Passionate about her life and her work, Kayla Preston says she lives every day as though it might be her last. “All our days can’t be a ten out of ten,” she says, “but imagine if we all made two choices: to be happy in ourselves, and to make someone else’s day special. For me that means valuing my relationships with my clients and team. Every day, my favorite outcome is to make or save my clients the most money, and to provide an outstanding experience when doing so.”

Now a senior broker at Every Door Real Estate, Kayla grew up in Mukilteo and graduated in Strategic Communications from the Department of Communication and Media at Seattle University in 2009. Despite a challenging start, she has been immersed in the Pacific Northwest real estate market in a variety of roles. “The year 2009 was a terrible time to graduate college,” she explains. “I was competing against experienced, high-level professionals who were losing their jobs. Through a summer job connection, I began my career in property management working on some well-known buildings in the Seattle area. I immediately found the sector fascinating.” 

Moving to Zillow, Kayla sold advertising on the platform but pivoted to train agents to provide better client experiences and, ultimately, do more business. “I talked to thousands of agents across the country, helping them deliver better results while also finding out what did and didn't work for them," she continues. "I learned many skills from marketing, to finance, to negotiation. Zillow has a wonderful company culture, and I formed lasting friendships there. “ 

Invitation Homes, a real estate investment company funded by Blackstone at the time, recruited Kayla in 2013 as the industry emerged from recession. "This was a true start-up, and I was the first person hired in the Portfolio Operations Division.” Kayla says. “We grew a property portfolio, acquiring at auction and managing construction crews to rehab properties as rentals. Every week we bought anywhere from 20 to 50 properties, and I managed 3600 properties in the Pacific Northwest!”  

Always ready for a new challenge, Kayla decided it was time to become a real estate broker. “I’d experienced property management, the best software tools at Zillow, and now the corporate world,” she explains. Her relationships in the industry led her to Keller Williams. “I am grateful I started my broker career there,” she continues, “as my mentor pushed me outside of my comfort zone and provided opportunities for business and education. Networking was important there. I was invited to speak at national events and conventions, sometimes to audiences as large as 15,000 people. It was wonderful to reconnect with brokers around the country with whom I had interacted remotely at Zillow!”

Every Door Real Estate was started by a team with whom Kayla had worked closely at Zillow, and she joined them in 2018. “It felt like coming home,” she enthuses, “and at first, we were less than 20, and now we are 120 agents. They are an unparalleled success and their secret is training. There is a feeling of comfort and joy in working with people you like and know well. Although I operate as an independent agent prospecting, scheduling, and negotiating, I have a team who manages marketing and administration.” Kayla’s business is 50/50 helping buyers and sellers and she covers all of King and some parts of adjacent counties. With her extensive network and immersion in the market for so long, referrals are the engine of her growing business. 

Fourteen years ago, at the age of 22, Kayla was diagnosed with an extremely rare lung cancer. “I am the only person in medical history to have had this condition," she says, “and I had my right lung removed. I was not a smoker. I lived a healthy, active lifestyle. It is one-of-a-kind.” Kayla has been through many surgeries as well as chemotherapy and radiation over the years, most recently being earlier this year. “It is under control. I do think of it as a blessing in an odd way. You can’t sink into despair - you learn to see the positives and live life to the fullest," she says. "If it's unusual to be a 22-year-old cancer patient, it’s even more unusual to find someone missing a whole organ, and to be active on top of it!”

In school Kayla was involved in many extra-curricular activities and societies, including cheerleading, women's chorale, leadership coaching, and public speaking mentoring. As her career progressed, she frequently volunteered for community activities and fundraising. Cheerleading led to her now ten-year commitment to CHEER Seattle.

Speaking of her involvement with typical passion, Kayla explains, “CHEER Seattle is a group of adult volunteer cheerleaders who raise spirits, awareness, and funds for the LGBTQIA+ community. Since our inception in 2014, we have raised over $100k for local nonprofits in the Greater Seattle area. We practice once a week for three hours and perform at events throughout the year, including the Seattle Marathon, Mariners games, the Pride Parade, and other businesses and venues. We raise funds at events and rely strongly on the generous donations of our patrons.”

Kayla highlights how every year, CHEER selects as a beneficiary for their fundraising a local nonprofit that shares their philosophy of community health and wellness. “In 2024 we chose the Lavender Rights Project, a by-and-for Black Trans led organization in Washington State that provides critical social services and advocacy work for the most marginalized in our community.” 

In performing at CHEER, Kayla enthuses about the high-flying stunts and pom team dances she urges everyone to experience. “I won’t go into all the technical terms, but people are tossed in the air, there's pyramids, and there's people on top of people while the dance team twirls, kicks, and leaps. It’s quite a show! We have a repertoire of different stunts and dances that we tailor to our audience and the nature of the performance," she enthuses.

Throughout her work as a broker, her cheerleading, and her life, Kayla concludes: “I need to live every day like it's my last. I work and live the way I do because I want to say 'yes' to every single opportunity. For me, success is living a happy and full life.”