Karla Tennies Koziura joins Baird & Warner after 20 years as Owner and Managing Broker of her own boutique real estate firm, and as Managing Broker of Colfax Realty, an Evanston-based concern now part of @Properties. As part of husband-and-wife builder-broker team Koziura Homes, specializes in the preservation and revitalization of our neighborhood architectural gems while also working with buyers, sellers and property-owners looking to add value to their homes. In addition, the pair purchases homes that may need some work, brings them back to life and sells them for new owners to enjoy!

Karla is in a unique position to help Sellers evaluate the best return on their investment and to help Buyers find the home that fits their preferences. Growing up in a real estate family, Karla appreciates the traditional real estate model of building interpersonal relationships and acquiring market knowledge through longevity in the business; but she also recognizes the role that technology plays in making a broker successful to better service her clients in today’s market. Some may also know Karla through another local family business endeavor - FRÍO Gelato - where for the past seven years she has been thrilled with the challenge of creating and building the company’s brand and taking it from "a simple idea we joked about once," to a thriving four-store business. Karla is thrilled to be part of the Baird & Warner team which not only offers the business values she holds dear, but the support and structure for Karla to be a trusted advisor to her clients.

***** Karla is an Ecuadorian-American who hails from CA. After two separate careers in broadcast journalism and international marketing/sales she moved to Evanston, which she now considers home. She is involved in the community as an active board member of the Main-Dempster Mile Small Business Association and Puerta Abierta Spanish Immersion Preschool as well as the Beacon Academy liaison to the Family Action Network (FAN). Karla has a Bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Barbara and a Master’s in Business Administration from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. Karla loves to travel and spend time with her husband and 4 children and feels fortunate to have brought these two passions together by living and traveling on a sailboat for 18 months! You may have also seen Karla on Chicago’s WTTW/PBS Affiliate as a live pledge drive host for many years or as the host of Evanston Community Television's "Around Town" segment... and now dancing flamenco around town!