Many professional women need expert advice—not only to help achieve financial goals but also to support them in leading richer, more successful lives.
By Ashley Ilardo, Regional Director, Client Communities,
Kahne Krause, Head of Client Communities and Vice President, and
Mandy Solin, Regional Director, Client Communities and Vice President
Christine joined the NAM team in 2020, along with her six-plus years of Administrative and Executive Assistant experience. She was born and raised in Wisconsin. She has a love for film, comedy writing, and music, particularly between the 50’s and 80’s.
Christine is currently studying film at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Christine loves connecting with people; face-to-face interaction and collaboration with clients she believes is the best part her job!
During my salad days, I studied business at the University of Minnesota and the Carlson School of Management. Taking this route seemed to make sense when I graduated high school, as it offered the opportunity to pursue a career in business. However, the experience didn’t go as planned. I found myself disillusioned by the focus and teachings of business school, with many of the lessons revolving around detached relationships focused solely on profit. I eventually concluded that this was not my personal path. I chose instead to purse a passion – writing – and veered off into journalism for the next six years of my life.
My time working for weekly and daily newspapers was fulfilling, as it gave me a chance to learn about the community where I lived and its people. But as life progressed, I was fortunate enough to find a woman, Teresa, to take my hand and start a family, and it soon became clear that the vagabond lifestyle of a journalist was no longer the right fit. It was around this time that my dad, Roy, invited me to join him in the business he started out of his basement, and it was an offer that changed my life and way of thinking forever.
While I was taken aback by some of the business lessons I heard during college, this introduction to microeconomics at the most personal level – helping individuals and families navigate their financial lives – held much more meaning than I could have imagined. It is something that makes me excited to go to work every day, as there is nothing better than helping people solve financial puzzles and accomplish their long-term objectives. It is something that I feel truly blessed to be a part of and the relationships I have formed with clients are what make this job so much fun.
When I’m not busy at the office, I try to spend as much time with my family as possible. Teresa and I have two children, Mason and Paige, as well as our oldest “kid” at home, a beagle by the name of Kirby. We get outside as much as we can and are always up for a hike through a state park or a bike ride down the Camrock trail near our home in Cambridge. We also like to get out and scatter balls around Lake Ripley Country Club in what we pass off as golf. In the winter, much of our time revolves around youth hockey, as Mason plays at the Peewee level and I have helped coach his teams for the past six years. I also volunteer at our local church, Grace Lutheran, having served as the treasurer on the church council since 2018.
Thanks for taking the time to read about our lives and I look forward to the chance to hear your story. The best part of my job is getting to know clients – as well as their partners, families and friends – on a meaningful level, and I look forward to the opportunity to share that experience with you.