Living Local with Frisbee Real Estate

Ed Frisbee (00:00)

Hey, it's Ed again and here we are with special guest Will Roper. Will is with Roper Insurance here in Hendersonville. Will, thanks so much for taking time to sit down and talk with us. So tell us a little bit about yourself and about Roper Insurance, then I have plenty more questions for you. Okay, sure. Yeah, I'm from Hendersonville. I grew up here, went to Hendersonville High School, ⁓ graduated, went off to play college football. ⁓ Started off at Arizona State. Wow.

Had a little bit too much fun at Arizona State. Had to move a little closer to home. So a smaller Division I school, I was a place kicker, and South Carolina State offered me a scholarship where I finished my undergrad in three years and specialized in kickoffs and long distance field goals for them. Had my college paid for.

and I still had one year of eligibility left. So Mercer University, which is a private university in Macon, Georgia, offered me a one-year scholarship to work on my master's and play football for them as well. ⁓ I had no idea. That's interesting. Yeah, yeah. And I tried to make it work, know, living. After my master's scholarship ran out, I tried to just like stay in Macon, Georgia. I didn't want to move home to Hendersonville because I...

I don't know why, I just wanted to get out. And I got a job working in a funeral home and it was the worst job I ever had. I was terrible at it. I was a family counselor trying to make sales. And it was very bad. So one day I came home for Labor Day. Were you very bad because you're not sympathetic? No, I was bad because I didn't know the local lingo. Okay.

That's at least that's how I felt and I came home for Labor Day and I'm walking down the Apple Festival and like left and right people Hey, well, how you doing? How's how's the football career like people knew me because I played sports. Yep, and I thought to myself like man like doing sales in a community where people know my name would be a lot Easier like why am I making it hard on myself? Plus I'd get to live in beautiful Hendersonville and my parents also working at a funeral home. I saw

how finite life is, like people lose loved ones every day. It's just like, away from my parents, they're getting older every day. Like, why not move home and try to work with the family business, live in a beautiful area and be closer to my family. So I moved home in 2016. My dad started the agency back in 1980. It was only doing life and health insurance. I got a license to do home auto and commercial in 2016.

We got some contracts to write some business for Home Auto and Commercial. And I grew our book of business for the Home Auto and Commercial, just by, people would come in for health insurance and I'd just ask, hey, can I have an opportunity to quote on your auto insurance? See if I can save you some money. And just one by one, just kind of grew the book of business. And I don't have to ask people if I could quote them anymore. So yeah, that's how it all started and been doing well since. That's awesome.

So you like being an insurance then obviously? You know, yes, it's tough though. It is not an easy job. Growing up, I definitely thought I wanted to go to the NFL. I thought that's what I was going to do. That didn't work out. And I've always been outdoorsy and active. really, I always wanted a job working for National Geographic or something, like going on expeditions in the rainforest, things like that. Wow. Yeah, yeah, that's what I wanted to do.

I don't know, I just saw a good opportunity working with the family business and I know you can make a decent living doing it and being my own boss, I'd have time to take off from work and go have my own expeditions in the rainforest if I wanted to, which I plan on doing in 2026. yeah, insurance to me was boring. I never wanted to do it growing up. Yeah. So you've touched on several things I'm gonna ask about, but first.

You like being outdoors, obviously. So what are some of your favorite things to do around the area that are outdoors? When I moved home from college, I bought a mountain bike and I got really immersed in the mountain biking community. Western North Carolina has great mountain biking, some of the top in the country. hold on. So for someone that doesn't understand mountain biking like myself, do you purchase a bike like that at Wal-Mart?

Mountain bikes are ridiculously expensive. It is a ridiculous hobby. Don't do it if you're trying to save money. Got I mean, a decent mountain bike, you're looking at spending several thousand, about three grand to get started just for the bike. And then you gotta get the car rack and the knee pads, the riding shoes. And then I spend a ton of money driving back and forth through the trail heads. ⁓ So I started mountain biking. ⁓ That was my golf.

talk business with mountain bikers I met out there and do a lot of hiking with my wife. And recently as of the last year, gotten into pickleball a lot too. I love pickleball. I've made some good connections there. So where, all right, so you've gone to many places. Where do you play pickleball? Mostly at Patton Park. Okay. And that's a fun community. Like my mom started pickleball like two years ago and she's always like,

come play with me, play pickleball. I'm I'm not doing that. It's dorky sport. I'm not playing pickleball. And then sure enough, like when Helene happened, there was nothing else to do. So my wife and I would go out to the courts and just kind of hit the ball around, get a little competitive. We're like, hey, this is actually fun. We're getting good cardio. And now, like my wife and I, it's probably our favorite thing to do together. We play together two to three times a week against other couples. And we're actually going to play in a tournament together, first of November. Wow.

Yeah, so Patent Park that's where the pool was right off. Yes. Okay. Yeah, yeah, cuz our other family members go to Jackson Park So yeah, they have one there too. They have courts there too. Okay. Yeah, so back to mountain biking. Where are some of favorite places to ride? DuPont is if there's a lot of places to ride here, but if you're new to mountain biking DuPont is Great place like for family riding. There's nothing too treacherous there. It's pretty easy trails

I love going to Kanuga, which is a downhill bike park. Think of it like a ski resort, but for mountain biking, you just get up to the top and there's jumps and fun trails the whole way down. And then a lot of people love going to Pisgah, which is more like, rooty, technical trails. You get a lot of miles out in Pisgah. So have you ever hurt yourself mountain biking? Oh yeah. What's the worst? Without being graphic.

Yeah, I mean, I've definitely calmed down on some of the crazy jumping I used to do, but I mean, a year or so ago I had 11 stitches and my pedal, I wrecked on a jump and pedal came up and hit my shin. That happens all the time with mountain biking. I had 11 stitches there. Me and some friends took a trip out to Bentonville, Arkansas for mountain, believe it not, Bentonville, Arkansas.

known for having great mountain biking. The owner of Walmart, his son is an avid mountain biker, they'd Bentonville, Arkansas is the headquarters of Walmart. So they dump a lot of money into building trails out there. And anyways, like you maybe all see, I got a knot here. Like I broke my wrist. mean, I've done a lot, but mountain biking has also taken me some great places. Like I've gone mountain biking out in Arizona, Squamish.

⁓ Squamish British Columbia Yeah, it's just a fun reason to go places so when you go out of town you actually take your bike usually but sometimes you rent on just depends on how Far and how difficult it is I usually bring my bike. I got a suitcase for it. ⁓ that was my next question. It can actually go on a plane Yeah, okay. Yeah, that's impressive. That probably cost more too, right? It does

Alright, so you grew up in Hendersonville. You've seen it change a lot? Yes. For the good? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I mean, it's just there's so many people moving here. Yep. Which is wonderful for the economy. And what do you think brings them here? I mean, I have the general idea answer. What do you think? I think our mountains and people want a slower pace of life. I mean, every single day with insurance, I'm helping people.

that move here from Florida, which most people moving here from Florida are originally from New York, so we call them halfbacks, ⁓ or California. And I think they just want a slower pace of life. ⁓ And we have such easy access to great outdoors here and beautiful landscapes. You go out on your back deck and you got Mountain View. It's a fun community too. mean, every Thursday, every...

Once a month in the summertime, they do the Rhythm and Brews on Main Street. People love that. Music on Main every Friday in the summer. And it changed though. Yeah. To like different locations which threw me off this year. Yeah. I don't know. don't go to them anymore. Same, but I've tried to go once and it was at a different location which threw me off. You think that's why people move here though? I think it's climate. I think it's topography, views, slower pace. I agree with that.

I've talked to others that just like the small town feel. I think Hendersonville's done a good job at the Main Street is a great attraction. It's diversity. It's offering. So, and in Main Street, I see you quite a bit out and about walking around. You, I guess you eat lunch out on Main Street often? Every day at 12, I take a break. Yeah. And I just go for a walk. So you're not always eating. You're just walking. I actually don't.

I pack my own lunch, but I see I always thought you're just walking to restaurants. No, no, I'd be spending a lot of money doing that. Yep. But my wife owns a bakery off Church Street. Bake Me House. Shout out Bake Me House. Yes. So I go during my lunch break to just do some dishes and help her clean up and maybe help with some customers when they walk in. So that's a great segue. Tell us about Bake Me House, how that happened. My wife is Thai from Thailand and she

is a foodie and she loves feeding people. And she's not only an outstanding cook, but also an outstanding baker. I think one thing she noticed when coming to the States is like, the desserts here are just so sweet. There's covered in icing, covered in sugar, don't feel good after you eat it. So my wife has opened a...

Asian style bakery called bake me house and in there you're gonna find like lighter fluffier desserts think like matcha Japanese cheesecake Thai tea cake Thai coconut style cake just things that you're not gonna find anywhere else around here And it's been doing really well so far and where it is she typically sells out

She sells out often. So if anybody wants to check out Bake Me House go earlier in the day so you can see more inventory. She has one baker there doing everything. So once an item is gone, it's just gone for the day. And then she rebakes for the next day. And they're on Church Street? On Church Street. Near the parking garage, right? Adjacent to the parking garage. Okay, well that's easy enough. What's your favorite item there without throwing you under the bus? Basked cheesecake, I think. What is it called? It's called a basked cheesecake. It's like a burnt top cheesecake.

It's creamy. It a really creamy texture. There's no crust on it. ⁓ Kind of more rich, but everything she makes is outstanding. But it is one thing, when I first tried it, I'd never had a Bass Cheesecake before and I put it in my mouth was like, what did I just eat? This is amazing. It's really, really good. I recommend it. And does she bake everything at the store or at Everything. Okay. So you get to smell it at home then.

No, but if something doesn't sell out, it comes home with me. So I did see a post recently where y'all were talking about a bake me house and she kind of took a jab at your stomach because she thought you ate too much. And for people that can't see will, I don't agree with that at all. Will's quite built and fit for being an outdoorsman. So built by bake me house. ⁓ I eat a lot of desserts, but I also do a lot of cardio and workouts. You burn it off. Yes.

So do they have drinks there too at Bake Me House? Yeah, yeah. I I read that. She does boba. She does a bunch of like sparkling sodas, green teas, and people love her matcha latte. Yeah, she's got a pretty nice drink menu. What's a matcha latte? Is that a coffee? It's matcha. Got you. it's latte. And the first thing you said, boba. There you go. What is that? Well, for one, I've never been much of a boba fan, but some people like love boba and it's...

Like maybe a fruit drink with milk tea. And at the bottom there's like, gosh, I think they're like tapioca, little, kind of like little gummies you suck up through your straw. Kind of like a dessert drink. Gotcha. I've never had that. But I think I've heard my children, my daughters speak of that and they seem to love it. The kids love it. Yeah. If I was drinking that and didn't know about the tapioca.

Like what is this exactly? Yeah concern. Yeah That sounds awesome. I've yet to visit bake me house. I've wanted to their hours or what? 11 to 4 Tuesday through Friday, Well, then we'll have to make time for that to make that happen. Yeah, man. So how do people find her on social media? Yeah, she does a lot of posting so just check out her social media page Facebook every day she posts what's on the menu

Under Bake Me House? Under Bake Me House on Facebook, yeah. So every day her menu changes, by the way. like, you know, today she may have items A, B, and C, and then tomorrow she'll make different items. So whatever you see in there on a Tuesday, on a Wednesday, she'd probably have something else. Gotcha. And it's all dessert-oriented, like you would go for lunch. Yeah, no. Yeah, she's not making food. It's just a bakery, dessert, and some drinks. Awesome. Yeah, man.

And that's where you typically are around noon. Yeah. somebody is looking for you, need a quote. That's it. Awesome. And how do people find ⁓ Roper Insurance? We are located off 118 East Caswell Street. Six minute walk from here, from this office. ⁓ If you're a fast walker. Fast walker, yeah. If you know where Wells Fargo is on Main Street, we're in that area. Are you also online? Yeah. Yeah, of course we've got a website too. And what's that? RoperInsuranceServices.com. Got it.

And how many people are there? It's just my brother and I and we have one ⁓ customer service rep, Alex. She's wonderful, but it's just a family business, me and my brother. And we split the work.

My dad used to work there, but he's kind of phased out, and now we handle everything. Awesome. So since you grew up in Hendersonville, you obviously like to eat out at times, right? So without throwing you under the bus, do you have top three recommendations of places to eat in Hendersonville? Oh my goodness. And you can't say Bake Me House because we've already... You know, we have so much Mexican food in Hendersonville. We do have It's like overwhelming Mexican food, isn't Lots of choices, yeah.

Is that where you're going? Mexican food? We eat at Mexican a lot because we usually only eat out once a week. It's after we play pickleball and we're usually sweaty. So you can't go find dining without wearing sweaty clothes. If you're at Patton Park, then I'm going to take a guess what you're going to say. But poppas and beer. They do a great job. Next two favorite restaurants. And Hendersonville? Well, you can go outside Hendersonville.

I mean, I'm gonna say Rocky's Hot Chicken Jack. Earlier we had a guess and they chose 12 Bones. 12 Bones is great. know, Mo's is good too for barbecue in Hendersonville as well. Yep, I agree. You know, I don't eat out much though because my wife is an incredible cook and she makes a lot of like Thai dishes. Oh, Boon Chu. Boon Chu, that's my sister-in-law's restaurant. How could I forget? Go to Boon Chu. Good call.

Thai cuisine is very, good. What's your favorite dish your wife makes then? She makes like a great, I don't even know what it's called. She makes like a noodle, beef noodle soup. I was never a soup guy before my wife, but she's so flavorful. Anybody that knows about Thai food is different. My daughter loves Thai food. Yeah? Yes. You guys go to Bunchu? We do.

But she also does Thai spice. You do go to Bhutan, don't you? You turned us on to Bhutan, I think, years ago. I used to work there part-time. I know. I think I ran into you. You might have done something to my food one time. Coffee shops? You drink coffee? I make coffee at home. Okay. So if somebody's visiting, you suggest any coffee places? I mean, I would have to on, Will, if you're out walking around, you gotta run across visitors and say, yeah, go... I mean, I feel like...

The most popular one that I'm aware of that I go to if I want coffee is probably Black Bear. On Main Street. They got a nice outdoor seating area. Outdoor seating makes it different, it? Yeah. Kudos to the restaurants that are able to do that and take the effort. For sure. think locals and visitors enjoy that, especially this time of year, fall or spring if it's not too hot outside. Another cool coffee shop, Jeter Mountain.

Jeter Mountain Apple Farm, been I haven't been to their coffee shop. Yeah, they got a... Well, I mean, the coffee shop is, you know, it's just a kind of a normal coffee shop, but the Amiens there, the whole Jeter Mountain... Mountain has done a great job. It's exploded. Yes. It's exploded up there. It's like Dollywood up there right now. It's crazy. They've done a super job. I need to actually get a hold of them and have them come talk with us. But kudos to them. They've really thought further out, I think. sure. Without throwing anyone else under the bus.

they've done well. Yeah. Oh yeah. Any other question you think of? One time we talked about roundabouts. What do you think about roundabouts? I don't know what's going on with this roundabout up here off Canuga. Like why did they have to take out? How big is this roundabout going to be? That's going to be big, I think. Yeah. Yeah, they're taking out a lot. I think roundabouts are good. I mean, I don't like them having to tear down buildings and everything, but I like roundabouts more than stoplights. We need a little...

A little thing, electronic says roundabouts. So far, roundabouts are winning. By the people that have been on the podcast. And I'm in agreement. For the same reason, you'd rather keep moving at a roundabout than be at a stoplight. But it's a controversial subject, so it's good to bring up. I vote for roundabouts. Anything else you can vote for that's controversial? No, you don't have to answer that. No. Awesome.

All right, well, I appreciate you taking the time. Will Roper with Roper Insurance. You can check him out at roperinsuranceservices.com. Yep. Or just walk it. They're all full on East Caswell. That's it. Right, right near Main Street and definitely visit Bake Me House off at Church Street in Hendersonville. Open Tuesday through Fridays. Am I missing anything? What's your wife's name? Just call her Emily. But her legal name is Tipyapa Tanyadokshinukhtek.

We'll never say that. Emily is good. I can't wait. Can you say that one more time? Just because the transcription for our podcast. Let's just see what happens. Say her name again. Tipyapa Tanyadokchenukde. Well, that'll be awesome to see the transcript. still have to look, I have to look it up to spell it. How many letters is that by A lot. It doesn't look like a word. It's just like, what is it? It's like a jumble of letters. Awesome. I look forward to meeting Emily one day.

Awesome. Thank you, very much for taking time. And as we like to say, keep living local.