May 12, 2026 • 45 mins
Financial volatility is often just a symptom of excessive noise, and for many high-stakes founders, "doing it all" is the fastest way to lose everything. In an era where everyone with an Instagram account claims to be a market expert, the real challenge isn't finding information; it's finding clarity. We sit down with Kristin Daniel, founder of Parity Financial Group, to discuss how she built a premier wealth management firm by embracing what she calls "delusional ambition" and a relentless focus on the unglamorous work of execution.
We get into the tactical realities of scaling a financial practice through organic growth and aggressive mergers and acquisitions. Kristin shares her journey from a town of 278 people to managing ultra-high net worth portfolios in the heart of Bentonville. We explore the specific mechanics of the "fractional family office" model, the importance of asking deep-seated psychological questions about money, and how the UCA Commitment is paving the way for the next generation of Arkansas leaders. Kristin also highlights her unique philosophy on "concierge" service, acting as the strategic quarterback for entrepreneurs who have their business in order but their personal financials in a mess.
The truth about elite performance is that it usually involves a decade of working 50-hour retail weeks and operating out of a closet during a global pandemic. Success isn't about a single "aha" moment; it's about the grit required to manage three distinct non-profit leadership roles while simultaneously navigating the technical hurdles of business integration. You will walk away with a fundamental shift in how you view capacity, a reminder that humility is a leader's greatest asset, and a warning to keep your blinders on when the market starts to scream.
If you care about wealth preservation, community impact, and the future of the Arkansas economy, you’ll get a lot from this conversation. Subscribe and share this episode with a fellow founder who is ready to scale.
What is the biggest "delusional" goal you’ve set for your business this year that you’re determined to hit? Let us know in the comments.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
This is Central to NWA, a UCA podcast.
I'm your host, Paul Gatling, andwe are bringing the University
of Central Arkansas to NorthwestArkansas.
Each episode, we will talk withleaders, alumni, and innovators
driving this region forward.
People who are shapingindustries and defining what is
next for our state.
(00:22):
Let's get started.
All right, we are back now withanother edition of Central to
NWA, UCA podcast.
I'm your host, Paul Gatling, andI'm joined today by Kristen
Daniel.
She's the founder of ParityFinancial Group here in
Bentonville, UCA graduate, andalso someone that I've gotten to
know as a very strong ally forthe university here in Northwest
(00:43):
Arkansas.
Kristen, it is great to see you.
Fantastic.
Thanks for being here.
SPEAKER_00 (00:47):
Yeah, I feel like this is a little overdue.
Glad to be here.
SPEAKER_01 (00:49):
You took the words right out of my mouth.
I feel like we've been trying todo this and find some time to
get you in here.
It just took a minute, actually,for our schedules to line up.
SPEAKER_00 (00:58):
Yeah, no.
Excited to be here.
SPEAKER_01 (00:59):
Because you've got a lot going on, you know, besides
your business, you've got somenonprofit stuff we're going to
get into and um, you know,leadership Arkansas.
You're about to wrap that up.
So just uh always a lot goingon.
But really, um, you know, I saidthe word right there, the common
thread for me is you've got alot of leadership things going
on.
unknown (01:16):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (01:17):
Okay.
Well, listen, uh, let's startfirst.
Let's start with uh why we'rehere, the University of Central
Arkansas.
So um why UCA?
I mean, you're you're you're aUCA grad.
Tell us kind of uh where yougrew up and why you chose to
attend the university.
SPEAKER_00 (01:31):
Uh UCA, I don't know if I've actually ever told you
this story, but I always say Igot to UCA through the loophole.
Okay.
Meaning, um, I'm from a town of278 people, very small, very
sheltered.
And so when I went to look forcolleges, my sister and I were
first generation going tocollege.
So we just didn't have a lot ofexperience.
(01:52):
And so going through the processof just trying to find out where
is even available, having to beself-pay because I didn't have
anyone to pay for me, UCA wasthe loophole that I found,
meaning there was onescholarship where you either had
to have a 28, and I'm not a goodtest taker at all, um, or it was
(02:13):
the or graduate the upper 1% ofyour class, of your high school
class.
Well, I was population 278.
My graduating class was 57people.
So, in all fairness, it wasn'tthat hard, I felt, to be in the
top 1%.
So when I graduated at the topone, there were a handful of us.
That's the loophole that got memy scholarship to UCA.
(02:36):
And so I went for the financialreasons of it because that's
where I could afford.
That's where I got the bestscholarship.
And now I think it's interestingwith the UCA commitment that we
have now.
That would have been me, youknow, had I done it now.
But it really was UCA.
I chose it for the financialreasons because that's where I
could afford to go as someonewho had to pay my own way.
SPEAKER_01 (02:58):
Yeah.
You you read my mind, I wasthinking about the UCA
commitment as you were tellingthat.
That is our uh signature, Ithink, signature program now.
Second year in, we've uh we'veimpacted about 1,300 families to
the first two classes.
So uh yeah, it pays pays tostudy, right?
Pays to study in a small town.
Honestly.
SPEAKER_00 (03:17):
Yeah, that's not unknocked any of my classmates.
But again, when there's only 57of us, the competition is not
very, it's not a lot, you know.
Um, and I think there were fiveor six of us that were the 1%,
you know, valedictorians for theclass.
So that was really it.
Now, fast forward, what I didn'trealize when I got there, it's
the community that was there,just the small feel of being
(03:39):
connected, it made me reallyjust jump right in.
So there was a lot that cameafterwards of reasons why.
But I mean, truly it was forfinancial reasons why I picked
it at first.
SPEAKER_01 (03:50):
And you were going to a bigger place, bigger city,
bigger, bigger campus, but youdidn't feel overwhelmed.
SPEAKER_00 (03:55):
No, it really wasn't.
I was gonna say, and I think itwas a lot to do with just the
way the layout was, how engagingthe professors were, the
advisors.
Um, it really balanced thecollege life that I was wanting,
but still with a little bit ofit was just not as intimidating
as some of the other ones that Itoured.
SPEAKER_01 (04:14):
Do you remember what you thought you wanted to do
when you went to Conway to UCA?
I mean, what was on your mind asa freshman student?
SPEAKER_00 (04:22):
I was pre-med for physical therapy, is what I did.
I made it two weeks in Chem onebefore they put me in remedial.
And I'll never forget I went tomy advisor and I was like, I
don't think I'm I'm good atthis.
And our specific conversationgoes, What are you good at?
I go, numbers?
He goes, let's put you in thebusiness school then.
(04:43):
I go, okay, sounds good.
So I went with the fullintentions of the PT school,
which they still have, and it'sphenomenal.
I had a lot of friends that wentthrough P T O T speech, but I
just could not do the sciencepiece.
It was not for me.
And so we moved in that firstsemester to business, and then
that's where I stayed.
And like I said, the landingpage that I had for it.
(05:05):
But yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:05):
It's so funny that you say that in this job that
I've had almost two years, I'veheard a variation of that story
a lot.
Uh started off Well, I mean,because you're 17.
SPEAKER_00 (05:15):
Do you really know what you want to do?
Even when you graduated for me,I was 21.
I still didn't know.
But yeah, what you initiallypick versus where you land, I
rarely, I think, actually lineup.
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
But it sounds like the advising team and the access
you had to that and thecommunication you had with that
office uh easily got you pointedto a to a different path and a
and a better path.
SPEAKER_00 (05:36):
You know, I do think if I would have been at a bigger
school, I could have justfloundered in chem and probably
failed it and then went to chemtoo, maybe on a good, you know.
And I just I think it would havebeen easily to be overlooked,
but I mean, they made itcomfortable enough where I just
approached, I I knew I wasn'tdoing good.
It was a completely differentlanguage to me.
(05:57):
And so even remedial chem, Istruggled.
Um, and so they just called itout and we were honest about it,
and it was a quick transition.
But you know, for me, I alwayshad it in the back of my mind.
I'm paying for this, I'm payingfor this.
My student loans aresnowballing.
So I was very intentional inthat time of I need to get in,
(06:18):
figure it out, get the degreeand get out.
Because I just didn't want tograduate with thousands and
thousands of debt.
So I was very specific of I'vegot to drive this forward.
And you didn't, I guess, right?
Yeah, I was gonna say three anda half years is now listen,
going back, I would have stayedfive or six because it was so
much fun.
And when do you have the abilityto just engage, meet so many
(06:41):
friends, have so manyexperiences?
Like, I wish I could have stayedlonger because UCA just was that
crucial of like turning pointfor me.
It was so great.
SPEAKER_01 (06:51):
Yeah.
So looking back on it, just uhin in your entire uh career
there and spent in Conway atUCA, uh, I know you're involved
in Greek life.
That was a big part of it foryou.
You are working a lot too.
Just kind of what stands outabout the experience as a whole
of your undergraduate yearsthere at UCA?
SPEAKER_00 (07:09):
It really Greek life was the turning point of why I
stayed.
Because, you know, if you go forme personally, I was going,
attending class, workingfull-time, and it just it was
hard.
And so it was the connectingpiece for me was then going in
and pledging for Greek life.
And it was a group of, I thinkthere were 32 of us initially
(07:32):
that started in our sorority.
And to this day, I'm stillfriends with a good majority of
them.
And that was that was the momentwhere it got me to stay.
But what it taught me that Istill have, it was the
relationship building aspect ofit.
And so being able to build thoserelationships that I still have.
I mean, you could go to myLinkedIn, I'd probably say maybe
(07:54):
half of my connections are UCA.
I mean, the connections that wemade there and that just grew
with us.
And so that was such to me, likethe ground stating
relationships, learning how tobuild them, connect with them,
engage, and then just continueto develop them.
I mean, that's something I stilldo now.
And I think it really is startedat UCA.
(08:16):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (08:17):
Well, some of those words there, relationships and
engaging and connecting are someof my favorite words.
And I was really happy, youknow, at our alumni event we
held recently at the momentarythat some of your sorority
sisters were there.
There were a group of about fouror five of you there that were
either connecting orreconnecting.
And that's really what we'retrying to do up here is to, is
to keep those UCA connectionsgoing and keep the UCA
(08:37):
engagement going throughNorthwest Arkansas.
And so um, you are you're amember, you're helping with
that.
You're a founding member of ouruh Northwest Arkansas Advisory
Council.
Why has it been important foryou?
Um, I guess I'll just say, whydid you say yes to that?
Why did you want to stayconnected to Northwest to UCA
through Northwest Arkansas?
SPEAKER_00 (08:56):
You know, I love Northwest Arkansas.
We've been here, this is mysecond time to live here, and we
moved middle of COVID in 2020.
And it's a wonderful place,obviously.
We all love it.
I don't know that anybody everwants to leave.
I don't think that we will, butthe reality is it's a very
transient place, too.
And so you have so many peoplemoving in and moving out, and
(09:18):
it's hard to buildrelationships, but to have the
UCA connection and then havethose people here in this area,
it's just it's a connectingpiece that we all share this
common ground.
And it makes you still feel likethey're in all of the movement.
You still have people there thatground you, that know you, that
have grown up with you, and youknow, you see their careers
(09:41):
progress.
And it's just really fun to havethat piece of it in Northwest
because it does feel like just acore group of us that are still
here rooting each other on andcheering for each other.
SPEAKER_01 (09:54):
Yeah, plenty of opportunities.
We've got over 4,000 alumni thatlive in the two counties here,
which I think surprises uh somepeople.
How important is it, or why dowhy do you think it is important
for UCA um to have a presencehere, to be present and engaged
in Northwest Arkansas?
I mean, again, that's you know,the broad definition of my job
is to connect UCA to uhNorthwest Arkansas through our
(10:17):
alumni, through um businessconnections, really just to make
sure that we are uh connectedwith all the momentum and
everything that's happeninghere.
Um why is that important?
SPEAKER_00 (10:27):
I think we see it as a two-way street, meaning that
you we can have this as a feederfor those that maybe don't have
a good fit of a university hereor maybe in Northeast, or they
just want somewhere that'ssomewhat close.
It's a really great feeder forUCA to have.
But then also I think we'd becrazy not to have that feeder
(10:48):
come right back around.
Because again, when we look atthe growth in Arkansas,
something that thanks toArkansas leadership, I've been
very exposed to in this lastyear, the majority of the growth
in Arkansas is in Northwest.
So to have that connecting piecewhere we can get students back
to Northwest Arkansas as wellinto the community, into the
businesses, it is.
(11:08):
It's just a two-way.
So feed it there, grow them,train them, but then bring them
back and let them really planttheir feet here and then start
making an impact.
So I think it's critical tohave.
SPEAKER_01 (11:19):
Sure.
And it's also, you know, on theflip side for me and our
perspective, the flip side is umwe want Northwest Arkansas to be
uh connected and engaged with usat UCA, all the excitement and
the momentum that we have goingon on our campus, which, you
know, is not as widelypublicized as everything
Northwest Arkansas, but um, it'sworthy of publicity because
(11:42):
we've got a lot of momentumhappening at UCA.
All right.
So with that context, let's um,you know, zoom out a little bit.
You've got a pretty interestingpath, as you said, small town
Arkansas, uh now uh financialadvisor, wealth manager advising
a lot of um business owners,executives, uh pretty, pretty
high-end firm from myperspective.
And you're smack down in themiddle of downtown Bentonville,
(12:04):
right in the middle of all ofit.
Uh, what did you see early on?
Um, or I guess how did that, howdid your career get shaped?
What did you see early on thatthat uh kind of influenced the
way you think about money andand uh business advising?
SPEAKER_00 (12:17):
I think small town parents that did not go to
college, had very blue-collarjobs, it taught me what it was
like to struggle.
I mean, it really did.
And so the money mindset that wewere brought up in was
truthfully, I looked at andthought, that's what I don't
want going forward.
Um, you know, what my parentsdid was instill work ethic.
(12:40):
And I think that that is adriving force for me still.
And so I appreciate the strugglebecause it taught me the work
ethic to get out there andhustle and to go for what I
want.
But it was also very much that'snot the path that I want.
And so I was very intentional ofwhat are the ways in which I can
teach myself, how I can growwealth, how I can just have the
(13:02):
knowledge, the experience, theexposure, I think is a big
thing.
Cause again, I was in the worldbefore the kind of pre-internet.
It wasn't all at the fingertips.
And so I had to go and seek allof those things out.
And I think that's really whathelped shape the business where
I'm at now of I just wanted toknow more because I wanted to be
able to put myself on adifferent road.
(13:24):
With that being said, I had theability to help my clients do
that as well.
And so what started out as justbasic advising, you know, gosh,
I started when I was 24.
I think about that now.
I'm like, whoever was likeentrusting a 24-year-old to
manage their money.
Like, God, I mean, I'm soappreciative for them.
But looking at it now, I waslike, I didn't, uh it was just a
(13:45):
different world.
And so where we're at now, andjust my maturity and my growth
and my wealth journey has helpedme grow with my clients as well.
And so truly now it's just funfor me to work with these
entrepreneurs and these C-suiteexecutives up here because this
is such an opportunity-drivenarea that they have all these
goals.
(14:05):
And I mean, and to get to goalongside them and really make
sure that they check those offand they hit them.
I get as excited when theysucceed as probably they do.
And so it's really shaped mybeginnings of really what I
didn't want into creating what Ireally enjoy now.
SPEAKER_01 (14:23):
So you're 24 years old starting your career.
Where were you and what were youdoing?
SPEAKER_00 (14:28):
Um, at 24 years old, I was with a very, very small
firm called Woodman of theWorld.
And I will never regret that.
Um, it was such a great babystep and learning step for me.
But I mean, I quickly realizedin that of okay, I've outgrown
this pretty quick and I didn'twant to do that anymore, which
is then when I launched andtried to, again, just grow.
(14:52):
Because if I can't offer it tomy clients and this is a need,
then I need to go find wherethat is because I was all about
connecting the dots for them.
And so I stayed there briefly.
But again, great baby steps,great learning path, but quickly
realized I want more.
I want to be able to providemore.
And that's kind of just been thetheme as how I've evolved where
(15:13):
I'm at now.
I always want to be able to meetthe client where they're at and
deliver what they need.
And things change and thingsevolve.
And that's how my practice hasevolved as well.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (15:24):
You know, because yeah, at some point, um, you
know, you decide you want tostart your own family, right?
That's a that's a big move, um,especially in your industry.
Uh what do you feel like gaveyou the confidence to do that?
SPEAKER_00 (15:36):
Um, delusion.
I do.
Yeah.
Um, having the ability to justsay at that point where I was at
with my clients and what I coulddo for them, it I just wanted
more.
Again, that's the theme.
I'm always, I want to be able toprovide more, more, more.
And so when I decided to make myown firm, that was truly because
(15:58):
I saw this vision of how Iwanted client interaction to be,
how I wanted engagement withthem to be, how I wanted to be
able to drive the processes forthem forward.
And so it just was this wildvision that I had.
And I mean, again, I think thatit was just delusion of like,
I'm gonna do this.
I don't necessarily know how.
(16:19):
And so I just went for it.
Um, thankfully, I have a verysupportive husband.
And sometimes he just lets mydelusion run and he's like,
okay, sure.
Um, and and he he went with me,you know, on this.
And so he's always been thatsteady support for me to just
really take that leap.
And then it's again theevolution of them bringing in
(16:40):
partners, buying books ofbusiness, bringing in junior
partners, more staff.
And it's all with the goal of Iwant to service the clients to
the best of our ability.
And the clients that we see now,high net worth, ultra high net
worth.
So they have a level ofexpectation of service.
And we're always there trying tomeet that, you know, and exceed
(17:01):
that realistically.
SPEAKER_01 (17:02):
So in all of your early professional career, this
was all on Little Rock, right?
It was.
Right.
And so let's fast forward to2020, you know, which means
different things to differentpeople.
But for you, you know, let'sstart a new business, let's move
to Northwest Arkansas, and let'sdo all of that through a global
(17:23):
pandemic.
Just take me through that yearof getting the business started
and then the situation, thecircumstances that brought you
to Northwest Arkansas.
SPEAKER_00 (17:31):
So I, so in 19 was really the foundation work to
launch the business.
And then February 2020 was thelaunch.
Um, that lasted all of twoweeks, and then bam, here's
COVID.
Um, and so it was veryfrustrating in that moment.
We had a one-year-old and athree-year-old at that point,
and the one-year-old had a lotof high needs.
(17:51):
So, with that being said, wewere working in our home full
time.
I was operating out of my closetbecause that was the furthest I
could get of like quiet space.
And truly, I think COVID was thelaunch point for us because when
we looked at the idea of movingto Northwest Arkansas, I
stopped.
I go, I've been operating thisfor four months out of my closet
(18:15):
and doing as well as someone canin the middle of COVID and a
pandemic.
And I was like, why not?
Like my clients, we were alllearning at that point what
virtual looked like and businesswas different.
And so it really was the launchpoint for me to just say, let's
go for it, you know, because Ialways felt like Little Rock I
could come back to, but I wasn'tgoing to probably wait 15 more
(18:37):
years and then pack up and come.
So I just saw the opportunityalongside my husband and we
thought, let's go for it.
Now I joke, we were four monthsinto COVID.
You probably could have asked meto move anywhere.
And I'd be like, sure, let's getout of this house.
Um, but really, COVID was thereason I had the confidence to
take what I'd built in LittleRock for the past decade and
(19:00):
start and not start over.
Those clients are still with me,but and start a second leg of it
here in Northwest Arkansas.
And I just had the support ofall my clientele in Little Rock.
I still have an office there.
Um, but it really was what gaveme the just confidence of like,
yeah, we can do this.
So we took a position in Augustuh for him.
(19:21):
We were here in October andright still in the middle of
COVID.
It was wild looking back at it.
SPEAKER_01 (19:26):
Yeah, I mean, a lot of moving parts.
And you know, you you are aconfident person, you said, and
a delusional person also.
But was there ever a pointduring that year um that you
thought um this might not work?
Or was there ever a moment whenyou teetered and thought maybe
this was the wrong timing thatsome of it not in your control
(19:47):
at all, or just maybe this is itwas kind of slow going?
SPEAKER_00 (19:51):
Uh the slow going, I was gonna say, I I am not a
patient person, which isprobably not surprising to you,
um, because I just want to go.
And so there was a lot of timeswhere I was tested of, okay,
maybe this isn't the right time.
It wasn't the trajectory that Iwas hoping for in the initial
launch, but something shifted in21.
(20:12):
And I think it was maybe peoplejust had adjusted to the new way
of life.
And in 21, I started havingrecord years.
And then it it just kind ofcompounded from there.
So there were always moments oflike, oh, this might have not
been the right choice.
But then I quickly would snapout and like, okay, and we're
still going.
So again, that's where thedelusion comes in of like, no,
(20:35):
I'm just gonna do it.
So, but you know, I kind of goback to UCA of that was the
first place that I learned whatit was like to put your head
down and work.
And so working full time when Iwas at UCA, full-time sorority,
full load at college, like Ijust learned how to balance all
the different moving pieces oflife where I just wouldn't get
(20:57):
as rattled, you know, as maybe Iused to prior.
So it was those foundationalpieces of like, I can manage
this.
So I just kept pushing.
SPEAKER_01 (21:05):
So yeah, I think you, I'm glad you mentioned
that.
I think you told me once youwere working 40 hours a week.
SPEAKER_00 (21:09):
Oh, easy.
Yeah.
I was in retail at that pointand I was the assistant manager
for a retail store there inConway, like right when Conway
Commons was being built.
And so it was a 40-hour week,easy, sometimes more than that,
because again, it's retail.
Um, and then in the holidayswhen everybody would go home for
break, I stayed because that wasour busy times.
And so I would at that point 50plus hours.
(21:32):
So it just goes back.
I what I think I did well when Itransitioned out of retail was I
kept that mindset of just towork, you know, make sure you do
it well, do it right, and get itdone.
And so I never really let thefoot off the gas.
I still maintained those hours.
I think that was really criticalin me in the younger years
building my book that I didbecause I just wouldn't let up.
SPEAKER_01 (21:54):
Would you say that is the guiding philosophy still
today?
Do it well, do it right, and getit done?
mean I mean that's pretty I meanthat's pretty refined for any
business, but I mean, is thatsomething that you think about a
lot?
SPEAKER_00 (22:05):
It is.
And I think it's because that'show my clients move.
You know, a lot of these people,they're entrepreneurs, they not
only have one business, theymaybe have three, four, as many
as seven to thirteen.
And so they're constantly movingand the things are constantly
shifting.
And so it's just being able tocome alongside them and also in
my business of there's always apath forward.
(22:27):
Now I at this age prefer thepath of ease, less resistant.
So I think that I've let off alittle bit in in the harshness
of get it done.
I really try to look for whatmakes the most sense.
But that's also with my clients.
I just want to be efficient, getthem from A to B, you know,
because they don't have time tousually drive their own plans
(22:48):
forward.
That's why they need us to comealongside them because they're
busy in their business, but theystill have everything that
they've got to take care of.
So being able to go alongsidethem as efficiently as possible,
that's what they appreciate.
You know, we kind of take thethe mess out of it for them.
Sure.
SPEAKER_01 (23:05):
Yeah.
And you know that's probablypart of your um I mean you've
got to stand out, right?
I mean this is a competitivemarket.
Your your industry is nodifferent, your market is no
different uh of anything inNorthwest Arkansas.
But yet you've you have builtthat business in five years,
both organically throughacquisition.
How do you stand out?
How do you make uh parityfinancial stand out in a
(23:27):
competitive market?
SPEAKER_00 (23:28):
Yeah.
Oh, I love that.
Love this question.
It's really through ourconcierge program.
And, you know, I think a abuzzword especially in Northwest
Arkansas is, oh, a fractionalfamily office.
Fraction, yeah, everything'sfractional, but it's very family
office.
And I think that there'sdifferent levels of that.
Obviously we get the privilegeof seeing the top financial
(23:48):
office, you know, all the waydown to just some that are
starting out.
And so we've really tried tomirror what that looks like in
our practice, but from aconcierge service, meaning that
we come in and you really hireus as your quarterback in the
sense of somebody's got to workwith your CPA.
Somebody's got to work with alot of times they already have a
wealth advisor.
We work alongside them becausefor the wealth that they've
(24:11):
accumulated, we expect them tohave other advisors, but then
we've got to work with yourestate planner, your business
attorney.
You've got all these movingparts.
And so I think where we standout is we're the one that does
come in.
What are the things that arekeeping you up at night?
What's on your to-do list thatyou don't have the time to get
it done.
And then they give us the greenlight and then we partner with
(24:32):
all of their financial team,some of it having to build it
out for them too, to make surethat we're looking at everything
together.
But again, it's getting done.
I think a lot of entrepreneursdon't want to admit how much of
their personal financials are amess sometimes.
And even from I don't have atrust in place that's just
(24:53):
normal.
So they feel like oh I shouldhave it done.
They should, but being able toopenly like, yeah, I need to get
that done but to take that offthe plate for them and make it
again easy, efficient and signeddone, I think that's where we
really set ourselves apartbecause we take the action that
they've been needing to take,just haven't made the time to do
it.
SPEAKER_01 (25:13):
So when you have conversations with these
clients, uh when you talk tothem and um you know you develop
close relationships with them,um let's just let's give you
this first quarter of of 2026because a lot has happened this
year.
A lot has happened this year.
Uh what are they saying to you?
What's the most what's thecommon refrain or if there's a
common theme among everybodyright now, what's what's on
(25:35):
everybody's minds?
SPEAKER_00 (25:36):
The common theme is what do I do with my money?
You know, we have so many peoplethat have cash on the sidelines
right now because they'rehesitant because of everything
that's been going on.
But I think where people getoverwhelmed and why they like
working with a wealth advisor,it's because you can go out to
the internet now and you canhave 40 different people
(25:57):
advising you on, hey, this iswhat we think in your scroll,
you know, these are the top fourstocks this is the new crypto to
do this and it's justinformation overload.
And so they have this cashsitting there, but they don't
know what to do with it.
Is it invest in private equity?
Is it alternative investments,buy real estate?
There's so many availableoptions right now.
(26:19):
And so being able to point inthe direction of like what's
really going to drive it forwardfor you to accomplish your
goals, that's where they'recoming from.
You know, they need clarity onthat because again, it's just
overload for everybody rightnow.
Anyone can get on Instagram andsay I'm an expert in stock
trading and day trading and butthen they maybe don't even have
(26:40):
the credentials to back it.
So being able to weed out whatreally is for them versus what
all they have in front of them.
SPEAKER_01 (26:47):
Yeah.
I want to go back to what Ispoke about a minute ago in um
you know a competitive market,you know, there are a lot of
options uh with any industry andany business and and yeah your
space financial services can beum uh a tough space when it
comes to trust, right?
You've got to have trust betweenthem and you in both ways.
And so what what's the thesecret ingredient?
What's the key to developing uhtrust with your client base?
SPEAKER_00 (27:11):
I think it's asking the right questions.
When I come in I don't have atraditional what we would
reference as a fact finder ofwhat's your balance sheet?
What's your profit and loss?
What's your net worth or it it'smore than that.
I want to know the questions oflike what does money look like
to you?
What was money like in yourhousehold growing up?
What are the things that you'restriving to achieve in your
(27:33):
business and then in yourpersonal life is legacy in that
is charity in that and so I tryto dig deeper to actually know
who they are.
So that way then when it is timeto build out plans for them, we
know where it's coming from andit's you know internally like
what is driving them forward.
And so I think that's really itis I've learned over the years
(27:54):
ask the right questions and getthe clarity on really what
they're trying to do.
Cause a lot of times they maynot know how to articulate what
they're trying to do.
But if you sit long enough andget the clarity you need, then I
think it makes our decisions alot easier and what our
recommendations are.
SPEAKER_01 (28:11):
Right.
Are there um what's the thingthat you're fine that that
you're saying the most to yourclients right now over and over
what are you saying the most canI say that out loud without
getting too political.
SPEAKER_00 (28:25):
Right.
I would say probably what I'msaying the most to them is we
we've got plans, we stick tothose plans.
I mean there is a lot of noisethat we're all getting right
now.
And to be able to cut that noiseout and really intentionally
just move forward and what theirplans are, just continuing to
(28:45):
reinforce that, you know,because again we just all have
so much noise right now and itis very volatile out there and
that's in the market and it'sreally in any space right now.
And I was going to say justcutting the noise and staying
intentional with this is howwe're moving forward.
I say that quite often rightnow.
Keep your blinders on.
SPEAKER_01 (29:03):
Keep your blinders on.
SPEAKER_00 (29:05):
Yeah yeah and it's okay to look up and make sure
everything's moving you knowcohesively together but for the
most part blinders on earmuffson and just cut the noise out.
SPEAKER_01 (29:14):
Yeah.
Good we've talked about uh Imentioned you you're involved in
some leadership roles in um youknow your business you've been
recognized for your leadershipin your business you're involved
in nonprofit leadership in acouple of different ways and
leadership Arkansas so what doesthat word um actually look like
uh for you what does leadershipmean to you what's the most
important thing uh a leader mustpossess in your opinion I think
(29:38):
it's the the humility behind itI really think that that's what
it is I mean to be a leader Isee that as I'm here and my job
is to lead people in front ofme.
SPEAKER_00 (29:50):
You know, now also there's a piece to to be able to
reach back and pull people withyou as well.
But if I can have say a junioradvisor come in and I can train
them and give them the exposureand then they 10x even maybe
what I'm doing, that is a leaderto me.
I mean I I think you have totake the humility into account
(30:10):
of it.
It's very selfless.
And if you can do it from thatspace, then I think that it just
comes a little bit easierbecause people get ego mixed in
with it and you know what theywant.
And really it's about bringingpeople up ahead of you from
behind and and going forward.
SPEAKER_01 (30:28):
Yeah love that answer love that word humility.
All right let's talk about yourum your nonprofit and your
community involvement in acouple of different ways your
most high profile ways um theJustin Moore Golf Classic in
Central Arkansas uh big eventdown in uh Little Rock every
year has raised a lot of moneyfor St.
Jude you're very involved inthat you're uh you're the
(30:49):
chairman of that um tell us howyou got involved in that and and
why that's important to you.
SPEAKER_00 (30:54):
So that one is hands down my most fun one.
I love it every single year.
It is it is just great.
Like if you challenge me of showme another charity event that is
this much fun.
That could be because of theamount of T's that served there.
I'll say that.
But like it's just great.
How I initially got into it isagain back the small town, small
(31:16):
town I'm from, Justin Moore isalso from and so I was brought
in initially just kind of likehis voice of you know, hey,
would he like this?
Maybe would he agree with this?
Okay, maybe um because he and Iare very close.
And so with that being said Iwas just there as like an
oversight to make sure that ifhe shows up to the event when he
(31:36):
does, this is reflective of himand who he is.
And so that's how it started.
Probably one of my biggest flawsis when I do something, I do it
to the extreme.
So what became that initiallythen turned into being in their
auction committee, being ontheir executive committee.
Oh, here I am co-chairing.
And so now I'm six years in I'veco I've chaired or co-chaired
(32:00):
for the last three.
This year alone we raised$700,000 in the matter of two
days.
And it it is just a remarkableevent.
It's so much fun.
But what I've learned throughthat is I initially just came in
to represent JM what I learnedthough was the impact that St.
Jude has.
And so a lot of what you'llnotice in my charity work is
(32:22):
very much involved in early ed,early childhood.
That's just because the seasonof life that I'm in but the
impact that St.
Jude has not only in Tennesseewhere the actual hospital is but
how they push their research outand they support all of the
pediatrics and all of theresearch that they get, we've
all been impacted directly orindirectly you just may not know
(32:44):
it.
And so what started as justreally representing him turned
into just this love for St.
Jude and what all they provideand how they are so selfless and
really aggressive in drivingthese, you know, just crazy
opportunities forward and theyare willing to take risks with
kids and they are ready to dowhatever possible to make sure
(33:08):
that this kid, you know,whatever rare disease they have
gets cured.
But again it's my children havebeen impacted by it because of
the research that funneled intoArkansas children's and their
pediatric clinic.
So it was a lot of work, but italso is just the most rewarding
thing that I've done because Isee the impact that they have
(33:28):
and we in six years have raisedover three million we may be
closer to 3.5 at this point.
And so when you look at charityevents, that's that's a hard
number to hit but but yeah againI think it's the amount of
Tito's and the mission and it'sa great mix of both.
But it's just a great time.
Sure.
I would love for anybody to cometo that.
SPEAKER_01 (33:47):
Do you play golf?
Do you play in golf?
SPEAKER_00 (33:49):
Um no can I swing the club and hint every now and
then sure am I going to be onthe team?
No but I'll be on that car, youknow, having I was going to say
a transfusion or one of theother nice drinks that we have
on the course.
SPEAKER_01 (34:04):
Oh yeah ooh transfusion like that word that
brings back some good news manit's a great drink.
So um and then of course herelocally you're uh the uh board
chair for the um uh Helen WaltonChildren's Enrichment Center uh
in Bentonville what have youlearned from that role and and
how did you first get involvedwith with that nonprofit?
SPEAKER_00 (34:23):
I had a dear friend that asked me if I would be
interested to be a member ofthat board.
We now joke, he and I, we haddinner last night and it's just
a running joke of did he realizewhat that entailed for me?
You know, because it it has beena lot to manage in the last
three years that I've been onthat board.
But what I've learned it's theunderstanding of really the
(34:45):
impact Earliette has on a kid.
You know, a child's brain 90% isdeveloped by the age of five.
And so where I think a lot ofpeople miss is all of the care
and the the teaching that reallyneeds to go into someone up
until the age of five and itsets the trajectory of their
life.
I mean it truly does.
(35:06):
So I've been able to learn likereally what that looks like,
what high quality educationlooks like for someone but also
where I think Helen WaltonCenter is just, I mean we
actually talked about this lastnight we're the only NACI
accredited found organization inNorthwest Arkansas that offers
what's called a sliding scalebecause we believe in access for
(35:29):
everyone that the same highquality education that
potentially my child would beprivy to, someone else should
also have that access.
And so by the sliding scalewhere we do tuition offset,
that's what allows children ofall socioeconomic backgrounds to
have that high level of care.
And so it's just been really,really rewarding to see how we
(35:52):
can stretch that not only tothose that are privileged and
can afford to have that, butalso to those, you know, that we
welcome in through the slidingscale piece of it as well.
SPEAKER_01 (36:02):
What what have you learned about um those
leadership roles and others, youknow, from the nonprofit side
that's different than businessfrom your from your business
side?
SPEAKER_00 (36:11):
It you've got to have a heart for it.
And in the wild part you have tohave a heart for it and you have
to have thick skin.
Nonprofit work is is tirelessand it's often it's very hard
and you get a lot of no's andyou have to just keep pushing.
And I think when I look at wehave a team right now, we
average about 70 the heart ofeach of them, they are truly
(36:35):
there for the children.
None of them show up to collecta six-figure paycheck.
You know what I mean because inearly ed that's just not a thing
unfortunately.
But they are there because theyhave a true conviction to teach
these children to love on thesechildren and to really set them
up for their life.
And so I think that's been thebiggest eye-opening thing for me
(36:56):
is seeing the leadership of likewhat it actually takes for them
to show up every day.
And it is just it is hard.
It is very hard but their heartfor it is what inspires me to
keep supporting.
SPEAKER_01 (37:08):
Yeah you've got to you've got to love it and be uh
invested in it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then leadership Arkansas wementioned you're wrapping that
up graduation is coming up heresoon.
Um what what are you taking awayfrom that experience?
I mean that's a year long it's alot of that's a lot of uh travel
uh some for some more thanothers but um what are you
taking from this experience?
SPEAKER_00 (37:28):
I think well primary it's the relationships.
You know you have 52, 53 of usand the relationships that we've
made, the connections that we'vemade, I mean that's I think the
biggest impact that you'll see.
You already see peoplepartnering, collaborating.
And I think that really itreally sets the tone
Bentonville, Northwest Arkansas,that's huge up here.
(37:51):
So to be able to have thesecollaborative efforts among 52
what now is peers, colleagues,friends, I think it's going to
be just so exciting to see likewhere these things go from here.
But what I've also learned isagain because we've been
Jonesboro, Magnolia, Stuttgar, Imean we've been all over the
state.
So getting the understanding ofreally Arkansas's economy,
(38:14):
what's driving it, where we'restill maybe behind, where we
need to focus and being able toplug in to really make an impact
in the growth of the economy, Ithink the exposure to that is
something I would have never hadhad I not done leadership.
SPEAKER_01 (38:28):
So did anything surprise you about the state and
going to all those places thatuh you probably haven't or don't
spend a lot of time in anythingsurprising?
SPEAKER_00 (38:36):
Um honestly how daunting a lot of the work is.
I mean we would go on thesefactory tours and I mean one
specific was Newcore inJonesboro and watching the
conditions that they work in dayin, day out, but the attitudes
of those guys and some females,I mean it was like a family.
(38:57):
I mean it was very surprising tosee these very harsh working
environments.
And that's from the steel, fromyou know the agriculture in
Stuttgart, but they all had justthis great just air of sense of
accomplishment, proud, you know,of where they worked.
And it really I think spoke tojust how we are as Arkansans of
(39:19):
we're just we are very proud ofour state.
We love being from here.
And they had a sense of that iteverywhere regardless of the
conditions.
That I think is what surprisedme was the attitudes of most of
them.
Because listen, I could not makeit a day in that steel plant,
nor would I want to but to havethem to do it in those
conditions, I think that wasprobably the most surprising to
(39:42):
me.
SPEAKER_01 (39:42):
Yeah.
You and I have talked I meanyou've you've off you've been
asked to to be involved in someother things nonprofit world and
you you are going to be askedagain in the future to be
involved in this or lead thatbecause of your uh your track
record and then um how do youhow do you decide where you
invest your time?
I mean like you said you're uhmarried with two daughters and
(40:03):
uh you've got a personal lifeand a business and and all of
these things um what what is thethe deciding or the determining
factor for for where you investyour time?
SPEAKER_00 (40:12):
I my guardrails that I have right now that I've
learned through probably what Ishouldn't do is I commit no more
to three things outside.
And so my three right now HelenWalton Children's Enrichment
Center, St.
Jude Justin Moore event, andthen Northwest Arkansas UCA
Advisory Council.
Like that's my I just know thatthat's my capacity at this
(40:33):
point.
Now what I decide going forwardwhen maybe one of those rolls
off or that my time is up, Ithink it really depends on the
season that I'm in.
You know, right now it's heavyearly ed just because that's
where my kids are and that'swhat I'm involved in.
And so it may look different forme in five years when I maybe
roll off of something whatinterests me at that point.
You know, maybe it's more econ,maybe it's more political but it
(40:57):
kind of goes back of I just Ioperate different.
And so it's whatever myintuition is, wherever I feel
like is the most ease, that's abig reason I said yes to the UCA
because it was just a naturalfit for me.
And so I don't want to go intoanything that I either don't
have a passion or it doesn'tfeel like it's a very
transferable natural thingbecause I want to be able to
(41:18):
contribute my best and give itmy best.
And if I'm just forcing itbecause it looks good on a
resume or someone told me Ishould do it, but it that just
doesn't align with where I'm atat this point.
SPEAKER_01 (41:29):
Well I can tell you which one of those is not going
to roll off anytime soon andthat's the um UCA Northwest
Arkansas Advisory Council.
So let's think about um you knowyou've been here about five
years, five or six years, yourfamily just thinking about the
direction Northwest Arkansas isgoing.
I mean you see a lot you hear alot and your clients um you know
it's we all know it's movingfast.
(41:50):
What do you hope that we don'tum lose in the next five or 10
years?
You know, speaking uh as a mom,you know what matters to you
most as a as a mother with twodaughters and your family here
and raising them here?
What what's important for uhNorthwest Arkansas's growth the
next few years?
SPEAKER_00 (42:04):
I think we do a really great job of balancing
the growth and bringing in andstaying accurate and really
advanced but also keeping thesense of community.
Case in point, me and my oldestare running the 5K tonight, the
gold rush 5K and that is, butit's at first Friday.
So we'll go to First Fridaydowntown and then we'll go run
(42:26):
the 5K.
I'll probably then go home andjust like crash.
But um but having those piecesof the community that is just
such staples, I think regardlessof the growth we see, as long as
we hold on to those pieces andyou know the farmer's market on
Saturday where families come outand little things like that, the
lighting of the square atChristmas, if we can hold on to
(42:48):
the community aspect of it, Ithink that the growth can
continue, but we'll still havethe same feel that we do now,
which I love.
So I hope that's what we don'tlose.
Sure.
SPEAKER_01 (42:58):
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
Um final thought here I guess ifsomebody's listening to this,
maybe somebody earlier in theircareer or is just graduating or
or they want to build somethingwhat's uh what's the best piece
of advice you would givesomeone?
SPEAKER_00 (43:09):
I'd say step bold and just be as big dream or
delusional as possible.
Because I've always felt like ifI have a big goal, even if I
fall short, that goal wasprobably so ridiculous to start
with that even wherever I landif it's not all the way, I'm
still landing in a better spotthan where I was.
And so that's always been mythought is dream big, go for it.
(43:32):
And you know if you fall you'rejust gonna get back up you know
we've all failed.
We've all gonna do it again.
But just no no hold on what youthink you can do.
Just go for it.
So fall flat on your face.
SPEAKER_01 (43:44):
What is what is the big dream and the goal look like
for your company the next fiveyears?
What's what's the growthstrategy?
SPEAKER_00 (43:49):
What's on the board for parity financial and I was
going to say that is one whereI'm on the cliff of I'm gonna
jump and I'm gonna fall or it'sgonna be great.
Uh we right now are pretty heavyin the Growth of through merger
and acquisitions.
I was going to say that's wherewe really see the next five
years.
Um, but with that being said,we're still building out a team
that we can make sure can handlewhat the growth is.
(44:12):
But in our world, you have somany advisors that are at the
cusp of retiring.
They've done this 30, 40 years,but there's not a lot of
qualified advisors to step inand take those over.
And so being identified as one,there's a lot of opportunity for
us to be able to go in andacquire these other firms.
And so we are activelysearching.
(44:33):
And, you know, Jonesboro, LittleRock, Tulsa, Fayetteville is one
right now I'm having aconversation with.
And so that's really where thenext five years is that we're
looking to see our growth isjust through the acquisition of
that.
SPEAKER_01 (44:46):
All right.
Good stuff.
All right.
Well, Kristen, um, reallyappreciate you.
I've enjoyed getting to know youthe last couple of years.
Uh, we're proud to have you inthe UCA tent, UCA Ally in
Northwest Arkansas.
And um, I'm proud to work foryour alma mater here in
Northwest Arkansas.
SPEAKER_00 (45:00):
Uh, we're so glad to have you.
Like I said, UCA was just socritical in my launch.
And so to give back to it now, Ijust I love the opportunity.
SPEAKER_01 (45:08):
All right.
That's Kristen Daniel.
She's the founder of ParityFinancial Group in Bentonville.
Terrific to have you.
I'm really glad we finally gotto sit down and do this.
Thanks so much.
All right, and that's it forthis edition of Central to NWA.
Until next time, I'm PaulGatling.
Go Bears.
That's it for this episode ofCentral to NWA, a UCA podcast.
(45:29):
I'm Paul Gatling, SeniorDirector of Northwest Arkansas
Engagement for the University ofCentral Arkansas.
Be sure to subscribe to the showand follow UCA on all the
appropriate social media.
I'll see you next time onCentral to NWA.
This is Central to NWA, a UCA podcast.
I'm your host, Paul Gatling, andwe are bringing the University
of Central Arkansas to NorthwestArkansas.
Each episode, we will talk withleaders, alumni, and innovators
driving this region forward.
People who are shapingindustries and defining what is
next for our state.
(00:22):
Let's get started.
All right, we are back now withanother edition of Central to
NWA, UCA podcast.
I'm your host, Paul Gatling, andI'm joined today by Kristen
Daniel.
She's the founder of ParityFinancial Group here in
Bentonville, UCA graduate, andalso someone that I've gotten to
know as a very strong ally forthe university here in Northwest
(00:43):
Arkansas.
Kristen, it is great to see you.
Fantastic.
Thanks for being here.
SPEAKER_00 (00:47):
Yeah, I feel like this is a little overdue.
Glad to be here.
SPEAKER_01 (00:49):
You took the words right out of my mouth.
I feel like we've been trying todo this and find some time to
get you in here.
It just took a minute, actually,for our schedules to line up.
SPEAKER_00 (00:58):
Yeah, no.
Excited to be here.
SPEAKER_01 (00:59):
Because you've got a lot going on, you know, besides
your business, you've got somenonprofit stuff we're going to
get into and um, you know,leadership Arkansas.
You're about to wrap that up.
So just uh always a lot goingon.
But really, um, you know, I saidthe word right there, the common
thread for me is you've got alot of leadership things going
on.
unknown (01:16):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (01:17):
Okay.
Well, listen, uh, let's startfirst.
Let's start with uh why we'rehere, the University of Central
Arkansas.
So um why UCA?
I mean, you're you're you're aUCA grad.
Tell us kind of uh where yougrew up and why you chose to
attend the university.
SPEAKER_00 (01:31):
Uh UCA, I don't know if I've actually ever told you
this story, but I always say Igot to UCA through the loophole.
Okay.
Meaning, um, I'm from a town of278 people, very small, very
sheltered.
And so when I went to look forcolleges, my sister and I were
first generation going tocollege.
So we just didn't have a lot ofexperience.
(01:52):
And so going through the processof just trying to find out where
is even available, having to beself-pay because I didn't have
anyone to pay for me, UCA wasthe loophole that I found,
meaning there was onescholarship where you either had
to have a 28, and I'm not a goodtest taker at all, um, or it was
(02:13):
the or graduate the upper 1% ofyour class, of your high school
class.
Well, I was population 278.
My graduating class was 57people.
So, in all fairness, it wasn'tthat hard, I felt, to be in the
top 1%.
So when I graduated at the topone, there were a handful of us.
That's the loophole that got memy scholarship to UCA.
(02:36):
And so I went for the financialreasons of it because that's
where I could afford.
That's where I got the bestscholarship.
And now I think it's interestingwith the UCA commitment that we
have now.
That would have been me, youknow, had I done it now.
But it really was UCA.
I chose it for the financialreasons because that's where I
could afford to go as someonewho had to pay my own way.
SPEAKER_01 (02:58):
Yeah.
You you read my mind, I wasthinking about the UCA
commitment as you were tellingthat.
That is our uh signature, Ithink, signature program now.
Second year in, we've uh we'veimpacted about 1,300 families to
the first two classes.
So uh yeah, it pays pays tostudy, right?
Pays to study in a small town.
Honestly.
SPEAKER_00 (03:17):
Yeah, that's not unknocked any of my classmates.
But again, when there's only 57of us, the competition is not
very, it's not a lot, you know.
Um, and I think there were fiveor six of us that were the 1%,
you know, valedictorians for theclass.
So that was really it.
Now, fast forward, what I didn'trealize when I got there, it's
the community that was there,just the small feel of being
(03:39):
connected, it made me reallyjust jump right in.
So there was a lot that cameafterwards of reasons why.
But I mean, truly it was forfinancial reasons why I picked
it at first.
SPEAKER_01 (03:50):
And you were going to a bigger place, bigger city,
bigger, bigger campus, but youdidn't feel overwhelmed.
SPEAKER_00 (03:55):
No, it really wasn't.
I was gonna say, and I think itwas a lot to do with just the
way the layout was, how engagingthe professors were, the
advisors.
Um, it really balanced thecollege life that I was wanting,
but still with a little bit ofit was just not as intimidating
as some of the other ones that Itoured.
SPEAKER_01 (04:14):
Do you remember what you thought you wanted to do
when you went to Conway to UCA?
I mean, what was on your mind asa freshman student?
SPEAKER_00 (04:22):
I was pre-med for physical therapy, is what I did.
I made it two weeks in Chem onebefore they put me in remedial.
And I'll never forget I went tomy advisor and I was like, I
don't think I'm I'm good atthis.
And our specific conversationgoes, What are you good at?
I go, numbers?
He goes, let's put you in thebusiness school then.
(04:43):
I go, okay, sounds good.
So I went with the fullintentions of the PT school,
which they still have, and it'sphenomenal.
I had a lot of friends that wentthrough P T O T speech, but I
just could not do the sciencepiece.
It was not for me.
And so we moved in that firstsemester to business, and then
that's where I stayed.
And like I said, the landingpage that I had for it.
(05:05):
But yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:05):
It's so funny that you say that in this job that
I've had almost two years, I'veheard a variation of that story
a lot.
Uh started off Well, I mean,because you're 17.
SPEAKER_00 (05:15):
Do you really know what you want to do?
Even when you graduated for me,I was 21.
I still didn't know.
But yeah, what you initiallypick versus where you land, I
rarely, I think, actually lineup.
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
But it sounds like the advising team and the access
you had to that and thecommunication you had with that
office uh easily got you pointedto a to a different path and a
and a better path.
SPEAKER_00 (05:36):
You know, I do think if I would have been at a bigger
school, I could have justfloundered in chem and probably
failed it and then went to chemtoo, maybe on a good, you know.
And I just I think it would havebeen easily to be overlooked,
but I mean, they made itcomfortable enough where I just
approached, I I knew I wasn'tdoing good.
It was a completely differentlanguage to me.
(05:57):
And so even remedial chem, Istruggled.
Um, and so they just called itout and we were honest about it,
and it was a quick transition.
But you know, for me, I alwayshad it in the back of my mind.
I'm paying for this, I'm payingfor this.
My student loans aresnowballing.
So I was very intentional inthat time of I need to get in,
(06:18):
figure it out, get the degreeand get out.
Because I just didn't want tograduate with thousands and
thousands of debt.
So I was very specific of I'vegot to drive this forward.
And you didn't, I guess, right?
Yeah, I was gonna say three anda half years is now listen,
going back, I would have stayedfive or six because it was so
much fun.
And when do you have the abilityto just engage, meet so many
(06:41):
friends, have so manyexperiences?
Like, I wish I could have stayedlonger because UCA just was that
crucial of like turning pointfor me.
It was so great.
SPEAKER_01 (06:51):
Yeah.
So looking back on it, just uhin in your entire uh career
there and spent in Conway atUCA, uh, I know you're involved
in Greek life.
That was a big part of it foryou.
You are working a lot too.
Just kind of what stands outabout the experience as a whole
of your undergraduate yearsthere at UCA?
SPEAKER_00 (07:09):
It really Greek life was the turning point of why I
stayed.
Because, you know, if you go forme personally, I was going,
attending class, workingfull-time, and it just it was
hard.
And so it was the connectingpiece for me was then going in
and pledging for Greek life.
And it was a group of, I thinkthere were 32 of us initially
(07:32):
that started in our sorority.
And to this day, I'm stillfriends with a good majority of
them.
And that was that was the momentwhere it got me to stay.
But what it taught me that Istill have, it was the
relationship building aspect ofit.
And so being able to build thoserelationships that I still have.
I mean, you could go to myLinkedIn, I'd probably say maybe
(07:54):
half of my connections are UCA.
I mean, the connections that wemade there and that just grew
with us.
And so that was such to me, likethe ground stating
relationships, learning how tobuild them, connect with them,
engage, and then just continueto develop them.
I mean, that's something I stilldo now.
And I think it really is startedat UCA.
(08:16):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (08:17):
Well, some of those words there, relationships and
engaging and connecting are someof my favorite words.
And I was really happy, youknow, at our alumni event we
held recently at the momentarythat some of your sorority
sisters were there.
There were a group of about fouror five of you there that were
either connecting orreconnecting.
And that's really what we'retrying to do up here is to, is
to keep those UCA connectionsgoing and keep the UCA
(08:37):
engagement going throughNorthwest Arkansas.
And so um, you are you're amember, you're helping with
that.
You're a founding member of ouruh Northwest Arkansas Advisory
Council.
Why has it been important foryou?
Um, I guess I'll just say, whydid you say yes to that?
Why did you want to stayconnected to Northwest to UCA
through Northwest Arkansas?
SPEAKER_00 (08:56):
You know, I love Northwest Arkansas.
We've been here, this is mysecond time to live here, and we
moved middle of COVID in 2020.
And it's a wonderful place,obviously.
We all love it.
I don't know that anybody everwants to leave.
I don't think that we will, butthe reality is it's a very
transient place, too.
And so you have so many peoplemoving in and moving out, and
(09:18):
it's hard to buildrelationships, but to have the
UCA connection and then havethose people here in this area,
it's just it's a connectingpiece that we all share this
common ground.
And it makes you still feel likethey're in all of the movement.
You still have people there thatground you, that know you, that
have grown up with you, and youknow, you see their careers
(09:41):
progress.
And it's just really fun to havethat piece of it in Northwest
because it does feel like just acore group of us that are still
here rooting each other on andcheering for each other.
SPEAKER_01 (09:54):
Yeah, plenty of opportunities.
We've got over 4,000 alumni thatlive in the two counties here,
which I think surprises uh somepeople.
How important is it, or why dowhy do you think it is important
for UCA um to have a presencehere, to be present and engaged
in Northwest Arkansas?
I mean, again, that's you know,the broad definition of my job
is to connect UCA to uhNorthwest Arkansas through our
(10:17):
alumni, through um businessconnections, really just to make
sure that we are uh connectedwith all the momentum and
everything that's happeninghere.
Um why is that important?
SPEAKER_00 (10:27):
I think we see it as a two-way street, meaning that
you we can have this as a feederfor those that maybe don't have
a good fit of a university hereor maybe in Northeast, or they
just want somewhere that'ssomewhat close.
It's a really great feeder forUCA to have.
But then also I think we'd becrazy not to have that feeder
(10:48):
come right back around.
Because again, when we look atthe growth in Arkansas,
something that thanks toArkansas leadership, I've been
very exposed to in this lastyear, the majority of the growth
in Arkansas is in Northwest.
So to have that connecting piecewhere we can get students back
to Northwest Arkansas as wellinto the community, into the
businesses, it is.
(11:08):
It's just a two-way.
So feed it there, grow them,train them, but then bring them
back and let them really planttheir feet here and then start
making an impact.
So I think it's critical tohave.
SPEAKER_01 (11:19):
Sure.
And it's also, you know, on theflip side for me and our
perspective, the flip side is umwe want Northwest Arkansas to be
uh connected and engaged with usat UCA, all the excitement and
the momentum that we have goingon on our campus, which, you
know, is not as widelypublicized as everything
Northwest Arkansas, but um, it'sworthy of publicity because
(11:42):
we've got a lot of momentumhappening at UCA.
All right.
So with that context, let's um,you know, zoom out a little bit.
You've got a pretty interestingpath, as you said, small town
Arkansas, uh now uh financialadvisor, wealth manager advising
a lot of um business owners,executives, uh pretty, pretty
high-end firm from myperspective.
And you're smack down in themiddle of downtown Bentonville,
(12:04):
right in the middle of all ofit.
Uh, what did you see early on?
Um, or I guess how did that, howdid your career get shaped?
What did you see early on thatthat uh kind of influenced the
way you think about money andand uh business advising?
SPEAKER_00 (12:17):
I think small town parents that did not go to
college, had very blue-collarjobs, it taught me what it was
like to struggle.
I mean, it really did.
And so the money mindset that wewere brought up in was
truthfully, I looked at andthought, that's what I don't
want going forward.
Um, you know, what my parentsdid was instill work ethic.
(12:40):
And I think that that is adriving force for me still.
And so I appreciate the strugglebecause it taught me the work
ethic to get out there andhustle and to go for what I
want.
But it was also very much that'snot the path that I want.
And so I was very intentional ofwhat are the ways in which I can
teach myself, how I can growwealth, how I can just have the
(13:02):
knowledge, the experience, theexposure, I think is a big
thing.
Cause again, I was in the worldbefore the kind of pre-internet.
It wasn't all at the fingertips.
And so I had to go and seek allof those things out.
And I think that's really whathelped shape the business where
I'm at now of I just wanted toknow more because I wanted to be
able to put myself on adifferent road.
(13:24):
With that being said, I had theability to help my clients do
that as well.
And so what started out as justbasic advising, you know, gosh,
I started when I was 24.
I think about that now.
I'm like, whoever was likeentrusting a 24-year-old to
manage their money.
Like, God, I mean, I'm soappreciative for them.
But looking at it now, I waslike, I didn't, uh it was just a
(13:45):
different world.
And so where we're at now, andjust my maturity and my growth
and my wealth journey has helpedme grow with my clients as well.
And so truly now it's just funfor me to work with these
entrepreneurs and these C-suiteexecutives up here because this
is such an opportunity-drivenarea that they have all these
goals.
(14:05):
And I mean, and to get to goalongside them and really make
sure that they check those offand they hit them.
I get as excited when theysucceed as probably they do.
And so it's really shaped mybeginnings of really what I
didn't want into creating what Ireally enjoy now.
SPEAKER_01 (14:23):
So you're 24 years old starting your career.
Where were you and what were youdoing?
SPEAKER_00 (14:28):
Um, at 24 years old, I was with a very, very small
firm called Woodman of theWorld.
And I will never regret that.
Um, it was such a great babystep and learning step for me.
But I mean, I quickly realizedin that of okay, I've outgrown
this pretty quick and I didn'twant to do that anymore, which
is then when I launched andtried to, again, just grow.
(14:52):
Because if I can't offer it tomy clients and this is a need,
then I need to go find wherethat is because I was all about
connecting the dots for them.
And so I stayed there briefly.
But again, great baby steps,great learning path, but quickly
realized I want more.
I want to be able to providemore.
And that's kind of just been thetheme as how I've evolved where
(15:13):
I'm at now.
I always want to be able to meetthe client where they're at and
deliver what they need.
And things change and thingsevolve.
And that's how my practice hasevolved as well.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (15:24):
You know, because yeah, at some point, um, you
know, you decide you want tostart your own family, right?
That's a that's a big move, um,especially in your industry.
Uh what do you feel like gaveyou the confidence to do that?
SPEAKER_00 (15:36):
Um, delusion.
I do.
Yeah.
Um, having the ability to justsay at that point where I was at
with my clients and what I coulddo for them, it I just wanted
more.
Again, that's the theme.
I'm always, I want to be able toprovide more, more, more.
And so when I decided to make myown firm, that was truly because
(15:58):
I saw this vision of how Iwanted client interaction to be,
how I wanted engagement withthem to be, how I wanted to be
able to drive the processes forthem forward.
And so it just was this wildvision that I had.
And I mean, again, I think thatit was just delusion of like,
I'm gonna do this.
I don't necessarily know how.
(16:19):
And so I just went for it.
Um, thankfully, I have a verysupportive husband.
And sometimes he just lets mydelusion run and he's like,
okay, sure.
Um, and and he he went with me,you know, on this.
And so he's always been thatsteady support for me to just
really take that leap.
And then it's again theevolution of them bringing in
(16:40):
partners, buying books ofbusiness, bringing in junior
partners, more staff.
And it's all with the goal of Iwant to service the clients to
the best of our ability.
And the clients that we see now,high net worth, ultra high net
worth.
So they have a level ofexpectation of service.
And we're always there trying tomeet that, you know, and exceed
(17:01):
that realistically.
SPEAKER_01 (17:02):
So in all of your early professional career, this
was all on Little Rock, right?
It was.
Right.
And so let's fast forward to2020, you know, which means
different things to differentpeople.
But for you, you know, let'sstart a new business, let's move
to Northwest Arkansas, and let'sdo all of that through a global
(17:23):
pandemic.
Just take me through that yearof getting the business started
and then the situation, thecircumstances that brought you
to Northwest Arkansas.
SPEAKER_00 (17:31):
So I, so in 19 was really the foundation work to
launch the business.
And then February 2020 was thelaunch.
Um, that lasted all of twoweeks, and then bam, here's
COVID.
Um, and so it was veryfrustrating in that moment.
We had a one-year-old and athree-year-old at that point,
and the one-year-old had a lotof high needs.
(17:51):
So, with that being said, wewere working in our home full
time.
I was operating out of my closetbecause that was the furthest I
could get of like quiet space.
And truly, I think COVID was thelaunch point for us because when
we looked at the idea of movingto Northwest Arkansas, I
stopped.
I go, I've been operating thisfor four months out of my closet
(18:15):
and doing as well as someone canin the middle of COVID and a
pandemic.
And I was like, why not?
Like my clients, we were alllearning at that point what
virtual looked like and businesswas different.
And so it really was the launchpoint for me to just say, let's
go for it, you know, because Ialways felt like Little Rock I
could come back to, but I wasn'tgoing to probably wait 15 more
(18:37):
years and then pack up and come.
So I just saw the opportunityalongside my husband and we
thought, let's go for it.
Now I joke, we were four monthsinto COVID.
You probably could have asked meto move anywhere.
And I'd be like, sure, let's getout of this house.
Um, but really, COVID was thereason I had the confidence to
take what I'd built in LittleRock for the past decade and
(19:00):
start and not start over.
Those clients are still with me,but and start a second leg of it
here in Northwest Arkansas.
And I just had the support ofall my clientele in Little Rock.
I still have an office there.
Um, but it really was what gaveme the just confidence of like,
yeah, we can do this.
So we took a position in Augustuh for him.
(19:21):
We were here in October andright still in the middle of
COVID.
It was wild looking back at it.
SPEAKER_01 (19:26):
Yeah, I mean, a lot of moving parts.
And you know, you you are aconfident person, you said, and
a delusional person also.
But was there ever a pointduring that year um that you
thought um this might not work?
Or was there ever a moment whenyou teetered and thought maybe
this was the wrong timing thatsome of it not in your control
(19:47):
at all, or just maybe this is itwas kind of slow going?
SPEAKER_00 (19:51):
Uh the slow going, I was gonna say, I I am not a
patient person, which isprobably not surprising to you,
um, because I just want to go.
And so there was a lot of timeswhere I was tested of, okay,
maybe this isn't the right time.
It wasn't the trajectory that Iwas hoping for in the initial
launch, but something shifted in21.
(20:12):
And I think it was maybe peoplejust had adjusted to the new way
of life.
And in 21, I started havingrecord years.
And then it it just kind ofcompounded from there.
So there were always moments oflike, oh, this might have not
been the right choice.
But then I quickly would snapout and like, okay, and we're
still going.
So again, that's where thedelusion comes in of like, no,
(20:35):
I'm just gonna do it.
So, but you know, I kind of goback to UCA of that was the
first place that I learned whatit was like to put your head
down and work.
And so working full time when Iwas at UCA, full-time sorority,
full load at college, like Ijust learned how to balance all
the different moving pieces oflife where I just wouldn't get
(20:57):
as rattled, you know, as maybe Iused to prior.
So it was those foundationalpieces of like, I can manage
this.
So I just kept pushing.
SPEAKER_01 (21:05):
So yeah, I think you, I'm glad you mentioned
that.
I think you told me once youwere working 40 hours a week.
SPEAKER_00 (21:09):
Oh, easy.
Yeah.
I was in retail at that pointand I was the assistant manager
for a retail store there inConway, like right when Conway
Commons was being built.
And so it was a 40-hour week,easy, sometimes more than that,
because again, it's retail.
Um, and then in the holidayswhen everybody would go home for
break, I stayed because that wasour busy times.
And so I would at that point 50plus hours.
(21:32):
So it just goes back.
I what I think I did well when Itransitioned out of retail was I
kept that mindset of just towork, you know, make sure you do
it well, do it right, and get itdone.
And so I never really let thefoot off the gas.
I still maintained those hours.
I think that was really criticalin me in the younger years
building my book that I didbecause I just wouldn't let up.
SPEAKER_01 (21:54):
Would you say that is the guiding philosophy still
today?
Do it well, do it right, and getit done?
mean I mean that's pretty I meanthat's pretty refined for any
business, but I mean, is thatsomething that you think about a
lot?
SPEAKER_00 (22:05):
It is.
And I think it's because that'show my clients move.
You know, a lot of these people,they're entrepreneurs, they not
only have one business, theymaybe have three, four, as many
as seven to thirteen.
And so they're constantly movingand the things are constantly
shifting.
And so it's just being able tocome alongside them and also in
my business of there's always apath forward.
(22:27):
Now I at this age prefer thepath of ease, less resistant.
So I think that I've let off alittle bit in in the harshness
of get it done.
I really try to look for whatmakes the most sense.
But that's also with my clients.
I just want to be efficient, getthem from A to B, you know,
because they don't have time tousually drive their own plans
(22:48):
forward.
That's why they need us to comealongside them because they're
busy in their business, but theystill have everything that
they've got to take care of.
So being able to go alongsidethem as efficiently as possible,
that's what they appreciate.
You know, we kind of take thethe mess out of it for them.
Sure.
SPEAKER_01 (23:05):
Yeah.
And you know that's probablypart of your um I mean you've
got to stand out, right?
I mean this is a competitivemarket.
Your your industry is nodifferent, your market is no
different uh of anything inNorthwest Arkansas.
But yet you've you have builtthat business in five years,
both organically throughacquisition.
How do you stand out?
How do you make uh parityfinancial stand out in a
(23:27):
competitive market?
SPEAKER_00 (23:28):
Yeah.
Oh, I love that.
Love this question.
It's really through ourconcierge program.
And, you know, I think a abuzzword especially in Northwest
Arkansas is, oh, a fractionalfamily office.
Fraction, yeah, everything'sfractional, but it's very family
office.
And I think that there'sdifferent levels of that.
Obviously we get the privilegeof seeing the top financial
(23:48):
office, you know, all the waydown to just some that are
starting out.
And so we've really tried tomirror what that looks like in
our practice, but from aconcierge service, meaning that
we come in and you really hireus as your quarterback in the
sense of somebody's got to workwith your CPA.
Somebody's got to work with alot of times they already have a
wealth advisor.
We work alongside them becausefor the wealth that they've
(24:11):
accumulated, we expect them tohave other advisors, but then
we've got to work with yourestate planner, your business
attorney.
You've got all these movingparts.
And so I think where we standout is we're the one that does
come in.
What are the things that arekeeping you up at night?
What's on your to-do list thatyou don't have the time to get
it done.
And then they give us the greenlight and then we partner with
(24:32):
all of their financial team,some of it having to build it
out for them too, to make surethat we're looking at everything
together.
But again, it's getting done.
I think a lot of entrepreneursdon't want to admit how much of
their personal financials are amess sometimes.
And even from I don't have atrust in place that's just
(24:53):
normal.
So they feel like oh I shouldhave it done.
They should, but being able toopenly like, yeah, I need to get
that done but to take that offthe plate for them and make it
again easy, efficient and signeddone, I think that's where we
really set ourselves apartbecause we take the action that
they've been needing to take,just haven't made the time to do
it.
SPEAKER_01 (25:13):
So when you have conversations with these
clients, uh when you talk tothem and um you know you develop
close relationships with them,um let's just let's give you
this first quarter of of 2026because a lot has happened this
year.
A lot has happened this year.
Uh what are they saying to you?
What's the most what's thecommon refrain or if there's a
common theme among everybodyright now, what's what's on
(25:35):
everybody's minds?
SPEAKER_00 (25:36):
The common theme is what do I do with my money?
You know, we have so many peoplethat have cash on the sidelines
right now because they'rehesitant because of everything
that's been going on.
But I think where people getoverwhelmed and why they like
working with a wealth advisor,it's because you can go out to
the internet now and you canhave 40 different people
(25:57):
advising you on, hey, this iswhat we think in your scroll,
you know, these are the top fourstocks this is the new crypto to
do this and it's justinformation overload.
And so they have this cashsitting there, but they don't
know what to do with it.
Is it invest in private equity?
Is it alternative investments,buy real estate?
There's so many availableoptions right now.
(26:19):
And so being able to point inthe direction of like what's
really going to drive it forwardfor you to accomplish your
goals, that's where they'recoming from.
You know, they need clarity onthat because again, it's just
overload for everybody rightnow.
Anyone can get on Instagram andsay I'm an expert in stock
trading and day trading and butthen they maybe don't even have
(26:40):
the credentials to back it.
So being able to weed out whatreally is for them versus what
all they have in front of them.
SPEAKER_01 (26:47):
Yeah.
I want to go back to what Ispoke about a minute ago in um
you know a competitive market,you know, there are a lot of
options uh with any industry andany business and and yeah your
space financial services can beum uh a tough space when it
comes to trust, right?
You've got to have trust betweenthem and you in both ways.
And so what what's the thesecret ingredient?
What's the key to developing uhtrust with your client base?
SPEAKER_00 (27:11):
I think it's asking the right questions.
When I come in I don't have atraditional what we would
reference as a fact finder ofwhat's your balance sheet?
What's your profit and loss?
What's your net worth or it it'smore than that.
I want to know the questions oflike what does money look like
to you?
What was money like in yourhousehold growing up?
What are the things that you'restriving to achieve in your
(27:33):
business and then in yourpersonal life is legacy in that
is charity in that and so I tryto dig deeper to actually know
who they are.
So that way then when it is timeto build out plans for them, we
know where it's coming from andit's you know internally like
what is driving them forward.
And so I think that's really itis I've learned over the years
(27:54):
ask the right questions and getthe clarity on really what
they're trying to do.
Cause a lot of times they maynot know how to articulate what
they're trying to do.
But if you sit long enough andget the clarity you need, then I
think it makes our decisions alot easier and what our
recommendations are.
SPEAKER_01 (28:11):
Right.
Are there um what's the thingthat you're fine that that
you're saying the most to yourclients right now over and over
what are you saying the most canI say that out loud without
getting too political.
SPEAKER_00 (28:25):
Right.
I would say probably what I'msaying the most to them is we
we've got plans, we stick tothose plans.
I mean there is a lot of noisethat we're all getting right
now.
And to be able to cut that noiseout and really intentionally
just move forward and what theirplans are, just continuing to
(28:45):
reinforce that, you know,because again we just all have
so much noise right now and itis very volatile out there and
that's in the market and it'sreally in any space right now.
And I was going to say justcutting the noise and staying
intentional with this is howwe're moving forward.
I say that quite often rightnow.
Keep your blinders on.
SPEAKER_01 (29:03):
Keep your blinders on.
SPEAKER_00 (29:05):
Yeah yeah and it's okay to look up and make sure
everything's moving you knowcohesively together but for the
most part blinders on earmuffson and just cut the noise out.
SPEAKER_01 (29:14):
Yeah.
Good we've talked about uh Imentioned you you're involved in
some leadership roles in um youknow your business you've been
recognized for your leadershipin your business you're involved
in nonprofit leadership in acouple of different ways and
leadership Arkansas so what doesthat word um actually look like
uh for you what does leadershipmean to you what's the most
important thing uh a leader mustpossess in your opinion I think
(29:38):
it's the the humility behind itI really think that that's what
it is I mean to be a leader Isee that as I'm here and my job
is to lead people in front ofme.
SPEAKER_00 (29:50):
You know, now also there's a piece to to be able to
reach back and pull people withyou as well.
But if I can have say a junioradvisor come in and I can train
them and give them the exposureand then they 10x even maybe
what I'm doing, that is a leaderto me.
I mean I I think you have totake the humility into account
(30:10):
of it.
It's very selfless.
And if you can do it from thatspace, then I think that it just
comes a little bit easierbecause people get ego mixed in
with it and you know what theywant.
And really it's about bringingpeople up ahead of you from
behind and and going forward.
SPEAKER_01 (30:28):
Yeah love that answer love that word humility.
All right let's talk about yourum your nonprofit and your
community involvement in acouple of different ways your
most high profile ways um theJustin Moore Golf Classic in
Central Arkansas uh big eventdown in uh Little Rock every
year has raised a lot of moneyfor St.
Jude you're very involved inthat you're uh you're the
(30:49):
chairman of that um tell us howyou got involved in that and and
why that's important to you.
SPEAKER_00 (30:54):
So that one is hands down my most fun one.
I love it every single year.
It is it is just great.
Like if you challenge me of showme another charity event that is
this much fun.
That could be because of theamount of T's that served there.
I'll say that.
But like it's just great.
How I initially got into it isagain back the small town, small
(31:16):
town I'm from, Justin Moore isalso from and so I was brought
in initially just kind of likehis voice of you know, hey,
would he like this?
Maybe would he agree with this?
Okay, maybe um because he and Iare very close.
And so with that being said Iwas just there as like an
oversight to make sure that ifhe shows up to the event when he
(31:36):
does, this is reflective of himand who he is.
And so that's how it started.
Probably one of my biggest flawsis when I do something, I do it
to the extreme.
So what became that initiallythen turned into being in their
auction committee, being ontheir executive committee.
Oh, here I am co-chairing.
And so now I'm six years in I'veco I've chaired or co-chaired
(32:00):
for the last three.
This year alone we raised$700,000 in the matter of two
days.
And it it is just a remarkableevent.
It's so much fun.
But what I've learned throughthat is I initially just came in
to represent JM what I learnedthough was the impact that St.
Jude has.
And so a lot of what you'llnotice in my charity work is
(32:22):
very much involved in early ed,early childhood.
That's just because the seasonof life that I'm in but the
impact that St.
Jude has not only in Tennesseewhere the actual hospital is but
how they push their research outand they support all of the
pediatrics and all of theresearch that they get, we've
all been impacted directly orindirectly you just may not know
(32:44):
it.
And so what started as justreally representing him turned
into just this love for St.
Jude and what all they provideand how they are so selfless and
really aggressive in drivingthese, you know, just crazy
opportunities forward and theyare willing to take risks with
kids and they are ready to dowhatever possible to make sure
(33:08):
that this kid, you know,whatever rare disease they have
gets cured.
But again it's my children havebeen impacted by it because of
the research that funneled intoArkansas children's and their
pediatric clinic.
So it was a lot of work, but italso is just the most rewarding
thing that I've done because Isee the impact that they have
(33:28):
and we in six years have raisedover three million we may be
closer to 3.5 at this point.
And so when you look at charityevents, that's that's a hard
number to hit but but yeah againI think it's the amount of
Tito's and the mission and it'sa great mix of both.
But it's just a great time.
Sure.
I would love for anybody to cometo that.
SPEAKER_01 (33:47):
Do you play golf?
Do you play in golf?
SPEAKER_00 (33:49):
Um no can I swing the club and hint every now and
then sure am I going to be onthe team?
No but I'll be on that car, youknow, having I was going to say
a transfusion or one of theother nice drinks that we have
on the course.
SPEAKER_01 (34:04):
Oh yeah ooh transfusion like that word that
brings back some good news manit's a great drink.
So um and then of course herelocally you're uh the uh board
chair for the um uh Helen WaltonChildren's Enrichment Center uh
in Bentonville what have youlearned from that role and and
how did you first get involvedwith with that nonprofit?
SPEAKER_00 (34:23):
I had a dear friend that asked me if I would be
interested to be a member ofthat board.
We now joke, he and I, we haddinner last night and it's just
a running joke of did he realizewhat that entailed for me?
You know, because it it has beena lot to manage in the last
three years that I've been onthat board.
But what I've learned it's theunderstanding of really the
(34:45):
impact Earliette has on a kid.
You know, a child's brain 90% isdeveloped by the age of five.
And so where I think a lot ofpeople miss is all of the care
and the the teaching that reallyneeds to go into someone up
until the age of five and itsets the trajectory of their
life.
I mean it truly does.
(35:06):
So I've been able to learn likereally what that looks like,
what high quality educationlooks like for someone but also
where I think Helen WaltonCenter is just, I mean we
actually talked about this lastnight we're the only NACI
accredited found organization inNorthwest Arkansas that offers
what's called a sliding scalebecause we believe in access for
(35:29):
everyone that the same highquality education that
potentially my child would beprivy to, someone else should
also have that access.
And so by the sliding scalewhere we do tuition offset,
that's what allows children ofall socioeconomic backgrounds to
have that high level of care.
And so it's just been really,really rewarding to see how we
(35:52):
can stretch that not only tothose that are privileged and
can afford to have that, butalso to those, you know, that we
welcome in through the slidingscale piece of it as well.
SPEAKER_01 (36:02):
What what have you learned about um those
leadership roles and others, youknow, from the nonprofit side
that's different than businessfrom your from your business
side?
SPEAKER_00 (36:11):
It you've got to have a heart for it.
And in the wild part you have tohave a heart for it and you have
to have thick skin.
Nonprofit work is is tirelessand it's often it's very hard
and you get a lot of no's andyou have to just keep pushing.
And I think when I look at wehave a team right now, we
average about 70 the heart ofeach of them, they are truly
(36:35):
there for the children.
None of them show up to collecta six-figure paycheck.
You know what I mean because inearly ed that's just not a thing
unfortunately.
But they are there because theyhave a true conviction to teach
these children to love on thesechildren and to really set them
up for their life.
And so I think that's been thebiggest eye-opening thing for me
(36:56):
is seeing the leadership of likewhat it actually takes for them
to show up every day.
And it is just it is hard.
It is very hard but their heartfor it is what inspires me to
keep supporting.
SPEAKER_01 (37:08):
Yeah you've got to you've got to love it and be uh
invested in it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then leadership Arkansas wementioned you're wrapping that
up graduation is coming up heresoon.
Um what what are you taking awayfrom that experience?
I mean that's a year long it's alot of that's a lot of uh travel
uh some for some more thanothers but um what are you
taking from this experience?
SPEAKER_00 (37:28):
I think well primary it's the relationships.
You know you have 52, 53 of usand the relationships that we've
made, the connections that we'vemade, I mean that's I think the
biggest impact that you'll see.
You already see peoplepartnering, collaborating.
And I think that really itreally sets the tone
Bentonville, Northwest Arkansas,that's huge up here.
(37:51):
So to be able to have thesecollaborative efforts among 52
what now is peers, colleagues,friends, I think it's going to
be just so exciting to see likewhere these things go from here.
But what I've also learned isagain because we've been
Jonesboro, Magnolia, Stuttgar, Imean we've been all over the
state.
So getting the understanding ofreally Arkansas's economy,
(38:14):
what's driving it, where we'restill maybe behind, where we
need to focus and being able toplug in to really make an impact
in the growth of the economy, Ithink the exposure to that is
something I would have never hadhad I not done leadership.
SPEAKER_01 (38:28):
So did anything surprise you about the state and
going to all those places thatuh you probably haven't or don't
spend a lot of time in anythingsurprising?
SPEAKER_00 (38:36):
Um honestly how daunting a lot of the work is.
I mean we would go on thesefactory tours and I mean one
specific was Newcore inJonesboro and watching the
conditions that they work in dayin, day out, but the attitudes
of those guys and some females,I mean it was like a family.
(38:57):
I mean it was very surprising tosee these very harsh working
environments.
And that's from the steel, fromyou know the agriculture in
Stuttgart, but they all had justthis great just air of sense of
accomplishment, proud, you know,of where they worked.
And it really I think spoke tojust how we are as Arkansans of
(39:19):
we're just we are very proud ofour state.
We love being from here.
And they had a sense of that iteverywhere regardless of the
conditions.
That I think is what surprisedme was the attitudes of most of
them.
Because listen, I could not makeit a day in that steel plant,
nor would I want to but to havethem to do it in those
conditions, I think that wasprobably the most surprising to
(39:42):
me.
SPEAKER_01 (39:42):
Yeah.
You and I have talked I meanyou've you've off you've been
asked to to be involved in someother things nonprofit world and
you you are going to be askedagain in the future to be
involved in this or lead thatbecause of your uh your track
record and then um how do youhow do you decide where you
invest your time?
I mean like you said you're uhmarried with two daughters and
(40:03):
uh you've got a personal lifeand a business and and all of
these things um what what is thethe deciding or the determining
factor for for where you investyour time?
SPEAKER_00 (40:12):
I my guardrails that I have right now that I've
learned through probably what Ishouldn't do is I commit no more
to three things outside.
And so my three right now HelenWalton Children's Enrichment
Center, St.
Jude Justin Moore event, andthen Northwest Arkansas UCA
Advisory Council.
Like that's my I just know thatthat's my capacity at this
(40:33):
point.
Now what I decide going forwardwhen maybe one of those rolls
off or that my time is up, Ithink it really depends on the
season that I'm in.
You know, right now it's heavyearly ed just because that's
where my kids are and that'swhat I'm involved in.
And so it may look different forme in five years when I maybe
roll off of something whatinterests me at that point.
You know, maybe it's more econ,maybe it's more political but it
(40:57):
kind of goes back of I just Ioperate different.
And so it's whatever myintuition is, wherever I feel
like is the most ease, that's abig reason I said yes to the UCA
because it was just a naturalfit for me.
And so I don't want to go intoanything that I either don't
have a passion or it doesn'tfeel like it's a very
transferable natural thingbecause I want to be able to
(41:18):
contribute my best and give itmy best.
And if I'm just forcing itbecause it looks good on a
resume or someone told me Ishould do it, but it that just
doesn't align with where I'm atat this point.
SPEAKER_01 (41:29):
Well I can tell you which one of those is not going
to roll off anytime soon andthat's the um UCA Northwest
Arkansas Advisory Council.
So let's think about um you knowyou've been here about five
years, five or six years, yourfamily just thinking about the
direction Northwest Arkansas isgoing.
I mean you see a lot you hear alot and your clients um you know
it's we all know it's movingfast.
(41:50):
What do you hope that we don'tum lose in the next five or 10
years?
You know, speaking uh as a mom,you know what matters to you
most as a as a mother with twodaughters and your family here
and raising them here?
What what's important for uhNorthwest Arkansas's growth the
next few years?
SPEAKER_00 (42:04):
I think we do a really great job of balancing
the growth and bringing in andstaying accurate and really
advanced but also keeping thesense of community.
Case in point, me and my oldestare running the 5K tonight, the
gold rush 5K and that is, butit's at first Friday.
So we'll go to First Fridaydowntown and then we'll go run
(42:26):
the 5K.
I'll probably then go home andjust like crash.
But um but having those piecesof the community that is just
such staples, I think regardlessof the growth we see, as long as
we hold on to those pieces andyou know the farmer's market on
Saturday where families come outand little things like that, the
lighting of the square atChristmas, if we can hold on to
(42:48):
the community aspect of it, Ithink that the growth can
continue, but we'll still havethe same feel that we do now,
which I love.
So I hope that's what we don'tlose.
Sure.
SPEAKER_01 (42:58):
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right.
Um final thought here I guess ifsomebody's listening to this,
maybe somebody earlier in theircareer or is just graduating or
or they want to build somethingwhat's uh what's the best piece
of advice you would givesomeone?
SPEAKER_00 (43:09):
I'd say step bold and just be as big dream or
delusional as possible.
Because I've always felt like ifI have a big goal, even if I
fall short, that goal wasprobably so ridiculous to start
with that even wherever I landif it's not all the way, I'm
still landing in a better spotthan where I was.
And so that's always been mythought is dream big, go for it.
(43:32):
And you know if you fall you'rejust gonna get back up you know
we've all failed.
We've all gonna do it again.
But just no no hold on what youthink you can do.
Just go for it.
So fall flat on your face.
SPEAKER_01 (43:44):
What is what is the big dream and the goal look like
for your company the next fiveyears?
What's what's the growthstrategy?
SPEAKER_00 (43:49):
What's on the board for parity financial and I was
going to say that is one whereI'm on the cliff of I'm gonna
jump and I'm gonna fall or it'sgonna be great.
Uh we right now are pretty heavyin the Growth of through merger
and acquisitions.
I was going to say that's wherewe really see the next five
years.
Um, but with that being said,we're still building out a team
that we can make sure can handlewhat the growth is.
(44:12):
But in our world, you have somany advisors that are at the
cusp of retiring.
They've done this 30, 40 years,but there's not a lot of
qualified advisors to step inand take those over.
And so being identified as one,there's a lot of opportunity for
us to be able to go in andacquire these other firms.
And so we are activelysearching.
(44:33):
And, you know, Jonesboro, LittleRock, Tulsa, Fayetteville is one
right now I'm having aconversation with.
And so that's really where thenext five years is that we're
looking to see our growth isjust through the acquisition of
that.
SPEAKER_01 (44:46):
All right.
Good stuff.
All right.
Well, Kristen, um, reallyappreciate you.
I've enjoyed getting to know youthe last couple of years.
Uh, we're proud to have you inthe UCA tent, UCA Ally in
Northwest Arkansas.
And um, I'm proud to work foryour alma mater here in
Northwest Arkansas.
SPEAKER_00 (45:00):
Uh, we're so glad to have you.
Like I said, UCA was just socritical in my launch.
And so to give back to it now, Ijust I love the opportunity.
SPEAKER_01 (45:08):
All right.
That's Kristen Daniel.
She's the founder of ParityFinancial Group in Bentonville.
Terrific to have you.
I'm really glad we finally gotto sit down and do this.
Thanks so much.
All right, and that's it forthis edition of Central to NWA.
Until next time, I'm PaulGatling.
Go Bears.
That's it for this episode ofCentral to NWA, a UCA podcast.
(45:29):
I'm Paul Gatling, SeniorDirector of Northwest Arkansas
Engagement for the University ofCentral Arkansas.
Be sure to subscribe to the showand follow UCA on all the
appropriate social media.
I'll see you next time onCentral to NWA.
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