise.” Vasconcellos said.

 

Angie went on to say that she was responsible for booking all the bands that played at their locale and even stepped in as a singer on occasion.

“I had the good fortune of gracing the stage with Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins, Gary Clark Jr. and many other blues musicians over the years at our venue,” she said.

 

Around 2011, after engaging in several other business ventures, the couple decided to sell their ownership interest in the restaurant and music venue to move near water.

 

 

 

“We came down here because my husband really wanted to be near water since he grew up on an island. Since moving to Portugal was out of the question, because I just had a brand-new granddaughter, we decided to choose the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I already had family down here, and he felt that after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, this was going to be a booming area where we could invest and grow our business.” Angie said.

Initially leasing a condo prior to owning a home in Ocean Springs, the migration progressed incrementally, from 2012 until 2016, getting family divestitures squared away to fully transition from Texas to Mississippi. Angie, in the interim, used her music contacts to bring bands from Austin to perform at Casinos in Biloxi and Gulfport.

Vasconcellos was on summer vacation in Portugal with her husband when the idea about diving into real estate began to germinate.

“We were vacationing there for three months and my husband, who loves to try new adventures, looked at me as we were watching the waves crash on the beach and said, ‘I would like to start investing and flip homes. Why don't you get your real estate license? I think you'd be good at that.’ I didn’t think I was smart enough to pass the real estate exam, but he believed that I could do it.” Angie said.

Angie signed up for real estate classes in December of 2017, passed her license in February of 2018 (at the age of 50) and for the next three years worked in the industry part-time while still traveling back and forth to Austin to visit her mother, daughter, and grandchildren.

In 2021, the rest of her immediate family finally settled in Mississippi. The following year Vasconcellos exploded onto the local real estate scene full-time, showcasing her true abilities.    

“Real estate was always part-time until 2022, then I took it to the next level. In February of 2023 I was ranked fifth in the brokerage out of sixty agents. My sales numbers rocketed upwards by 466% in that year of production. I am still ranked in the top ten today.” Angie said.

 

“My drive is not money, it’s relationships and helping people with a personal touch. I will never meet a stranger and will help anyone that needs it. I have always been the biggest cheerleader for others, and in real estate, I’ve found something where I can use these gifts. It also something that I can truly call my own.” she added.

 

Future plans for Angie involve returning to a more normalized work/life balance while striving to maintain excellence, on her terms, in her profession.

 

When asked for advice for those possibly inspired by her story and considering a career in the business, Angie offered her insight.

 

“Stay true to who you are, always be yourself and only do it if you love it. That way it won’t feel like work at all.”

For questions or comments about this article, contact Angie at (512) 705-6589 or avcellos25@gmail.com