Tanya Hietpas

Tanya Hietpas was raised in Rochester, Minnesota where she attended Mayo High School. When she was 10, Tanya began riding and showing Arabian and Saddlebred horses and, over the years, became an accomplished saddle seat equestrian. This formative experience taught her the value of hard work and instilled a competitive spirit at an early age.

She came to St. Paul in 1990 to attend the University of St. Thomas. Tanya loved the University, the classes, campus life, the beautiful architecture, and the neighborhoods that surrounded it. She quickly recognized that she wanted to live and work in this area. She graduated from UST in 1994 with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies, and a minor in Biology and was in the process of attaining a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education when an opportunity presented itself to teach as a Naturalist at Dodge Nature Center. Tanya immensely enjoyed her time there, teaching young people about the environment and participating with the staff on local green initiatives. Her environmental background also evolved into working for the Humane Society as an Education Coordinator. This involved, in part, participating in a pilot program called LYNC which was one of the first pet therapy programs in the state. She also hosted a cable access show “Creatures Great and Small” which blended her love for animals with her work life.

Tanya's husband and she met while attending St. Thomas and bought their first house in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul. While working with a Realtor to find our next home, she said “you should be doing this yourself.” Those words of advice nudged her to meet with the manager of Edina Realty - Highland Park. With the sales background from her father, mortgage banking from her mother, a competitive drive, education at a prestigious business school, and a love for the Twin Cities, Tanya had finally found her dream career.

Coming full circle with my experiences at St. Thomas, she is honored to have been retained by the University to coordinate their neighborhood programs to help the University return the surrounding neighborhood back to a higher level of owner-occupied housing.

Nineteen years ago, she made a decision that changed her life. Tanya gets remarkable satisfaction from helping people buy and sell their homes to attain the American Dream. She has no doubt that selling real estate will be her career for a lifetime.