Specialties

Full Service Realtor - Home Sellers, Home Buyers, Residential, Commercial RE, Land, Home Staging, Virtual E-Staging, First-Time Homebuyers, Relocation to Pittsburgh, International

REALTORS® Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh
National Association of REALTORS®
Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS®

Education

BA, Anthropology, Columbia University

JD, University of Pittsburgh

LLM, Public International Law, Universiteit Utrecht (Netherlands)

MSc, Psychology, Anglia Ruskin University (UK)

Certified Conflict Mediator, The Conflict Lab (Pittsburgh, PA)

Certified Facilitator, Design Thinking, LUMA Institute 
About Abby
"It's our job to make the customer experience a little bit better." – Jeff Bezos, Founder, Amazon

I am a full-time, full-service Realtor® who uses a deep understanding of human behavior and creative problem solving methods to develop more user-friendly experiences and drive innovation.   

I bring 12+ years experience as a design coach and consultant with LUMA Institute, MURAL, the Stanford d. School, Thomas Jefferson University, and via my own consultancy, Steam Creative, to every real estate transaction.

My partner Emily Askin and I know that great real estate agents, like great designers, differentiate themselves by obsessively paying attention to their clients’ worlds, emotions, unmet (and often unstated) needs, and constraints. 

We build lasting, trusting relationships and create experiences our clients remember fondly, even when their buying or selling journey hits bumps in the road, which is bound to happen.  In fact, those are often the moments people remember the most -- how we respond when things are toughest. 

Client service built on client insight has been the foundation of our real estate offering since day 1.  We are enthralled by our clients, and love knowing who they are and what motivates them -- their hopes, their dreams, their loved ones, their hobbies, their quirks - all of it. 

Pre-real estate, I spent 4 years leading the policy and legal department at the Allegheny County Health Department, and served as director of the federal government's first design-led policy lab.  I am also trained as a conflict mediator, with particular expertise in real estate-related disputes.

Some of my previous consulting clients include the National Business Group on Health, the University of Pittsburgh, Highmark Health, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, ADDept (supporting adults with ADHD), Autodesk, the Knight Foundation, Nike, Vanguard, and Accenture.

On the personal side, I've lived in 6 countries, birthed 1 child I adore (and 0 I don't), love to sing, improvise, row, cycle, practice yoga, and make audio recordings.