About Us

A family-owned company here to enrich people’s lives and build excellence.

Our Mission

Our family owned company has been in business for over 13 years in Wisconsin, completing hundreds of renovation projects. We know and understand the challenging task of finding and working with a great Wisconsin home builder.

Our goal is to build excellence into each of our clients’ homes and our communities through quality products, top notch craftsmanship, and deeply rooted expertise from start to finish.

Realtor shaking hands with new home owner
Couple moving in to new home

Our Promise

Our promise to you is simple.  As an award-winning home builder, we will fulfill and exceed your expectations.  As our A+ rating with The Better Business Bureau reflects, the time and care we put into each client’s satisfaction is of the utmost importance to us. So much so that we guarantee a response from our team within one business day.

It is this personal touch and high quality craftsmanship that has earned Stepping Stone Homes a reputation for exemplary performance.

Our Core Values

Customer Focused

Your experience reflects back on our abilities and character, so we drive our operations on your needs. We treat our clients with kindness and respect to better enrich your life instead of diminishing it.

Quality is our Policy

Our homes are built by teams of experts with roots that run deep in the constrtuction industry. Our homes are built with a unique approach to bring more convenience to your day-to-day life that is strong enough to last. Our new construction home building standards are high because quality matters.

Craft Innovative Homes

We understand technology is always evolving and growing. Your home should be no exception to keep up with this growth. Smart homes are a staple for us because your home should work for and with you instead of against you.

 

The Stepping Stone Leadership Team

CEO Jeff Kleiner Portrait

Jeff Kleiner

Founder

Saving money throughout high school to purchase his first flip property at age 18, Jeff has been buying and selling real estate for over twenty-five years; with 20 of those years focused in the lending and banking business. He started his career with a large mortgage finance company in his hometown of Appleton, Wisconsin, learning the intricacies of financing, underwriting, and collecting. In 1993, as a bank branch manager, he took over the Wisconsin mortgage wholesale side of the bank and led that team to new territories. That experience led Jeff to open his own mortgage brokering company in 1995, which quickly grew to one of the largest brokering and mortgage banking firms in the state of Wisconsin.

In 2004, he formed Home Path Financial to bring outside investors an opportunity to earn quality returns. His business expanded into opportunities for helping good people with bad circumstances, offering a chance to once again afford a home of their own and restore their credit to the high quality standards needed for conventional financing, thus Stepping Stone Homes was born. Today, he helps everyday people build the homes of their dreams with Stepping Stone Homes.

CEO Jeff Kleiner Portrait
COO Tracie Kleiner Portrait

Tracie Kleiner

Chief Operations Officer

Responsible for the efficiency of the Home Path businesses,  Tracie uses her talent for systems, analysis, and passion for perfection in overseeing the Operations Team.  Prior to spending several years in corporate finance, she was promoted to her first managerial role at the age of 19.  This led her to the finance industry where she spent time in both back office positions such as Auditor & Portfolio Analyst; as well as front line positions of Banking Officer, Registered Investment Advisor, Vice President of Investments, and more.

She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and obtained several of the FINRA securities licenses over the years.

Spending 15+ years in banking and finance operations for larger Fortune 500 companies, as well as small and growing investment companies, has given Tracie the perfect blend of experience to create systems and strategies to support Home Path’s bottom line, which she has been doing since 2006.  Tracie’s professional details can be found here on LinkedIn and she welcomes the connection there as well.

In her downtime, she is usually found enjoying time with her two dogs, RV traveling to visit her two sons in college, reading, hiking, kayaking, skiing, & fitness.

President Eva Fryar Portrait

Eva Fryar

President of Stepping Stone Homes

From an early age, Eva has always been interested in the science of building and construction. She attended Purdue University where she received her degree in Construction Management with a specialization in Residential Construction while spending the summers performing work in framing, roofing, field management and estimating. Then, she started her career with the Jones Company out of St. Louis, MO who was acquired by Centex Homes and then later Pulte Homes. During her 8 year tenure, she spent most of her time in the purchasing and estimating fields and the last several years in management of these departments. From there she went to join Payne Family Homes which was a start up company at that time. Spending 12 years with this St. Louis builder, they quickly worked their way to the 2 nd largest builder in St. Louis closing over 300 homes a year. Most of her time there was spent as the Vice President of Construction Operations where she provided strategic leadership and direction to construction, warranty, architecture, purchasing, estimating and design. She joined Home Path Family of companies in November of 2021 as the President of Stepping Stone Homes, their new home construction division.

Eva enjoys giving back to the community and spent 8 years leading the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Dream Home campaign along with volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. She also enjoys working with local school systems getting students engaged and excited about the construction industry.

President Eva Fryar Portrait

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