Kathy Meyer: Advocate for All

Kathy Meyer of Realty Executives Midwest in Darien, Illinois.

“My sole intention in my business is to be my clients’ number one advocate,” says REALTOR® Kathy Meyer. “I always go the extra mile in my clients’ best interests.”

That simple but powerful mindset captures the essence of Kathy’s real estate career. She grew up with a natural passion for communicating the facts and human connections. After graduating from Columbia College in Chicago with a degree in communications, specializing in radio and television, she worked in many jobs throughout media.

She did radio voiceover work for WGN, interned as a news writer and reporter for WXRT and WBBM-AM, and served as news director at WBEE radio before becoming a jazz radio personality. She pivoted to advertising, working as a creative writer and producer while also lending her voice and face as talent for numerous clients. At the same time, she worked as a fitness instructor at health clubs across Chicagoland. “I even had a cable TV fitness show and a radio show called the Fit Wits,” she recalls.

Motherhood shifted Kathy’s trajectory in the most meaningful way. With three kids— Melissa, Madeline, and Matt— she chose to prioritize family over seventy-hour workweeks. She stepped away from advertising but stayed active through teaching fitness and eventually pursued a Master of Science in exercise physiology at Benedictine University. She later worked in cardiac rehabilitation at Hinsdale Hospital, where her patients, many of them seniors, taught her lasting lessons about resilience and gratitude. “That was such an insightful period of my life,” Kathy says. “I loved to hear their stories and see them succeed.”

As her children’s sports schedules took the family across the country, Kathy found herself becoming the unofficial interior decorator for friends and family. A fellow hockey mom and seasoned REALTOR® noticed Kathy’s warmth and people skills and suggested they team up.

“One day Kris asked me if I would like to partner with her since she said I was the one who was the ‘people person’ and she was the one who was very skilled in the background workings of the business,” Kathy says. “In those days, we were creating our own flyers and brochures and using a very basic form of the multiple listing service—the MLS—and other digital platforms. She was very smart and took me under her wing and became my mentor.”

Kathy got her license in 2006, just before the financial meltdowns that started in 2007. Starting a new career in the face of difficult circumstances was a trial by fire. But she was up for the challenge.

“The biggest challenge of my real estate career was getting my license a year and a half before the market crashed,” she says. “Price reductions and open houses where no one came were the norm; it was heartbreaking.”

Still, she pressed on, fueled by a belief that her advocacy mattered. “Being with people and again helping them is just like cardiac rehab to overcome obstacles,” Kathy says. “I truly love what I do.”

Today, Kathy is a powerhouse REALTOR® with Realty Executives Midwest. She combines her media savvy, wellness mindset, and innate empathy to guide clients through one of the most significant decisions of their lives. Whether she’s staging a home from her personal locker of decor items or trimming overgrown landscaping for a client who’s already moved out, Kathy gives her all.

“I don’t mind getting my hands dirty to prepare the house,” she says. “If the front of the house needs extra mulch or flowers, I literally bring the mulch, plant the flowers, and bring over potted plants.”

This hands-on dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed. One Naperville neighbor hired Kathy after watching her clean up a nearby yard herself. And she cherishes a handwritten letter from clients who compared her service to that of a skilled surgeon. “I had a surgeon and his wife tell me I was the surgeon and they were the patients who got the best care, advice, and outcome for their future,” she jokes.

Kathy Meyer with her husband, three children and spouses, and four grandsons.

But Kathy’s life is about more than business. She and her husband Hal have raised three successful children—an attorney, a neurosurgery PA, and an engineering consultant—and now enjoy four grandsons. Family gatherings are epic, often reaching up to sixty people during Christmas. And when it’s time to recharge, Kathy heads to Eagle River, Wisconsin.

“Give me a boat and a beautiful day on the lake with those I love and I’m in heaven,” she says. She also supports causes close to her heart, especially Tunnel to Towers, which builds homes for wounded veterans and the families of fallen heroes. A woman of deep faith, Kathy believes in living with integrity, compassion, and purpose.

Looking ahead, she has no plans to slow down. “I am ever so grateful to have the constant support of my absolutely incredible managing broker, Jana Pinc, and my profoundly wise and talented office manager, Joli Simo. With them, nothing is impossible,” she says. “My future is to keep improving myself so I can continue to represent people with the competence, knowledge, experience, and tenacity that is necessary to be their best advocate.”