We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kori Whisenant. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kori below.
Hi Kori, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I have always loved helping people. That’s one thing that has never changed. However, law was not my first choice in career. I went to college to become a psychologist. I loved the study of the mind and how we interact with one another. I got to my junior year in college and found out that I would be forced to publish articles and studies in order to get my masters degree. I had zero desire to be forced to create experiments and document them just to fulfill a requirement. I, therefore, went to my advisor and asked where I could go from there considering a masters degree would be essential to moving forward as a psychologist.
His answer will stick with me for the rest of my life. He asked me “have you ever thought about going to law school?”. I looked at him with a bit of a scowl on my face and said “ummm no. I have no interest in politics or things like that.” He then said “Stop there. Being a lawyer does not always mean being political. Are you aware that lawyers are counselors too?” That truly stopped me in my tracks.
He then gave me a challenge. He said “I want you to do something for me. I want you to take this class, Psychology and the Law. If you hate it, and I want to know specific reasons why you do, then I will allow you to withdraw without a trace on your record and I will re-enroll you in another course. However, if you love it, consider going to law school. I took his challenge and took the class….I bet you know what happened. I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT.
I started my applications for law school that very next day. My advisor took me to the law school on my campus and introduced me to all of the deans and faculty. I found out later, after I was accepted, that that they remembered me from that day when my application came across their desks and that they really liked me.
I could not have asked for a better advisor and he truly shaped my life for the better.
Fast forward to law school where I found my passion. I am an analytical person. I love making sure everything is in order and all “i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed.” I found that the study of Wills and Trusts was right up my alley. It is a mixture of the human element of emotion and need, and the requirements of being in order and precise. It is a beautiful blend of my love of helping others and counseling them through making these sometimes difficult decisions as well as meticulously capturing their wishes in legal documents.
The journey I’ve been on from being certain at the age of 18 that I was going to be a psychologist, to the point where I had already picked out office furniture, to finding my true purpose and passion in the law has been a wild and fulfilling ride. I have learned so much to get where I am, and I am so excited to see where it takes me next.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
My title is a Legacy Planner. Most people would recognize what I do as Estate Planning, but it’s so much more. I focus on helping my clients not only prepare the documents that protect themselves as well as their families, but I also help them cultivate the mindset that allows them to teach their future generations how to build and maintain the legacy they are creating. I also show them that generational wealth can be creating no matter what your budget. So many believe that you have to come from money in order to have wealth. That isn’t further from the truth. Anyone can build generational wealth if you have the right people assisting and teaching you.
I work primarily with parents who have children ages 0-26. I love this demographic because I too a a mother with young 2 young sons and I want to do for my client’s children what I would do for my own. I also love getting in on the ground floor with families as they are starting out their financial journeys so that I can assist them to build a legacy plan that will grow and evolve with them. I am definitely not a one-touch attorney. I want to be with my families throughout this journey. I love every minute of what I do.
I truly believe that my background in psychology makes me a truly unique attorney because I take the human element very seriously. I care just as much about the “why” behind your choices/decisions as I do about “what” they are. Most of the time Estate Planning decisions are ruled by fear. This could be a “good” fear (i. e.: the birth of a baby, a new marriage, a new home) where you want to protect your new life/asset.) It could also be a “bad” fear (i. e.: the death of a loved one where you are now named executor) where you really want to avoid having your family go through the same situation. I want to talk through those fears so that I can create a plan that is specific to the client and helps to calm and make those fears disappear.
I know that Estate/Legacy planning can be a daunting task that sometimes gets pushed to the back burner. This is why I have created a new FREE challenge for anyone 18 and over to participate in. It’s called “Procrastination to Prepared in 5 Days”. I am going to lead my challengers through creating the blueprint for an estate plan 1 day at a time for 5 days. I am taking the stress and mental road blocks out of the process by making it easy and fun. I would love to help as many people as I can take the first and hardest step of just starting the process.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
This is a very interesting question. I like it!
Hmm…my 3 qualities:
1) My compassion
2) My ability to pivot
3) My ability to not be afraid to ask for help.
I would say that my compassion has lead me to always want to help people and to be there to listen. I truly care about my clients and making sure that they are taken care of in the best possible way.
I also have learned that life doesn’t always go the way you want or think it should. You have to be able to see when a change is necessary and be brave enough to make it. I am so thankful that I had the faith and courage to pivot and didn’t stay stuck whenever a road-block was put in my path.
I also am so thankful that I reached out to those that I knew more than I did when I needed help. Sometimes asking for help feels like a weakness and we don’t want to burden people. However, when you don’t know something, keeping silent is sometimes an equivalent to giving up in my opinion. You have to have the courage to speak up and ask for help. I am SO thankful I did. I do want to point out that this also comes with the skill of surrounding yourself with people that will be willing to assist you and that are knowledgeable in your area. This is something I had to cultivate and has been invaluable.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
The book “We Should All Be Millionaires” by Rachel Rodgers has been a true cornerstone in my development as a entrepreneur. I read this book back in November of 2022 and it truly changed my whole perspective of being in business for myself.
I learned the value of surrounding yourself with your “Million Dollar Squad”. These are the people who also believe in the abundance of the universe and believe that they too could and will be millionaires. They have the growth mindset and will challenge you to be the best version of you.
I learned that no matter what you start out as, you can always be more if you want to and BELIEVE that you can.
Finally, I learned about my relationship with money and how it had to change in order for me to get to the next level.
DEFINITELY READ THIS BOOK!!!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kwhisenantlaw.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/k.e.whisenantlaw/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kwhisenantlaw/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/koriwhisenant/
Image Credits
Katie Garlock
