Good Neighbor Podcast: Orange County

Mediation Over Court: How Families Save Money, Dignity, And Peace

• Rachel Fyffe & Kevin E. Johnson

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When a marriage ends, the hardest part isn’t always the paperwork—it’s the pressure to turn partners into opponents. We sit down with Kevin E. Johnson of Resolvium Mediation Group to show how families can separate with clarity, fairness, and dignity while keeping control of their future. Instead of handing your life to a judge, mediation invites both parties to shape the outcome together, lower conflict, and protect kids from the emotional crossfire.

Kevin shares the turning point that led him to this work: a high-conflict divorce that cost more than $70,000 and left lingering scars. That experience fuels his mission to help others resolve disputes without destroying relationships or bank accounts. He breaks down what mediation is and isn’t—neutral, not lawyering; facilitative, not punitive—and explains how keeping decisions in the hands of the parties leads to better agreements on parenting plans, schedules, assets, and next steps. We talk through common myths, the value of interest-based negotiation, and the very real difference this approach makes for children who see and feel more than adults think.

We also cover the practical side: how to find a qualified mediator, what to expect in the room, and why Resolvium’s five-step divorce framework offers a clear path from confusion to closure. Kevin serves Southern California while his colleagues support families nationwide, making it easier to access help where you live. Along the way, we touch on sustainable co-parenting, building future-proof agreements, and using dispute resolution clauses to keep you out of court when new challenges arise.

If you want a process that reduces stress, preserves dignity, and keeps your financial future intact, this conversation offers a roadmap. Subscribe for more neighbor-to-neighbor stories, share this episode with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help others find a kinder way through divorce.

SPEAKER_01:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Rachel Fife.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Now, if you are going through a divorce and looking for a quicker and less stressful solution versus going through a whole court proceeding, well, this resource is really much closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Kevin E. Johnson, with Resolvium Mediation Group. Kevin, how is it going?

SPEAKER_00:

It's going well today. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, we are really excited to learn about your practice and what you do. So tell us about your business.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so what I do is I am a certified mediator specializing in family. We do do some small business employment mediation. But like I said, we really look to specialize in any type of family dissolution, legal separation. Some call it divorce, there as people are going through transitions in their lives.

SPEAKER_02:

How did you get into this kind of business?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, great question, Rachel. How did I get into it? Well, I've always been very passionate about serving others. Uh, number one. I'd say number two, one of my um maybe I would say unfortunate but fortunate experiences is that I myself went through a very high conflict divorce probably about 15 to 16 years ago. And coming out of that divorce, um, I asked myself, there has to be a better way to resolve issues, solve problems as families split. Better way in the process of coming out with your dignity, um, low cost, because we spent anywhere upwards of about$70,000 just on the divorce proceedings. Um, and also trying to help families remember that there is life after divorce, and also keeping focus on what's important, the goals of where we're trying to get to. But more importantly, also to some families have children and the children involved and the impact of those children. Um, because sometimes we believe as we're going through these high conflict situations, um, that you know, perhaps sometimes this the children don't see or hear what's going on, but they do see and they do hear. So experiencing that on my end, I wanted to be a vessel to help others as they're going through their transitions to say, okay, here is a better way, much lower cost, let's keep our dignity. And my hope was then to continue to make you know our communities a little bit bigger and stronger from and less adversarial.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. Now, what do you think are maybe some myths or misconceptions in your industry?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, I think misconceptions is that, you know, some will say, Well, I need a lawyer, right? Or you're not a lawyer. Um, and that's true. Um, some of us are licensed attorneys, some mediators are not. Um, but mediation is not the practice of law. Mediation is not lawyering. Mediation is the person that serves as the neutral facilitator in any type of primarily disagreement, trying to get both parties to come to an agreement. Now, what's different from a court proceeding in the fact that we use mediation is that the parties make the decision. We don't make the decision as mediators. We're not the judge, we are not the referee, and as I said, we're not the attorneys. We allow and facilitate a process where either side comes to the table and they make the agreement. We just facilitate the process.

SPEAKER_02:

Wonderful. Well, we know marketing is really the heart of every business. So, how are you finding your clients?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, interesting. Some of it is word of mouth. Um, some of it is through um our marketing efforts with Resolvium. So all the all the I would say nuances in the new way we kind of live today through um you know Google, Yelp, um some of the AI, artificial intelligence through Claude, through Chat GPT. Um, there's a lot of ways to locate us, um, but I would say those are have been the primary vehicle. Going to our website, resolvium.com. Um, you can search on if they're looking for myself here in the Orange County kind of Southern California area, they can find me that way. Uh, Google my business, Yelp, and putting in keywords such as mediation in Irvine, uh, mediation in Orange County, Resolvium mediation. Um, those are various vehicles that can be used to look for myself and find my services.

SPEAKER_02:

Wonderful. Now, have you ever thought about doing your own podcast?

SPEAKER_00:

I have. Um, and yes, I wanted to talk to you about that as well. So definitely interested in walking those through a little bit more uh, I would say conversational as it relates to kind of what we do and help people understand. Because again, a lot of times I may not convert people, but I still feel good about being able to help them, right? To give them guidance. As I said, I don't, I'm not, I'm not lawyering you, I'm not telling you, I'm not ruling on law or anything like that, but I do like to help people say, wow, you've given me enough information to make an informed decision.

SPEAKER_02:

Wonderful. Now, outside of work, Kevin, what do you like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_00:

Wow, so fun. I'm a foodie, um, number one. So love to do that. Love great stimulated conversation. Um, personally, I love to read. Um, but when I'm out on kind of the weekends, my time is spent riding. I'm a I road bike, so I love to get out on the road and ride my bike um every Saturday through uh Newport Laguna, Irvine, those areas there. And then sometimes during the week, uh, three or four times a week, I may do some strength training. So that may sound grueling to people, but you did say fun. So, but that's kind of my my vision of fun. And I love good movies. Anything that's you know new, that's out there. Um, we're a big follower of Taylor Sheridan and all those movies, Tulsa King, Linus, uh all the ones that he does. So we uh we find joy in in doing a lot of those types of things.

SPEAKER_02:

Love it. Well, Kevin, please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about resolving mediation.

SPEAKER_00:

Resolvia mediation is a solution. It is an alternative, uh, the alternative to going to court when you have any type of dissolution of marriage or as I said, slash divorce. Um, and it is a way to gather information as you are moving through a difficult transition in your life. So we are the solve and we are an alternative to any type of traditional situation, keeping, as I said, keeping people out of court, uh preserving their relationships, leaving people with dignity, and hopefully people walk away and they're not completely destitute or you know broken from a financial perspective.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. Well, how can our listeners learn more about Resolvi and mediation? I know you touched a little bit on that, but just remind us.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so again, they can go to our website at Resolve Mediation Group. Um, you can find my, and if you click on our mediators, we have mediators that are across the country. So we are peppered throughout the United States. I myself served at uh Southern California region and area. Um, and then again, if you put in keywords depending on where your location is, as I said, mediation, particularly if you say Irvine or Orange County, those types of things, divorce, conflict resolution, those are some of the keywords that I'll help drive and bring up my profile. But also, if there's other listeners that are on here that don't live in California, they can also do the same. I'll say lastly, if they can't find a particular person and they are interested in our services, they could always reach out to myself as well. One of the key things that we do offer, and they'll see on our website, is what they call a five-day divorce. I actually call it a five-step divorce. And it is possible for us to get through a divorce situation in five steps. Now, those steps are determinative upon the parties, so it may not be you know Monday through Friday, but it can be five separate steps over a period of time that can help you get to a point where um you guys are both, you know, uh feel comfortable about the decision. Um, is filed with the court, and then you can move on at your pace.

SPEAKER_02:

That's wonderful. Well, Kevin, thank you so much and for being on the show. And I wish you and your business really all the best moving forward and a great 2026.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you, Rachel.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpoangecounty.com. That's gnporangecounty.com or call 714 94 8862.