Kim Riddle has carried a badge and a gun. Now she carries real estate licenses in Tennessee and Georgia. Both jobs have allowed her to do something important to her: help people.
“I became a police officer because I wanted to help people. I’m still helping people, but now they’re happy to see me,” she says with a charming Southern twang.
Riddle, 36, became a Realtor in 2005, when real estate was “a sweet deal.” Her husband, John, was studying to become a veterinarian, and she needed to supplement her income as a police officer with a second job. Riddle had liked digging into the history of a house she and John had bought together, and she thought the schedule would mesh well with her work in law enforcement, so she went to school and got her license. Although both jobs were demanding, she brushes aside questions about being overwhelmed.
“Being a Realtor is a full-time endeavor. You have to be available. But most police officers have to work a second job,” she says.
Working with the force allowed Riddle to wet her feet as a Realtor, as most of her early clients were police officers. In time, however, she left law enforcement and committed herself to real estate full-time.
Although Riddle enjoys being a Realtor, there are days when she misses the excitement of her old job. “When they drive by at night with the siren going and the blue lights on, I miss it,” she says.
Riddle started her real estate career at GMAC Realty Center, now known as Prudential Realty Center, but followed her broker, Pam Duffy, to Fletcher Bright Company four months later. Duffy eventually moved on, but Riddle stayed behind.
“This is a homegrown company with local roots. That’s important to me. I also like the people who work here,” she says.
Riddle is drawn to small, cozy environments and traditional values. She grew up “a complete farm girl” in Etowah, a Tennessee town with a population of a few thousand, and then attended Tennessee Wesleyan College, a private Christian college in Athens with just over 1,000 students. While earning a degree in psychology, she took a class that gave her the opportunity to ride in a squad car during undercover runs to purchase drugs.
Although picturing the warm and personable Riddle in a blue uniform cuffing a criminal is not easy, police work excited her, so when she graduated from Wesleyan, she took a job with the Chattanooga Police Department and started to work on a master’s degree in criminal justice at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Upon earning her degree, the small town girl got a big town shock when she went to work as a special agent for the FBI in Washington, D.C.
“I worked counterintelligence. It was different from being a police officer. When you’re a police officer, your goal is to lock up the bad guys, but when you’re in counterintelligence, you monitor them. It’s like playing chess because you don’t want them to know you’re watching them,” she says.
Riddle thought her job was “super cool,” but the culture of D.C. disappointed her. “When I started at the FBI, I’d say ‘Good morning’ on the elevator, but no one would respond. After a few weeks, I stopped,” she says.
Fortunately, a career in the nation’s capital was not Riddle’s destiny. A life in Tennessee with John, a SWAT team member in Chattanooga, was. They had met during a hostage call and never looked back. She returned to Chattanooga to marry him.
Today, Riddle and her husband lead vastly different lives than they did when they met. Like Riddle, John is no longer in law enforcement but is a veterinarian, and the couple has a two-year-old girl named Wren. “It’s actually Lauren, but that’s too much to say,” Riddle says.
Having a child has added a new challenge to Riddle’s life, but as with the questions about managing two jobs, she laughs off any thoughts about not being able to handle a career and being a parent. “My husband and I work different shifts, so we tag team. And if I need to take care of something while he’s out, we have family lined up three or four deep ready to take care of Wren,” she says, laughing.
Being a career and a family person doesn’t stop Riddle from volunteering, either, something she says every person should do. “You have to be community oriented. You have to do something besides take care of yourself,” she says. To that end, Riddle is on the board of the McMinn Regional Humane Society and is a volunteer with Basenji Rescue and Transport. Her work with the latter organization involves fostering Basenjis, a breed of dog said to have the intelligence of a two-year-old.
“You take them in like they’re yours and then you have to send them away. Every time one leaves, I cry,” she says.
In addition to working with animals, Riddle has served on the outreach committee at the Greater Chattanooga Area of Realtors and volunteers at the church she and her family attends, Trinity United Methodist in Athens. And, remarkably, she still has time to keep in shape. “I’m a hobby runner. I get up early in the morning, before everyone else, to do that,” she says. Riddle ran her first half-marathon, the Seven Bridges event in Chattanooga, on October 21.
Whether pursuing criminals or chasing down good deals for her clients, Riddle has always been focused on making a difference in the lives of others. Just as endearing are her positive outlook on life, her energy and her friendly spirit, all of which have the ability to touch and affect each person she meets. For these reasons, Chattanooga is fortunate Riddle sees herself working in real estate for years to come.
“I like helping my clients find a home to buy. They’re going to live there; they’re going to raise their children there; and, hopefully, they’re going to feel safe there. It’s a privilege to be a part of that.”