Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
“Today is a hard day,” said Nicole Middendorf this August 4. Because 13 years ago, with two little kids, she gathered the courage to make a 911 call and report domestic violence against her then husband.
I had followed the local radio talk show host and owner of a wealth management firm, now called Prosperwell Financial, for more than 20 years, but only this summer did I learn her harrowing back story. “No one knew. I hid it, as most people do,” said Middendorf, who left Morgan Stanley at age 27 to found her own firm.
“It’s motivating and inspiring and I won’t say sad, but difficult, all at the same time,” she said after her annual fund-raising lunch, which raises money for the Nicole Middendorf Foundation, which supports domestic abuse survivors.
“It’s one of those days—look at how far I’ve come,” she said about the anniversary of her phone call. “I had tried to call numerous times. And before the kids were born, I had tried to get out. But in any type of tumultuous relationship when there’s that cycle of abuse, I went through that way too many years, way too many times.”
What changed? “When it involved the kids. So many victims allow stuff to happen to themselves for so long, but when it involves two little children….” she said. “The more I share my story, the more I can help other people.”
One of those people spoke at that day’s luncheon. The foundation selected her as a participant in its Restart Program, gave her an office space to use, bought her necessities and some Christmas items and helped her get out. “Just knowing that someone believed me gave me hope,” the woman said, adding that the situation improved immediately for her and her children. “Everything was better. We are still in court, but we can laugh and be happy and we can have friends over for the first time.”
Middendorf calls for nominations each October and selects two women to support with whatever they need, including financial planning advice and volunteer coaches to help with the transformation from victim to survivor.
Her latest venture is Live It List, a travel company she named after her own renamed version of the “bucket list” many people pursue before they die. The idea is don’t wait, do it now while you can. For her, that started with driving a real racecar on a speedway in Las Vegas.
“I rappelled down the Ecolab building in St. Paul. This year I took my kids to Africa, they’re 13 and 14. It was an amazing experience,” she said. At first checking off her list “was to give me a distraction, but it boosted my confidence—any time I could swim with sharks, or go dog sledding, or go ziplining, anything I did when I was extremely scared.”
She asks her clients what’s on their Live It List? “What’s the money for? So many times, people just focus so much on the money. We just take a different approach to financial planning,” she said, adding advice for living well no matter your past.
“Life isn’t fair. That’s the thing for all of us. If I can take my experience and use it to help other people, I just believe that’s my why.”
For more information on the Nicole Middendorf Foundation, reach out here.
