[00:19] Tara Bansal: Welcome to her life, her practice, her way.

[00:23] A podcast for and about female financial advisors.

[00:28] I’m Tara Conti Bansal. I’ve been a financial planner and life coach for over 20 years,

[00:34] and I believe that when women thrive in this profession, we all win.

[00:39] This show is about sharing our journeys, our struggles, our breakthroughs, and the many ways we build a life and practice that feels true to us.

[00:50] And now I’m extending that mission. Beyond the podcast,

[00:54] I coach female advisors who want to grow a fulfilling practice and a beautiful life that they love,

[01:01] one filled with meaning, freedom, connection, and joy.

[01:06] Whether you’re just starting out, reinventing yourself, or dreaming of what’s next, you’re in the right place.

[01:13] Let’s build this together.

[01:16] This is Tara Conti Bansal, and I am here with Kristin Stutz. I am very excited to talk with her and for everyone to hear about her story.

[01:31] So I guess a little background.

[01:33] Kristin is a fellow woman financial advisor,

[01:39] and we met through Steph Bogan’s Limitless group. I think it was two years ago. I don’t. How many years ago was it, Kristin?

[01:48] Kristin Stutz: I think that’s right. It might maybe even three.

[01:51] Tara Bansal: Yeah,

[01:52] it was.

[01:53] I remember I got Covid after the first conference,

[01:57] so Covid was still pretty prevalent when we were doing it, and it was mostly remote except for the conferences.

[02:05] We’ve become good friends and I just admire her so much and I’m very psyched to have her here talking with us.

[02:16] Kristen,

[02:18] how.

[02:19] How about you tell us your story? I always start with that because I think Brene Brown, I’m.

[02:25] Anytime I see a speaker or I’m in a class, I always want to know about their background and history. So I always think it’s a good question to start with.

[02:34] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, I love it and thank you for asking me to be on. I’m just so thrilled.

[02:40] Yeah. A little bit about me,

[02:43] you know, like you had mentioned, I.

[02:45] I am an advisor and that’s how you and I met.

[02:49] That was not my original career path in life.

[02:54] When I was in my early 20s, like many, I, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I went to college and changed my majors about five different times and.

[03:04] And eventually kind of fell into a job at a salon where I was a receptionist.

[03:12] And I knew I wasn’t happy with the work that I was or the. I was going to school at that time for hospitality and tourism or hotel and restaurant management, essentially.

[03:22] And I knew that wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I didn’t have any idea what I did want to do.

[03:26] So I was going to take a semester off of school.

[03:29] When I told the people that I worked for at the salon that, you know, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but I had to go find a full time job because I wasn’t going to go back to school full time the following semester, they said, well,

[03:40] you know,

[03:41] we’ve got this opportunity where we could give you an apprenticeship and essentially teach you how to do hair.

[03:48] And if you like it, well, you’ve got a great career for the rest of your life. And if you don’t, you’ve got a heck of a good part time job to get you through college when you are ready to go back.

[03:57] And I thought, well, I don’t know what else to do. And I’ve always loved hair and beauty and the beauty business and everything else. And so what the heck, why not, why not give that a shot?

[04:08] And you know, the minute I got behind that chair, as the saying goes in the industry,

[04:15] I fell in love and absolutely loved working with clients and doing hair and eventually ended up opening my own salon and running my own salon until what I call a little case of cancer kind of knocked me off, derailed that.

[04:33] Yeah,

[04:34] yeah, exactly. It wasn’t such a little case of cancer at all.

[04:39] And I ended up having a stem cell transplant.

[04:44] And by the grace of God and my donor, 15 years later,

[04:48] here I am. But when something like that knocks you off your feet, you do a lot of soul searching and you go out in the world and figure out who you are now.

[04:57] You know, not only did it change a lot of things emotionally, but I literally have different DNA now.

[05:03] And so my life as a behind the chair stylist wasn’t the same anymore. I couldn’t do it actually physically anymore.

[05:11] And so through all kinds of different courses along the way and different paths along the way, I found myself as a financial advisor. And here I am now, nine years later,

[05:23] happy, healthy, loving life.

[05:25] Woohoo.

[05:26] Yeah, exactly.

[05:29] Tara Bansal: How, how long were you sick? Like how long were you in treatment? And.

[05:37] Kristin Stutz: Well, I was,

[05:40] I lived at the Mayo Clinic for nine months, I guess I would say approximately.

[05:46] Some of that was inpatient,

[05:48] some of that was in an apartment. We, I was not allowed to come home. I couldn’t be very far from Mayo in and of itself.

[05:57] Um, my initial treatment was chemotherapy. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Yes, I was literally hooked to that machine. Seven days a week, 24 hours.

[06:09] And I had to do two rounds of that and then another little Round to kind of get me ready for my transplant, and then from there went into the transplant process.

[06:19] So, yeah, we lived in.

[06:20] In Rochester for about nine months before I was able to come home. How long was I sick? There’s a lot of uphill battle post transplant. At least there was years ago.

[06:31] I know there are a lot of people who still struggle post transplant as well. You know, things are definitely different now than they were then, but there’s a lot of aftermath.

[06:40] Not. Not just physically,

[06:44] but emotionally as well. Just trying to figure out, you know, they just. How do you live now? What. What do things look like?

[06:51] So, yeah, it was definitely quite a road.

[06:56] Tara Bansal: What would you say were. Some of. What was some of the soul searching that came out of that for you?

[07:03] Kristin Stutz: So, I mean, just the craziest things, like when I tell people they’re like, what it. You. You go from.

[07:10] My road to diagnosis was really shocking, even that in and of itself to where it was,

[07:16] you know,

[07:17] I didn’t feel all that terrible. I was tired and out of breath and things like that, and went in for my regular physical and had a blood draw and basically found out,

[07:30] went from, you know, feeling just a little tired at a regular physical to three days later being told,

[07:38] you know, we want to check you in to the Mayo Clinic right now. We don’t even want you to go home. You need immediate treatment. And so I guess one of the biggest lessons that I learned is that your life can change in just the blink of an eye,

[07:53] in ways never would have possibly imagined. And so, you know, that soul searching is really of what. What is truly important to you in life and. And what is it that you want and how do you maintain focus on those things when what at that moment might seem trivial,

[08:19] you know, in life now,

[08:21] when for a healthy person, for someone who isn’t laying in a hospital bed might seem like it’s really important to that person who’s laying in a hospital bed, it really is trivial.

[08:31] It’s not important.

[08:32] And trying to find a balance between those things of not getting caught in the quote unquote, small stuff too often is something that was really important that sticks with me.

[08:46] And then I try.

[08:47] Tara Bansal: Do you feel like you are able to continue to do that?

[08:52] Kristin Stutz: It’s definitely a process.

[08:55] I think I probably do that better than I ever used to, that I can guarantee you.

[09:02] But it definitely is. You know, you have to step back and remember, like, this isn’t.

[09:07] You know,

[09:08] is this gonna matter three months from now, let alone three years from now or 30 years from now.

[09:14] Right. And so I think I really take things with a grain of salt, more than I ever used to. And I was. I was pretty chill before, I would say.

[09:23] But definitely it’s that level of.

[09:27] I really pay attention to what I’m paying attention to. Maybe that’s the right way to put it.

[09:35] Tara Bansal: And just hearing you talk, my reaction is that makes you an incredible advisor.

[09:45] Just like asking those questions and having that perspective of having your life change in a,

[09:53] you know, in an instant and trying to find out, I know, from talking with you, like, what people really care about and knowing what’s important and not important.

[10:04] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, definitely. And I think one other thing that came of it is I think it gives you a perspective when.

[10:11] A different perspective than a lot of people have when you can say, you know, I. I know what it’s like to be laying in that hospital bed and worrying about all the things that somebody who thinks they probably aren’t going to survive for much longer worry about.

[10:23] And I think it gives me the ability to maybe ask those hard questions that some other advisors might not be so comfortable asking because I don’t know.

[10:33] Tara Bansal: And that may not even think of. Right.

[10:36] Kristin Stutz: Might not even.

[10:36] Tara Bansal: Because they haven’t been through it.

[10:38] Kristin Stutz: Exactly. It might not even cross their mind as something that’s important. Yes.

[10:43] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[10:44] Well, I’d love to hear a little more about little Kristen, like where you grew up, about your family.

[10:52] So before going to college and trying to figure out what you wanted to be when you grow up.

[10:57] Kristin Stutz: What. Yeah, for sure.

[10:59] Tara Bansal: Can you share?

[11:00] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, absolutely. So I grew up in a little, teeny, tiny town in Wisconsin where most people are related to each other somehow, some way. And my family migrated here from the big state of Illinois.

[11:15] And so no cousins, no family, no anything, which was rare in this little town. And I actually still live in that little town.

[11:22] It’s a great place. I love it here.

[11:25] Little Kristen.

[11:26] My parents nicknamed me Sunshine when I was.

[11:31] And that is something so appropriate.

[11:33] Oh, thank you. Well, it’s definitely something that I’ve carried with me that I always just really want to be a light out in the world and.

[11:40] And, you know, make it a bright, fun, joyful place to be regardless of circumstance.

[11:46] Life was good. My. My parents divorced when I was relatively young. Both remarried. I have three stepbrothers. An amazing stepmom, an amazing stepdad.

[11:58] I am also a stepmom. And so I always say, I feel like that really set me up for success,

[12:06] to be a really great stepparent. And it has been absolutely the joy of my life. To be able to raise Lindsay, who is now in her 30s and has given us two beautiful grandbabies,

[12:18] but to be able to be a part of her life has been just amazing. And so I’m actually. This is a funny thing that most people probably wouldn’t say.

[12:26] I’m ridiculously grateful that my parents divorced and gave me that experience so that I could be better at it for Lindsay. Be good at it for Lindsay. Because I have two of the.

[12:35] I had two great parents and two really amazing step parents who didn’t have to be amazing. Right.

[12:44] They weren’t stuck with me. Well, I guess they were kind of, but they were. They’re just amazing. I’m really lucky.

[12:50] Tara Bansal: How old was Lindsay when you came into her life or she came into your life?

[12:55] Kristin Stutz: She was three.

[12:57] Tara Bansal: Oh, wow. So young.

[12:58] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, yeah, yeah. She was just little.

[13:01] Tara Bansal: Oh. Anything else about growing up? What did you love to do when you were little?

[13:12] Kristin Stutz: I played hockey, which was great.

[13:14] Tara Bansal: I feel like everyone from Wisconsin plays hockey.

[13:19] Kristin Stutz: Back in the. The day, it was a little bit rare.

[13:21] There weren’t a lot of girls who played hockey. There was girl hockey team. I played with the boys and I loved every minute of it. It was awesome.

[13:31] Tara Bansal: What position did you play?

[13:33] Kristin Stutz: I was defense. Okay. Yep, Yep. Absolutely.

[13:37] Tara Bansal: See, I’m learning something new.

[13:39] Kristin Stutz: You didn’t know that.

[13:40] Tara Bansal: I did not know that.

[13:42] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. I played with the boys until I decided that I liked the boys better than I liked hockey. And they didn’t necessarily want to hang out on a date perspective with the girl that was on their hockey team.

[13:55] So. So then I switched over and I figure skated and. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it was fun. So I haven’t strapped on a pair of skates now in many, many years.

[14:04] I don’t know if I still could.

[14:06] Tara Bansal: I’m sure you could. I think that muscle memory pretty strong.

[14:10] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, it’s pretty strong, for sure.

[14:12] And I would say,

[14:14] you know, I laugh when I talk about my college years. I always make a joke of.

[14:20] I majored in three Bs in college and in truth, I. I started that in high school. The three B’s would be beer, booze, and boys.

[14:28] And I. I rocked all three. You know, I was.

[14:32] Having never heard that before.

[14:35] Tara Bansal: No. That’s so funny.

[14:38] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I. I had a lot of fun in my younger years, which is great.

[14:44] I have a lot of fun now. It just doesn’t involve majoring in those three things.

[14:48] Tara Bansal: Yes. When would you say that changed? Before getting sick or even.

[14:53] Kristin Stutz: Oh, yeah. For sure, for sure.

[14:56] Early 20s.

[14:57] And I,

[14:58] I,

[14:59] and I say this whenever I tell people, they’re like, oh, did you have a drinking problem? No, I didn’t at all. I just felt like it changed my personality more than I would have liked it to when I had a couple of drinks.

[15:10] And so I,

[15:11] my youngest stepbrother actually pointed that out to me and I stopped and just decided not gonna have another drink. So. And that was. Yeah, early 20s. So it’s been 25, 30 years.

[15:24] Tara Bansal: Wow.

[15:24] Kristin Stutz: Now I’m a wonderful sober cab.

[15:31] Tara Bansal: Very nice. Yeah.

[15:33] Kristin Stutz: Something older I get too, huh? Say that again. Probably another thing you didn’t know about me.

[15:39] Tara Bansal: I did not. Because we haven’t really hung out in person, so it’s all been remote,

[15:45] unfortunately. I hope that will change. But switching gears,

[15:50] what do you like most about your job?

[15:53] Kristin Stutz: Helping people.

[15:54] But it goes deeper than that. I would say it is,

[15:58] it’s really an honor to be able to help people figure out what it is that they want most and then not just help them figure that out, but then also remind them.

[16:13] And that’s something that can get lost. Especially when we talk about money, you know, it’s such an emotionally loaded topic.

[16:22] And so often most of us think we have to have the quote, unquote, right answer.

[16:28] And in truth,

[16:30] the right answer is whatever’s right for each person.

[16:34] And I think that there is really a nuance to helping people discover what’s most important to them about their financial situation and where they want to go.

[16:45] And sometimes,

[16:47] and maybe this is another thing that I learned along my little journey in association with that is that, you know, little things in life happen and we come to juxtapositions in the road where we have to make a decision about what we want most.

[17:04] And sometimes what we want later in life is more important than something that we think we want right now. And so I’ll give you an example of that.

[17:16] You know,

[17:17] helping a client understand,

[17:20] you know,

[17:21] I’ll just use a really simple analogy. Do you want, you know, a really,

[17:27] do you want to buy a really, really high end car? And if you do that, then you can’t take the two vacations a year that you love.

[17:34] Or would you rather have a lower end car? And you know, that’s still wonderful and still be able to travel as much as you want to?

[17:43] And,

[17:44] you know, I think sometimes maybe that’s not the best example, but helping people really get connected with what it is they want, and making the decision between.

[17:55] Is what I want in the short term more important than what I want in the long term, and there is no right answer. It’s whatever’s right for them in that moment.

[18:03] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[18:04] Kristin Stutz: But helping them be clear on the decision is critical.

[18:08] Tara Bansal: I mean, to me,

[18:10] so much around money is choices.

[18:15] And the more clear you are on what you want,

[18:21] hopefully, the easier it is to make sometimes those more difficult choices.

[18:28] Yeah. I mean, what comes to mind is I talked to Brett Danko,

[18:34] and he was telling the story of once Don,

[18:38] his wife, was diagnosed with cancer,

[18:41] that it changed financial decisions they made because they no longer had this huge time horizon.

[18:49] They knew they only had a very short one.

[18:52] And he said, you know, we made choices that I never would have done if she had been healthy.

[18:58] And so that’s what comes to mind there. Like, for me, right now, I’m trying to decide.

[19:04] I only have,

[19:06] you know, four more years before my son goes off to college.

[19:10] And making those choices of, like, how to spend that time and money to maximize those memories and that, you know, time with him and them comes up.

[19:24] Kristin Stutz: For me,

[19:25] you know, I think that’s a really good point. And where, you know, maybe.

[19:28] So I have an interesting perspective where it’s almost a blend of those two, you know, in regards to what Brett was talking about. And by the way, shout out Brett Danko,

[19:39] the CFP master. Thank you for helping me get mine.

[19:45] You know,

[19:46] the decisions that I.

[19:48] That I made when I was sick and wasn’t clear as far as, you know,

[19:53] what was there going to be a lot of longevity versus now, 15 years later?

[19:59] You know, when you’re in that spot, it’s like, oh, my gosh, I have to do. I have to do the now. And in fact, my transplant docs in Minneapolis and Rochester would always say, you know, when.

[20:10] Once you kind of get to the other side of transplant, all along you are saying, you know,

[20:17] man, we just gotta. We gotta keep you alive. You gotta think about all the important things, you know, all that good stuff. And then.

[20:23] So, for example, this is a really good example. They would tell you, okay, post transplant, you’re not gonna wanna eat anything. You feel terrible, and you need lots of calories for your body to heal.

[20:33] So guess what? You can eat anything you want as long as you’re just getting calories. Just if it is a.

[20:40] Here in Wisconsin, we are Culver’s fans. And so it’s a big old Culver’s frozen custard because it’s got tons of calories. Knock yourself out, right? Eat whatever you want. And then all of a sudden you get healthy or you get through Transplant.

[20:55] And all of a sudden, now you can’t have just as many Culver’s frozen shakes as you want. They’re like, congratulations, now you’re got. Now you. You’re gonna live.

[21:04] And now you have to think different.

[21:07] And so there is that balance between the two of I. I know very,

[21:12] very well how fast life changes and that it can change in the blink of an eye. And you have to do things right now because you don’t know if you have tomorrow.

[21:22] And yet I also know,

[21:25] congratulations, you’re gonna live.

[21:27] And you have to plan for the future.

[21:31] It’s that balance between the two that’s. That is.

[21:35] It’s hard to find because none of us have that Magic 8 ball. We don’t know what’s coming next.

[21:39] Tara Bansal: Yeah,

[21:41] I agree. And it always does feel like up,

[21:45] push, pull. There’s this tension of the now versus the longer term,

[21:52] enjoying the moment and planning or preparing for the future that you may or may not.

[21:58] Kristin Stutz: Yep,

[21:59] right. Exactly. Exactly. But. And you know, and then I think of it in terms of.

[22:03] I don’t know about you, but when I’m planning for a vacation, half the fun of planning for a vacation is in the planning.

[22:11] And so if we can make that process fun and,

[22:17] you know, think about just the dream in and of itself instead of often. I think specifically if we’re talking about retirement planning per se,

[22:27] that,

[22:28] you know, it’s not just about making sure that your portfolio gets to a certain number. It’s about what you want to do with. With what you’ve worked so hard to accumulate.

[22:38] And that’s the dream. That’s the dream of what you’re going to do on vacation. And so yeah,

[22:44] work hard,

[22:45] create a life you don’t want to retire from.

[22:48] Just enjoy.

[22:50] Tara Bansal: I always ask what is the money for like?

[22:54] And see what how they answer tell. I would love to hear how you the journey from being behind the chair in a salon to being a financial advisor.

[23:08] Kristin Stutz: It was a funny one.

[23:10] I get that question a lot.

[23:13] Before I got sick,

[23:15] I had been a client of a.

[23:21] A company,

[23:22] premier coaching consulting company for salon and spa and medical spa owners for many years. And they had really helped me transform my own business into a successful, profitable company.

[23:33] And I shout out to strategies for everything.

[23:39] They taught me tons about business. They taught me how to understand,

[23:43] read and make my financials healthy. And from there I became a coach from them while for them, while I was still behind the chair, while I still owned my salon and started coaching other salon, spa and medical spa owners.

[23:59] When after I got sick, and I knew that I couldn’t,

[24:03] you know, go back to behind the chair. I kept the salon for a few years and decided I was. I was ready to sell. I wanted to do something different.

[24:10] And so I had continued on with Strategies and really Del dove into coaching,

[24:17] consulting work and eventually became the director of education for Strategies. And as I got healthier and healthier, that started to require travel and things like that. And I just knew that wasn’t what I wanted to do.

[24:32] I didn’t want to be away from my family, and I didn’t think that that was the best for my health. And so my New York Life agent came and met with me just to do some updating on our things.

[24:46] And she was asking me, you know, she said, you know, tell me again what it is that you do.

[24:50] And I said, you know, well, I help salon, spa and medical spa owners turn their businesses around, understand their financials, and, you know, understand how their financials and their business finances affect them.

[25:03] And.

[25:03] And she said, you know, you like working with business owners and you like numbers and you like finance. Have you ever thought about,

[25:10] you know, doing this? And I. Absolutely not. I had never given it a thought all along.

[25:17] I am a very spiritual person, and I knew when I was working for Strategies that it was time for me to do something different. And I had zero idea what that looked like.

[25:28] And so I’d be working away some nights in front of my computer, and I would just say, okay, God, I don’t know what you have next for me,

[25:35] but I know that you kept me here for a purpose. I know you’ve got a reason, and I know you know what my next chapter is. And so if I’m going to ask, I’m going to ask Big.

[25:45] And so I want these things. I want to have a job that I can do from anywhere I want. And it can’t just be a job. It’s got to be a career,

[25:53] and I can do it from anywhere. And it really makes an impact on people. And I can share my story and my life experiences and help make sure that those things make an impact in the work that I do.

[26:03] I want to be,

[26:05] you know, in charge of my schedule. I want to be able to be my own boss. I want to have,

[26:11] you know, earning potential that is limited only by me.

[26:16] And so, you know, I just asked Big and then I said, you know,

[26:20] I don’t know what that is, but I know you do. And so what I would ask is,

[26:24] when you show me that door that you give Me, the ability to see that you’ve opened a door for me and help me be bold enough to step through it, if that’s, in fact what I’m supposed to do.

[26:35] And so I had been praying that prayer. And so when she asked me that question, I was like, you know, you were asking about this. So I thought, well, I better ask some more questions and find out if this is actually something that,

[26:48] you know, fits that realm. And lo and behold, it. It sure does.

[26:53] Tara Bansal: It does.

[26:54] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. In so many ways. So, Stacy, thank you.

[26:59] Tara Bansal: How many years ago was that?

[27:02] Kristin Stutz: That was in the end of 2016.

[27:05] Tara Bansal: Okay.

[27:06] Kristin Stutz: And so I made the decision to make a change in 2017. Wow.

[27:12] Tara Bansal: We’re all the better for it.

[27:15] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[27:15] Tara Bansal: That’s a great story. I love how you had the criteria for what you wanted.

[27:21] Kristin Stutz: Oh, yeah.

[27:21] Tara Bansal: And not, like, I don’t know, with what was important to you, and. And then kind of just like, handed it over.

[27:29] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, yeah. Right.

[27:30] Tara Bansal: And had faith. Yeah. That it would appear and happen the way it should.

[27:36] Kristin Stutz: Well, and I will say, too, you know, it not without bumps in the road, that’s for sure. I mean,

[27:42] as with anything, when you make changes and you’re doing things that are different, I mean, I remember,

[27:47] you know, I had been in the. In the beauty industry for well over 20 years at that point,

[27:54] and to come into something that is completely foreign and to have to learn literally a whole new language.

[28:00] Right.

[28:01] And to go from something.

[28:04] I did a ton of public speaking when I worked for Strategies, and I would always joke that sometimes I would walk into a classroom or to a show or something and almost felt like a celebrity because they were.

[28:14] Oh, my God, you know, I’m so glad you’re teaching. I love what you teach. And then all of a sudden, when you shift to an advisor and you’re talking to people in my little, teeny, tiny hometown here who, you know, just didn’t see me in that business light, so to speak.

[28:31] Right. And didn’t really know my education, what I knew about finance and things like that.

[28:38] And you say, oh, yeah, by the way,

[28:40] you know, here’s what I’m doing now. It’s almost like they ran the other direction.

[28:43] And I. And I’ve learned now that a lot of it is, again, people just don’t want. They don’t want to talk about money. It’s private, it’s personal, it’s everything else.

[28:50] So.

[28:51] But, yeah, that was a. It was a really hard transition for sure, and I’m so glad I did. I love every minute of it.

[29:00] Tara Bansal: How much do you think it was your. The story in your head?

[29:04] I guess it sounds like you thought people didn’t think of you like that and maybe didn’t want to work with you.

[29:12] Kristin Stutz: You know, it’s really funny. I would say I didn’t think that at all at. Okay, at first.

[29:20] Not at all. I was like, why, why wouldn’t people want to talk to me about this?

[29:25] And I think it was because it was such a drastic shift where, you know, you would. I would bring it up for two seconds and I could just see the,

[29:36] you know. Oh, no.

[29:36] Tara Bansal: Shut down.

[29:37] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. Not any part of that. That. Then it became this really horrible story that. You know what I mean? Like it, I think, because I didn’t think it at all at first, and then all of a sudden it.

[29:48] I Lew it up 10 times bigger than it actually was and I carried it around for much longer than I should have.

[29:54] Tara Bansal: And how have you shifted that?

[29:57] Kristin Stutz: I think, you know, for. For anybody, probably imposter syndrome pops up from time to time. But I have,

[30:04] I have done a ton of education and self development.

[30:11] I really wanted to believe in myself and my abilities. And so I think part of that was when you bring up Brett Danko. I decided I would go back and get my CFP Certified financial planner.

[30:27] And part of that at the.

[30:28] That in and of itself is a funny story because in typical Kristen fashion,

[30:36] in order for a person to have their cfp,

[30:39] you have to have a college degree. And if you recall, I majored in beer, booze and boys.

[30:45] And so when I was in my 20s, I did not finish college. I went for three and a half years and did not complete my degree.

[30:54] And so I had a friend who was an advisor say, hey, you know what, we should go get our cfp. And I was like, yeah, cool,

[31:01] except I don’t have a degree. And then I learned that you could take the cfp, you could pass, and then they would give you five years to go and get your college degree.

[31:13] And I was like, well, you know what? I’ve been pretty darn successful without a college degree. And this CFP thing,

[31:20] I’ve heard it’s pretty hard to pass. And I don’t even know what the stats would be now, but I think it’s maybe what, a 60% pass rate first time or something like that?

[31:29] Tara Bansal: Yeah, I think it’s between 50 and 60.

[31:31] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. Yeah. And so I was like, well, if I can’t pass this test, I’m not going to go and get my college degree. So instead I’ll take the exam first. And so that’s.

[31:41] That’s what I did. I did all the studying that you needed to do prior to. And I took the CFP and I passed on the first go round. And then I was like, oh, no,

[31:51] now I have to go get a college degree.

[31:55] And so back to school.

[31:57] Tara Bansal: Which probably took longer than getting the cfp, right?

[32:01] Kristin Stutz: Well, it took a while for sure.

[32:03] I went back and I actually was.

[32:05] Yeah, I graduated magna *** laude with a accounting degree, which was pretty cool. And what’s really funny is what that accounting degree did for me was helped me realize how much I really already knew about accounting.

[32:22] You know, that I think even of itself,

[32:24] you know, in finance and things like that, like, wow, yeah, I already knew that.

[32:28] That’s something that I learned along the way as a business owner. And so that probably did a fair amount for my self confidence as well as just the entire CFP curriculum and continuing to work in the industry and dipping my toes as an advisor into lots of different programs so that I could meet lots of different advisors.

[32:52] For example, when we did the Steph Bogan program, you know, I met you and all the other girls in our study group and I got to see how they all work and how they all ran their practices.

[33:02] And so I’ve been able to combine all kinds of different ideas that I’ve borrowed from lots of wonderful advisors out in our space, both, you know, within my own broker dealer and outside of my broker dealer.

[33:19] You know, I’ve got amazing study groups within the broker dealer and, you know, even with. With our group, who all come from their own individual RIAs, and I’ve been able to learn from so many people in the industry and that I think that’s one thing probably too, from an industry perspective that doesn’t get highlighted enough because it can seem very,

[33:42] I don’t know, cutthroat. Would, Would you agree with that?

[33:45] Tara Bansal: Yeah, I, I’m glad you’re bringing this up. Yeah,

[33:49] I,

[33:50] in general, I feel like being in.

[33:55] And that’s part of why I want to do this podcast, is to have people hear how different we can be and, and design it the way that’s best for us.

[34:08] I do think being a financial advisor does.

[34:14] I just think in general, the business,

[34:17] there’s a lot of ego.

[34:18] There’s a lot of.

[34:22] Yeah, I don’t. That’s the part I don’t like. It’s the cutthroat. And part of why I’m focusing on women financial advisors is because I feel like we bring a Different energy to it and a different perspective that I want to highlight that each of us, like you are not.

[34:40] And you know, in an Ria,

[34:43] you are with New York life and you love it. And I. And that’s what I want to highlight the differences that everybody can.

[34:50] Kristin Stutz: Yes.

[34:51] Tara Bansal: Do this in their own way.

[34:53] Kristin Stutz: Definitely. And, and I think that’s something to me that’s really important. And I hear advisors say it all the time where they’re like, this is a, you know, it’s a really lonely business and don’t feel that way in the least bit.

[35:08] Not in the. I feel like I have.

[35:11] So I’m connected to so many advisors that if I had something that I was stuck on,

[35:16] I could call so many people and they would be so generous and helpful. And you know, there’s so many people have so much wisdom and there’s just a ton of things to know in this business that,

[35:29] you know, we can’t know it all. And it can’t know it all.

[35:32] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[35:32] Kristin Stutz: It all changes in the blink of an eye anyway.

[35:35] Right. So.

[35:36] So I think that to know that it’s not every advisor out there is cutthroat. And, and that’s. That is all just outside noise and we shouldn’t pay attention to it because most of the advisors that, that you meet are just really genuine people who want to help people.

[35:58] Help each other. Yeah, exactly, exactly.

[36:01] Tara Bansal: Help their clients and help each other. I mean there are of course,

[36:05] you know, any business, some who are all about the money. But just like you said, I think that is true in any business. You’re not. You’re going to find good and bad and.

[36:16] Kristin Stutz: For sure. Yeah. And there are so many. I mean, listen, every. Everyone has a challenge with money. Right. Whether they.

[36:25] Tara Bansal: Yeah. We all have our own head. Trash around money.

[36:29] Kristin Stutz: Exactly. And everybody needs help. And so, you know, in truth, there’s. There’s an advisor for everyone out there. You know, it’s just a matter of how do you figure out how you can make a living.

[36:39] Right.

[36:41] And so who’s a good match. Right.

[36:43] That’s exactly it. Because that’s how you’re in need.

[36:46] Tara Bansal: Yeah, I agree.

[36:48] Kristin Stutz: Yes, exactly. It’s not. It doesn’t have to be just the,

[36:51] you know, coveted ultra high net worth or the physicians or you know, what, whatever it is, like go find your people and help them.

[37:01] Tara Bansal: Yeah, I agree.

[37:03] Kristin Stutz: And that’s how you’re going to be happy every day.

[37:06] Tara Bansal: And that’s what I feel like all of us want.

[37:09] So on that note, what would your dream job look Like,

[37:14] I have it.

[37:16] So what would make it better or what?

[37:20] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, I.

[37:22] More money, less time at it, I guess.

[37:24] Right. And more.

[37:27] More and better systems and structure and.

[37:32] Yeah, I think I.

[37:33] And support. I guess that’s it, really.

[37:36] And that’s something that, you know, I’m in the process of trying to work on in.

[37:41] In my own business, is to. To get all of those pieces in place. And I. And I do believe 100% that it can be.

[37:49] It really can be done where you can balance things. That is more a me problem. And in, you know,

[38:00] many of the conversations that you and I have, it’s really about figuring out again, just like I would help my clients figure out what it is they want and what’s most important to them.

[38:11] You know, our most limited resource in life isn’t money. It’s time.

[38:16] And one thing that you’re always really good about helping me with is helping me figure out how I’m spending my time versus how I want to be spending my time.

[38:25] Tara Bansal: Yeah. And just noticing that I always feel like. Is important in half the battle.

[38:30] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, it definitely is.

[38:32] Tara Bansal: Yeah. Who do you most want to work with?

[38:36] Kristin Stutz: Like. Yeah.

[38:37] Tara Bansal: Everybody asks, who’s your ideal client?

[38:39] Kristin Stutz: Yep, yep, yep. My ideal client for sure is salon, spa, and medical spa owners, without question. And again, it’s. It’s purely because,

[38:49] again, I speak their language,

[38:53] they speak my language.

[38:55] I understand them, I know their problems,

[38:58] I know how to help them.

[39:01] And I feel like for them,

[39:04] there’s a large hole in our industry of people who do serve them or can serve them on that level just because of the experiences that I have.

[39:17] Tara Bansal: Oh, yeah.

[39:18] Kristin Stutz: Working with them. They’re great. They’re super fun.

[39:22] I have a client who always says, and this is so funny,

[39:26] they are salon and spa owners, and they always say,

[39:31] listen, if you can’t hug your financial advisor, you need to find a different financial advisor. And I laugh because I always think, well, I almost.

[39:39] Maybe that’s more of a salon owner thing than it is financial advisor thing, because salon owners, there’s a lot of hugging that goes on.

[39:49] Tara Bansal: Yeah. And that goes to. I don’t know. I love that.

[39:53] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[39:54] Tara Bansal: I’ve never heard that, but I. And that’s my personality. Like, I want to work with people who want to hug me, and I want to hug them.

[40:03] So.

[40:04] And that may not be true for every.

[40:06] Kristin Stutz: Everybody.

[40:07] Tara Bansal: Yeah. But I love that.

[40:09] Kristin Stutz: Isn’t that great? Yeah, it is great.

[40:11] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[40:12] Kristin Stutz: And I always, you know, I do. So 99% of my work is virtual. And so I always hope that people can feel the hugs I’m giving them through the screen.

[40:20] Wow.

[40:21] Tara Bansal: I feel like I can.

[40:22] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[40:24] Tara Bansal: How are you growing your business right now?

[40:27] Kristin Stutz: Well, I would say, you know, I really have got focused in the last.

[40:31] In the last year,

[40:33] really more so six months of making sure that I am focusing specifically on that knit and getting out and doing public speaking,

[40:43] kind of revamping my marketing to reflect that and working with people that I know in the industry.

[40:50] I am starting my own,

[40:52] I say podcast, but it’s really YouTube channel where I’ll interviews and I’m super excited about that and just trying to be bold enough to get my voice out there.

[41:04] Tara Bansal: That’s great. I feel like you are an excellent public speaker and I know that’s something you enjoy, so can’t wait to see it.

[41:12] You could send me the link and I’ll share it too.

[41:14] What are your biggest challenges right now?

[41:20] Kristin Stutz: I could say the easy answer, which is time.

[41:24] And it’s not the real answer.

[41:26] I would say,

[41:28] as likely most of us,

[41:33] it is the putting myself out there.

[41:36] I have a difficult time living by the 70% in, out the door theory.

[41:45] I want things to be just how I want them. And so getting out of my own way and getting things out there is tough.

[41:56] Tara Bansal: The progress, not perfection, of like it’s good enough. I know I struggle with that, so I can relate.

[42:06] Kristin Stutz: And focus is always a bit of a challenge for me.

[42:09] Tara Bansal: And even that, I guess a question of how to know what to focus on.

[42:17] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[42:17] Tara Bansal: Do you struggle with that or do.

[42:19] Kristin Stutz: You feel like you’re fine all the time? Yeah.

[42:22] Yeah. Because I want so badly to take care of the clients that I have now.

[42:28] Right.

[42:28] And.

[42:29] And to serve them in a way that makes them feel like they’re the only ones. Right.

[42:35] And.

[42:36] And really give all that I have for them and then whatever I got left for my family. Which sounds terrible. It really should be the other way around.

[42:45] But.

[42:46] But that, you know, that takes a lot. And then having something left on the creative side to go out and try and put your messages out to the world, whether that results in business or just really good education for people.

[42:58] I always feel like, you know, when you put really good education out, it should result in growth in your business.

[43:04] Tara Bansal: Something.

[43:04] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, yeah.

[43:05] Tara Bansal: Karma.

[43:06] Kristin Stutz: But definitely finding the balance of those two things is really tough.

[43:14] Tara Bansal: What are the two things for you?

[43:17] Kristin Stutz: Taking care of your clients now? Taking care of the clients that you have really well. And then having the energy and focus left to get your messages out there.

[43:29] Tara Bansal: Yeah. For the business development and getting New.

[43:33] Kristin Stutz: Clients or even just like improving systems inside your business. And you know, all those things is. Yeah, it’s a lot.

[43:40] Tara Bansal: Yeah. But to me, the other. And you said it is the balance with your family and the other things in your life that you want to do too.

[43:49] Kristin Stutz: For sure. Yes.

[43:51] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[43:52] Kristin Stutz: Yep.

[43:53] I think that’s something that I see lots of advisors struggle with, is the juggling of all of those parts and pieces. And no disrespect on the men. I’m not one, so I don’t know what, what it looks like for them, but I think for, for many women, we, we juggle a lot of things and it can be a big challenge for us to figure out how to take care of ourselves along with everyone else that we’re taking

[44:24] care of,

[44:25] from clients to staff to family and try and grow a business. It’s. It’s a lot.

[44:33] It is a lot.

[44:34] Tara Bansal: Yeah. And that’s once again why I. Why I’m doing this podcast. I’m focusing on women because I think it is a little different.

[44:43] Kristin Stutz: Definitely.

[44:44] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[44:45] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[44:47] And I think having someone that you can trust to bounce that stuff off of is really important.

[44:55] Who’s not gonna judge you, but help you walk through your own process to figure that out.

[45:03] Tara Bansal: And I feel like women advisors are very supportive and very helpful.

[45:11] Kristin Stutz: Agreed.

[45:13] Tara Bansal: I think there’s plenty of men advisor who. Who are that too. I’m not trying to say that, but in general, I do feel like all the women I know.

[45:23] And that’s the other.

[45:27] You definitely fit this. But are so many are into self development and learning and continue continuously trying to strive to be better.

[45:41] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[45:42] Tara Bansal: As a person and as an advisor.

[45:44] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[45:45] Tara Bansal: And as a wife, spouse, you know, mother, grandmother, friend, all of that.

[45:53] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, absolutely. You know, it’s funny being now in,

[45:58] I would say my third industry. Right. I always think of the behind the chair salon owner and then coaching and now, you know, as an advisor living in those three worlds.

[46:09] I will. I always say that especially to young people who are coming up in. In this industry.

[46:15] If you ever wanted to get into an industry that really is about personal development,

[46:20] you just found one.

[46:22] Because the only thing that really stands in your way in this business is what’s between your two ears.

[46:33] You know, I agree with that.

[46:34] Tara Bansal: But I think that’s true for any small business.

[46:37] Kristin Stutz: I’m sure it is. Yeah.

[46:39] Tara Bansal: I mean.

[46:40] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. Yeah. It just. I. I have.

[46:43] And maybe, I don’t know, maybe it’s age, maybe it’s, you know, starting in this older. I don’t know.

[46:49] But it is really important to make sure that you are focusing on your own personal development and what’s going on in your own mind. Because it. That’s the thing that can slow you down or stop you.

[47:02] Tara Bansal: Yeah, I think that’s what does hold most of us back.

[47:07] Kristin Stutz: Absolutely. And you’re right. And all things, business life, everything. Yeah.

[47:12] Tara Bansal: How would you compare and contrast, like, the coaching you did versus being a financial advisor?

[47:25] Kristin Stutz: You know, I think that at least in the work that I do, there is a lot of coaching,

[47:33] because certainly I can.

[47:35] I could just go and tell a client what to do with their finances,

[47:39] but in the end,

[47:41] it’s not my money. You know, I didn’t work hard for it. And I think what people really need is to feel empowered in their own decisions.

[47:49] And so to me, the way to do that is to coach someone through it and help them come to their own decisions based on information that’s put in front of them and what they find by having someone ask them hard questions and then just letting them explore.

[48:10] And I think too, there’s a space of reminding people what they are capable of and again, what things they said are important to them.

[48:23] So I think there’s a lot of crossover, I guess, is the short answer to that question.

[48:27] Tara Bansal: Yeah. So what makes it different being the financial advisor versus just the coach?

[48:38] Kristin Stutz: That’s a really good question. I would say just the.

[48:41] When I think of coaching as an industry in and of itself,

[48:44] I think it’s, for me, is the crossover between the.

[48:51] With my clients, it’s the crossover between their personal finances and their business finances and how they held the two together. Now, that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with coaching versus being an advisor, but that, I guess that’s how I see the.

[49:07] The differences between the work that I did previously and the work that I do now.

[49:11] I don’t know if that’s really what you were looking for.

[49:14] Tara Bansal: It is, because I.

[49:16] You are an amazing coach, and I think you bring the coaching to working with your current clients.

[49:25] What I’m hearing and tell me is it’s.

[49:28] I love the personal finances and the business finances. You look at both of those and how they impact each other.

[49:36] And it’s also like getting more,

[49:39] I assume, into the nitty gritty of, like,

[49:44] the strategies or the,

[49:47] you know, tax planning, the cash flow,

[49:51] different ways to look at the information and hopefully use that to help.

[49:58] Because you didn’t do that in coaching. I guess you did a little bit with the. On the business side. Yeah.

[50:04] Kristin Stutz: Yep, I did. I did a lot with Numbers on the business side, but never dipped it into their personal finance.

[50:10] Right.

[50:10] And I think what I see oftentimes is owners even.

[50:20] I’m giggling a little bit because I had this conversation just a few days ago with an owner where she was talking about, you know, how she.

[50:28] Tara Bansal: Really.

[50:29] Kristin Stutz: Really, really knows her business cash flow and where every penny goes and pays zero attention to her personal cash flow because she dedicates so much time to paying attention at. On the business side that she’s just tired of looking at numbers when she gets home.

[50:46] And of course, there’s, you know, all kinds of emotion that goes around with that too, is, you know, she. Her business is something that she needs to take care of because it supports other people, whereas, you know, her personal finances.

[50:56] Well, it’s just her or her. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

[51:00] Tara Bansal: That’s interesting.

[51:00] Kristin Stutz: Yeah,

[51:01] isn’t it? Yeah, it’s really huge. And there’s just.

[51:05] The two have to meld together because you can’t.

[51:08] While, yes, the business is its own entity, it’s also something that,

[51:12] you know.

[51:13] Tara Bansal: People feeds into your personal. Or it should. Right. Like that’s.

[51:17] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s like you invested in one stock and you want that stock to pay your. Your income for you now and in the future when you go to sell it.

[51:26] And,

[51:28] you know, there’s not a lot of diversification there if that’s all you’re doing.

[51:32] Tara Bansal: Right.

[51:32] Kristin Stutz: No. From an investment standpoint. And so, you know,

[51:36] having people pay attention to both and be good stewards on both sides is really important. And quite frankly, it just makes them feel more empowered on both sides.

[51:46] Tara Bansal: Yeah. And mitigating that risk of this one giant asset or stock with the analogy.

[51:53] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, very true.

[51:56] Tara Bansal: All right, here’s a question that. What are you afraid to admit, even to yourself?

[52:08] Kristin Stutz: Well, I remind myself this a lot. So maybe it’s this one. I just have to constantly remind myself over and over again.

[52:15] And it comes up in lots of occasions.

[52:20] And it’s three little words.

[52:23] You got this.

[52:26] So I don’t know if that. If that’s really what you want before, but.

[52:30] Tara Bansal: No. If that’s what comes up for you. And. Yeah, I love it.

[52:35] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[52:37] Tara Bansal: What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? I have the magic wand. Right. Like, whatever.

[52:49] Kristin Stutz: That’s such a tough question.

[52:56] Tara Bansal: So nothing jumps out at you, I guess, is even that, you know, something.

[53:00] Kristin Stutz: Yeah,

[53:01] yeah, yeah. Right. It is. And I. I just always think. I feel like.

[53:07] I feel like that’s something that I remind myself over and over again. It’s that same like, you got this right? Whatever it is,

[53:14] go ahead. Because is failure even really a thing or is it just an experience?

[53:22] Tara Bansal: Do you, do we learning? Yeah, I always like never really fail.

[53:25] Kristin Stutz: I, I, maybe that’s why that,

[53:27] do we ever really fail? Nah, we just learn. We just chalk it up and,

[53:32] and keep moving.

[53:34] And you know, there one thing,

[53:37] this is a story that I tell frequently,

[53:40] even in the hardest of times.

[53:42] And, and I certainly don’t want to minimize the people have been through way, way, way, way, way more difficult things than I could ever even imagine, let alone have I gone through.

[53:52] But for me, you know, even in really hard times, I always think there’s something good that’s here or something maybe that once you’re through this really hard time, you’re gonna miss.

[54:04] And I always try and look for those things. And so I think about when I was sick and in the hospital, and I was in the hospital a lot,

[54:15] I always loved the warm blankets and,

[54:20] and I would laugh because I would think, you know, when I go home,

[54:25] I’m finally out of here and I go home,

[54:28] my husband probably is not going to bring me a warm blanket every five minutes if that’s in fact what I desire. Right. Like, like just doesn’t work that way.

[54:39] And so whenever I happen to be in the hospital or, you know, something like that and someone offers me a warm blanket, I’m always like, absolutely. Even if I don’t want it,

[54:51] because you’re going to miss those warm blankets. And so that’s something that I think about often, even in, like I said, in the dark times,

[54:58] find that thing, find those, those warm blankets of life where it’s like, oh, yeah, this is something really good.

[55:05] It’s really good that I’m only going to get here and I should really appreciate this for what it is.

[55:11] Tara Bansal: I love that.

[55:13] And for me, it’s also, I feel like my most growth has,

[55:20] my has happened during those most challenging times.

[55:25] And when you’re in it,

[55:28] it’s not fun and you definitely appreciate that. But once you get through it and can see what you’ve learned and see.

[55:39] Kristin Stutz: More, I feel like that,

[55:41] yeah, I agree,

[55:43] I agree. And I think it’s like you said that that is something to hold on to as well,

[55:51] that some, something good is right around the corner.

[55:56] Tara Bansal: What’s holding you back? What is getting in the way for you right now?

[56:03] Kristin Stutz: You know what I think it is,

[56:05] if I’m being honest, it probably is fear of losing some sort of balance that I fooled myself that I have right now because I really don’t have the balance that I want.

[56:17] Tara Bansal: And you’re worried it’s going to get worse for ref.

[56:20] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, exactly.

[56:21] Tara Bansal: I think that’s a valid.

[56:23] Kristin Stutz: Yep.

[56:24] Tara Bansal: It’s something to notice and a belief you can try to shift or find examples of people who.

[56:31] Role models that you can,

[56:33] I don’t know, talk to or emulate.

[56:35] Kristin Stutz: And that’s, you know,

[56:36] and there’s. There are so many things and ways of things that I could do to make sure that that didn’t happen.

[56:46] Whether that’s, you know,

[56:48] hiring more help or, you know,

[56:52] restructuring fees or something along those lines to make sure and actually probably make my life more balanced than it is right now.

[56:59] That it, you know,

[57:01] such a good question.

[57:04] That’s why a coach is so important.

[57:06] Because they ask you these big questions and help you realize. Oh, yeah, that’s. That’s just silliness that’s going on in my brain. It’s real.

[57:14] Tara Bansal: Yeah. Because it. I mean, there are real effects to it. And part of me is if we had more time, I would love to dig into that more. But we are basically out of time.

[57:25] If you have time, I have just a couple more questions.

[57:29] How do you want to be remembered when you’re gone?

[57:34] Kristin Stutz: As a wonderful, bright, joyful light, going with the sunshine. Oh, yeah, yeah.

[57:43] Tara Bansal: And your company name.

[57:45] Kristin Stutz: That’s right.

[57:46] Yeah, you got it. You know, that’s an interesting point. So my dad passed away.

[57:50] Oh, my gosh. Has it been 18 years ago? And he was.

[57:54] My dad was just larger than life, man. He was something else.

[57:58] And he was an attorney and a judge.

[58:01] And again was here all of his. In this little town, all of his adult life. He did a ton of divorces and.

[58:10] Which he always joked he’d be like, I do the divorces so that we can eat. But my real love is estate planning. He loved doing estate planning.

[58:20] And he,

[58:22] you know, he’s. He’s been gone now a long time, and there are still days where I will be in the grocery store.

[58:29] This happened probably a year ago. Somebody walked up to me in the grocery store that I knew with big tears in her eyes. And she said,

[58:38] I was thinking about your dad the other day and the impact that he made on my life when I was going through my divorce. And I think to myself,

[58:46] that is the kind of impact that I want to have, that somebody,

[58:50] you know,

[58:51] 18 years after I’ve been gone remembers that I made a difference in their life.

[58:57] That’s. Yeah,

[58:59] yeah.

[59:00] Tara Bansal: And I assume that’s part of why you do what you do.

[59:03] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. Absolutely.

[59:08] Tara Bansal: What now? Just a couple rapid fire. Like. What is a book you would recommend?

[59:16] Kristin Stutz: Hmm.

[59:17] Wufta.

[59:19] I have a couple I really like. 10x is easier than 2x.

[59:24] Really good book if you’re just talking about business development.

[59:27] I really like.

[59:30] If you want to laugh.

[59:32] And it’s somewhat about money. I love Jen since Cheryl’s book I’m a badass or I’m a badass at making money. Those are great.

[59:43] Morgan Housel’s Psychology of Money.

[59:46] Tara Bansal: I love that one.

[59:47] Kristin Stutz: Fantastic book.

[59:49] And there is one that is just.

[59:53] I can’t even think of what the name of it is. That is like top of my list as one of my favorites. I love the Traveler’s Gift.

[01:00:00] That’s a really good book.

[01:00:02] I don’t know. That one’s what’s a really good one.

[01:00:04] I don’t know. That’s all I got off the top of my head.

[01:00:06] Tara Bansal: That’s great. What? Podcasts.

[01:00:09] Kristin Stutz: Podcasts. Okay. I love a podcast by. My most favorite one right at this very moment is by Kathy Heller.

[01:00:21] It’s called Abundance Ever After.

[01:00:23] Has nothing to do with being an advisor, but I love it. It’s a great, great podcast.

[01:00:29] Tara Bansal: Was it. What was it called again?

[01:00:31] Kristin Stutz: Abundant Ever After.

[01:00:33] Tara Bansal: Okay.

[01:00:34] Kristin Stutz: Fantastic podcast. I also love Lewis Howes podcast.

[01:00:40] And that one is.

[01:00:42] Hang on, I’m looking on my podcast list here.

[01:00:44] He has two. And that’s why I gotta give you not the daily motivation. I like the long one.

[01:00:52] Of course. I like kitsis.

[01:00:54] I love 50 fires.

[01:00:56] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[01:00:58] Kristin Stutz: With Carl Richards. That’s an amazing podcast.

[01:01:01] Sometimes I listen to Mel Robbins.

[01:01:03] Yeah, there you go. This. It’s called the School of Greatness. That’s a really good one. Oh, okay.

[01:01:10] And I. I will tell you one more. This is an advisor podcast and I don’t miss it.

[01:01:16] I listen to every episode and it is shame on me. I ought to know it right off the top of my head.

[01:01:24] From Busy to Rich with Wes Young. Wow.

[01:01:28] Yeah. I don’t think I’ve missed a single episode.

[01:01:32] Tara Bansal: That’s great. Recommendations. What advice do you have for me in finding and talking to more people like you?

[01:01:43] Kristin Stutz: Well, I would say you are an amazing human being that I know for sure.

[01:01:50] Tara Bansal: And we may have to cut this out.

[01:01:54] Kristin Stutz: Oh, I know, I know.

[01:01:57] And my advice for you would be you got this going back to that. Yeah. Just keep putting your.

[01:02:08] Keep putting your message out there. Keep putting your voice out there. Don’t be afraid.

[01:02:12] It’s the same.

[01:02:13] It doesn’t have to be perfect. Right. The same message I would give to myself because your people need your voice so much.

[01:02:22] I can’t remember if I told you this, but when I was in New Orleans at the conference, the lady who hosted the conference there was on stage and she said,

[01:02:33] oftentimes,

[01:02:35] it’s not the message that you need to hear necessarily, but the messenger that you need to hear it from.

[01:02:42] And that just that along with Carl’s quote of be who you are and go all in.

[01:02:50] Yeah,

[01:02:51] that’s it.

[01:02:54] Tara Bansal: And I love both of those. I mean, that’s part of.

[01:02:58] I think we’ve talked about this. Part of what I want this podcast to be is, as I said, just that for women to realize they can be their own authentic self.

[01:03:13] Kristin Stutz: Absolutely.

[01:03:14] Tara Bansal: And be successful and not have to fit the traditional mold or the, you know, like, all these different things you hear and are told.

[01:03:25] That is, we’re told, you know, it’s.

[01:03:27] Kristin Stutz: Such a really good point. And it’s funny. Like, I think about, you know, when I started.

[01:03:32] Oh, I had to go out and get a whole new wardrobe because, you know, people who,

[01:03:36] um,

[01:03:37] my quote, unquote, salon industry clothes didn’t fit with what I should have been wearing, which was, you know, the business suit, blazer, and pearls,

[01:03:46] which just is not me. Not even close. I just. Not me.

[01:03:53] And, And I look at my closet now, and I think I have one blazer,

[01:03:57] you know, which cracks me up. And again, I, you know, I do work a ton remote, but I,

[01:04:02] I,

[01:04:03] I felt so part of the feeling uncomfortable, I think, in the beginning was, well, I didn’t. Not only did I not know what I was doing, but I was trying to be somebody that not only I wasn’t it, it was also that I didn’t even really want to be.

[01:04:17] And there’s not anything wrong with blazers and pearls. And,

[01:04:21] you know, that the person that really is that and is personified in that, if that’s who you are, man,

[01:04:28] go all in. I don’t.

[01:04:30] I think it’s awesome, and I love you because of it. But it’s the idea, just like you said, that you, you have to be you.

[01:04:38] That’s it. That’s all you have to be.

[01:04:41] And be really good at being you, and everything else will fall into place. And I think anytime I have ever been out of alignment with who I really am, there’s nothing more uncomfortable.

[01:04:55] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[01:04:56] Kristin Stutz: And the times I feel happiest are when I’m just unapologetically who I am.

[01:05:00] Tara Bansal: Mm. And I think that’s true, like, just to notice that And I truly believe that when things are in alignment, miracles happen.

[01:05:12] Kristin Stutz: That is the only way I think miracles happen is when you are aligned, because you’re open.

[01:05:20] You know, you’re. You’re open to everything that life can give you, and you’re being true, and you’re letting yourself shine as who you.

[01:05:26] Tara Bansal: Are,

[01:05:27] as I think we all should.

[01:05:30] And you are a bright, shining light, Kristen, and I can’t wait to see all that you continue to do. And,

[01:05:40] yeah, you’re just beautiful inside and out,

[01:05:44] so.

[01:05:44] Kristin Stutz: You are the best. Thank you.

[01:05:45] Tara Bansal: Thrilled.

[01:05:46] Kristin Stutz: I appreciate it.

[01:05:48] Tara Bansal: I. I thought it was great. Honestly, beyond great.

[01:05:54] Kristin Stutz: Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate it very much. And thank you for giving me my. My first foray into a podcast world.

[01:06:03] Tara Bansal: Sure.

[01:06:05] Kristin Stutz: Amazing.

[01:06:06] Tara Bansal: Yeah. And now it’s out there.

[01:06:09] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, totally.

[01:06:11] Tara Bansal: All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, as always. Um, I just think you’re the best.

[01:06:17] Kristin Stutz: Back at you.

[01:06:18] Tara Bansal: Bye.

[01:06:20] Wow.

[01:06:21] There were so many golden nuggets to my conversation with. With Kristen. I don’t think most episodes I’ll have this long a list,

[01:06:30] but I really felt like she gave so much for us to think about,

[01:06:35] and I wanted to highlight some that stood out for me.

[01:06:39] That life can change in the blink of an eye.

[01:06:43] And she lived that. Many of us have, too. Maybe not quite to the extreme she did,

[01:06:50] but in financial planning,

[01:06:53] how often that can occur and how that is not incorporated in our plans.

[01:06:59] I love how she said financial planning and being an advisor is not a lonely business,

[01:07:07] and it’s about connecting with the beautiful other advisors around us and our clients and even the other service professionals that we work with so often.

[01:07:22] I like that not all advisors are cutthroat and that we’re not all about the money, that we’re here to serve our clients and help each other live a life that we love.

[01:07:34] I know that’s part of my mission and passion.

[01:07:39] A reminder that our limited resource isn’t money. I think so often we think that way, but our real limited resource is time.

[01:07:51] You can always make more money, but all of us have the same amount of time every day.

[01:07:57] We don’t know how many years we have,

[01:08:00] but each day is just 24 hours.

[01:08:04] I love the quote,

[01:08:06] if you can’t hug your financial advisor, you need to find a different financial advisor. And I think this goes also with our clients.

[01:08:15] Not everyone is a hugger or likes being hugged, but if you are like I am, I think it’s a criteria to keep in mind in who you work with and as a client, who you want to work with as your financial advisor.

[01:08:34] The challenge, as I think in particular for female financial advisors,

[01:08:40] the challenge of serving others and growing ourselves and our business and also having the time and attention and energy for our family too.

[01:08:56] It is a juggling act and all of those are priorities for many of us. And I hope this podcast will highlight how people are doing it differently and that many of us have this struggle.

[01:09:11] I love how Kristin is on her third career or industry.

[01:09:16] She started as a salon owner and specialist in doing hair for her clients.

[01:09:25] Then she became a strategic business coach for salons and now she is a financial advisor specializing in women who own or men who own their salons and looking at both their personal and the business side of the finances and how closely those go together.

[01:09:49] Another favorite thing. I mean there were so many things in this episode is is failing really a thing or is it just learning and if you can shift that perspective that there is no such thing as failure, it is just learning that can help each of us throughout our lives.

[01:10:12] Where she talks about finding those warm blankets of life that even when things are terrible that they’re you if you look for it, you can find some good things.

[01:10:28] And it reminds me of the Fred Rogers quote,

[01:10:33] when a tragedy occurs, look for the people who are helping and just in our own lives. When you are struggling to look for the little things that you can be grateful for and try to remember them.

[01:10:48] The last is just that you have to be you.

[01:10:52] And often some of the most painful and hardest parts of our lives are when we’re not in alignment and not living, listening to our essential selves and our or our soul selves that where we really highlight our own talents and strengths and what brings us joy and what is right for us.

[01:11:19] So that is a long list, but I thought all of those were worth pointing out here and mentioning again.

[01:11:27] I would love to hear your feedback and I hope you have a great day.

[01:11:32] Thank you for listening to Her Life, Her Practice, Her Way A podcast for and about female financial advisors.

[01:11:41] I truly hope you found something valuable and encouraging in today’s episode. If you did, I’d be so grateful if you’d take a moment to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

[01:11:54] It helps other phenomenal women in our field find this space.

[01:11:58] And if you know another advisor who would benefit from these conversations or from the kind of support I offer through coaching,

[01:12:06] please send this episode to her.

[01:12:09] If you’re curious about working with me as your coach or interested in being on the podcast, I’d love to hear from you.

[01:12:17] You can find more details and reach out to me on the contact page of my website,

[01:12:23] herlifeherpracticeherway.com no spaces, no underlines, just the words straight in a row.

[01:12:32] Until next time, keep building a life and practice you truly love.

• Kristin Stutz, CFP®
• Connect with Kristin on LinkedIn

• Stephanie Bogan’s Limitless Advisor Program

 

• Brett Danko, LLC

 

• Previous Her Life, Her Practice, Her Way episode #1 where Kristin interview Tara – https://herlifeherpracticeherway.com/taras-story/

Books Kristin Recommends

• 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan & Dr. Benjamin Hardy – https://10xeasierbook.com/
• You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero – https://jensincero.com/
• The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed and Happiness by Morgan Housel – https://www.morganhousel.com/
• The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews – https://andyandrews.com/product/the-travelers-gift/

Podcasts Kristin Loves

• Abundant Ever After with Cathy Heller – https://www.cathyheller.com/
• The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes – https://lewishowes.com/sogpodcast/
• Kitces & Carl Podcast with Michael Kitces & Carl Richards – https://www.advisorhub.com/kitces-and-carl-podcast/
• From Busy to Rich with Wes Young – https://www.wesyounglive.com/podcasts/from-busy-to-rich

[00:19] Tara Bansal: Welcome to her life, her practice, her way.

[00:23] A podcast for and about female financial advisors.

[00:28] I’m Tara Conti Bansal. I’ve been a financial planner and life coach for over 20 years,

[00:34] and I believe that when women thrive in this profession, we all win.

[00:39] This show is about sharing our journeys, our struggles, our breakthroughs, and the many ways we build a life and practice that feels true to us.

[00:50] And now I’m extending that mission. Beyond the podcast,

[00:54] I coach female advisors who want to grow a fulfilling practice and a beautiful life that they love,

[01:01] one filled with meaning, freedom, connection, and joy.

[01:06] Whether you’re just starting out, reinventing yourself, or dreaming of what’s next, you’re in the right place.

[01:13] Let’s build this together.

[01:16] This is Tara Conti Bansal, and I am here with Kristin Stutz. I am very excited to talk with her and for everyone to hear about her story.

[01:31] So I guess a little background.

[01:33] Kristin is a fellow woman financial advisor,

[01:39] and we met through Steph Bogan’s Limitless group. I think it was two years ago. I don’t. How many years ago was it, Kristin?

[01:48] Kristin Stutz: I think that’s right. It might maybe even three.

[01:51] Tara Bansal: Yeah,

[01:52] it was.

[01:53] I remember I got Covid after the first conference,

[01:57] so Covid was still pretty prevalent when we were doing it, and it was mostly remote except for the conferences.

[02:05] We’ve become good friends and I just admire her so much and I’m very psyched to have her here talking with us.

[02:16] Kristen,

[02:18] how.

[02:19] How about you tell us your story? I always start with that because I think Brene Brown, I’m.

[02:25] Anytime I see a speaker or I’m in a class, I always want to know about their background and history. So I always think it’s a good question to start with.

[02:34] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, I love it and thank you for asking me to be on. I’m just so thrilled.

[02:40] Yeah. A little bit about me,

[02:43] you know, like you had mentioned, I.

[02:45] I am an advisor and that’s how you and I met.

[02:49] That was not my original career path in life.

[02:54] When I was in my early 20s, like many, I, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I went to college and changed my majors about five different times and.

[03:04] And eventually kind of fell into a job at a salon where I was a receptionist.

[03:12] And I knew I wasn’t happy with the work that I was or the. I was going to school at that time for hospitality and tourism or hotel and restaurant management, essentially.

[03:22] And I knew that wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I didn’t have any idea what I did want to do.

[03:26] So I was going to take a semester off of school.

[03:29] When I told the people that I worked for at the salon that, you know, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but I had to go find a full time job because I wasn’t going to go back to school full time the following semester, they said, well,

[03:40] you know,

[03:41] we’ve got this opportunity where we could give you an apprenticeship and essentially teach you how to do hair.

[03:48] And if you like it, well, you’ve got a great career for the rest of your life. And if you don’t, you’ve got a heck of a good part time job to get you through college when you are ready to go back.

[03:57] And I thought, well, I don’t know what else to do. And I’ve always loved hair and beauty and the beauty business and everything else. And so what the heck, why not, why not give that a shot?

[04:08] And you know, the minute I got behind that chair, as the saying goes in the industry,

[04:15] I fell in love and absolutely loved working with clients and doing hair and eventually ended up opening my own salon and running my own salon until what I call a little case of cancer kind of knocked me off, derailed that.

[04:33] Yeah,

[04:34] yeah, exactly. It wasn’t such a little case of cancer at all.

[04:39] And I ended up having a stem cell transplant.

[04:44] And by the grace of God and my donor, 15 years later,

[04:48] here I am. But when something like that knocks you off your feet, you do a lot of soul searching and you go out in the world and figure out who you are now.

[04:57] You know, not only did it change a lot of things emotionally, but I literally have different DNA now.

[05:03] And so my life as a behind the chair stylist wasn’t the same anymore. I couldn’t do it actually physically anymore.

[05:11] And so through all kinds of different courses along the way and different paths along the way, I found myself as a financial advisor. And here I am now, nine years later,

[05:23] happy, healthy, loving life.

[05:25] Woohoo.

[05:26] Yeah, exactly.

[05:29] Tara Bansal: How, how long were you sick? Like how long were you in treatment? And.

[05:37] Kristin Stutz: Well, I was,

[05:40] I lived at the Mayo Clinic for nine months, I guess I would say approximately.

[05:46] Some of that was inpatient,

[05:48] some of that was in an apartment. We, I was not allowed to come home. I couldn’t be very far from Mayo in and of itself.

[05:57] Um, my initial treatment was chemotherapy. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Yes, I was literally hooked to that machine. Seven days a week, 24 hours.

[06:09] And I had to do two rounds of that and then another little Round to kind of get me ready for my transplant, and then from there went into the transplant process.

[06:19] So, yeah, we lived in.

[06:20] In Rochester for about nine months before I was able to come home. How long was I sick? There’s a lot of uphill battle post transplant. At least there was years ago.

[06:31] I know there are a lot of people who still struggle post transplant as well. You know, things are definitely different now than they were then, but there’s a lot of aftermath.

[06:40] Not. Not just physically,

[06:44] but emotionally as well. Just trying to figure out, you know, they just. How do you live now? What. What do things look like?

[06:51] So, yeah, it was definitely quite a road.

[06:56] Tara Bansal: What would you say were. Some of. What was some of the soul searching that came out of that for you?

[07:03] Kristin Stutz: So, I mean, just the craziest things, like when I tell people they’re like, what it. You. You go from.

[07:10] My road to diagnosis was really shocking, even that in and of itself to where it was,

[07:16] you know,

[07:17] I didn’t feel all that terrible. I was tired and out of breath and things like that, and went in for my regular physical and had a blood draw and basically found out,

[07:30] went from, you know, feeling just a little tired at a regular physical to three days later being told,

[07:38] you know, we want to check you in to the Mayo Clinic right now. We don’t even want you to go home. You need immediate treatment. And so I guess one of the biggest lessons that I learned is that your life can change in just the blink of an eye,

[07:53] in ways never would have possibly imagined. And so, you know, that soul searching is really of what. What is truly important to you in life and. And what is it that you want and how do you maintain focus on those things when what at that moment might seem trivial,

[08:19] you know, in life now,

[08:21] when for a healthy person, for someone who isn’t laying in a hospital bed might seem like it’s really important to that person who’s laying in a hospital bed, it really is trivial.

[08:31] It’s not important.

[08:32] And trying to find a balance between those things of not getting caught in the quote unquote, small stuff too often is something that was really important that sticks with me.

[08:46] And then I try.

[08:47] Tara Bansal: Do you feel like you are able to continue to do that?

[08:52] Kristin Stutz: It’s definitely a process.

[08:55] I think I probably do that better than I ever used to, that I can guarantee you.

[09:02] But it definitely is. You know, you have to step back and remember, like, this isn’t.

[09:07] You know,

[09:08] is this gonna matter three months from now, let alone three years from now or 30 years from now.

[09:14] Right. And so I think I really take things with a grain of salt, more than I ever used to. And I was. I was pretty chill before, I would say.

[09:23] But definitely it’s that level of.

[09:27] I really pay attention to what I’m paying attention to. Maybe that’s the right way to put it.

[09:35] Tara Bansal: And just hearing you talk, my reaction is that makes you an incredible advisor.

[09:45] Just like asking those questions and having that perspective of having your life change in a,

[09:53] you know, in an instant and trying to find out, I know, from talking with you, like, what people really care about and knowing what’s important and not important.

[10:04] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, definitely. And I think one other thing that came of it is I think it gives you a perspective when.

[10:11] A different perspective than a lot of people have when you can say, you know, I. I know what it’s like to be laying in that hospital bed and worrying about all the things that somebody who thinks they probably aren’t going to survive for much longer worry about.

[10:23] And I think it gives me the ability to maybe ask those hard questions that some other advisors might not be so comfortable asking because I don’t know.

[10:33] Tara Bansal: And that may not even think of. Right.

[10:36] Kristin Stutz: Might not even.

[10:36] Tara Bansal: Because they haven’t been through it.

[10:38] Kristin Stutz: Exactly. It might not even cross their mind as something that’s important. Yes.

[10:43] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[10:44] Well, I’d love to hear a little more about little Kristen, like where you grew up, about your family.

[10:52] So before going to college and trying to figure out what you wanted to be when you grow up.

[10:57] Kristin Stutz: What. Yeah, for sure.

[10:59] Tara Bansal: Can you share?

[11:00] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, absolutely. So I grew up in a little, teeny, tiny town in Wisconsin where most people are related to each other somehow, some way. And my family migrated here from the big state of Illinois.

[11:15] And so no cousins, no family, no anything, which was rare in this little town. And I actually still live in that little town.

[11:22] It’s a great place. I love it here.

[11:25] Little Kristen.

[11:26] My parents nicknamed me Sunshine when I was.

[11:31] And that is something so appropriate.

[11:33] Oh, thank you. Well, it’s definitely something that I’ve carried with me that I always just really want to be a light out in the world and.

[11:40] And, you know, make it a bright, fun, joyful place to be regardless of circumstance.

[11:46] Life was good. My. My parents divorced when I was relatively young. Both remarried. I have three stepbrothers. An amazing stepmom, an amazing stepdad.

[11:58] I am also a stepmom. And so I always say, I feel like that really set me up for success,

[12:06] to be a really great stepparent. And it has been absolutely the joy of my life. To be able to raise Lindsay, who is now in her 30s and has given us two beautiful grandbabies,

[12:18] but to be able to be a part of her life has been just amazing. And so I’m actually. This is a funny thing that most people probably wouldn’t say.

[12:26] I’m ridiculously grateful that my parents divorced and gave me that experience so that I could be better at it for Lindsay. Be good at it for Lindsay. Because I have two of the.

[12:35] I had two great parents and two really amazing step parents who didn’t have to be amazing. Right.

[12:44] They weren’t stuck with me. Well, I guess they were kind of, but they were. They’re just amazing. I’m really lucky.

[12:50] Tara Bansal: How old was Lindsay when you came into her life or she came into your life?

[12:55] Kristin Stutz: She was three.

[12:57] Tara Bansal: Oh, wow. So young.

[12:58] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, yeah, yeah. She was just little.

[13:01] Tara Bansal: Oh. Anything else about growing up? What did you love to do when you were little?

[13:12] Kristin Stutz: I played hockey, which was great.

[13:14] Tara Bansal: I feel like everyone from Wisconsin plays hockey.

[13:19] Kristin Stutz: Back in the. The day, it was a little bit rare.

[13:21] There weren’t a lot of girls who played hockey. There was girl hockey team. I played with the boys and I loved every minute of it. It was awesome.

[13:31] Tara Bansal: What position did you play?

[13:33] Kristin Stutz: I was defense. Okay. Yep, Yep. Absolutely.

[13:37] Tara Bansal: See, I’m learning something new.

[13:39] Kristin Stutz: You didn’t know that.

[13:40] Tara Bansal: I did not know that.

[13:42] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. I played with the boys until I decided that I liked the boys better than I liked hockey. And they didn’t necessarily want to hang out on a date perspective with the girl that was on their hockey team.

[13:55] So. So then I switched over and I figure skated and. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it was fun. So I haven’t strapped on a pair of skates now in many, many years.

[14:04] I don’t know if I still could.

[14:06] Tara Bansal: I’m sure you could. I think that muscle memory pretty strong.

[14:10] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, it’s pretty strong, for sure.

[14:12] And I would say,

[14:14] you know, I laugh when I talk about my college years. I always make a joke of.

[14:20] I majored in three Bs in college and in truth, I. I started that in high school. The three B’s would be beer, booze, and boys.

[14:28] And I. I rocked all three. You know, I was.

[14:32] Having never heard that before.

[14:35] Tara Bansal: No. That’s so funny.

[14:38] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I. I had a lot of fun in my younger years, which is great.

[14:44] I have a lot of fun now. It just doesn’t involve majoring in those three things.

[14:48] Tara Bansal: Yes. When would you say that changed? Before getting sick or even.

[14:53] Kristin Stutz: Oh, yeah. For sure, for sure.

[14:56] Early 20s.

[14:57] And I,

[14:58] I,

[14:59] and I say this whenever I tell people, they’re like, oh, did you have a drinking problem? No, I didn’t at all. I just felt like it changed my personality more than I would have liked it to when I had a couple of drinks.

[15:10] And so I,

[15:11] my youngest stepbrother actually pointed that out to me and I stopped and just decided not gonna have another drink. So. And that was. Yeah, early 20s. So it’s been 25, 30 years.

[15:24] Tara Bansal: Wow.

[15:24] Kristin Stutz: Now I’m a wonderful sober cab.

[15:31] Tara Bansal: Very nice. Yeah.

[15:33] Kristin Stutz: Something older I get too, huh? Say that again. Probably another thing you didn’t know about me.

[15:39] Tara Bansal: I did not. Because we haven’t really hung out in person, so it’s all been remote,

[15:45] unfortunately. I hope that will change. But switching gears,

[15:50] what do you like most about your job?

[15:53] Kristin Stutz: Helping people.

[15:54] But it goes deeper than that. I would say it is,

[15:58] it’s really an honor to be able to help people figure out what it is that they want most and then not just help them figure that out, but then also remind them.

[16:13] And that’s something that can get lost. Especially when we talk about money, you know, it’s such an emotionally loaded topic.

[16:22] And so often most of us think we have to have the quote, unquote, right answer.

[16:28] And in truth,

[16:30] the right answer is whatever’s right for each person.

[16:34] And I think that there is really a nuance to helping people discover what’s most important to them about their financial situation and where they want to go.

[16:45] And sometimes,

[16:47] and maybe this is another thing that I learned along my little journey in association with that is that, you know, little things in life happen and we come to juxtapositions in the road where we have to make a decision about what we want most.

[17:04] And sometimes what we want later in life is more important than something that we think we want right now. And so I’ll give you an example of that.

[17:16] You know,

[17:17] helping a client understand,

[17:20] you know,

[17:21] I’ll just use a really simple analogy. Do you want, you know, a really,

[17:27] do you want to buy a really, really high end car? And if you do that, then you can’t take the two vacations a year that you love.

[17:34] Or would you rather have a lower end car? And you know, that’s still wonderful and still be able to travel as much as you want to?

[17:43] And,

[17:44] you know, I think sometimes maybe that’s not the best example, but helping people really get connected with what it is they want, and making the decision between.

[17:55] Is what I want in the short term more important than what I want in the long term, and there is no right answer. It’s whatever’s right for them in that moment.

[18:03] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[18:04] Kristin Stutz: But helping them be clear on the decision is critical.

[18:08] Tara Bansal: I mean, to me,

[18:10] so much around money is choices.

[18:15] And the more clear you are on what you want,

[18:21] hopefully, the easier it is to make sometimes those more difficult choices.

[18:28] Yeah. I mean, what comes to mind is I talked to Brett Danko,

[18:34] and he was telling the story of once Don,

[18:38] his wife, was diagnosed with cancer,

[18:41] that it changed financial decisions they made because they no longer had this huge time horizon.

[18:49] They knew they only had a very short one.

[18:52] And he said, you know, we made choices that I never would have done if she had been healthy.

[18:58] And so that’s what comes to mind there. Like, for me, right now, I’m trying to decide.

[19:04] I only have,

[19:06] you know, four more years before my son goes off to college.

[19:10] And making those choices of, like, how to spend that time and money to maximize those memories and that, you know, time with him and them comes up.

[19:24] Kristin Stutz: For me,

[19:25] you know, I think that’s a really good point. And where, you know, maybe.

[19:28] So I have an interesting perspective where it’s almost a blend of those two, you know, in regards to what Brett was talking about. And by the way, shout out Brett Danko,

[19:39] the CFP master. Thank you for helping me get mine.

[19:45] You know,

[19:46] the decisions that I.

[19:48] That I made when I was sick and wasn’t clear as far as, you know,

[19:53] what was there going to be a lot of longevity versus now, 15 years later?

[19:59] You know, when you’re in that spot, it’s like, oh, my gosh, I have to do. I have to do the now. And in fact, my transplant docs in Minneapolis and Rochester would always say, you know, when.

[20:10] Once you kind of get to the other side of transplant, all along you are saying, you know,

[20:17] man, we just gotta. We gotta keep you alive. You gotta think about all the important things, you know, all that good stuff. And then.

[20:23] So, for example, this is a really good example. They would tell you, okay, post transplant, you’re not gonna wanna eat anything. You feel terrible, and you need lots of calories for your body to heal.

[20:33] So guess what? You can eat anything you want as long as you’re just getting calories. Just if it is a.

[20:40] Here in Wisconsin, we are Culver’s fans. And so it’s a big old Culver’s frozen custard because it’s got tons of calories. Knock yourself out, right? Eat whatever you want. And then all of a sudden you get healthy or you get through Transplant.

[20:55] And all of a sudden, now you can’t have just as many Culver’s frozen shakes as you want. They’re like, congratulations, now you’re got. Now you. You’re gonna live.

[21:04] And now you have to think different.

[21:07] And so there is that balance between the two of I. I know very,

[21:12] very well how fast life changes and that it can change in the blink of an eye. And you have to do things right now because you don’t know if you have tomorrow.

[21:22] And yet I also know,

[21:25] congratulations, you’re gonna live.

[21:27] And you have to plan for the future.

[21:31] It’s that balance between the two that’s. That is.

[21:35] It’s hard to find because none of us have that Magic 8 ball. We don’t know what’s coming next.

[21:39] Tara Bansal: Yeah,

[21:41] I agree. And it always does feel like up,

[21:45] push, pull. There’s this tension of the now versus the longer term,

[21:52] enjoying the moment and planning or preparing for the future that you may or may not.

[21:58] Kristin Stutz: Yep,

[21:59] right. Exactly. Exactly. But. And you know, and then I think of it in terms of.

[22:03] I don’t know about you, but when I’m planning for a vacation, half the fun of planning for a vacation is in the planning.

[22:11] And so if we can make that process fun and,

[22:17] you know, think about just the dream in and of itself instead of often. I think specifically if we’re talking about retirement planning per se,

[22:27] that,

[22:28] you know, it’s not just about making sure that your portfolio gets to a certain number. It’s about what you want to do with. With what you’ve worked so hard to accumulate.

[22:38] And that’s the dream. That’s the dream of what you’re going to do on vacation. And so yeah,

[22:44] work hard,

[22:45] create a life you don’t want to retire from.

[22:48] Just enjoy.

[22:50] Tara Bansal: I always ask what is the money for like?

[22:54] And see what how they answer tell. I would love to hear how you the journey from being behind the chair in a salon to being a financial advisor.

[23:08] Kristin Stutz: It was a funny one.

[23:10] I get that question a lot.

[23:13] Before I got sick,

[23:15] I had been a client of a.

[23:21] A company,

[23:22] premier coaching consulting company for salon and spa and medical spa owners for many years. And they had really helped me transform my own business into a successful, profitable company.

[23:33] And I shout out to strategies for everything.

[23:39] They taught me tons about business. They taught me how to understand,

[23:43] read and make my financials healthy. And from there I became a coach from them while for them, while I was still behind the chair, while I still owned my salon and started coaching other salon, spa and medical spa owners.

[23:59] When after I got sick, and I knew that I couldn’t,

[24:03] you know, go back to behind the chair. I kept the salon for a few years and decided I was. I was ready to sell. I wanted to do something different.

[24:10] And so I had continued on with Strategies and really Del dove into coaching,

[24:17] consulting work and eventually became the director of education for Strategies. And as I got healthier and healthier, that started to require travel and things like that. And I just knew that wasn’t what I wanted to do.

[24:32] I didn’t want to be away from my family, and I didn’t think that that was the best for my health. And so my New York Life agent came and met with me just to do some updating on our things.

[24:46] And she was asking me, you know, she said, you know, tell me again what it is that you do.

[24:50] And I said, you know, well, I help salon, spa and medical spa owners turn their businesses around, understand their financials, and, you know, understand how their financials and their business finances affect them.

[25:03] And.

[25:03] And she said, you know, you like working with business owners and you like numbers and you like finance. Have you ever thought about,

[25:10] you know, doing this? And I. Absolutely not. I had never given it a thought all along.

[25:17] I am a very spiritual person, and I knew when I was working for Strategies that it was time for me to do something different. And I had zero idea what that looked like.

[25:28] And so I’d be working away some nights in front of my computer, and I would just say, okay, God, I don’t know what you have next for me,

[25:35] but I know that you kept me here for a purpose. I know you’ve got a reason, and I know you know what my next chapter is. And so if I’m going to ask, I’m going to ask Big.

[25:45] And so I want these things. I want to have a job that I can do from anywhere I want. And it can’t just be a job. It’s got to be a career,

[25:53] and I can do it from anywhere. And it really makes an impact on people. And I can share my story and my life experiences and help make sure that those things make an impact in the work that I do.

[26:03] I want to be,

[26:05] you know, in charge of my schedule. I want to be able to be my own boss. I want to have,

[26:11] you know, earning potential that is limited only by me.

[26:16] And so, you know, I just asked Big and then I said, you know,

[26:20] I don’t know what that is, but I know you do. And so what I would ask is,

[26:24] when you show me that door that you give Me, the ability to see that you’ve opened a door for me and help me be bold enough to step through it, if that’s, in fact what I’m supposed to do.

[26:35] And so I had been praying that prayer. And so when she asked me that question, I was like, you know, you were asking about this. So I thought, well, I better ask some more questions and find out if this is actually something that,

[26:48] you know, fits that realm. And lo and behold, it. It sure does.

[26:53] Tara Bansal: It does.

[26:54] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. In so many ways. So, Stacy, thank you.

[26:59] Tara Bansal: How many years ago was that?

[27:02] Kristin Stutz: That was in the end of 2016.

[27:05] Tara Bansal: Okay.

[27:06] Kristin Stutz: And so I made the decision to make a change in 2017. Wow.

[27:12] Tara Bansal: We’re all the better for it.

[27:15] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[27:15] Tara Bansal: That’s a great story. I love how you had the criteria for what you wanted.

[27:21] Kristin Stutz: Oh, yeah.

[27:21] Tara Bansal: And not, like, I don’t know, with what was important to you, and. And then kind of just like, handed it over.

[27:29] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, yeah. Right.

[27:30] Tara Bansal: And had faith. Yeah. That it would appear and happen the way it should.

[27:36] Kristin Stutz: Well, and I will say, too, you know, it not without bumps in the road, that’s for sure. I mean,

[27:42] as with anything, when you make changes and you’re doing things that are different, I mean, I remember,

[27:47] you know, I had been in the. In the beauty industry for well over 20 years at that point,

[27:54] and to come into something that is completely foreign and to have to learn literally a whole new language.

[28:00] Right.

[28:01] And to go from something.

[28:04] I did a ton of public speaking when I worked for Strategies, and I would always joke that sometimes I would walk into a classroom or to a show or something and almost felt like a celebrity because they were.

[28:14] Oh, my God, you know, I’m so glad you’re teaching. I love what you teach. And then all of a sudden, when you shift to an advisor and you’re talking to people in my little, teeny, tiny hometown here who, you know, just didn’t see me in that business light, so to speak.

[28:31] Right. And didn’t really know my education, what I knew about finance and things like that.

[28:38] And you say, oh, yeah, by the way,

[28:40] you know, here’s what I’m doing now. It’s almost like they ran the other direction.

[28:43] And I. And I’ve learned now that a lot of it is, again, people just don’t want. They don’t want to talk about money. It’s private, it’s personal, it’s everything else.

[28:50] So.

[28:51] But, yeah, that was a. It was a really hard transition for sure, and I’m so glad I did. I love every minute of it.

[29:00] Tara Bansal: How much do you think it was your. The story in your head?

[29:04] I guess it sounds like you thought people didn’t think of you like that and maybe didn’t want to work with you.

[29:12] Kristin Stutz: You know, it’s really funny. I would say I didn’t think that at all at. Okay, at first.

[29:20] Not at all. I was like, why, why wouldn’t people want to talk to me about this?

[29:25] And I think it was because it was such a drastic shift where, you know, you would. I would bring it up for two seconds and I could just see the,

[29:36] you know. Oh, no.

[29:36] Tara Bansal: Shut down.

[29:37] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. Not any part of that. That. Then it became this really horrible story that. You know what I mean? Like it, I think, because I didn’t think it at all at first, and then all of a sudden it.

[29:48] I Lew it up 10 times bigger than it actually was and I carried it around for much longer than I should have.

[29:54] Tara Bansal: And how have you shifted that?

[29:57] Kristin Stutz: I think, you know, for. For anybody, probably imposter syndrome pops up from time to time. But I have,

[30:04] I have done a ton of education and self development.

[30:11] I really wanted to believe in myself and my abilities. And so I think part of that was when you bring up Brett Danko. I decided I would go back and get my CFP Certified financial planner.

[30:27] And part of that at the.

[30:28] That in and of itself is a funny story because in typical Kristen fashion,

[30:36] in order for a person to have their cfp,

[30:39] you have to have a college degree. And if you recall, I majored in beer, booze and boys.

[30:45] And so when I was in my 20s, I did not finish college. I went for three and a half years and did not complete my degree.

[30:54] And so I had a friend who was an advisor say, hey, you know what, we should go get our cfp. And I was like, yeah, cool,

[31:01] except I don’t have a degree. And then I learned that you could take the cfp, you could pass, and then they would give you five years to go and get your college degree.

[31:13] And I was like, well, you know what? I’ve been pretty darn successful without a college degree. And this CFP thing,

[31:20] I’ve heard it’s pretty hard to pass. And I don’t even know what the stats would be now, but I think it’s maybe what, a 60% pass rate first time or something like that?

[31:29] Tara Bansal: Yeah, I think it’s between 50 and 60.

[31:31] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. Yeah. And so I was like, well, if I can’t pass this test, I’m not going to go and get my college degree. So instead I’ll take the exam first. And so that’s.

[31:41] That’s what I did. I did all the studying that you needed to do prior to. And I took the CFP and I passed on the first go round. And then I was like, oh, no,

[31:51] now I have to go get a college degree.

[31:55] And so back to school.

[31:57] Tara Bansal: Which probably took longer than getting the cfp, right?

[32:01] Kristin Stutz: Well, it took a while for sure.

[32:03] I went back and I actually was.

[32:05] Yeah, I graduated magna *** laude with a accounting degree, which was pretty cool. And what’s really funny is what that accounting degree did for me was helped me realize how much I really already knew about accounting.

[32:22] You know, that I think even of itself,

[32:24] you know, in finance and things like that, like, wow, yeah, I already knew that.

[32:28] That’s something that I learned along the way as a business owner. And so that probably did a fair amount for my self confidence as well as just the entire CFP curriculum and continuing to work in the industry and dipping my toes as an advisor into lots of different programs so that I could meet lots of different advisors.

[32:52] For example, when we did the Steph Bogan program, you know, I met you and all the other girls in our study group and I got to see how they all work and how they all ran their practices.

[33:02] And so I’ve been able to combine all kinds of different ideas that I’ve borrowed from lots of wonderful advisors out in our space, both, you know, within my own broker dealer and outside of my broker dealer.

[33:19] You know, I’ve got amazing study groups within the broker dealer and, you know, even with. With our group, who all come from their own individual RIAs, and I’ve been able to learn from so many people in the industry and that I think that’s one thing probably too, from an industry perspective that doesn’t get highlighted enough because it can seem very,

[33:42] I don’t know, cutthroat. Would, Would you agree with that?

[33:45] Tara Bansal: Yeah, I, I’m glad you’re bringing this up. Yeah,

[33:49] I,

[33:50] in general, I feel like being in.

[33:55] And that’s part of why I want to do this podcast, is to have people hear how different we can be and, and design it the way that’s best for us.

[34:08] I do think being a financial advisor does.

[34:14] I just think in general, the business,

[34:17] there’s a lot of ego.

[34:18] There’s a lot of.

[34:22] Yeah, I don’t. That’s the part I don’t like. It’s the cutthroat. And part of why I’m focusing on women financial advisors is because I feel like we bring a Different energy to it and a different perspective that I want to highlight that each of us, like you are not.

[34:40] And you know, in an Ria,

[34:43] you are with New York life and you love it. And I. And that’s what I want to highlight the differences that everybody can.

[34:50] Kristin Stutz: Yes.

[34:51] Tara Bansal: Do this in their own way.

[34:53] Kristin Stutz: Definitely. And, and I think that’s something to me that’s really important. And I hear advisors say it all the time where they’re like, this is a, you know, it’s a really lonely business and don’t feel that way in the least bit.

[35:08] Not in the. I feel like I have.

[35:11] So I’m connected to so many advisors that if I had something that I was stuck on,

[35:16] I could call so many people and they would be so generous and helpful. And you know, there’s so many people have so much wisdom and there’s just a ton of things to know in this business that,

[35:29] you know, we can’t know it all. And it can’t know it all.

[35:32] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[35:32] Kristin Stutz: It all changes in the blink of an eye anyway.

[35:35] Right. So.

[35:36] So I think that to know that it’s not every advisor out there is cutthroat. And, and that’s. That is all just outside noise and we shouldn’t pay attention to it because most of the advisors that, that you meet are just really genuine people who want to help people.

[35:58] Help each other. Yeah, exactly, exactly.

[36:01] Tara Bansal: Help their clients and help each other. I mean there are of course,

[36:05] you know, any business, some who are all about the money. But just like you said, I think that is true in any business. You’re not. You’re going to find good and bad and.

[36:16] Kristin Stutz: For sure. Yeah. And there are so many. I mean, listen, every. Everyone has a challenge with money. Right. Whether they.

[36:25] Tara Bansal: Yeah. We all have our own head. Trash around money.

[36:29] Kristin Stutz: Exactly. And everybody needs help. And so, you know, in truth, there’s. There’s an advisor for everyone out there. You know, it’s just a matter of how do you figure out how you can make a living.

[36:39] Right.

[36:41] And so who’s a good match. Right.

[36:43] That’s exactly it. Because that’s how you’re in need.

[36:46] Tara Bansal: Yeah, I agree.

[36:48] Kristin Stutz: Yes, exactly. It’s not. It doesn’t have to be just the,

[36:51] you know, coveted ultra high net worth or the physicians or you know, what, whatever it is, like go find your people and help them.

[37:01] Tara Bansal: Yeah, I agree.

[37:03] Kristin Stutz: And that’s how you’re going to be happy every day.

[37:06] Tara Bansal: And that’s what I feel like all of us want.

[37:09] So on that note, what would your dream job look Like,

[37:14] I have it.

[37:16] So what would make it better or what?

[37:20] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, I.

[37:22] More money, less time at it, I guess.

[37:24] Right. And more.

[37:27] More and better systems and structure and.

[37:32] Yeah, I think I.

[37:33] And support. I guess that’s it, really.

[37:36] And that’s something that, you know, I’m in the process of trying to work on in.

[37:41] In my own business, is to. To get all of those pieces in place. And I. And I do believe 100% that it can be.

[37:49] It really can be done where you can balance things. That is more a me problem. And in, you know,

[38:00] many of the conversations that you and I have, it’s really about figuring out again, just like I would help my clients figure out what it is they want and what’s most important to them.

[38:11] You know, our most limited resource in life isn’t money. It’s time.

[38:16] And one thing that you’re always really good about helping me with is helping me figure out how I’m spending my time versus how I want to be spending my time.

[38:25] Tara Bansal: Yeah. And just noticing that I always feel like. Is important in half the battle.

[38:30] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, it definitely is.

[38:32] Tara Bansal: Yeah. Who do you most want to work with?

[38:36] Kristin Stutz: Like. Yeah.

[38:37] Tara Bansal: Everybody asks, who’s your ideal client?

[38:39] Kristin Stutz: Yep, yep, yep. My ideal client for sure is salon, spa, and medical spa owners, without question. And again, it’s. It’s purely because,

[38:49] again, I speak their language,

[38:53] they speak my language.

[38:55] I understand them, I know their problems,

[38:58] I know how to help them.

[39:01] And I feel like for them,

[39:04] there’s a large hole in our industry of people who do serve them or can serve them on that level just because of the experiences that I have.

[39:17] Tara Bansal: Oh, yeah.

[39:18] Kristin Stutz: Working with them. They’re great. They’re super fun.

[39:22] I have a client who always says, and this is so funny,

[39:26] they are salon and spa owners, and they always say,

[39:31] listen, if you can’t hug your financial advisor, you need to find a different financial advisor. And I laugh because I always think, well, I almost.

[39:39] Maybe that’s more of a salon owner thing than it is financial advisor thing, because salon owners, there’s a lot of hugging that goes on.

[39:49] Tara Bansal: Yeah. And that goes to. I don’t know. I love that.

[39:53] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[39:54] Tara Bansal: I’ve never heard that, but I. And that’s my personality. Like, I want to work with people who want to hug me, and I want to hug them.

[40:03] So.

[40:04] And that may not be true for every.

[40:06] Kristin Stutz: Everybody.

[40:07] Tara Bansal: Yeah. But I love that.

[40:09] Kristin Stutz: Isn’t that great? Yeah, it is great.

[40:11] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[40:12] Kristin Stutz: And I always, you know, I do. So 99% of my work is virtual. And so I always hope that people can feel the hugs I’m giving them through the screen.

[40:20] Wow.

[40:21] Tara Bansal: I feel like I can.

[40:22] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[40:24] Tara Bansal: How are you growing your business right now?

[40:27] Kristin Stutz: Well, I would say, you know, I really have got focused in the last.

[40:31] In the last year,

[40:33] really more so six months of making sure that I am focusing specifically on that knit and getting out and doing public speaking,

[40:43] kind of revamping my marketing to reflect that and working with people that I know in the industry.

[40:50] I am starting my own,

[40:52] I say podcast, but it’s really YouTube channel where I’ll interviews and I’m super excited about that and just trying to be bold enough to get my voice out there.

[41:04] Tara Bansal: That’s great. I feel like you are an excellent public speaker and I know that’s something you enjoy, so can’t wait to see it.

[41:12] You could send me the link and I’ll share it too.

[41:14] What are your biggest challenges right now?

[41:20] Kristin Stutz: I could say the easy answer, which is time.

[41:24] And it’s not the real answer.

[41:26] I would say,

[41:28] as likely most of us,

[41:33] it is the putting myself out there.

[41:36] I have a difficult time living by the 70% in, out the door theory.

[41:45] I want things to be just how I want them. And so getting out of my own way and getting things out there is tough.

[41:56] Tara Bansal: The progress, not perfection, of like it’s good enough. I know I struggle with that, so I can relate.

[42:06] Kristin Stutz: And focus is always a bit of a challenge for me.

[42:09] Tara Bansal: And even that, I guess a question of how to know what to focus on.

[42:17] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[42:17] Tara Bansal: Do you struggle with that or do.

[42:19] Kristin Stutz: You feel like you’re fine all the time? Yeah.

[42:22] Yeah. Because I want so badly to take care of the clients that I have now.

[42:28] Right.

[42:28] And.

[42:29] And to serve them in a way that makes them feel like they’re the only ones. Right.

[42:35] And.

[42:36] And really give all that I have for them and then whatever I got left for my family. Which sounds terrible. It really should be the other way around.

[42:45] But.

[42:46] But that, you know, that takes a lot. And then having something left on the creative side to go out and try and put your messages out to the world, whether that results in business or just really good education for people.

[42:58] I always feel like, you know, when you put really good education out, it should result in growth in your business.

[43:04] Tara Bansal: Something.

[43:04] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, yeah.

[43:05] Tara Bansal: Karma.

[43:06] Kristin Stutz: But definitely finding the balance of those two things is really tough.

[43:14] Tara Bansal: What are the two things for you?

[43:17] Kristin Stutz: Taking care of your clients now? Taking care of the clients that you have really well. And then having the energy and focus left to get your messages out there.

[43:29] Tara Bansal: Yeah. For the business development and getting New.

[43:33] Kristin Stutz: Clients or even just like improving systems inside your business. And you know, all those things is. Yeah, it’s a lot.

[43:40] Tara Bansal: Yeah. But to me, the other. And you said it is the balance with your family and the other things in your life that you want to do too.

[43:49] Kristin Stutz: For sure. Yes.

[43:51] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[43:52] Kristin Stutz: Yep.

[43:53] I think that’s something that I see lots of advisors struggle with, is the juggling of all of those parts and pieces. And no disrespect on the men. I’m not one, so I don’t know what, what it looks like for them, but I think for, for many women, we, we juggle a lot of things and it can be a big challenge for us to figure out how to take care of ourselves along with everyone else that we’re taking

[44:24] care of,

[44:25] from clients to staff to family and try and grow a business. It’s. It’s a lot.

[44:33] It is a lot.

[44:34] Tara Bansal: Yeah. And that’s once again why I. Why I’m doing this podcast. I’m focusing on women because I think it is a little different.

[44:43] Kristin Stutz: Definitely.

[44:44] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[44:45] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[44:47] And I think having someone that you can trust to bounce that stuff off of is really important.

[44:55] Who’s not gonna judge you, but help you walk through your own process to figure that out.

[45:03] Tara Bansal: And I feel like women advisors are very supportive and very helpful.

[45:11] Kristin Stutz: Agreed.

[45:13] Tara Bansal: I think there’s plenty of men advisor who. Who are that too. I’m not trying to say that, but in general, I do feel like all the women I know.

[45:23] And that’s the other.

[45:27] You definitely fit this. But are so many are into self development and learning and continue continuously trying to strive to be better.

[45:41] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[45:42] Tara Bansal: As a person and as an advisor.

[45:44] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[45:45] Tara Bansal: And as a wife, spouse, you know, mother, grandmother, friend, all of that.

[45:53] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, absolutely. You know, it’s funny being now in,

[45:58] I would say my third industry. Right. I always think of the behind the chair salon owner and then coaching and now, you know, as an advisor living in those three worlds.

[46:09] I will. I always say that especially to young people who are coming up in. In this industry.

[46:15] If you ever wanted to get into an industry that really is about personal development,

[46:20] you just found one.

[46:22] Because the only thing that really stands in your way in this business is what’s between your two ears.

[46:33] You know, I agree with that.

[46:34] Tara Bansal: But I think that’s true for any small business.

[46:37] Kristin Stutz: I’m sure it is. Yeah.

[46:39] Tara Bansal: I mean.

[46:40] Kristin Stutz: Yeah. Yeah. It just. I. I have.

[46:43] And maybe, I don’t know, maybe it’s age, maybe it’s, you know, starting in this older. I don’t know.

[46:49] But it is really important to make sure that you are focusing on your own personal development and what’s going on in your own mind. Because it. That’s the thing that can slow you down or stop you.

[47:02] Tara Bansal: Yeah, I think that’s what does hold most of us back.

[47:07] Kristin Stutz: Absolutely. And you’re right. And all things, business life, everything. Yeah.

[47:12] Tara Bansal: How would you compare and contrast, like, the coaching you did versus being a financial advisor?

[47:25] Kristin Stutz: You know, I think that at least in the work that I do, there is a lot of coaching,

[47:33] because certainly I can.

[47:35] I could just go and tell a client what to do with their finances,

[47:39] but in the end,

[47:41] it’s not my money. You know, I didn’t work hard for it. And I think what people really need is to feel empowered in their own decisions.

[47:49] And so to me, the way to do that is to coach someone through it and help them come to their own decisions based on information that’s put in front of them and what they find by having someone ask them hard questions and then just letting them explore.

[48:10] And I think too, there’s a space of reminding people what they are capable of and again, what things they said are important to them.

[48:23] So I think there’s a lot of crossover, I guess, is the short answer to that question.

[48:27] Tara Bansal: Yeah. So what makes it different being the financial advisor versus just the coach?

[48:38] Kristin Stutz: That’s a really good question. I would say just the.

[48:41] When I think of coaching as an industry in and of itself,

[48:44] I think it’s, for me, is the crossover between the.

[48:51] With my clients, it’s the crossover between their personal finances and their business finances and how they held the two together. Now, that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with coaching versus being an advisor, but that, I guess that’s how I see the.

[49:07] The differences between the work that I did previously and the work that I do now.

[49:11] I don’t know if that’s really what you were looking for.

[49:14] Tara Bansal: It is, because I.

[49:16] You are an amazing coach, and I think you bring the coaching to working with your current clients.

[49:25] What I’m hearing and tell me is it’s.

[49:28] I love the personal finances and the business finances. You look at both of those and how they impact each other.

[49:36] And it’s also like getting more,

[49:39] I assume, into the nitty gritty of, like,

[49:44] the strategies or the,

[49:47] you know, tax planning, the cash flow,

[49:51] different ways to look at the information and hopefully use that to help.

[49:58] Because you didn’t do that in coaching. I guess you did a little bit with the. On the business side. Yeah.

[50:04] Kristin Stutz: Yep, I did. I did a lot with Numbers on the business side, but never dipped it into their personal finance.

[50:10] Right.

[50:10] And I think what I see oftentimes is owners even.

[50:20] I’m giggling a little bit because I had this conversation just a few days ago with an owner where she was talking about, you know, how she.

[50:28] Tara Bansal: Really.

[50:29] Kristin Stutz: Really, really knows her business cash flow and where every penny goes and pays zero attention to her personal cash flow because she dedicates so much time to paying attention at. On the business side that she’s just tired of looking at numbers when she gets home.

[50:46] And of course, there’s, you know, all kinds of emotion that goes around with that too, is, you know, she. Her business is something that she needs to take care of because it supports other people, whereas, you know, her personal finances.

[50:56] Well, it’s just her or her. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

[51:00] Tara Bansal: That’s interesting.

[51:00] Kristin Stutz: Yeah,

[51:01] isn’t it? Yeah, it’s really huge. And there’s just.

[51:05] The two have to meld together because you can’t.

[51:08] While, yes, the business is its own entity, it’s also something that,

[51:12] you know.

[51:13] Tara Bansal: People feeds into your personal. Or it should. Right. Like that’s.

[51:17] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s like you invested in one stock and you want that stock to pay your. Your income for you now and in the future when you go to sell it.

[51:26] And,

[51:28] you know, there’s not a lot of diversification there if that’s all you’re doing.

[51:32] Tara Bansal: Right.

[51:32] Kristin Stutz: No. From an investment standpoint. And so, you know,

[51:36] having people pay attention to both and be good stewards on both sides is really important. And quite frankly, it just makes them feel more empowered on both sides.

[51:46] Tara Bansal: Yeah. And mitigating that risk of this one giant asset or stock with the analogy.

[51:53] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, very true.

[51:56] Tara Bansal: All right, here’s a question that. What are you afraid to admit, even to yourself?

[52:08] Kristin Stutz: Well, I remind myself this a lot. So maybe it’s this one. I just have to constantly remind myself over and over again.

[52:15] And it comes up in lots of occasions.

[52:20] And it’s three little words.

[52:23] You got this.

[52:26] So I don’t know if that. If that’s really what you want before, but.

[52:30] Tara Bansal: No. If that’s what comes up for you. And. Yeah, I love it.

[52:35] Kristin Stutz: Yeah.

[52:37] Tara Bansal: What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? I have the magic wand. Right. Like, whatever.

[52:49] Kristin Stutz: That’s such a tough question.

[52:56] Tara Bansal: So nothing jumps out at you, I guess, is even that, you know, something.

[53:00] Kristin Stutz: Yeah,

[53:01] yeah, yeah. Right. It is. And I. I just always think. I feel like.

[53:07] I feel like that’s something that I remind myself over and over again. It’s that same like, you got this right? Whatever it is,

[53:14] go ahead. Because is failure even really a thing or is it just an experience?

[53:22] Tara Bansal: Do you, do we learning? Yeah, I always like never really fail.

[53:25] Kristin Stutz: I, I, maybe that’s why that,

[53:27] do we ever really fail? Nah, we just learn. We just chalk it up and,

[53:32] and keep moving.

[53:34] And you know, there one thing,

[53:37] this is a story that I tell frequently,

[53:40] even in the hardest of times.

[53:42] And, and I certainly don’t want to minimize the people have been through way, way, way, way, way more difficult things than I could ever even imagine, let alone have I gone through.

[53:52] But for me, you know, even in really hard times, I always think there’s something good that’s here or something maybe that once you’re through this really hard time, you’re gonna miss.

[54:04] And I always try and look for those things. And so I think about when I was sick and in the hospital, and I was in the hospital a lot,

[54:15] I always loved the warm blankets and,

[54:20] and I would laugh because I would think, you know, when I go home,

[54:25] I’m finally out of here and I go home,

[54:28] my husband probably is not going to bring me a warm blanket every five minutes if that’s in fact what I desire. Right. Like, like just doesn’t work that way.

[54:39] And so whenever I happen to be in the hospital or, you know, something like that and someone offers me a warm blanket, I’m always like, absolutely. Even if I don’t want it,

[54:51] because you’re going to miss those warm blankets. And so that’s something that I think about often, even in, like I said, in the dark times,

[54:58] find that thing, find those, those warm blankets of life where it’s like, oh, yeah, this is something really good.

[55:05] It’s really good that I’m only going to get here and I should really appreciate this for what it is.

[55:11] Tara Bansal: I love that.

[55:13] And for me, it’s also, I feel like my most growth has,

[55:20] my has happened during those most challenging times.

[55:25] And when you’re in it,

[55:28] it’s not fun and you definitely appreciate that. But once you get through it and can see what you’ve learned and see.

[55:39] Kristin Stutz: More, I feel like that,

[55:41] yeah, I agree,

[55:43] I agree. And I think it’s like you said that that is something to hold on to as well,

[55:51] that some, something good is right around the corner.

[55:56] Tara Bansal: What’s holding you back? What is getting in the way for you right now?

[56:03] Kristin Stutz: You know what I think it is,

[56:05] if I’m being honest, it probably is fear of losing some sort of balance that I fooled myself that I have right now because I really don’t have the balance that I want.

[56:17] Tara Bansal: And you’re worried it’s going to get worse for ref.

[56:20] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, exactly.

[56:21] Tara Bansal: I think that’s a valid.

[56:23] Kristin Stutz: Yep.

[56:24] Tara Bansal: It’s something to notice and a belief you can try to shift or find examples of people who.

[56:31] Role models that you can,

[56:33] I don’t know, talk to or emulate.

[56:35] Kristin Stutz: And that’s, you know,

[56:36] and there’s. There are so many things and ways of things that I could do to make sure that that didn’t happen.

[56:46] Whether that’s, you know,

[56:48] hiring more help or, you know,

[56:52] restructuring fees or something along those lines to make sure and actually probably make my life more balanced than it is right now.

[56:59] That it, you know,

[57:01] such a good question.

[57:04] That’s why a coach is so important.

[57:06] Because they ask you these big questions and help you realize. Oh, yeah, that’s. That’s just silliness that’s going on in my brain. It’s real.

[57:14] Tara Bansal: Yeah. Because it. I mean, there are real effects to it. And part of me is if we had more time, I would love to dig into that more. But we are basically out of time.

[57:25] If you have time, I have just a couple more questions.

[57:29] How do you want to be remembered when you’re gone?

[57:34] Kristin Stutz: As a wonderful, bright, joyful light, going with the sunshine. Oh, yeah, yeah.

[57:43] Tara Bansal: And your company name.

[57:45] Kristin Stutz: That’s right.

[57:46] Yeah, you got it. You know, that’s an interesting point. So my dad passed away.

[57:50] Oh, my gosh. Has it been 18 years ago? And he was.

[57:54] My dad was just larger than life, man. He was something else.

[57:58] And he was an attorney and a judge.

[58:01] And again was here all of his. In this little town, all of his adult life. He did a ton of divorces and.

[58:10] Which he always joked he’d be like, I do the divorces so that we can eat. But my real love is estate planning. He loved doing estate planning.

[58:20] And he,

[58:22] you know, he’s. He’s been gone now a long time, and there are still days where I will be in the grocery store.

[58:29] This happened probably a year ago. Somebody walked up to me in the grocery store that I knew with big tears in her eyes. And she said,

[58:38] I was thinking about your dad the other day and the impact that he made on my life when I was going through my divorce. And I think to myself,

[58:46] that is the kind of impact that I want to have, that somebody,

[58:50] you know,

[58:51] 18 years after I’ve been gone remembers that I made a difference in their life.

[58:57] That’s. Yeah,

[58:59] yeah.

[59:00] Tara Bansal: And I assume that’s part of why you do what you do.

[59:03] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. Absolutely.

[59:08] Tara Bansal: What now? Just a couple rapid fire. Like. What is a book you would recommend?

[59:16] Kristin Stutz: Hmm.

[59:17] Wufta.

[59:19] I have a couple I really like. 10x is easier than 2x.

[59:24] Really good book if you’re just talking about business development.

[59:27] I really like.

[59:30] If you want to laugh.

[59:32] And it’s somewhat about money. I love Jen since Cheryl’s book I’m a badass or I’m a badass at making money. Those are great.

[59:43] Morgan Housel’s Psychology of Money.

[59:46] Tara Bansal: I love that one.

[59:47] Kristin Stutz: Fantastic book.

[59:49] And there is one that is just.

[59:53] I can’t even think of what the name of it is. That is like top of my list as one of my favorites. I love the Traveler’s Gift.

[01:00:00] That’s a really good book.

[01:00:02] I don’t know. That one’s what’s a really good one.

[01:00:04] I don’t know. That’s all I got off the top of my head.

[01:00:06] Tara Bansal: That’s great. What? Podcasts.

[01:00:09] Kristin Stutz: Podcasts. Okay. I love a podcast by. My most favorite one right at this very moment is by Kathy Heller.

[01:00:21] It’s called Abundance Ever After.

[01:00:23] Has nothing to do with being an advisor, but I love it. It’s a great, great podcast.

[01:00:29] Tara Bansal: Was it. What was it called again?

[01:00:31] Kristin Stutz: Abundant Ever After.

[01:00:33] Tara Bansal: Okay.

[01:00:34] Kristin Stutz: Fantastic podcast. I also love Lewis Howes podcast.

[01:00:40] And that one is.

[01:00:42] Hang on, I’m looking on my podcast list here.

[01:00:44] He has two. And that’s why I gotta give you not the daily motivation. I like the long one.

[01:00:52] Of course. I like kitsis.

[01:00:54] I love 50 fires.

[01:00:56] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[01:00:58] Kristin Stutz: With Carl Richards. That’s an amazing podcast.

[01:01:01] Sometimes I listen to Mel Robbins.

[01:01:03] Yeah, there you go. This. It’s called the School of Greatness. That’s a really good one. Oh, okay.

[01:01:10] And I. I will tell you one more. This is an advisor podcast and I don’t miss it.

[01:01:16] I listen to every episode and it is shame on me. I ought to know it right off the top of my head.

[01:01:24] From Busy to Rich with Wes Young. Wow.

[01:01:28] Yeah. I don’t think I’ve missed a single episode.

[01:01:32] Tara Bansal: That’s great. Recommendations. What advice do you have for me in finding and talking to more people like you?

[01:01:43] Kristin Stutz: Well, I would say you are an amazing human being that I know for sure.

[01:01:50] Tara Bansal: And we may have to cut this out.

[01:01:54] Kristin Stutz: Oh, I know, I know.

[01:01:57] And my advice for you would be you got this going back to that. Yeah. Just keep putting your.

[01:02:08] Keep putting your message out there. Keep putting your voice out there. Don’t be afraid.

[01:02:12] It’s the same.

[01:02:13] It doesn’t have to be perfect. Right. The same message I would give to myself because your people need your voice so much.

[01:02:22] I can’t remember if I told you this, but when I was in New Orleans at the conference, the lady who hosted the conference there was on stage and she said,

[01:02:33] oftentimes,

[01:02:35] it’s not the message that you need to hear necessarily, but the messenger that you need to hear it from.

[01:02:42] And that just that along with Carl’s quote of be who you are and go all in.

[01:02:50] Yeah,

[01:02:51] that’s it.

[01:02:54] Tara Bansal: And I love both of those. I mean, that’s part of.

[01:02:58] I think we’ve talked about this. Part of what I want this podcast to be is, as I said, just that for women to realize they can be their own authentic self.

[01:03:13] Kristin Stutz: Absolutely.

[01:03:14] Tara Bansal: And be successful and not have to fit the traditional mold or the, you know, like, all these different things you hear and are told.

[01:03:25] That is, we’re told, you know, it’s.

[01:03:27] Kristin Stutz: Such a really good point. And it’s funny. Like, I think about, you know, when I started.

[01:03:32] Oh, I had to go out and get a whole new wardrobe because, you know, people who,

[01:03:36] um,

[01:03:37] my quote, unquote, salon industry clothes didn’t fit with what I should have been wearing, which was, you know, the business suit, blazer, and pearls,

[01:03:46] which just is not me. Not even close. I just. Not me.

[01:03:53] And, And I look at my closet now, and I think I have one blazer,

[01:03:57] you know, which cracks me up. And again, I, you know, I do work a ton remote, but I,

[01:04:02] I,

[01:04:03] I felt so part of the feeling uncomfortable, I think, in the beginning was, well, I didn’t. Not only did I not know what I was doing, but I was trying to be somebody that not only I wasn’t it, it was also that I didn’t even really want to be.

[01:04:17] And there’s not anything wrong with blazers and pearls. And,

[01:04:21] you know, that the person that really is that and is personified in that, if that’s who you are, man,

[01:04:28] go all in. I don’t.

[01:04:30] I think it’s awesome, and I love you because of it. But it’s the idea, just like you said, that you, you have to be you.

[01:04:38] That’s it. That’s all you have to be.

[01:04:41] And be really good at being you, and everything else will fall into place. And I think anytime I have ever been out of alignment with who I really am, there’s nothing more uncomfortable.

[01:04:55] Tara Bansal: Yeah.

[01:04:56] Kristin Stutz: And the times I feel happiest are when I’m just unapologetically who I am.

[01:05:00] Tara Bansal: Mm. And I think that’s true, like, just to notice that And I truly believe that when things are in alignment, miracles happen.

[01:05:12] Kristin Stutz: That is the only way I think miracles happen is when you are aligned, because you’re open.

[01:05:20] You know, you’re. You’re open to everything that life can give you, and you’re being true, and you’re letting yourself shine as who you.

[01:05:26] Tara Bansal: Are,

[01:05:27] as I think we all should.

[01:05:30] And you are a bright, shining light, Kristen, and I can’t wait to see all that you continue to do. And,

[01:05:40] yeah, you’re just beautiful inside and out,

[01:05:44] so.

[01:05:44] Kristin Stutz: You are the best. Thank you.

[01:05:45] Tara Bansal: Thrilled.

[01:05:46] Kristin Stutz: I appreciate it.

[01:05:48] Tara Bansal: I. I thought it was great. Honestly, beyond great.

[01:05:54] Kristin Stutz: Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate it very much. And thank you for giving me my. My first foray into a podcast world.

[01:06:03] Tara Bansal: Sure.

[01:06:05] Kristin Stutz: Amazing.

[01:06:06] Tara Bansal: Yeah. And now it’s out there.

[01:06:09] Kristin Stutz: Yeah, totally.

[01:06:11] Tara Bansal: All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, as always. Um, I just think you’re the best.

[01:06:17] Kristin Stutz: Back at you.

[01:06:18] Tara Bansal: Bye.

[01:06:20] Wow.

[01:06:21] There were so many golden nuggets to my conversation with. With Kristen. I don’t think most episodes I’ll have this long a list,

[01:06:30] but I really felt like she gave so much for us to think about,

[01:06:35] and I wanted to highlight some that stood out for me.

[01:06:39] That life can change in the blink of an eye.

[01:06:43] And she lived that. Many of us have, too. Maybe not quite to the extreme she did,

[01:06:50] but in financial planning,

[01:06:53] how often that can occur and how that is not incorporated in our plans.

[01:06:59] I love how she said financial planning and being an advisor is not a lonely business,

[01:07:07] and it’s about connecting with the beautiful other advisors around us and our clients and even the other service professionals that we work with so often.

[01:07:22] I like that not all advisors are cutthroat and that we’re not all about the money, that we’re here to serve our clients and help each other live a life that we love.

[01:07:34] I know that’s part of my mission and passion.

[01:07:39] A reminder that our limited resource isn’t money. I think so often we think that way, but our real limited resource is time.

[01:07:51] You can always make more money, but all of us have the same amount of time every day.

[01:07:57] We don’t know how many years we have,

[01:08:00] but each day is just 24 hours.

[01:08:04] I love the quote,

[01:08:06] if you can’t hug your financial advisor, you need to find a different financial advisor. And I think this goes also with our clients.

[01:08:15] Not everyone is a hugger or likes being hugged, but if you are like I am, I think it’s a criteria to keep in mind in who you work with and as a client, who you want to work with as your financial advisor.

[01:08:34] The challenge, as I think in particular for female financial advisors,

[01:08:40] the challenge of serving others and growing ourselves and our business and also having the time and attention and energy for our family too.

[01:08:56] It is a juggling act and all of those are priorities for many of us. And I hope this podcast will highlight how people are doing it differently and that many of us have this struggle.

[01:09:11] I love how Kristin is on her third career or industry.

[01:09:16] She started as a salon owner and specialist in doing hair for her clients.

[01:09:25] Then she became a strategic business coach for salons and now she is a financial advisor specializing in women who own or men who own their salons and looking at both their personal and the business side of the finances and how closely those go together.

[01:09:49] Another favorite thing. I mean there were so many things in this episode is is failing really a thing or is it just learning and if you can shift that perspective that there is no such thing as failure, it is just learning that can help each of us throughout our lives.

[01:10:12] Where she talks about finding those warm blankets of life that even when things are terrible that they’re you if you look for it, you can find some good things.

[01:10:28] And it reminds me of the Fred Rogers quote,

[01:10:33] when a tragedy occurs, look for the people who are helping and just in our own lives. When you are struggling to look for the little things that you can be grateful for and try to remember them.

[01:10:48] The last is just that you have to be you.

[01:10:52] And often some of the most painful and hardest parts of our lives are when we’re not in alignment and not living, listening to our essential selves and our or our soul selves that where we really highlight our own talents and strengths and what brings us joy and what is right for us.

[01:11:19] So that is a long list, but I thought all of those were worth pointing out here and mentioning again.

[01:11:27] I would love to hear your feedback and I hope you have a great day.

[01:11:32] Thank you for listening to Her Life, Her Practice, Her Way A podcast for and about female financial advisors.

[01:11:41] I truly hope you found something valuable and encouraging in today’s episode. If you did, I’d be so grateful if you’d take a moment to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

[01:11:54] It helps other phenomenal women in our field find this space.

[01:11:58] And if you know another advisor who would benefit from these conversations or from the kind of support I offer through coaching,

[01:12:06] please send this episode to her.

[01:12:09] If you’re curious about working with me as your coach or interested in being on the podcast, I’d love to hear from you.

[01:12:17] You can find more details and reach out to me on the contact page of my website,

[01:12:23] herlifeherpracticeherway.com no spaces, no underlines, just the words straight in a row.

[01:12:32] Until next time, keep building a life and practice you truly love.

• Kristin Stutz, CFP®
• Connect with Kristin on LinkedIn

• Stephanie Bogan’s Limitless Advisor Program

 

• Brett Danko, LLC

 

• Previous Her Life, Her Practice, Her Way episode #1 where Kristin interview Tara – https://herlifeherpracticeherway.com/taras-story/

Books Kristin Recommends

• 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan & Dr. Benjamin Hardy – https://10xeasierbook.com/
• You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero – https://jensincero.com/
• The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed and Happiness by Morgan Housel – https://www.morganhousel.com/
• The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews – https://andyandrews.com/product/the-travelers-gift/

Podcasts Kristin Loves

• Abundant Ever After with Cathy Heller – https://www.cathyheller.com/
• The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes – https://lewishowes.com/sogpodcast/
• Kitces & Carl Podcast with Michael Kitces & Carl Richards – https://www.advisorhub.com/kitces-and-carl-podcast/
• From Busy to Rich with Wes Young – https://www.wesyounglive.com/podcasts/from-busy-to-rich