We recently had the opportunity to be featured on CanvasRebel, where we shared our story, our passion, and the journey that led us to where we are today. From the challenges we’ve faced to the lessons we’ve learned along the way, this interview gives a deeper look into what drives us. Check out the full article below!

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kristin Printon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristin, thanks for joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

After graduating college, I did a solo backpacking trip around Western Europe for 3-months. I had recently gone through a bad breakup, and this was my abbreviated version of Eat, Pray, Love. I wanted to prove to myself how strong and independent I was, so I booked a round-trip flight to and from Ireland, and started planning. My original idea was to live in Ireland for 3-months, but once I realized how close I was to London, and from there, how close I was to mainland Europe, the trip exploded. I ended up visiting 9 countries, and did couch surfing everywhere I went, which meant I stayed with random locals I found via a website. Since most people couldn’t host me for the full 5 days I was usually in a city, I ended up having multiple hosts for each country/city. Having 18 different hosts, not all locals themselves, led to a lot of unique experiences to say the least!

Before I left for this trip, being newly single and in my early twenties, I planned to move to a big city when I got back to the U.S. I was considering New York or L.A., but after experiencing London and Paris back-to-back, I realized that I’m not a big city girl at heart. I come from the Midwest, and knew it was important to come back to my roots. After Paris, I made my way to a small village in Switzerland, and spent the next 3 days hiking and thinking about my future. This led me to looking at the Forbes best places to live list. After all, the year I went to college, Fort Collins, Colorado was number one on the list, and I loved my time at Colorado State, so I figured what better place to start my search for a new place to live! I narrowed down my list to the Midwest, and ultimately landed on Eden Prairie, MN (it was also number one on the list that year).

Once I knew a location, I searched for independent financial planning firms and found North Star Resource Group (my current parent company). At this point, I had made my way to Munich, Germany, and it was here that I filled out my job application. I then headed north to Prague, and treated myself to my only hotel stay for my 22nd birthday. I did a phone interview for the financial advisor role while standing on a chair in the middle of the hotel room, because it was the only place I got cell-service.

After moving to the next stage of the interview process, I submitted my background booklet after arriving back in Cork, Ireland, where I started my journey. A week after getting back to the US, I drove 10-hours to look at apartments, signed a lease, and then did final interview. I remember getting asked in the interview if I had backup plan because they knew I had already signed an apartment lease. When I said failure wasn’t an option, that cemented my place and I accepted the offer on the spot. Thankfully it’s all worked out, not without its ups and downs along the way, but that firm is my parent company still to this day!

Kristin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My background is unique because I don’t come from money and have seen firsthand what life looks like – along with how stressful life can be – when money is a constant worry. As a teenager, I took courses on entrepreneurship and financial planning, where I started to recognize that while money is something we all deal with on a daily basis, few of us have any formal financial education. After realizing that I had a natural talent for numbers, cash flow, and organization, along with wanting to build a career where I could create a real impact for those around me, I started down the path to becoming a financial planner.

An advocate for financial planning without judgment, my goal is to be your financial advocate, not your financial critic. I’m passionate about empowering my clients to make informed decisions with financial confidence and clarity. I recognize that every person has a different vision for success and my main goal in working with you is to fulfill that vision for your own future. With a knack for balancing your competing life goals, I help my clients weigh the pros and cons of each situation and then develop a tailored plan to pursue each goal. My clients are generally focused on living an intentional life, and it’s something I aim to do as well. Showing people how to use money to best serve them is so rewarding because I’m proof that you don’t need to come from money to learn how to be great with it!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Unfortunately, due to movies, overwhelming jargon, and “finance bros,” there are a lot of negative connotations when people think about financial planners. Because of this, there’s an assumption that I’m just here to sell something, but when people get to know me, they recognize how I break the stereotype. Aside from being a younger woman in an industry where the average advisor is a 56-year-old male*, I’m authentic on social media, in meetings, or at events. Leading with being a caring person, versus a salesperson with an agenda, has garnered me a reputation for being “refreshing.” That’s the most common adjective I hear when meeting with prospective clients, and it shows that by being yourself, you’ll attract other like-minded people who are a lot of fun to work with!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

My dad came from a farmer background, and also served 24 years in the Air Force, so I was raised to be a hard worker. I still am, however, a lesson I had to unlearn was that I was lazy if I wasn’t being “productive.” This mentality can quickly lead to burnout, and I’ve had to actively choose to rest. When you’re so passionate about what you do, it can become a large part of your identity, but with that often comes the struggle of shutting off from work-mode. I heard a concept a few years ago that’s stuck with me, and it was this idea that our “rest-ethic” should be just as strong as our “work-ethic.” I’m still no where near that balance, but it’s a lesson that I’m continually putting into practice because I know if I don’t take care of myself, then I’m not really giving my best to my clients, friends, and most importantly, my family.