“I married and started my family pretty early,” says Nikki Dinino, premier agent at Redfin. “Everyone said my life was ending because I was becoming a mom so young, but that couldn't have been further from the truth.”

Nikki, who married at twenty-two and had her first child at twenty-three, has a thriving family, but admits the challenge to find work-life balance is constant, especially when her three children—Madelynn (16), Riley (13), and Brendan (11)—all have full schedules. Nikki credits real estate for allowing her to fulfill, and feel fulfillment in, her roles as wife, mom, and working professional.

“I don't revolve my family time around my work. I revolve my work around my family,” she explains. “That's been the biggest hurdle in this business: to be a present mom while achieving a high level of success. I think the most important thing I have done is ask for help when I need it.”

“You can do it all, just not at the same time,” she adds. “Accepting your limits is okay. It doesn't make you weak.”

Over the years, Nikki has built a support system to help her manage her many responsibilities, but her rock is her husband, Mike. “I am blessed that Mike is a hands-on dad,” she says. “We are a team. My success is just as much his as it is mine.”

Nikki started her real estate journey right after graduating from high school. She worked at a boutique agency in Ravenswood in an admin role before earning her license at age twenty-one, starting as a buyer’s agent. Unfortunately, due to the 2008 market downturn, she was let go shortly after, so Nikki refocused and spent the next few years finishing her undergraduate degree and growing her family. It was a very busy season.

“I received my bachelor’s in 2010 with a two-year-old on my hip,” Nikki recalls. “I had my next baby the following year while doing BPOs with my old broker when it seemed every home was going through foreclosure. It wasn’t long before I found out I was pregnant again. I couldn't go job hunting, so I pulled deals out of the air and made ends meet.”

But because Nikki was supplementing her income by waitressing again, she felt like she was moving backwards. Seeing that she was struggling mentally, her former broker pointed out the flexibility of Redfin’s transaction coordinator role. 

“It was a work-from-home position, and it was perfect for me as a working mom: I could juggle it all,” she says. “I took an agent position in 2018, and I have been here ever since.”

At Redfin, Nikki can focus on what she does best: sell real estate. She can trust the “Redfin machine” and the company’s resources to keep everything running smoothly in the background.

“I don’t need to worry about shaking hands or kissing babies to get leads,” Nikki says. “Letting my work show for itself has led to great success. I also have a team of amazing agents who are my ‘boots on the ground’ when I can't be. Their support has been a game changer.”

Nikki knows firsthand how stressful and overwhelming a home and life change can be. Raised in Chicago by her single dad, he remarried when she was fifteen and they moved to Skokie with her new step-mother and her four kids. 

“Going to a new school, becoming part of a blended family, and being a teenager all at once was rough,” remembers Nikki. “Also, moving from the city to the suburbs was a culture shock to say the least.” Ultimately, Nikki found solace in Chicago’s music scene, going nearly every night to Fireside Bowl, the Metro, and other venues to hear bands like Fall Out Boy, before they made it big. 

Nikki brings that entire experience to her interactions with clients, knowing how much little things can make a big difference for someone facing a transition in life.

“To be a part of someone's life at such a vulnerable time is an honor I don't take lightly,” says Nikki. “There is nothing better than when someone says you made possible something they thought would never happen or that your guidance was reassuring during their difficult time.”

When not serving her clients, you’ll find Nikki with her family, and sometimes, “throwing it down”  in the mosh pit at a music festival. Nikki still loves going to see Fall Out Boy and other such bands, only now she brings her kids along. She says that her ability to share many moments like these with her family has been possible thanks to her job as a REALTORⓇ.

“Real estate has given me the ability to be the mom and wife my family needs while setting no limits to my success,” she says.