Above: Ashton Real Estate Group of REMAX Advantage Co-Founders Gary Ashton and Debra Beagle.
Talk about traveling to the beat of a different drum…
Linda Ronstadt may have famously sung the words, but Gary Ashton has lived them, almost quite literally. While Ashton never garnered gold records as a rock band drummer, he’s achieved incredible acclaim within the real estate realm, from being awarded the REMAX Luminary of Distinction Award in 2025 to his Nashville-based Ashton Real Estate Group of REMAX Advantage being named for the eighth consecutive year the top REMAX team in both the U.S. and worldwide, based on residential closed transactions.
In addition, the REMAX Advantage brokerage, now with more than 200 agents, received several national and global honors, including recognition as the top contributor to Children’s Miracle Network for a single franchise, as well as awards for the largest net gain in associates for a metro market and largest single franchise.
“Being recognized as the No. 1 REMAX team in the world for the eighth consecutive year is an incredible honor,” says Ashton, who founded the brokerage in 2015 with Debra Beagle and Johnny Lee. “This achievement reflects the dedication of our agents, the strength of our systems and marketing, and the trust our clients place in us every day. Nashville continues to be one of the most dynamic real estate markets in the country, and we’re proud to help so many families make their next move.”
Here in 2026, the brokerage now has more than 200 agents. Longtime Nashville residents are often surprised when they meet Ashton, who sports a British accent. Born and raised in England, Ashton’s first career was in music. He moved to Florida in 1990 and bought a motel with his father, while continuing to play music with other English musicians.
When the motel was sold in 2000, Ashton decided to pursue a real estate career in Nashville, a city he’d grown to know and love through music connections. He obtained his real estate license and focused on online lead generation, including using PPC advertising and IDX to drive inquiries to his website. This ultimately led him to join REMAX and build a large real estate team, which he has grown significantly over the years.
In an interview with RISMedia, he explained how his life and career evolved.
Michael Catarevas: Are people in the real estate industry surprised when they hear your British accent?
Gary Ashton: Sometimes people meet me and go, “Oh, I didn’t know you were from England.” And I’m like, “Well, I’ve done lots of radio commercials.” And then they say, “Well, you didn’t sound English on the radio.”
MC: Talk about your early days in music.
GA: I’m 64 now. Back in England in the late 1980s, we had the same management as Tears for Fears and Chris de Burgh. The band did pretty well. Initially we were playing in front of 25 people, 50 people, 500 people, then a couple thousand.
MC: Were you hoping that maybe that was going to be your career?
GA: Oh yeah, for sure. But that band fell through. Me and my dad bought a motel in Clearwater Beach, Florida, because we had motels in Leeds, England, the city I’m from. We came on a vacation to Florida, and we loved it, so we ended up selling the motels in England and came to Florida in 1990. Me and my dad bought the motel and did that for 10 years. I still wanted to meet musicians and started playing and it was good fun. We sold the motels and I moved to Nashville and thought I’ll get my real estate license.
MC: How did you learn about how to work in the industry?
GA: I like advertising and marketing. I used to work at an advertising agency back in England whilst I was drumming. In the mid ’90s, we were one of the first motels in the U.S. to get a website. I was creating the user experience for people coming from England, because we would advertise there.
MC: How did you eventually land at REMAX?
GA: Nobody cared about GaryAshton.com or whatever. They need to see something that they subliminally know. And that’s why I went to the balloon because it was instantly recognizable. I needed the REMAX balloon.
MC: As your company was growing and adding more people with the numbers climbing, how did you keep track of everything?
GA: Well, I think it all comes down to accountability. Over the years, if you joined the team and were doing really well, my natural inclination was to give you more and more leads. We started creating systems and accountability and tracking. Now we can go in and say, “Did you make the call?” “Did you send the text?” “Did you follow up?”
MC: What’s your day-to-day like?
GA: I spend a lot of time doing this, chatting on Zooms. Talking with people about new ideas, always trying to stay ahead of the curve with technology.
