I have to admit, it makes me a little uneasy to leave so many details of this issue unfinished until shortly before our monthly deadline. But we do that once a year to appropriately highlight the winners of our annual Agents’ Choice Awards. We wait to choose the subjects of our cover and MyStyle feature until the voting is complete in late October and the votes — tens of thousands of them this year — are tallied.

That means a quick turnaround for our team, but the end result is worth it. It’s always fun to see who you, the voters, select as Industry MVP, Rookie of the Year, Loan Officer of the Year and more in the city and suburbs. And, in a nod to the times, we added a new category this year: Social Media Influencer of the Year. Be sure to check out the winners in each of the 21 categories. Congrats to all.

Speaking of winners, you can find out which agents and offices across Chicagoland are leading the market with our latest installment of Real Data from MRED. Also in this issue, we explore the growing demand for Certified Divorce Lending Professionals, a niche in the mortgage industry that should not be overlooked.

Lastly, don’t miss this month’s Top Coach feature from Jeff Lichtenstein, a Chicago native and founder of Echo Fine Properties in Florida, whose idea to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for victims of Hurricane Ian inspired a book and supercharged his business. It’s a timely story as we flip the calendar to November and each of us gets a chance to assess our own year-end giving.