The Founders
Joseph Kazickas
Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Principal Broker
Joe attended an international boarding school in Switzerland and graduated from Wesleyan University in 1973. His early business career included stints at Swiss Bank Corporation in Basel, Switzerland and Deutsche Bank, in Frankfort, Germany. He then moved to Eastern Kentucky with his wife, Lucy, and worked as a strip miner at Falcon Coal Company, followed by 10 years in the coal export industry.
In 1989 Joe moved to Amagansett, NY and committed himself to the real estate business. In 1992 he was one of the founding partners of Dunemere Associates, one of the East End's pre-eminent real estate agencies, which was sold to Brown Harris Stevens in 2004. In 2008 he founded Rosehip Partners. Joe's diverse business experience lends itself to the development of Rosehip, a company which is as much in the information management business as it is in real estate brokerage.
While with Dunemere Joe managed his company's migration to the internet with Dunemere becoming the first area brokerage to develop a World Wide Web presence. With Rosehip his mission is to use the internet to break new ground in addressing the inefficiencies of the real estate industry's legacy business model.
James Young
Founder, Director of Product Development and Principal Broker
James comes to Rosehip Partners with extensive general management, marketing and sales experience in the mobile technology, Internet and real estate space, and is responsible for the product development and strategic direction as well as day-to-day operations at Rosehip. James has over 15 years experience in business development and management roles in the technology industry with Cellular One Telecommunications and later Oracle Software in the U.S. and Latin America where he served as a Director of Business Development for the mobile and wireless group, Oraclemobile. Recognizing the significant opportunity at the intersection of the Internet and the real estate business,
James transitioned full time into real estate in 2004 gaining valuable experience as a successful agent at Prudential Douglas Elliman and later Brown Harris Stevens. His ongoing obsession with technology as a means to competitive advantage has come to fruition with the founding of Rosehip Partners in 2008 and the development of www.hamptonsrentals.com which he led.
James holds an MBA from the University of South Carolina's Moore School of Business as well as a BA in English Literature from the University of Vermont. He is born and raised in East Hampton, has a lovely wife and two boys, William and Bennet.
Lisa Levitin
Having summered in the Hamptons with her family since childhood, Lisa has developed a unique appreciation and understanding for Hampton's real estate and its distinctive clientele. Lisa views selling real-estate less as a job and more as a calling and has an instinctive understanding of the individual needs of each person who comes to her in search of the perfect home. Instead of making a deal, Lisa feels more as if she is helping her customers realize a dream, finding the ideal house for each of her customers as well as the ultimate buyer for each seller wishing to pass on their bit of paradise.
Lisa's original foray into sales began when she landed a unique opportunity in New York City working for Nine West, and then Nina Footwear. After a successful stint in the big city, she decided to marry her love for the Hamptons with her passion and knowledge of fine wines and moved permanently to East Hampton not far from her family's original summer home. Lisa became the leading sales rep for a renowned purveyor of fine international and domestic wines, managing accounts from Montauk to Manhattan. Meanwhile, ever the entrepreneur, Lisa also founded the Hampton's area premiere beachwear company "Asparagus Beach" (a nickname given Amagansett's Atlantic Beach in the 70s.)
In 2003 Lisa helped a friend find the perfect summer rental - and a new passion was born. That year Lisa began at the prominent Hamptons real estate company – Dunemere Associates and continued at Brown Harris Stevens. While there, Lisa partnered with Joe Kazickas on many real estate transactions including the sale of the famed Bouvier estate, Lasata, on Furthur Lane. She easily made the transition with Joe to starting up the Hampton's newest premiere real estate agency – Rosehip. At her new home, Lisa's East End expertise, intuitive nature and outgoing personality are the perfect addition to her Rosehip partners.