OELWEIN — Exit Realty has a new REALTOR® in its Oelwein office, but many will recognize the smiling face of 1998 OHS Homecoming Queen and 1999 OHS grad Heather (Brown) Kral. She officially became a licensed REALTOR® with At Home with Diversity certification in October and now has her own office space in the Exit suite of offices at 1 West Charles St.
“There’s just something about being home,” Heather said, beaming and spreading her arms wide.
Right out of high school, Heather set her sights on a career in design and headed to Los Angeles, California, where she enrolled and earned a BA in Fine Arts at Otis College of Art and Design. From there she headed east to Columbus, Ohio for a job as fashion designer for Abercrombie and Fitch, a well-known American clothier.
After six years in Ohio, Heather returned to the West Coast and L.A. where she became senior designer for Pacific Sunwear (PacSun). That stint was followed by a few years as design director at Urban Outfitters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. But the City of Brotherly Love didn’t seem to be a good fit for Heather. She had maintained a mentorship with Otis College in L.A., and it was on one of those trips to her alma mater that she decided to take a leap of faith and follow a dream she had for her own line of women’s apparel. That was when Night Dive was created — an inclusive line of swimwear with a focus on plus-sizes.
Using her designs and having them developed into swimwear in Bali, Indonesia took a lot of time and energy. Somewhere in the middle of running a successful clothing business, Heather’s mom Laurie Bunn became quite ill and was hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in 2018. Heather came home to store her belongings and drop off her cat and went to Rochester to be with her mom. Then while Laurie was recovering, Heather was making her business dream come true while bouncing between Iowa and Bali.
It was in January 2020 when she met David Kral of Waterloo while surfing an online dating site. The two seemed to “click” on the first date, then COVID hit, and Heather was forced to quit traveling and stay in one place.
“That was when the realization of what really matters came to the forefront and I started to slow down and look around,” Heather said.
Later that year Heather and David became engaged at Thanksgiving.
“Oelwein has always had a good vibe to me. I knew how much I loved growing up here and it seemed like the right place to start my life with David, so we bought a house in the northeast part of town and got married in the summer of 2021,” Heather said.
Like many businesses, post-COVID was tough on Night Dive.
“My passion project of owning my own business had run its course with costs of production and shipping going up so much,” she admitted. “I felt it was time to move on, so I shut down Night Dive last year with no regrets.”
Again it was time for her to think about her future, not just as a wife to David and stepmom to his 14-year-old son, but also to find a source for her ever-flowing creative juices.
“I love everything to do with homes and getting people into their favorite place. I wanted to bring that feeling that we got when we were handed the key to our new home to other house hunters,” she said. “So, here I am! I keep it real and connect people with what they want. My design background and career have given me a great advantage in the real estate business.”
Heather says she can see there is room for growth in this career.
“I want to do my best for the people in the community and focus on northeast Iowa,” she said. “There’s something about being home. I’m so rooted here, even after living and working coast-to-coast. I never knew I was missing this so much.”
