Meet Kristyn Carmichael | Owner, Professional Mediator, Attorney, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristyn Carmichael and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristyn, what is the most important factor behind your success?
We have worked diligently to set our firm, Couples Solutions Center, apart by identifying the largest complaints clients have when dealing with family law professionals generally. Our success has been in building trust with our clients in offering a service like no other. Mediation services already offer a unique option for a divorce or premarital (prenup) process in the following ways: 1) timeline is shorter than litigation or working with individual attorneys (decreasing a divorce, for example, from 8 months to over a year in litigation to approximately 2-4 months in mediation); 2) cost savings (typically 80-90% less than working with attorneys); 3) privacy (confidential process outside of the court); 4) control (clients control agreements rather than a judge making a decision for them); and 5) family friendly (research shows that mediation is healthier for children and families during a divorce over litigation).

We go beyond the normal benefits of mediation to provide for our client where other family law professionals may have fallen short.

1. Emotional Care/Empathy – We regretfully hear from many of our clients that they don’t feel as though their family law professional cares about them or their experience. This is common as attorneys are taught to focus on the facts, not the emotions. But as we like to say “feelings are facts.” Feelings matter just as much, if not often more, than the facts. So we are here to be empathetic to our clients’ experience and be conscious of the emotional rollercoaster during a challenging time.

2. Financial Expertise – As an attorney and CDFA (Certified Divorce Financial Analyst), I have a unique perspective on the financial implications of a divorce. This allows us to provide our clients with more options that are financially beneficial to save them even more money during their process. From complex asset classes to more simply financial structures, we excel at helping educate our clients and empower them to make successful decisions for their financial future.

3. Strategic Partners – It is a family law professional’s job to help during the legal process, but what about the impact or trickle effect your divorce or prenup has on other aspects of your life? This includes: taxes, estate planning/beneficiaries, deeds/titles, loans, insurance, and more. We connect our clients with experts in the field who assist them in navigating these hurtles along the way. For instance, if we have someone who will be losing health insurance during the divorce, we connect them with our health insurance broker to get everything set-up as they go through their process.

4. Flat Fees – We want to be a support for our clients, not have them question whether their questions are worth asking, especially when paying those tedious hourly rates. A majority of our services are a flat fee to help people have a predictability to the financial aspect of their divorce, and a partner on their team to answer questions during this challenging time with unlimited email communication.

Our success has been setting ourselves apart from the typical process to make it as supportive as possible for our clients.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve had a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit from a young age – selling crafts or setting out tip jars in my family kitchen and “serving” family members their breakfast. I went to law school to make a difference in the world – although I didn’t quite know at that time what the “difference” would be. I am a very collaborative person by nature, and found the adversarial nature of the law tedious. Why couldn’t we find a solution that could work for everyone? I had the exceptional opportunity of being trained in mediation – civil, agricultural, and family. Each provided its own unique challenges and lessons, but I fell in love with family law. Family law is often known as a field that drains the professional and many don’t last more than 10 years. I feel grateful to have found a career I truly love and enjoy working in. I think many people go to work for a paycheck, but I have the unique opportunity of having a true passion for the work I do.

After working for other firms, I went out on my own in 2022 to open Couples Solutions Center. It hasn’t been easy, mixing the work I love with the actual work of running a business. But it has been incredibly rewarding. I’ve learned I’m a recovering-perfectionist – and nothing will ever be exactly perfect. But if we wait for it to be perfect, we miss out on helping everyone that could benefit from our work in the meantime. I’ve learned to trust in my team and that finding the right fit is a challenge. I’m so grateful for the work of my assistant, Kaila. Her ingenuity and passion keeps my love for the field glowing, even when I have a challenging day. And she’s a blessing to our clients with her positive attitude. I’ve learned that change is around every corner – we can either cringe when it comes by or allow ourselves to embrace it. It has been a wild three years, but I’m so proud of what we’ve created and continue to grow.

I truly hope that Couples Solutions Center can make an impact in the family law field, truly changing the way that clients experience family law. We want those going through conflict to know there are alternatives and solutions – you just need the right team to guide you.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Good question! I’m a foodie so it’s all about the good restaurants for me. My recent favorites would have to be Chantico, Sushiholic, Uniq Burger, and Vegan & Vine. I’m a big hiker, so I would go for my favorite hike locally – Piestawa – or head up to Sedona for Devil’s Bridge. You can’t go wrong with a coffee from Sip to start the day, and a cocktail at a speakeasy like Quartz to finish the day off. The Uptown Farmer’s Market is a favorite or a bike ride around Tempe Town Lake. We live in a beautiful state with so much to offer year round!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have been blessed with so many amazing mentors and opportunities to get me to where I am today. I began my mediation career in law school with the support of Brian Pappas, Peg MacDougall, and Larry Schneider – who encouraged me to mediate family cases and take a non-traditional approach to resolving family disputes. After law school, I joined the Aurit Team, who helped me continue to grow as a professional and build my skills as a leader. My involvement with the Academy of Professional Family Mediators (APFM) has introduced me to phenomenal professionals and mentors throughout the field, including my colleague and friend – Amanda Singer. And my family’s support helped me start my own firm. A special shout-out to Kaila Thornton, my amazing legal assistant, for all she does for our clients and their families in a difficult time. She makes a true difference in their experience each day.

Website: https://www.couplessolutionscenter.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/couplesolutionsmediation/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristyn-carmichael-esq-cdfa

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@couplessolutionsmediation

Other: https://www.meetup.com/phoenix-divorce-bootcamp/