Partner, Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.

She Emphasizes the Need to ‘Work Hard, Play Hard’

Photo by Focus Ashely Photos

Kristi Reale says it’s an unofficial assignment. In other words, it’s not written or her business card. In addition to serving as a partner with the Holyoke-based accounting firm Meyers Brothers Kalicka (MBK), she’s also in charge of the ‘fun committee’ there.

She even has a ‘fun drawer’ in her credenza, filled with Easter eggs to be hidden around the office at that time of year, golden coins and shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day, material for the ‘decorate your space for the holidays’ competition, and much more.

Fun is an important part of the equation at this firm, she said, adding that there is stress throughout the year, but especially around the many tax-filing deadlines, such as those in April, September, and October, and fun is needed to help take the edge off.

“It’s a hard job, and you want to make it fun,” she said, adding that she tries to do something fun — like a Belgian waffle bar or hot chocolate bar — every Saturday during spring tax season, when many employees are in and trying to dig out.

But fun is just a part of that equation, as evidenced by the sign on top of that credenza, the one that reads, “Work Hard, Play Hard.” Those are words her father, Bill Hurley, a small-business owner who passed away in February, lived by, and Reale does as well, she said, adding that she stresses both elements — to anyone who will listen, but especially to the young women (and men) she mentors.

“Hard work is important, but you also need to have some fun,” said Reale, who is the proud (sort of) repeat recipient of one of the awards given out at the firm annually, this one to the individual “most likely to have squatted” at MBK, meaning you could find her at her desk at almost any hour.

“It’s not an award you really want to get,” said Reale, who has also been awarded a blanket by her colleagues, in part because she’s always, as in always, cold, but also as a nod to the notion that she sleeps in her office.

Hard work — but not necessarily the kinds of hours needed to win the ‘squatter’ award — is what Reale preaches to young people — as well as the need to balance that hard work with fun, to give back to the community in many different ways, and to mentor others on their way up, just as they were mentored.

She does all this, and that’s why she’s being honored as a Woman of Impact in 2024.

Her office helps tell the story: there’s the fun drawer, that aforementioned sign, photos of family (a nod to work-life balance), her 40 Under Forty plaque from 2009, her diplomas and credentials hanging on the walls, and — on this day, parked in one corner in large bags — 60 pairs of kids’ pajamas she had already purchased for an organization called Jammie Jingles, started by a firm member, which contributes new pajamas to children in need.

But comments from those she works with tell it better.

“She’s devoted 100% to the firm, to her clients, and, more importantly, staff,” fellow Partner Rudy D’Agostino said. “What’s great about Kristi is that she’s a mentor to many of our younger staff; she takes the time out of her busy schedule to meet with them, work with them, mentor them, and help them put a plan together.”

“Hard work is important, but you also need to have some fun.”

Howard Cheney, another partner at the firm, concurred. “Kristi has made, and continues to make, a remarkable impact on individuals, businesses, and organizations in Western Mass. The position she holds is a unique one because her job directly enables others to thrive in their own endeavors. The weight of that responsibility is not lost on her, as she goes above and beyond for her clients.

Kristi Reale, right, with Springfield Thunderbirds mascot Boomer and fellow Meyers Brothers Kalicka Partners (from left) Rudy D’Agostino, Kristina Drzal Hougton, Howard Cheney, and Jim Krupienski on the occasion of the firm’s 75th anniversary in 2023.

“Additionally,” he said, “Kristi serves as a role model to a number of young professionals on our staff, and she works hard as a mentor, helping these young accountants to navigate the road to success, as she experienced it herself.”

Firm Resolve

Reale was a student at Assumption College in Worcester, working toward a degree in accounting, when she decided that real world-world experience would be a good complement to what she was learning in the classroom.

Her advisor agreed, suggesting that she pursue an internship. So she did, with a vigor that would reflect her career to come.

“I opened the phone book, and I called every single accounting firm within driving distance of Assumption,” she said, adding that she scored some interviews, including one at a large regional firm in Worcester.

“When I went to interview with this person, he said, ‘how did you find us?’” she recalled, adding that she told him about opening that phone book and calling every accounting firm in Worcester and asking if they had an internship program. “He called me up and said, ‘Kristi, I’m a Bentley guy, and I had a Bentley student pinned for this internship, but I’m going to give it to you.”

She completed that internship in the spring and started with the firm in the fall, she went on, noting that times were different in the broad world of public accounting then; jobs were much harder to come by, and the competition for them was fierce.

“You went to work, you did your job, you did the best you could every day because, if you didn’t, there was a line of people outside waiting to get your job. It was a tough market,” she said, adding that this environment was fine with her because, from a young age, good working habits were instilled in her by her parents and, later, several mentors.

And she is essentially trying to impress that same message on young people today.

“What’s great about Kristi is that she’s a mentor to many of our younger staff; she takes the time out of her busy schedule to meet with them, work with them, mentor them, and help them put a plan together.”

Tracing Reale’s career, she stayed with the firm in Worcester for a few years before tiring of the commute from and a perceived lack of opportunities to advance. So she went to work at a smaller firm but was again stymied by a lack of opportunities, feeling “disposable,” as she put it. Frustrated, she decided in early 2001 that she was done with public accounting.

But she still needed to work, so she called her sister-in-law, an employee at Meyers Brothers, and asked if the firm needed any tax-season help. It did, and she came on board with the intention of making this a very temporary assignment and finding something else to do for a career.

Instead, she saw women in management roles, became inspired, and stuck around, passed the CPA exam, and plowed ahead.

“I knew no one was going to outwork me, and I was just going to do it,” said Reale, who eventually became the second woman to become a partner at the firm (her colleague, Kris Houghton, was the first).

As a partner and CPA, she works hard on behalf of her clients, but also on behalf of those she works with, setting an example and also acting as a mentor — to young people in general, but especially women.

Kristi Reale, right, and Chelsea Russell, manager/CPA at Meyers Brothers Kalicka, display some of the many items collected during a supply drive to benefit the residents of Ruth’s House in Longmeadow.

“What I’m trying to encourage is for this next generation of women to be strong and financially independent, and to succeed. The glass ceiling’s already been broken; why not go for the moon?” she said, adding that most of her mentorship activity is informal, and she works hard to make herself accessible, with some colleagues calling her at 10 p.m. or later.

She Gives of Herself

There is no managing partner at MBK; the six partners essentially split up the workload. Reale’s areas of emphasis include IT and administration.

But, as noted earlier, she’s also in charge of bringing some fun to the firm’s 80 or so employees. That’s a broad assignment that includes everything from activities around various holidays to celebrations when those tax-filing deadlines have passed, to random pranks and other efforts to coax smiles and relieve all that stress.

It’s an assignment she takes … well, seriously.

But in addition to her work with clients and her ‘work’ to supply fun, she is also very involved in the community — and in many different capacities.

She has sat on different nonprofit boards in the past and remains involved with the board at the Advertising Club of Western Massachusetts. She has also been involved at various levels with Habitat for Humanity, Trees of Hope Supporting Ronald McDonald House, Unify Against Bullying, and Dress for Success.

Meanwhile, the firm supports several different nonprofits and individual programs, with initiatives revolving on a monthly basis, and Reale makes a point of stepping up for each one.

Such as with those kids’ pajamas she started buying, with an emphasis on starting.

“I’m at 60, but I could be at 100 soon. This is fun; I enjoy this,” she said, adding that she does most of this kind of giving — including the purchase of pairs of Air Jordans for two teen boys in a family the firm adopted last holiday season — on a low-profile basis. (Since the firm went ‘casual’ at the height of COVID, she often wears Jordans herself; she says it gives her some street cred with the younger employees in the office.)

Overall, Reale is a giving person with an incredibly strong work ethic … and a great sense of humor, a blend of traits exemplified by her donation of a kidney to her husband 18 years ago, and the ultimate timing of that donation.

“I was tested and passed all the testing in late 2005, during the beginning of tax season,” she recalled. “I was cleared to be a donor in March of 2006, and they had an opening, but I told him I had to wait until the end of tax season. I said, ‘you waited like eight years … what’s a few more weeks?’”

All this explains why Reale is a Woman of Impact and why D’Agostino, who knew her father well, says he would undoubtedly be very proud of all she has accomplished and the manner in which she has, indeed, become a role model to so many.