KIM Stoegbauer
ceo | real estate broker | principal designer
I’m Kim Stoegbauer, founder of TomKat Design + Real Estate. I’m a designer, REALTOR® and remodeling contractor, as well as a wife and mom to two amazing kids, Tommy and Kate, who inspired the TomKat name when I started the business back in 2008. What began as The TomKat Studio, a creative lifestyle blog, has evolved in more ways than I ever could have imagined. Over the years, we’ve built incredible creative teams, collaborated with major brands and expanded into interior design and real estate. Today, our focus is all about HOME, helping our clients buy, sell, remodel, build and create homes they truly love. I feel incredibly fortunate to have built a business that brings together my lifelong love of real estate with my passion for design. After nearly two decades of growing and evolving the TomKat brand, I’m so proud of where we are today!
This Is My Story
Designer, Stylist, Realtor, Wife and Mom
I’ve always been creative and entrepreneurial, with a strong drive to turn ideas into successful ventures. As a teen, I came up with ways to blend creativity and business – designing babysitting flyers and crafting handmade cards to sell at craft fairs. At 15, I became an Avon lady, going door-to-door with my catalogs and lipstick samples, learning how to connect with customers. I’ve loved homes and decorating for as long as I can remember. When I turned 16, my first job was at the real estate office where my mom was an agent. On her advice, I earned my real estate license at 18, during a summer break from ASU and work in several assistant roles. While studying Business Marketing at ASU, I interned at a large advertising agency, where I discovered a passion for branding, design and marketing strategy. That internship turned into a full-time job after graduation but soon after, my mom urged me to leave my role so we could start our own real estate brokerage.
For nearly a decade, I worked full-time in real estate, running our brokerage and helping clients buy and sell homes. During this time, my husband and I also discovered our shared passion for finding homes with potential, remodeling them, living in them for a year or two and then selling to move on to our next project. When the market crashed in 2008, everything shifted. While we continued flipping homes, it was at a much slower pace and I made the tough decision to step away from the brokerage and focus on being home with our two young children. That’s when I discovered blogging and felt inspired to share the creative projects I was working on. I launched The TomKat Studio on a whim, posting about parties, decorating, and recipes. As the blog grew, readers began requesting the products I featured, so I opened an Etsy shop—starting with handmade party décor, then transitioning to digital designs as demand grew.
designer, stylist, realtor, wife and mom
The Blog
As I shared party ideas on the blog – many inspired by celebrations I was creating for my own kids – the content and styling began to attract attention. The photography, details, and creative designs caught the eye of major brands, starting with HGTV. What began as a few freelance styling projects grew into an ongoing collaboration, opening the door to even more opportunities. Soon, I was partnering with brands like Pottery Barn Kids, Coca-Cola, Barbie, and Shutterfly – styling shoots, creating content, and sharing my designs with a growing audience. These collaborations helped establish The TomKat Studio as a creative and innovative lifestyle brand, with features in publications including InStyle Magazine, Celebrate Magazine, and Parenting Magazine as well as an online feature by Martha Stewart. As demand for our products increased, I saw the need for a shop where customers could purchase all of the supplies showcased in our shoots. We began shipping orders from my garage, quickly expanded into our first warehouse space, and eventually opened a curated retail space inside FOUND – a beautiful home store – featuring a handpicked selection of party goods and gifts.
the latest chapter
Where We Are Now
By 2017, I started to feel a pull in a new direction. As the kids were getting older and the party business was changing – what was once new and unique had become available mainstream and I knew it was time to evolve. That year, I made the intentional decision to pivot the business and refocus on two forever passions: real estate and interior design. Since getting married in 2001, my husband and I have lived in more than 20 homes throughout the East Valley, renovating and selling each one along the way. Real estate and remodeling have always been a part of our lives, and after years of focusing on our own projects, I decided it was time to help others transform their homes too. That shift led me to officially expand The TomKat Studio into interior design, remodeling, and real estate and launching the TomKat Real Estate brokerage.
The new chapter evolved into a full-service design and real estate firm with a passionate, talented group of women who share my vision and love for helping clients find and create beautiful homes. In 2022, we moved into our dream space in the heart of Downtown Ocotillo – a beautiful, inspiring office that reflects the modern design aesthetic we’re known for and gives us room to collaborate and meet with clients. In late 2024, we expanded once again with the opening of The TomKat Shoppe – a curated home and gift store just steps from our studio. It’s a space where our clients, customers, and community can gather, get inspired, and find something beautiful to take home! After years of dreaming, growing, and evolving, this chapter feels like a true culmination of everything The TomKat Studio was always meant to be.
