Central to NWA: A UCA Podcast

Ep. 13 - Delusional Ambition: Scaling a Financial Empire with Kristin Daniel

• University of Central Arkansas • Season 1 • Episode 13

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 45:44

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.

Welcome And Meet Kristen Daniel

SPEAKER_01

This is Central to NWA, a UCA podcast. I'm your host, Paul Gatling, and we are bringing the University of Central Arkansas to Northwest Arkansas. Each episode, we will talk with leaders, alumni, and innovators driving this region forward. People who are shaping industries and defining what is next for our state. Let's get started. All right, we are back now with another edition of Central to NWA, UCA podcast. I'm your host, Paul Gatling, and I'm joined today by Kristen Daniel. She's the founder of Parity Financial Group here in Bentonville, UCA graduate, and also someone that I've gotten to know as a very strong ally for the university here in Northwest Arkansas. Kristen, it is great to see you. Fantastic. Thanks for being here.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I feel like this is a little overdue. Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_01

You took the words right out of my mouth. I feel like we've been trying to do this and find some time to get you in here. It just took a minute, actually, for our schedules to line up.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, no. Excited to be here.

SPEAKER_01

Because you've got a lot going on, you know, besides your business, you've got some nonprofit 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 going on. But really, um, you know, I said the word right there, the common thread for me is you've got a lot of leadership things going on.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

A Scholarship Loophole To UCA

SPEAKER_01

Well, listen, uh, let's start first. Let's start with uh why we're here, the University of Central Arkansas. So um why UCA? I mean, you're you're you're a UCA grad. Tell us kind of uh where you grew up and why you chose to attend the university.

SPEAKER_00

Uh UCA, I don't know if I've actually ever told you this story, but I always say I got to UCA through the loophole. Okay. Meaning, um, I'm from a town of 278 people, very small, very sheltered. And so when I went to look for colleges, my sister and I were first generation going to college. So we just didn't have a lot of experience. And so going through the process of just trying to find out where is even available, having to be self-pay because I didn't have anyone to pay for me, UCA was the loophole that I found, meaning there was one scholarship where you either had to have a 28, and I'm not a good test taker at all, um, or it was the or graduate the upper 1% of your class, of your high school class. Well, I was population 278. My graduating class was 57 people. So, in all fairness, it wasn't that hard, I felt, to be in the top 1%. So when I graduated at the top one, there were a handful of us. That's the loophole that got me my scholarship to UCA. And so I went for the financial reasons of it because that's where I could afford. That's where I got the best scholarship. And now I think it's interesting with the UCA commitment that we have now. That would have been me, you know, had I done it now. But it really was UCA. I chose it for the financial reasons because that's where I could afford to go as someone who had to pay my own way.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. You you read my mind, I was thinking about the UCA commitment as you were telling that. That is our uh signature, I think, signature program now. Second year in, we've uh we've impacted about 1,300 families to the first two classes. So uh yeah, it pays pays to study, right? Pays to study in a small town. Honestly.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's not unknocked any of my classmates. But again, when there's only 57 of us, the competition is not very, it's not a lot, you know. Um, and I think there were five or six of us that were the 1%, you know, valedictorians for the class. So that was really it. Now, fast forward, what I didn't realize when I got there, it's the community that was there, just the small feel of being connected, it made me really just jump right in. So there was a lot that came afterwards of reasons why. But I mean, truly it was for financial reasons why I picked it at first.

SPEAKER_01

And you were going to a bigger place, bigger city, bigger, bigger campus, but you didn't feel overwhelmed.

SPEAKER_00

No, it really wasn't. I was gonna say, and I think it was a lot to do with just the way the layout was, how engaging the professors were, the advisors. Um, it really balanced the college life that I was wanting, but still with a little bit of it was just not as intimidating as some of the other ones that I toured.

SPEAKER_01

Do you remember what you thought you wanted to do when you went to Conway

Switching Majors And Beating Debt

SPEAKER_01

to UCA? I mean, what was on your mind as a freshman student?

SPEAKER_00

I was pre-med for physical therapy, is what I did. I made it two weeks in Chem one before they put me in remedial. And I'll never forget I went to my advisor and I was like, I don't think I'm I'm good at this. And our specific conversation goes, What are you good at? I go, numbers? He goes, let's put you in the business school then. I go, okay, sounds good. So I went with the full intentions of the PT school, which they still have, and it's phenomenal. I had a lot of friends that went through P T O T speech, but I just could not do the science piece. It was not for me. And so we moved in that first semester to business, and then that's where I stayed. And like I said, the landing page that I had for it. But yeah.

SPEAKER_01

It's so funny that you say that in this job that I've had almost two years, I've heard a variation of that story a lot. Uh started off Well, I mean, because you're 17.

SPEAKER_00

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 initially pick versus where you land, I rarely, I think, actually line up.

SPEAKER_01

But it sounds like the advising team and the access you had to that and the communication you had with that office uh easily got you pointed to a to a different path and a and a better path.

SPEAKER_00

You know, I do think if I would have been at a bigger school, I could have just floundered in chem and probably failed it and then went to chem too, maybe on a good, you know. And I just I think it would have been easily to be overlooked, but I mean, they made it comfortable enough where I just approached, I I knew I wasn't doing good. It was a completely different language to me. And so even remedial chem, I struggled. Um, and so they just called it out and we were honest about it, and it was a quick transition. But you know, for me, I always had it in the back of my mind. I'm paying for this, I'm paying for this. My student loans are snowballing. So I was very intentional in that time of I need to get in, figure it out, get the degree and get out. Because I just didn't want to graduate with thousands and thousands of debt. So I was very specific of I've got to drive this forward. And you didn't, I guess, right? Yeah, I was gonna say three and a half years is now listen, going back, I would have stayed five or six because it was so much fun. And when do you have the ability to just engage, meet so many friends, have so many experiences? Like, I wish I could have stayed longer because UCA just was that crucial of like turning point for me. It was so great.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So looking back on it, just uh in in your entire uh career there and spent in Conway at UCA, uh, I know you're involved in Greek life. That was a big part of it for you. You are working a lot too. Just kind of what stands out about the experience as a whole of your undergraduate years there at UCA?

SPEAKER_00

It really Greek life was the turning point of why I stayed. Because, you know, if you go for me personally, I was going, attending class, working full-time, and it just it was hard. And so it was the connecting piece for me was then going in and pledging for Greek life. And it was a group of, I think there were 32 of us initially that started in our sorority. And to this day, I'm still friends with a good majority of them. And that was that was the moment where it got me to stay. But what it taught me that I still have, it was the relationship building aspect of it. And so being able to build those relationships that I still have. I mean, you could go to my LinkedIn, I'd probably say maybe half of my connections are UCA. I mean, the connections that we made there and that just grew with us. And so that was such to me, like the ground stating relationships, learning how to build them, connect with them, engage, and then just continue to develop them. I mean, that's something I still do now. And I think it really is started at UCA. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Well, some of those words there, relationships and engaging and connecting are some of my favorite words. And I was really happy, you know, at our alumni event we held recently at the momentary that some of your sorority sisters were there. There were a group of about four or five of you there that were either connecting or reconnecting. And that's really what we're trying to do up here is to, is to keep those UCA connections going and keep the UCA engagement going through Northwest Arkansas. And so um, you are you're a member, you're helping with that. You're a founding member of our uh Northwest Arkansas Advisory Council. Why has it been important for you? Um, I guess I'll just say, why did you say yes to that? Why did you want to stay connected to Northwest to UCA through Northwest Arkansas?

Why UCA Belongs In Northwest Arkansas

SPEAKER_00

You know, I love Northwest Arkansas. We've been here, this is my second 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 ever wants to leave. I don't think that we will, but the reality is it's a very transient place, too. And so you have so many people moving in and moving out, and it's hard to build relationships, but to have the UCA connection and then have those people here in this area, it's just it's a connecting piece that we all share this common ground. And it makes you still feel like they're in all of the movement. You still have people there that ground you, that know you, that have grown up with you, and you know, you see their careers progress. And it's just really fun to have that piece of it in Northwest because it does feel like just a core group of us that are still here rooting each other on and cheering for each other.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, plenty of opportunities. We've got over 4,000 alumni that live in the two counties here, which I think surprises uh some people. How important is it, or why do why do you think it is important for UCA um to have a presence here, 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 uh Northwest Arkansas through our alumni, through um business connections, really just to make sure that we are uh connected with all the momentum and everything that's happening here. Um why is that important?

SPEAKER_00

I think we see it as a two-way street, meaning that you we can have this as a feeder for those that maybe don't have a good fit of a university here or maybe in Northeast, or they just want somewhere that's somewhat close. It's a really great feeder for UCA to have. But then also I think we'd be crazy not to have that feeder come right back around. Because again, when we look at the growth in Arkansas, something that thanks to Arkansas leadership, I've been very exposed to in this last year, the majority of the growth in Arkansas is in Northwest. So to have that connecting piece where we can get students back to Northwest Arkansas as well into the community, into the businesses, it is. It's just a two-way. So feed it there, grow them, train them, but then bring them back and let them really plant their feet here and then start making an impact. So I think it's critical to have.

SPEAKER_01

Sure. And it's also, you know, on the flip side for me and our perspective, the flip side is um we want Northwest Arkansas to be uh connected and engaged with us at UCA, all the excitement and the momentum that we have going on on our campus, which, you know, is not as widely publicized as everything Northwest Arkansas, but um, it's worthy of publicity because we've got a lot of momentum happening at UCA. All right. So with that context, let's um, you know, zoom out

Money Mindset From Blue Collar Roots

SPEAKER_01

a little bit. You've got a pretty interesting path, as you said, small town Arkansas, uh now uh financial advisor, wealth manager advising a lot of um business owners, executives, uh pretty, pretty high-end firm from my perspective. And you're smack down in the middle of downtown Bentonville, right in the middle of all of it. Uh, what did you see early on? Um, or I guess how did that, how did your career get shaped? What did you see early on that that uh kind of influenced the way you think about money and and uh business advising?

SPEAKER_00

I think small town parents that did not go to college, had very blue-collar jobs, it taught me what it was like to struggle. I mean, it really did. And so the money mindset that we were brought up in was truthfully, I looked at and thought, that's what I don't want going forward. Um, you know, what my parents did was instill work ethic. And I think that that is a driving force for me still. And so I appreciate the struggle because it taught me the work ethic to get out there and hustle and to go for what I want. But it was also very much that's not the path that I want. And so I was very intentional of what are the ways in which I can teach myself, how I can grow wealth, how I can just have the knowledge, the experience, the exposure, I think is a big thing. Cause again, I was in the world before the kind of pre-internet. It wasn't all at the fingertips. And so I had to go and seek all of those things out. And I think that's really what helped shape the business where I'm at now of I just wanted to know more because I wanted to be able to put myself on a different road. With that being said, I had the ability to help my clients do that as well. And so what started out as just basic advising, you know, gosh, I started when I was 24. I think about that now. I'm like, whoever was like entrusting a 24-year-old to manage their money. Like, God, I mean, I'm so appreciative for them. But looking at it now, I was like, I didn't, uh it was just a different world. And so where we're at now, and just my maturity and my growth and my wealth journey has helped me grow with my clients as well. And so truly now it's just fun for me to work with these entrepreneurs and these C-suite executives up here because this is such an opportunity-driven area that they have all these goals. And I mean, and to get to go alongside them and really make sure that they check those off and they hit them. I get as excited when they succeed as probably they do. And so it's really shaped my beginnings of really what I didn't want into creating what I really enjoy now.

SPEAKER_01

So you're 24 years old starting your career. Where were you and what were you doing?

SPEAKER_00

Um, at 24 years old, I was with a very, very small firm called Woodman of the World. And I will never regret that. Um, it was such a great baby step and learning step for me. But I mean, I quickly realized in that of okay, I've outgrown this pretty quick and I didn't want to do that anymore, which is then when I launched and tried to, again, just grow. Because if I can't offer it to my clients and this is a need, then I need to go find where that 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 provide more. And that's kind of just been the theme as how I've evolved where I'm at now. I always want to be able to meet the client where they're at and deliver what they need. And things change and things evolve. And that's how my practice has evolved as well. Right.

Launching A Firm During COVID

SPEAKER_01

You know, because yeah, at some point, um, you know, you decide you want to start your own family, right? That's a that's a big move, um, especially in your industry. Uh what do you feel like gave you the confidence to do that?

SPEAKER_00

Um, delusion. I do. Yeah. Um, having the ability to just say at that point where I was at with my clients and what I could do for them, it I just wanted more. Again, that's the theme. I'm always, I want to be able to provide more, more, more. And so when I decided to make my own firm, that was truly because I saw this vision of how I wanted client interaction to be, how I wanted engagement with them to be, how I wanted to be able to drive the processes for them forward. And so it just was this wild vision that I had. And I mean, again, I think that it was just delusion of like, I'm gonna do this. I don't necessarily know how. And so I just went for it. Um, thankfully, I have a very supportive husband. And sometimes he just lets my delusion 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 that steady support for me to just really take that leap. And then it's again the evolution of them bringing in partners, buying books of business, bringing in junior partners, more staff. And it's all with the goal of I want 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 of expectation of service. And we're always there trying to meet that, you know, and exceed that realistically.

SPEAKER_01

So in all of your early professional career, this was all on Little Rock, right? It was. Right. And so let's fast forward to 2020, you know, which means different things to different people. But for you, you know, let's start a new business, let's move to Northwest Arkansas, and let's do all of that through a global pandemic. Just take me through that year of getting the business started and then the situation, the circumstances that brought you to Northwest Arkansas.

SPEAKER_00

So I, so in 19 was really the foundation work to launch the business. And then February 2020 was the launch. Um, that lasted all of two weeks, and then bam, here's COVID. Um, and so it was very frustrating in that moment. We had a one-year-old and a three-year-old at that point, and the one-year-old had a lot of high needs. So, with that being said, we were working in our home full time. I was operating out of my closet because that was the furthest I could get of like quiet space. And truly, I think COVID was the launch point for us because when we looked at the idea of moving to Northwest Arkansas, I stopped. I go, I've been operating this for four months out of my closet and doing as well as someone can in the middle of COVID and a pandemic. And I was like, why not? Like my clients, we were all learning at that point what virtual looked like and business was different. And so it really was the launch point for me to just say, let's go for it, you know, because I always felt like Little Rock I could come back to, but I wasn't going to probably wait 15 more years and then pack up and come. So I just saw the opportunity alongside my husband and we thought, let's go for it. Now I joke, we were four months into COVID. You probably could have asked me to move anywhere. And I'd be like, sure, let's get out of this house. Um, but really, COVID was the reason I had the confidence to take what I'd built in Little Rock for the past decade and 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 of all my clientele in Little Rock. I still have an office there. Um, but it really was what gave me the just confidence of like, yeah, we can do this. So we took a position in August uh for him. We were here in October and right still in the middle of COVID. It was wild looking back at it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, a lot of moving parts. And you know, you you are a confident person, you said, and a delusional person also. But was there ever a point during that year um that you thought um this might not work? Or was there ever a moment when you teetered and thought maybe this was the wrong timing that some of it not in your control at all, or just maybe this is it was kind of slow going?

SPEAKER_00

Uh the slow going, I was gonna say, I I am not a patient person, which is probably not surprising to you, um, because I just want to go. And so there was a lot of times where I was tested of, okay, maybe this isn't the right time. It wasn't the trajectory that I was hoping for in the initial launch, but something shifted in 21. And I think it was maybe people just had adjusted to the new way of life. And in 21, I started having record years. And then it it just kind of compounded from there. So there were always moments of like, oh, this might have not been the right choice. But then I quickly would snap out and like, okay, and we're still going. So again, that's where the delusion comes in of like, no, I'm just gonna do it. So, but you know, I kind of go back to UCA of that was the first place that I learned what it was like to put your head down and work. And so working full time when I was at UCA, full-time sorority, full load at college, like I just learned how to balance all the different moving pieces of life where I just wouldn't get as rattled, you know, as maybe I used to prior. So it was those foundational pieces of like, I can manage this. So I just kept pushing.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah, I think you, I'm glad you mentioned that. I think you told me once you were working 40 hours a week.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, easy. Yeah. I was in retail at that point and I was the assistant manager for a retail store there in Conway, 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 holidays when everybody would go home for break, I stayed because that was our busy times. And so I would at that point 50 plus hours. So it just goes back. I what I think I did well when I transitioned out of retail was I kept that mindset of just to work, you know, make sure you do it well, do it right, and get it done. And so I never really let the foot off the gas. I still maintained those hours. I think that was really critical in me in the younger years building my book that I did because I just wouldn't let up.

SPEAKER_01

Would you say that is the guiding philosophy still today? Do it well, do it right, and get it done? mean I mean that's pretty I mean that's pretty refined for any business, but I mean, is that something that you think about a lot?

SPEAKER_00

It is. And I think it's because that's how my clients move. You know, a lot of these people, they're entrepreneurs, they not only have one business, they maybe have three, four, as many as seven to thirteen. And so they're constantly moving and the things are constantly shifting. And so it's just being able to come alongside them and also in my business of there's always a path forward. Now I at this age prefer the path of ease, less resistant. So I think that I've let off a little bit in in the harshness of get it done. I really try to look for what makes the most sense. But that's also with my clients. I just want to be efficient, get them from A to B, you know, because they don't have time to usually drive their own plans forward. That's why they need us to come alongside them because they're busy in their business, but they still have everything that they've got to take care of. So being able to go alongside them as efficiently as possible, that's what they appreciate. You know, we kind of take the the mess out of it for them. Sure.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And you know that's probably part of your um I mean you've got to stand out, right? I mean this is a competitive market. Your your industry is no different, your market is no different uh of anything in Northwest Arkansas. But yet you've you have built that business in five years, both organically through acquisition. How do you stand out? How do you make uh parity financial stand out in a competitive market?

Concierge Planning And Building Trust

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Oh, I love that. Love this question. It's really through our concierge program. And, you know, I think a a buzzword especially in Northwest Arkansas is, oh, a fractional family office. Fraction, yeah, everything's fractional, but it's very family office. And I think that there's different levels of that. Obviously we get the privilege of seeing the top financial office, you know, all the way down to just some that are starting out. And so we've really tried to mirror what that looks like in our practice, but from a concierge service, meaning that we come in and you really hire us as your quarterback in the sense of somebody's got to work with your CPA. Somebody's got to work with a lot of times they already have a wealth advisor. We work alongside them because for the wealth that they've accumulated, we expect them to have other advisors, but then we've got to work with your estate planner, your business attorney. You've got all these moving parts. And so I think where we stand out is we're the one that does come in. What are the things that are keeping you up at night? What's on your to-do list that you don't have the time to get it done. And then they give us the green light and then we partner with all of their financial team, some of it having to build it out for them too, to make sure that we're looking at everything together. But again, it's getting done. I think a lot of entrepreneurs don't want to admit how much of their personal financials are a mess sometimes. And even from I don't have a trust in place that's just normal. So they feel like oh I should have it done. They should, but being able to openly like, yeah, I need to get that done but to take that off the plate for them and make it again easy, efficient and signed done, I think that's where we really set ourselves apart because we take the action that they've been needing to take, just haven't made the time to do it.

SPEAKER_01

So when you have conversations with these clients, uh when you talk to them and um you know you develop close relationships with them, um let's just let's give you this first quarter of of 2026 because 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 the common refrain or if there's a common theme among everybody right now, what's what's on everybody's minds?

SPEAKER_00

The common theme is what do I do with my money? You know, we have so many people that have cash on the sidelines right now because they're hesitant because of everything that's been going on. But I think where people get overwhelmed and why they like working with a wealth advisor, it's because you can go out to the internet now and you can have 40 different people advising you on, hey, this is what we think in your scroll, you know, these are the top four stocks this is the new crypto to do this and it's just information overload. And so they have this cash sitting 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 available options right now. And so being able to point in the direction of like what's really going to drive it forward for you to accomplish your goals, that's where they're coming from. You know, they need clarity on that because again, it's just overload for everybody right now. Anyone can get on Instagram and say I'm an expert in stock trading and day trading and but then they maybe don't even have the credentials to back it. So being able to weed out what really is for them versus what all they have in front of them.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I want to go back to what I spoke about a minute ago in um you know a competitive market, you know, there are a lot of options uh with any industry and any business and and yeah your space financial services can be um uh a tough space when it comes to trust, right? You've got to have trust between them and you in both ways. And so what what's the the secret ingredient? What's the key to developing uh trust with your client base?

SPEAKER_00

I think it's asking the right questions. When I come in I don't have a traditional what we would reference as a fact finder of what's your balance sheet? What's your profit and loss? What's your net worth or it it's more than that. I want to know the questions of like what does money look like to you? What was money like in your household growing up? What are the things that you're striving to achieve in your business and then in your personal life is legacy in that is charity in that and so I try to dig deeper to actually know who they are. So that way then when it is time to build out plans for them, we know where it's coming from and it's you know internally like what is driving them forward. And so I think that's really it is I've learned over the years ask the right questions and get the clarity on really what they're trying to do. Cause a lot of times they may not know how to articulate what they're trying to do. But if you sit long enough and get the clarity you need, then I think it makes our decisions a lot easier and what our recommendations are.

SPEAKER_01

Right. Are there um what's the thing that you're fine that that you're saying the most to your clients right now over and over what are you saying the most can I say that out loud without getting too political.

SPEAKER_00

Right. I would say probably what I'm saying the most to them is we we've got plans, we stick to those plans. I mean there is a lot of noise that we're all getting right now. And to be able to cut that noise out and really intentionally just move forward and what their plans are, just continuing to reinforce that, you know, because again we just all have so much noise right now and it is very volatile out there and that's in the market and it's really in any space right now. And I was going to say just cutting the noise and staying intentional with this is how we're moving forward. I say that quite often right now. Keep your blinders on.

SPEAKER_01

Keep your blinders on.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah yeah and it's okay to look up and make sure everything's moving you know cohesively together but for the most part blinders on earmuffs on and just cut the noise out.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

Defining Leadership With Humility

SPEAKER_01

Good we've talked about uh I mentioned you you're involved in some leadership roles in um you know your business you've been recognized for your leadership in your business you're involved in nonprofit leadership in a couple of different ways and leadership Arkansas so what does that word um actually look like uh for you what does leadership mean to you what's the most important thing uh a leader must possess in your opinion I think it's the the humility behind it I really think that that's what it is I mean to be a leader I see that as I'm here and my job is to lead people in front of me.

SPEAKER_00

You know, now also there's a piece to to be able to reach back and pull people with you as well. But if I can have say a junior advisor come in and I can train them and give them the exposure and then they 10x even maybe what I'm doing, that is a leader to me. I mean I I think you have to take the humility into account of it. It's very selfless. And if you can do it from that space, then I think that it just comes a little bit easier because people get ego mixed in with it and you know what they want. And really it's about bringing people up ahead of you from behind and and going forward.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah love that answer love that word humility.

Raising Big Money For St Jude

SPEAKER_01

All right let's talk about your um your nonprofit and your community involvement in a couple of different ways your most high profile ways um the Justin Moore Golf Classic in Central Arkansas uh big event down in uh Little Rock every year has raised a lot of money for St. Jude you're very involved in that you're uh you're the chairman of that um tell us how you got involved in that and and why that's important to you.

SPEAKER_00

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 show me another charity event that is this much fun. That could be because of the amount of T's that served there. I'll say that. But like it's just great. How I initially got into it is again back the small town, small town I'm from, Justin Moore is also from and so I was brought in initially just kind of like his voice of you know, hey, would he like this? Maybe would he agree with this? Okay, maybe um because he and I are very close. And so with that being said I was just there as like an oversight to make sure that if he shows up to the event when he does, this is reflective of him and who he is. And so that's how it started. Probably one of my biggest flaws is when I do something, I do it to the extreme. So what became that initially then turned into being in their auction committee, being on their executive committee. Oh, here I am co-chairing. And so now I'm six years in I've co I've chaired or co-chaired for the last three. This year alone we raised $700,000 in the matter of two days. And it it is just a remarkable event. It's so much fun. But what I've learned through that is I initially just came in to represent JM what I learned though was the impact that St. Jude has. And so a lot of what you'll notice in my charity work is very much involved in early ed, early childhood. That's just because the season of life that I'm in but the impact that St. Jude has not only in Tennessee where the actual hospital is but how they push their research out and they support all of the pediatrics and all of the research that they get, we've all been impacted directly or indirectly you just may not know it. And so what started as just really representing him turned into just this love for St. Jude and what all they provide and how they are so selfless and really aggressive in driving these, you know, just crazy opportunities forward and they are willing to take risks with kids and they are ready to do whatever possible to make sure that this kid, you know, whatever rare disease they have gets cured. But again it's my children have been impacted by it because of the research that funneled into Arkansas children's and their pediatric clinic. So it was a lot of work, but it also is just the most rewarding thing that I've done because I see the impact that they have and we in six years have raised over three million we may be closer to 3.5 at this point. And so when you look at charity events, that's that's a hard number to hit but but yeah again I think it's the amount of Tito's and the mission and it's a great mix of both. But it's just a great time. Sure. I would love for anybody to come to that.

SPEAKER_01

Do you play golf? Do you play in golf?

SPEAKER_00

Um no can I swing the club and hint every now and then sure am I going to be on the team? No but I'll be on that car, you know, having I was going to say a transfusion or one of the other nice drinks that we have on the course.

SPEAKER_01

Oh yeah ooh transfusion like that word that brings back some good news man it's a great drink.

Early Childhood Education And Nonprofit Grit

SPEAKER_01

So um and then of course here locally you're uh the uh board chair for the um uh Helen Walton Children's Enrichment Center uh in Bentonville what have you learned from that role and and how did you first get involved with with that nonprofit?

SPEAKER_00

I had a dear friend that asked me if I would be interested to be a member of that board. We now joke, he and I, we had dinner last night and it's just a running joke of did he realize what that entailed for me? You know, because it it has been a lot to manage in the last three years that I've been on that board. But what I've learned it's the understanding of really the impact Earliette has on a kid. You know, a child's brain 90% is developed by the age of five. And so where I think a lot of people miss is all of the care and the the teaching that really needs to go into someone up until the age of five and it sets the trajectory of their life. I mean it truly does. So I've been able to learn like really what that looks like, what high quality education looks like for someone but also where I think Helen Walton Center is just, I mean we actually talked about this last night we're the only NACI accredited found organization in Northwest Arkansas that offers what's called a sliding scale because we believe in access for everyone that the same high quality education that potentially my child would be privy to, someone else should also have that access. And so by the sliding scale where we do tuition offset, that's what allows children of all socioeconomic backgrounds to have that high level of care. And so it's just been really, really rewarding to see how we can stretch that not only to those that are privileged and can afford to have that, but also to those, you know, that we welcome in through the sliding scale piece of it as well.

SPEAKER_01

What what have you learned about um those leadership roles and others, you know, from the nonprofit side that's different than business from your from your business side?

SPEAKER_00

It you've got to have a heart for it. And in the wild part you have to have a heart for it and you have to have thick skin. Nonprofit work is is tireless and it's often it's very hard and you get a lot of no's and you have to just keep pushing. And I think when I look at we have a team right now, we average about 70 the heart of each of them, they are truly there for the children. None of them show up to collect a six-figure paycheck. You know what I mean because in early ed that's just not a thing unfortunately. But they are there because they have a true conviction to teach these children to love on these children and to really set them up for their life. And so I think that's been the biggest eye-opening thing for me is seeing the leadership of like what it actually takes for them to show up every day. And it is just it is hard. It is very hard but their heart for it is what inspires me to keep supporting.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah you've got to you've got to love it and be uh invested in it. Yeah.

Leadership Arkansas And Time Guardrails

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And then leadership Arkansas we mentioned you're wrapping that up graduation is coming up here soon. Um what what are you taking away from that experience? I mean that's a year long it's a lot of that's a lot of uh travel uh some for some more than others but um what are you taking from this experience?

SPEAKER_00

I think well primary it's the relationships. You know you have 52, 53 of us and the relationships that we've made, the connections that we've made, I mean that's I think the biggest impact that you'll see. You already see people partnering, collaborating. And I think that really it really sets the tone Bentonville, Northwest Arkansas, that's huge up here. So to be able to have these collaborative efforts among 52 what now is peers, colleagues, friends, I think it's going to be just so exciting to see like where these things go from here. But what I've also learned is again because we've been Jonesboro, Magnolia, Stuttgar, I mean we've been all over the state. So getting the understanding of really Arkansas's economy, what's driving it, where we're still maybe behind, where we need to focus and being able to plug in to really make an impact in the growth of the economy, I think the exposure to that is something I would have never had had I not done leadership.

SPEAKER_01

So did anything surprise you about the state and going to all those places that uh you probably haven't or don't spend a lot of time in anything surprising?

SPEAKER_00

Um honestly how daunting a lot of the work is. I mean we would go on these factory tours and I mean one specific was Newcore in Jonesboro and watching the conditions that they work in day in, day out, but the attitudes of those guys and some females, I mean it was like a family. I mean it was very surprising to see these very harsh working environments. And that's from the steel, from you know the agriculture in Stuttgart, but they all had just this great just air of sense of accomplishment, proud, you know, of where they worked. And it really I think spoke to just how we are as Arkansans of we're just we are very proud of our state. We love being from here. And they had a sense of that it everywhere regardless of the conditions. That I think is what surprised me was the attitudes of most of them. Because listen, I could not make it a day in that steel plant, nor would I want to but to have them to do it in those conditions, I think that was probably the most surprising to me.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. You and I have talked I mean you've you've off you've been asked to to be involved in some other things nonprofit world and you you are going to be asked again in the future to be involved in this or lead that because of your uh your track record and then um how do you how do you decide where you invest your time? I mean like you said you're uh married with two daughters and uh you've got a personal life and a business and and all of these things um what what is the the deciding or the determining factor for for where you invest your time?

SPEAKER_00

I my guardrails that I have right now that I've learned through probably what I shouldn't do is I commit no more to three things outside. And so my three right now Helen Walton Children's Enrichment Center, St. Jude Justin Moore event, and then Northwest Arkansas UCA Advisory Council. Like that's my I just know that that's my capacity at this point. Now what I decide going forward when maybe one of those rolls off or that my time is up, I think it really depends on the season that I'm in. You know, right now it's heavy early ed just because that's where my kids are and that's what I'm involved in. And so it may look different for me in five years when I maybe roll off of something what interests me at that point. You know, maybe it's more econ, maybe it's more political but it kind of goes back of I just I operate different. And so it's whatever my intuition is, wherever I feel like is the most ease, that's a big reason I said yes to the UCA because it was just a natural fit for me. And so I don't want to go into anything that I either don't have a passion or it doesn't feel like it's a very transferable natural thing because I want to be able to contribute my best and give it my best. And if I'm just forcing it because it looks good on a resume or someone told me I should do it, but it that just doesn't align with where I'm at at this point.

SPEAKER_01

Well I can tell you which one of those is not going to roll off anytime soon and that's the um UCA Northwest Arkansas Advisory Council.

Protecting Community While NWA Grows

SPEAKER_01

So let's think about um you know you've been here about five years, five or six years, your family just thinking about the direction Northwest Arkansas is going. I mean you see a lot you hear a lot and your clients um you know it's we all know it's moving fast. What do you hope that we don't um 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 two daughters and your family here and raising them here? What what's important for uh Northwest Arkansas's growth the next few years?

SPEAKER_00

I think we do a really great job of balancing the growth and bringing in and staying accurate and really advanced but also keeping the sense of community. Case in point, me and my oldest are running the 5K tonight, the gold rush 5K and that is, but it's at first Friday. So we'll go to First Friday downtown and then we'll go run the 5K. I'll probably then go home and just like crash. But um but having those pieces of the community that is just such staples, I think regardless of the growth we see, as long as we hold on to those pieces and you know the farmer's market on Saturday where families come out and little things like that, the lighting of the square at Christmas, if we can hold on to the community aspect of it, I think that the growth can continue, but we'll still have the same feel that we do now, which I love. So I hope that's what we don't lose. Sure.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah. All right. Um final thought here I guess if somebody's listening to this, maybe somebody earlier in their career or is just graduating or or they want to build something what's uh what's the best piece of advice you would give

Dream Big And Grow Through Acquisitions

SPEAKER_01

someone?

SPEAKER_00

I'd say step bold and just be as big dream or delusional as possible. Because I've always felt like if I have a big goal, even if I fall short, that goal was probably so ridiculous to start with that even wherever I land if it's not all the way, I'm still landing in a better spot than where I was. And so that's always been my thought is dream big, go for it. And you know if you fall you're just gonna get back up you know we've all failed. We've all gonna do it again. But just no no hold on what you think you can do. Just go for it. So fall flat on your face.

SPEAKER_01

What is what is the big dream and the goal look like for your company the next five years? What's what's the growth strategy?

SPEAKER_00

What's on the board for parity financial and I was going to say that is one where I'm on the cliff of I'm gonna jump and I'm gonna fall or it's gonna be great. Uh we right now are pretty heavy in the Growth of through merger and acquisitions. I was going to say that's where we 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 handle what the growth is. But in our world, you have so many 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 in and take those over. And so being identified as one, there's a lot of opportunity for us to be able to go in and acquire these other firms. And so we are actively searching. And, you know, Jonesboro, Little Rock, Tulsa, Fayetteville is one right now I'm having a conversation with. And so that's really where the next five years is that we're looking to see our growth is just through the acquisition of that.

SPEAKER_01

All right. Good stuff. All right. Well, Kristen, um, really appreciate you. I've enjoyed getting to know you the last couple of years. Uh, we're proud to have you in the UCA tent, UCA Ally in Northwest Arkansas. And um, I'm proud to work for your alma mater here in Northwest Arkansas.

SPEAKER_00

Uh, we're so glad to have you. Like I said, UCA was just so critical in my launch. And so to give back to it now, I just I love the opportunity.

SPEAKER_01

All right. That's Kristen Daniel. She's the founder of Parity Financial Group in Bentonville. Terrific to have you. I'm really glad we finally got to sit down and do this. Thanks so much. All right, and that's it for this edition of Central to NWA. Until next time, I'm Paul Gatling. Go Bears. That's it for this episode of Central to NWA, a UCA podcast. I'm Paul Gatling, Senior Director of Northwest Arkansas Engagement for the University of Central Arkansas. Be sure to subscribe to the show and follow UCA on all the appropriate social media. I'll see you next time on Central to NWA.