From Corner Offices to Nashville Roofs: How The Gaston Group Came to Be
For more than 20 years, we lived the version of success most people spend their careers chasing.
Robinette was a Vice President at Publicis Groupe, one of the largest and most respected marketing agencies in the world, working remotely out of the company's New York office while building a life here in Nashville. Hugh served as Co-President of Interwell, a leader in healthcare IT, helping steer a company at the forefront of an industry that touches millions of lives.
We are deeply grateful for those years. They gave us stability, they gave us an incredible network, and they taught us how to lead, how to build, and how to serve clients at the highest level. But underneath the steady paychecks and the strong benefits, there was an itch neither of us could shake: the pull to own our own destiny.
So, we made the leap.
Partnering With The Agency Nashville
We stepped away from the comfort of the corporate world and partnered as agents with The Agency Nashville, bringing two decades of marketing strategy, operational leadership, and client relationship expertise into real estate. It's a different arena, but the core of the work is the same as it's always been for us: understanding people, understanding what they need, and delivering for them without compromise.
As lifelong Nashville natives, this city isn't just where we do business — it's home. We live in a 1900 Victorian in Sylvan Park, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, in a neighborhood we know down to the sidewalks. That kind of rootedness shapes how we work with clients. We're not reciting market reports we memorized last week. We're telling you what it's actually like to raise a family in Sylvan Park, The Nations, Whitland, or Belle Meade, because we've lived it, or we've watched friends and neighbors live it, for years.
A Family Business, Twice Over
Around the same time we launched The Gaston Group, we also started Vulcan Roofing TN — a father-son family business Hugh runs alongside our son Beau. It might seem like an unexpected pairing with real estate, but to us, it made perfect sense: both businesses exist to serve homeowners through something they will need at some point, done with integrity and craftsmanship.
Even Grey, our youngest and a student at Montgomery Bell Academy, has been recruited into the family enterprise. He now holds the unofficial title of "Vulcan Intern" — a role he's taken on with the enthusiasm of, well, a teenager assigned to pick up every last nail off a job site. But he shows up, and that matters to us. It's how this family operates: everyone pitches in, everyone learns the value of the work, and nobody's above the job that needs doing.
That roofing business isn't just a side venture — it's an asset for our real estate clients, too. Hugh and Robinette both hold engineering degrees from Georgia Tech, and that roll-up-your-sleeves, detail-first mentality carries directly into how we evaluate homes. When we walk a property with you, we're not only seeing staging and curb appeal. We're noticing roof age, ventilation, flashing, and structural details that most agents simply aren't trained to catch. That's a level of insight buyers and sellers don't typically get from their agent, and it's one of the things we're proudest to offer.
That cross-industry perspective is also why we've made it a mission for Vulcan Roofing to become the go-to roofing resource for real estate agents across Middle Tennessee — not just for our own listings. Every transaction is different, but roof issues have a way of showing up at the worst possible moment: during inspection, during due diligence, or right before closing. When that happens, agents need a partner who moves fast, communicates clearly, and gets the roof squared away without derailing the deal. Whether it's a full replacement or a targeted repair, our goal is to be the call any Middle Tennessee agent makes when a client needs roof work done right, so the transaction stays smooth and on schedule.
Why We Made the Leap
Leaving established, high-level careers isn't a decision either of us took lightly. But we didn't leave the corporate world to slow down — we left it to build something that was fully ours. Something rooted in this city we've called home our entire lives, built on real relationships instead of transactions, and grounded in genuine expertise rather than a script.
Two businesses. Two generations of our family, soon to be three. One mission: showing up for the people and the city we love.
Whether you're searching for your first Nashville home, your forever home, or exploring what your property is worth in today's market, we'd love the chance to show you what two decades of corporate discipline — now redirected entirely toward you — can do.
