A career in marketing paved the way for Julie Stanczak, a broker with the Lake Group at Compass, to become a successful Realtor — a move she was lucky enough to “fall into” 16 years ago.

“My husband’ family owned investment properties, and I decided to get my license outside of my 9-to-5 job to help out,” Stanczak remembers. “But once I got into it, I loved it so much, I decided to make real estate my focus. I loved the interaction with clients and helping people at such an important time in their lives.” No slouch in any area of her life, Stanczak — outside of running a marathon, moving abroad with her family for a stint, and renovating an over 100-year-old house — has built her business over the last 13 years while also raising three active kids in the Oak Park area.

“I love the neighborhood feel — the block parties, bumping into friends while walking to dinner, living down the street from your kids’ teachers,” she says of Oak Park, where she has resided with her family since 2004 and which is just one of the suburbs she works in, in addition to Chicago. “It has an old-school, small-town feel, yet you have one of the greatest cities in the world 10 minutes away.”

Clients often remark on Stanczak’s patience and drive, which she finds results in return business. “Many of my clients become repeat clients for life,” she shares. At no time was this truer than in the challenging post-pandemic market, one in which her clients had the upper hand in many multiple-offer situations. Leveraging a hard-earned network, she got clients in pre-market to see homes, used smart negotiation tactics and was ultimately able to get every single one into their dream home.

As she widens her reach and serves more clients, she never loses sight of her motivation. “It’s not about getting you under contract,” says Stanczak. “It’s about your ultimate satisfaction.”