Mark Emerick sees a bright future for his nephew. Any caring uncle would, but Mark and his nephew, Matthew, have a longstanding history of working together. Matthew just finished his “rookie” year with Team Emerick with Home Warranty of the Midwest but has worked with his uncle in different ways since he was a teenager.

 

“I’ve always had a heart for kids to work and learn how to make money,” Mark said.

 

Fast forward from Matthew’s teenage days doing demolition on homes that Mark was renovating in the early 2000s; to working with his uncle as a team leader for an on-site entertainment company during college; the Matthew and Mark combination has been about “being go-getters, making things happen,” Matthew said.

 

Team Emerick is working on building on success from the past, Mark has won company awards and most recently the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors “Affiliate of the Year” Award. It is the highest award in the Kansas City area that an affiliate can get with KCRAR. With more than 14 years with Home Warranty, Mark adds his analytical and scientific approach.

 

Enter, stage left, Matthew Emerick, who brings home industry knowledge, a background evaluating home energy usage for KCP&L (now Evergy) as well as exceptional presentation skills to connect with agents and the quality service that Home Warranty represents through Team Emerick.

 

“Warranties are there to give homeowners peace of mind about their ‘brand new, big purchase,’ “ Matthew said.

 

After all, it’s not every day that an office will be visited by someone who was a part of the Screen Actors Guild; lived in Los Angeles vying for acting roles and who still currently participates in the Kansas City theater community!

 

Matthew, who was born in Kansas City and raised in Independence, Missouri, still calls the city his home, along with his wife Leah. He and Leah met in college, at Missouri State University, formerly Southwest Missouri State University. They married in June 2011 and have lived an adventure ever since. Leah started her successful photography company, LGEmerick Photography, a few years later in 2014. The couple also moved to LA, where Matthew could be in the midst of a larger theater/acting market.

 

Matthew is used to a lot happening at the same time—in his high school career at Center Place Restoration School he had the opportunity to sing in the choir, run track, play soccer and basketball, join the student council, do theater productions and dance because of the school’s size. Summers growing up were spent tubing, boating and fishing at his father’s home in Lake Lotawana, Missouri.

 

After six years in Los Angeles, Matthew and Leah decided to move back to the KC area. Their love of their hometown drew them back. “We wanted to buy a house of our own in a place we knew we could live long-term,” Matthew said.

 

Moving back to the area, Matthew worked for KCP&L; then for Amazon as a Dispatch Manager in 2020-21. That’s when the chance to work on Team Emerick started to come together.

 

Matthew is a Sales Assistant who gets to travel to offices in the team’s coverage area—Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. He does lunch and learns at offices; goes to various conferences and other networking events.

 

In a tough seller's market, the Team is working to set Home Warranty as a company that agents can trust. In the past, the seller would oftentimes be the one to offer the warranty, Mark explained. The market hasn’t pushed that recently but the goal is for their product to be top-of-mind when needed.

 

“Our main priority is open lines of communication,” Matthew stated. Also, their company offers 14-month warranties (vs. industry standard of 12); the call center is in the Midwest (the company started in Iowa) and homeowners can either choose their own contractors or use a recommended contractor.

 

When it comes to home repair, “It’s not if but when,” Matthew said.

 

Speaking with Matthew and Mark, it’s evident how they complement and compliment one another.

 

“Mark has so much experience,” Matthew said, referring to Mark’s history and knowledge. “We have strengths to balance out the other’s weaknesses”

 

Mark told a story of the time they went to an event where they would be speaking with many different agents. At first, he envisioned just one of them at the event…but instead, they both went and connected with different groups.

 

“Certain people click with certain people,” Mark said. “I think he’s going to do better than me. He’s a people person!”

 

Mark jokes that with his background, a college degree in Chemistry, he presents “a little differently” than his nephew.

 

The end result is that while Matthew has been able to connect with additional offices—they both have a passion for providing a quality experience for homeowners and the agents who trust them.

 

On a personal note, Matthew has continued performing—often auditioning around town; working as a guest artist at a local dance studio recently.

 

Both he and Leah are active with Wornall Road Baptist Church in Brookside. They also support the International Justice Mission (a global organization with works to protect people in poverty from violence such as human trafficking in 17 countries) and Band of Angels, a 501c3 nonprofit devoted to providing instruments, scholarships and all the support that children in need in the greater Kansas City Area require to succeed in music.

 

Leah is building a piece of art that will be sold at an upcoming event called “Art That Blows” usually held in the summer. Artists use parts of an old, nonfunctional instrument to create a piece of art to be auctioned. 2023 will be their eighth year for the Kansas City-based event.

 

In all, Matthew feels that his Hollywood training prepared him well for reaching out to agents—finding meaningful relationships rewarding and being “thick-skinned” enough for the few who say “no thank you”.