Meet November's Daring Member of the Month: Kristin Lavelle

daring member of the month Nov 05, 2021

Once each month, I have the honor of interviewing one of our Impact Tribe members as our featured Daring Member of the Month – someone who has gone out of their way to support other members, is committed to building their business in a way that makes a positive impact in the world, been a good business friend, or contributed something exceptionally special to the group.

Today, Kristin Lavelle is joining me here on the blog, to share a little bit about her story, how she helps women entrepreneurs overcome anxiety around money, and what it means to be daring.

She shares how to:

  • Understand the extra psychological layer at play for women entrepreneurs and their relationship to money.
  • Make a simple mindset shift that can drastically reduce your financial anxiety. 
  • Identify your “32 Dreams” and understand money for what it is, an effective and useful tool.
  • Get support in planning for a secure financial future. It’s much easier than you think! 

Kristin has been a dedicated member of the Impact Tribe for this past year, and we’ve loved having her steady, supportive presence and her kind and compassionate heart, and her incredible ideas and perspective she brings to the group as a financial consultant. 

Meet Kristin Lavelle

After earning master’s degrees in both Finance and Counseling, and having worked separately in both fields, Kristin Lavelle combined her love of people and personal finance to become a Financial Consultant. She works for Five Rings Financial, a company she chose because of its emphasis on service, integrity, excellence, diversity, and inclusion.

Kristin believes that all people, no matter what their circumstances, deserve to work with an experienced and caring financial professional and she therefore works on a no fee basis. She starts where a person is and builds from there.

Kristin runs educational events, such as her now well-known Chocolate Tasting Money 101, co-hosted by her son and business partner, Patrick. In January, Kristin will launch a monthly event, Wine, Women, & Wealth. A strong focus for Kristin is supporting and empowering women through financial education, encouragement, and gathering in community.

When not working, you can find Kristin running or hiking in mountains with her dog and friends, hanging out with her family, or traveling.

Q: How did you get started in your business? 

Kristin shares that she feels like she’s always been on the financial and consulting paths – for as long as she remembers, math was her favorite subject in school, and she’s always loved meeting and helping people. 

After mentoring her son in his finance career at Five Rings Financial, she decided to leave her position at another company to follow her dream and join forces with her son as a Financial Consultant. 

Q: Who do you work with, and what’s the most common problem you help your clients solve?

Kristin believes that finance has a lot to do with emotions, and she works with women who have the habit of ignoring their money – she says that, “when you ignore your money, your money ignores you.” 

A common problem she finds is that many people feel guilt or shame around money – they feel that they don’t have what they should, they're overwhelmed with how to manage their money, they feel embarrassed or anxious about it, or they just ignore their money in hopes that they won’t have to deal with it.

Oftentimes, she finds that their mental blocks are the biggest factor contributing to her clients’ feelings around money. Once she helps them address those, her clients are able to track their money efficiently, feel confident rather than ashamed or embarrassed, and feel good about where they’re at. 

The biggest piece of what she does is help people pay attention to their money, rather than ignoring it. When clients work with Kristin, it’s critical to her that they don’t feel judged or ashamed of where they’re at financially – she cares about the person behind the books, no matter their circumstance. 

Q: As business owners and entrepreneurs, it often feels like our self-worth and purpose is entwined in our money – do you notice anything different when you work with entrepreneurs?

Kristin notes that there’s often an extra psychological layer at play when it comes to working with entrepreneurs. There’s so much work that goes into creating a business, oftentimes she finds that what they charge for their programs and courses is tied to their self-worth and their views of themselves. 

When she works with entrepreneurs, she tends to find herself working with them on what they're charging, what they're earning, and how that’s reflective of their own personal self-worth and of their vision and values. She also states that most entrepreneurs, especially women, under-value what they’re worth and what they should be charging for their programs and services – overcoming this mental block and addressing the emotions that contribute to this thought pattern is something she loves to work on with her clients. 

Q: For anyone listening who may be experiencing some of these blocks we’ve been talking about, do you have any insight or tips they can take away from this? 

The first thing that came to mind for Kristin is – money is a tool. We can care about people, lift them up, support them, etc., and earn money doing it. It’s not a scary, big deal, it’s just a product of what we do, and a tool to get us where we want to be. 

An exercise she does with her clients is called 32 dreams – take a regular sheet of paper and fold it in half 4 times. When you open it back up, you’ll have 16 squares on each side of the page. Then, she guides them to turn off their thinking, judgmental brain and write down 32 dreams or goals that they want to see in their life or in the world. This exercise helps her clients get tuned into money in a more gentle way and see money as a tool – if one of their goals is to travel, then they realize that they should be saving their money to plan the trip they want to take. It brings money to a tangible place and allows them to release so much of their anxiety surrounding money. 

She also recommends talking to a financial professional. Her clients always tell her that they feel better after talking through their finances, even just after a few meetings. No matter who you are, what your goals or needs are, or where you’re at financially – it feels good to have someone on your side, someone there with you, someone to help you break it down, un-complicate it, and walk you through it. 

There are also a lot of instruments out there that she recommends for a variety of needs. When you talk to a financial professional, they can break these down for you in a way that’s not overwhelming, so that you can actually get access to what you need.

Q: What does it mean to be daring, to you? 

Kristin says, “to me, being daring means letting go of old stories – like something I’ve told myself or grew up believing – and telling myself that I can create new stories.” Shifting into a new mindset has the power to open up your future in a way you’ve never seen before, and that is the most daring thing that you can do, in Kristin’s opinion and experience. 

Letting go of old stories can be incredibly difficult, but it can also be incredibly transformative and life-changing. 

Q: What are you most excited about in your business right now?

Wine, Women, and Wealth!! Bringing together a community of women who have a common purpose of supporting each other, being in community, and learning more about finance. This new program she’s launching in January is so powerful for women who want to up-level their finances and connect with others around them. She feels strongly that this is going to be a great way for women to connect and share their stories, and for them to feel that they’re not alone in their financial journey – two things she’s incredibly passionate about. 

To get Kristin's support in planning for your financial future visit her website or contact her at [email protected] or 303-514-1688.


If you want to join Kristin and other amazing members in the Impact Tribe, we would love to have you! When you join the Impact Tribe, you get access to a library of biz-booming courses, next-level coaching, and an inspiring, uplifting community of women entrepreneurs on a similar path as you. Learn more and join us today at the link below. 

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