Meet the “Rainbow Realtors”

How a queer-led realty group is making home ownership more inclusive

By Rachel Pasche | May 30, 2026

It’s never too late to discover (and pursue) your passions, just take it from Kimberly Kambrow and Rebecca Tippett, who started KIRE Realty in November 2022 and haven’t looked back. Their aim is to make real estate accessible for anyone, especially for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. With bright, rainbow-focused marketing and lots of resources for home buyers, KIRE is giving real estate a new look and approachable feel.

Kambrow’s career path started in the restaurant and retail industries, eventually leading her to work for Cracker Barrel at a corporate level. She moved to Hawaii in 2008 and received a degree in disaster management, which was hyper-relevant in Hawaii—less so in Traverse City, where she moved almost immediately after completing her degree.

“I didn’t want to go back to restaurants, or retail, or to work for someone else. So I got into real estate. I understood what it meant to put your feet on the floor every morning and find the fuel to get out there and make it happen.”

Once her kids were out of the house and COVID hit, Kambrow said she felt like she had lost her purpose. “I had been following the safe route. Conformity felt safe, and I was going along the path that I thought was the best option. I had to sort of deconstruct what I thought the ‘correct’ path was for me in order to understand what it could be.”

Kambrow and Tippett met around that time and decided to start their next chapter together. Tippett was living in Ohio at the time and had a background in operations. She had owned a floor covering store, worked in big box retail, and had recently completed her training to become a medical massage therapist. Despite the timing, the obstacles, the fact that Tippett had just finished training for a different profession, the two women decided to take a leap of faith together.

Driven by Data and Heart

The decision to start KIRE wasn’t random. It stemmed from a concerning dataset the founders had read, and a long car ride where they discussed what a different future might look like.

When the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a dataset on queer homeownership, the statistics were disheartening to Kambrow and Tippett. One of the findings was that LGBTQIA+ homebuyers purchased smaller and older homes than non-LGBTQ buyers and sellers.

“The Traverse City housing market is difficult enough to navigate on its own, and the additional statistics made a call to action sort of necessary. It made it easy to understand that this is who we are, this is our community, and we have a responsibility to impact positive change in terms of those data metrics on a local level,” Kambrow says.

In 2022, on a drive to Tennessee, the two of them mapped out what a real estate group that was more inclusive of members of the LGBTQIA+ community might look like. “We dreamt of creating a real estate company, a community, a vision of greater things for the future. And we landed on KIRE.”

The name KIRE is shared with their French Bulldog (and the company’s Chief Dog Officer), a combination of Kambrow and Tippett’s names. In building this company, they “threw the traditional playbook out the window,” deciding to do things their way and basing the company in their mission, values, and community.

“It’s evolved into something we’re very proud of,” Kambrow says.

The company is openly LGBTQIA+ friendly, with rainbow graphics on marketing materials and “heart-lead messaging” that conveys who Kambrow and Tippett are and what they believe in. “The way we’ve been embraced has been nothing short of amazing. It’s not necessarily for everyone, and that’s okay, but for those who know us and understand us, it’s fantastic.”

Growing and Reinvesting

The team at KIRE has grown to include two additional team members. “Mackintosh W. Joy (they/them) recently joined the team as a Buyer’s Agent and has already become such an incredible reflection of the energy and inclusivity we want people to feel when they work with KIRE,” Kambrow says. “Frank Swinehart (he/him) is our Celebration Ambassador, which honestly says everything you need to know about our KIRE philosophy.”

Though getting a new real estate group off the ground and running has taken up a majority of their time, Kambrow and Tippett still participate in other activities, including coaching and training for other queer realtors.

“A lot of people in the queer community were feeling sort of adrift, and we realized we were in a position to provide a lot of valuable resources for people looking to navigate the decision-making process of making a change or a pivot,” Kambrow says. “Mentoring these ‘rainbow realtors’ has been such a great way for us to give back and build the community we dreamt of when we were coming up with KIRE Realty. We’re helping people feel like they have a place and a voice in this community.”

When they’re not mentoring or working on their business, Tippett loves to paint, while Kambrow is into graphite drawing, crocheting, and house projects. Kayaking and travel are two things they try to make time for, regardless of how hectic their schedules may become. Even during this busy season of their lives, both are grateful for where their paths have taken them.

“It really is true, what they say: love what you do and you won’t work a day in your life,” Kambrow says with a laugh. “We find our joy in our work, in our clients, in seeing them step into something that some of them thought would never be possible. Some of them are first-generation homeowners, and being part of that process is amazing.”

A few houses KIRE has on the market this spring include two single-family homes in Traverse City (one on the Boardman River, another in a charming cul-de-sac) and a single-family home in Gaylord that was originally the first courthouse of Otsego County.

Looking forward, KIRE Realty is hoping to expand their team and market. The goal is to bring on new agents, train them from the ground up, and break into other markets around Michigan to ensure inclusive real estate is available for everyone in the state.

Learn more at kirerealtygroup.kw.com.