Tuesdays with Corey interview with Kate Allison, Ellen Diehl, and Kristin Curcio

Kate Allison is the successful Membership Director at The Georgian Club, a private high end dining club located in the Galleria area of Atlanta.

Ellen Diehl is a candidate for GA House District and has extensive experience in the group benefits space.

Kristin Curcio is an investment advisor with Capital Investment Advisors (CIA). Kristin has over ten years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining CIA, she worked for Goldman, Sachs and Co. and Morgan Stanley in New York City. There she worked extensively with several divisions of the firm including Private Wealth Management, Sales and Trading, Investment Banking and Investment Research. Kristin is also a contributing writer for CIA. Her articles focus on women and finance. Kristin is focused on helping others achieve their financial planning goals and strives to help every client make sound financial decisions. Connecting with her clients and helping them find the best solutions to meet their needs is of utmost importance. A graduate from Agnes Scott College, Kristin loves the Atlanta area. She returned here in 2013 after living in Manhattan and San Francisco for over 15 years. Kristin has two boys Jake and Luke. She has a passion for health and fitness and is a Certified Health Coach. Kristin is also an avid tennis player and served as captain of her college tennis team for four years. Community service is important to Kristin as she has held positions on nearly ten volunteer boards over the past several years.

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it's time for Atlanta Business Radio, spotlighting the city's best businesses and the people who lead them.

Katy Galli: Hi, everyone. And welcome to another episode of Tuesdays with Corey on Atlanta Business Radio. I'm here today with, of course, our host, Corey Rieck with The Long Term Care Planning Group. So, how are you doing, Corey?

Corey Rieck: I'm doing great. Katy. Thank you very much.

Katy Galli:Yeah, of course. So, who did you bring in studio with you today?

Corey Rieck: We have another great show today, Katy. Today on the show, we have Kate Allison. Kate, welcome.

Kate Allison: Thank you.

Corey Rieck: Kate is the Membership Director at the Georgian Club. We have Ellen Diehl, who has a great deal of experience as an independent insurance agent and is also a political candidate. Ellen, welcome.

Ellen Diehl: Thank you very much.

Corey Rieck:And also, Kristin Curcio, who is an investment advisor with Capital Investment Advisors here in Atlanta. Kristin, welcome.

Kristin Curcio : Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Corey Rieck: Well, today we're going to start off our interview by talking to Kate Allison. And Kate, welcome to the show.

Kate Allison: Thank you.

Corey Rieck: So, Kate, tell the listenership about your history and a little bit about you, and your work experience, and how you landed as the membership director at the Georgian Club.

Kate Allison: Sure, great. Well, I am Georgia-born. Born in Warner Robins. I'm actually a military brat. So, I have lived-

Corey Rieck: Born in of Vegas.

Kate Allison: Yes, as they call it, I lived in a lot of different places, but I found myself back here for college, at KSU. So, not too far from here, Kennesaw State. I went there.

Corey Rieck: How did you make the decision to go to KSU?

Kate Allison: We lived nearby, and all my friends were going. That's what you do in high school and go to college.

Corey Rieck: I remember those days.

Kate Allison: They had a great criminal justice program, which is what I was originally going to be going into when I was 18. So, from there, after Kennesaw State, I went over to Georgia State for a little while, continuing my criminal justice degree. But after that, I kind of dropped out wanting to figure out if that was really where I was headed and, actually, decided that hospitality was something that I was more interested in, which is how I ended up with the Georgian Club and the parent company, which is Futren Hospitality.

Corey Rieck:Well, you're clearly very good about delivering hospitality and helping people. It's been my experience. Was there some sort of turning point somewhere where you decided, "Hey, I need to move in a different direction than the criminal justice thing"?

Kate Allison: Yeah. I started with Futren Hospitality. It's one of their more bigger clubs. This is Indian Hills Country Club in Marietta.

Corey Rieck: Know it well.

Kate Allison: I was there in college when I was still at Kennesaw State, working there part time, and realized that I just really love the people business. I love hospitality. And I just wanted to continue with that instead.

Corey Rieck:What do you like best about your role as Membership Director at the Georgian Club?

Kate Allison: The sales aspect. I mean, that's a little different-

Corey Rieck Gee, I never would have picked up on that.

Kate Allison: I know, right? Gosh. The sales aspect, I mean, for me, is something that's a little bit of my background as retail sales. I worked at a jewelry store for a little while, as well as many other jobs that I've had. But the sales aspect of really talking to people, getting to know people, wanting to understand what they need out of business, out of their life generally. And so, the Georgian Club is very much a lifestyle that we're trying to sell and trying to, of course, help people improve their business, improve networking. And, of course, just create a nice home away from home for them.

Corey Rieck: Describe how the Georgian Club might be different than other clubs that are similar.

Kate Allison: I would say, for the most part, we are very much member-oriented, which most clubs are, but we pride ourselves on a very superior service, getting to know our members, and not just what they're there for a day of, but specifically who they are outside of the club, so that we can always be sure to connect with them on that level.

Corey Rieck: Yeah. My experience in 18 to 19 years with the club has always been very positive, and people would bend over backwards to assist and help out, whether it's making a dinner reservation or doing some things business-wise. I can't say enough good things about how supportive the club has been.

Kate Allison: Good to hear.

Corey Rieck: Walk us through a typical day that you experience for the listenership and your role there.

Kate Allison: Sure. Well, like most jobs, most careers are going to have paperwork. It's a lot of paperwork. Especially the morning I, typically, as they call it, eat frog in the morning. So, I do all the paperwork first thing, get it out of the way. And then, from there it's, really, eat the frog, it's a good one there.

Corey Rieck: I'm smiling. It doesn't show up on radio. I'm laughing to myself. Eat the frog. I love it.

Kate Allison: It's one that I've heard before. So, I tend to use it. But so, paperwork first. After that, as we get later on in my day, I tend to like to go out to what we called floor, the rest of the club, and really start mingling with the members that are there, introducing myself if I haven't met them before. And then, after that, it's lunchtime. It's calling prospective members, trying to get some tours in, trying to make sure that ... if you've never been there before, it doesn't make a lot of sense to join a club unless you understand what we're offering, and what we can do for you as a business professional.

Corey Rieck: If you can, maybe give the listeners sort of a virtual tour of the club. And I know there's a lot of meeting rooms there. To me, it's almost overwhelming with all of the different things that you do to set things up. I mean, there's breakfast. You can have private rooms. You can have workshops there at night. You can have dinners. You have events.

Kate Allison: Yes. So, we are in the 100 building of the Galleria, Cobb Galleria. So, very similar to where we're at today. And great building. So, you go up to the 17th floor, you have this amazing skyline view of Atlanta.

Corey Rieck: That is cool.

Kate Allison: It's a very cool view. It's certainly something that you don't get everywhere. So, that's obviously one big aspect of it. And then, of course, once you go in, typically, we have a greeter there. So, it's really nice as a member to be able to walk in, and they know who you are. They know what you're there for. So, it's a great sort of entrance into the club. And then, from there, we have our lobby bar area, which is open Monday through Friday. So, of course, you can start lunch at 11:00, and you can be there all day if you want. Typically, we have sports on for those people who aren't working. And then, from there, we also have our meetings spaces. We've got eight different spaces. We serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Monday through Friday, dinners on Saturday nights. We do weddings. We do life events. Anything you can think of, typically, we're gonna do that there.

Corey Rieck: Sure. Business lunches, the banquets, wedding showers. I mean, it might be easier for us to talk about the things that Georgian Club does not do.

Kate Allison: That's probably, yes, which is a few, at least. We do a lot of speaker series as well. So, the networking aspect comes in to our speaker series today. In fact, we have a film industry gentleman coming in to do a big speech on how that's affecting our Georgia economy.

Corey Rieck: And I'm assuming, obviously, we're not going to be there today, but the Georgian Club does do a lot of really nice things to help folks with their business. The speaker series is yet another in a long list of value added things that you get when you join the club.

Kate Allison: Correct.

Corey Rieck: What do you like best about what you do?

Kate Allison: For me, again, it's people. I enjoy talking to new people, meeting new people, understanding how and why they are at the club. And for me, really just getting to that point where I've helped them either in joining the club, or if it's an event that they're trying to plan, something that really helps them further their business or even just personally, they need the space for a life event of some kind.

Corey Rieck: I think one word that I would use to describe the experience with the club is responsiveness. I don't ever recall having to ask twice for things. And things are always done in a sort of sincere, unobtrusive matter with the idea that, "Hey, let's help out the member, and get that, and get that done." What do you see are the challenges in your role for the club?

Kate Allison: This year, specifically, as I'm very new to this role, I started it back in September. Before that, of course, I was at our parent company, Futren Hospitality. So, coming into this role in a new sort of way, trying to do things a little bit differently, I have discovered, number one, that we've discovered this year the tax changes that just happened. So, a lot of our corporate memberships, a lot of our umbrella memberships have had some changes that they've had to make with us. So, that's certainly been challenging.

Corey Rieck: What sort of changes, if you can talk about that?

Kate Allison: Sure, yeah. So, I think, at least, the biggest one that I have discovered is gonna be the expense report that's expensing different dinners and lunches that you would have with clients that you could expense later on are now being cut down. So, you can only expense 50% of those lunches and those dinners. So, it's, I think, changing the way that people are doing business with us. So, this is sort of challenging for us to get them back in the club and realizing that there are other ways that we can help you do business that's still good for you and a way for you to be able to go back to the boss and say, "I still had this launch, and we can still expense this somehow."

Corey Rieck: Given the tax changes, what input would you give the members? You've mentioned that there might be other ways to go about this. Business development is gonna happen with us over breakfast or lunch. I'm just curious about what your thoughts would be in response to the tax changes on behalf of the club.

Kate Allison: Yeah. So, obviously, this has been a big conversation for us as we've had a lot of changes in this respect. So, right now, my biggest thing going into this conversation with anybody who is asking is it used to be 100% that you could expense. Now, it is 50%. So, now, our challenge and what I've been telling our prospective or members currently is that we're gonna do our best to still make this a breakfast, or lunch, or dinner business meeting that is going to be successful for you. And if there's anything that we can do to make it something that is going to help you close this deal or be able to bring them back in the future, we're gonna do that regardless of what that takes for us.

Corey Rieck: Well, that's certainly been my experience and the fact that we can't necessarily expense out 100% of the meals. I mean, people have to eat. They still have to get business development done. And your organization provides a great atmosphere in order to do that.

Kate Allison: Right. I mean, we pride ourselves on our service. It's what sets us apart from most other clubs. So, that's what we focus on.

Corey Rieck:So, the other thing that's impressive about the branding and what the club has done is that there are sort of alliances that you have other clubs, country clubs. Walk us through that. Explain that to us.

Kate Allison: Sure. So, as just a general Georgian Club member, you get access to about 600 other clubs around the world, what they call reciprocal relationships, with anything from other business clubs, country clubs, athletic clubs. And that's in the States, and that's also abroad. And then, we also have access to another company under Futren Hospitality is the National Alliance of Private Clubs. And that gives you access to clubs here in the Atlanta area. So, that's going to be the City Club of Buckhead or the 1818 club. As a Georgian Club member, you add on that extra benefit, and it gets you extra access to clubs here in the Atlanta area.

Corey Rieck: And then, the golf courses too.

Kate Allison: Correct.

Corey Rieck: You're connected to a fair amount of them as well.

Kate Allison: Oh, yes. So, for our avid golfers, we have a lot of different connections to golf clubs in Atlanta, outside of Atlanta. I couldn't name them all. There's so many.

Corey Rieck: Yeah, they've done an excellent job of connecting themselves with other clubs that might benefit from having access to your members. What do you think is the best thing about the Alliance Program?

Kate Allison: For me, as I am now also an Alliance member as well as a Georgian Club member just on my own, I would say the biggest benefit is going to be all the extra VIP tickets that they offer. So, what I tell everyone, it's a concierge service. So, you get this access to all the group tickets that they buy without having to pay those extra fees. I don't have to go online and look myself. I call up a real person. I say, "Hey, I want tickets to the Braves game, Falcons game. I want to go to these concerts."

Corey Rieck: The Masters.

Kate Allison: The Masters. Yeah, they sell tons of Masters tickets.

Corey Rieck: You're kidding me.

Kate Allison: No. Oh, no. Oh, my gosh. I wouldn't have asked-

Corey Rieck: That would have been helpful to know a month ago.

Kate Allison: Well, are you an Alliance member, Mr. Rieck?

Corey Rieck: Let's talk about this later. So, how many members is the Georgian Club have?

Kate Allison: We go back and forth anywhere from 750 to 800.

Corey Rieck:Is there a target amount that the club is shooting for?

Kate Allison: Honestly, we're right where we would like to be. It's a pretty good spot for us in that 750 range. We're able to accommodate, for the most part, on all of our members, whether it'd be meeting spaces or reservations for a la carte.

Corey Rieck: So, of the 750 to 800 members, what percentage is corporate? And percent is just individual? Any idea?

Kate Allison: It's probably at 70/30. So, about 70% of them are individual residents. Some of them may be senior. Some of them may be-

Corey Rieck: Be careful now. Some of us are knocking on the door of that S word.

Kate Allison: When I say senior, I just mean that you have lived life.

Corey Rieck: People like me. That's what you mean, right?

Kate Allison: At all. Not even close. And then, the rest of them are gonna be corporate memberships. And that's one individual member or it could be a full 10-person umbrella.

Corey Rieck: What do you think is the most utilized thing at the club by the members?

Kate Allison: It's gonna be our private meeting spaces, for sure, whether it'd be events, or if it's business lunches, or breakfast. Those are definitely the most used.

Corey Rieck: Yeah, that is a big advantage. I've used that. And I've had a great experience with that. So, when you're not working, and my experience is you work a good bit over there, how do you spend your free time?

Kristin Curcio : I live in Kennesaw. So, it's at about 40 minutes from here. And I have a couple of dogs, and I'm married.

Corey Rieck: What kind of of dogs?

Kristin Curcio : They're a couple of rescues. So, one of them's a pitbull boxer hound, and the other one's a hound Rottweiler, scared of their own shadows. We do a lot of hiking. We do some rock climbing. Not the dogs, just me and my husband. I run a lot.

Corey Rieck: That's good.

Kristin Curcio : Yeah, outdoorsy.

Corey Rieck: Well, it's good to run off the great food that you probably are eating at the Georgian Club.

Kate Allison: Yeah, I eat too much food.

Corey Rieck: There's no shortage of that.

Kate Allison] Yes. Yes. Too much pasta for me, so I run.

Corey Rieck: Where do you see yourself in five years, Kate?

Kate Allison: Five years, I hope to still be at the Georgian Club. I hope to have grown. My biggest goal right now is to grow our Young Professional Program. That's a big deal for me. And so, I hope, in five years, that's a big program with a lot of new members.

Corey Rieck: How about 10 years and beyond?

Kate Allison: 10 years and beyond? I don't know. I'm a short-term goal kind of girl.

Corey Rieck: I understand that. That's certainly an interesting question. In closing, what advice would you give your younger self knowing what you know now?

Kate Allison: I would say follow what I want to do as opposed to what other people think I should do.

Corey Rieck: Excellent.

Kate Allison: A big one for me..

Corey Rieck: Excellent advice for anybody.

Kate Allison: Yes.

Corey Rieck: If there was a young lady that wanted to follow your path, what would you tell her?

Kate Allison: I would probably tell her ... gosh, it's a really good question. What would I tell myself? Probably something similar, but probably more in the aspect of a really pursue early what you want to do, what you're really passionate about, not necessarily what makes money or what's going to look good on the resume, but what you're really passionate about.

Corey Rieck Absolutely. Spot on. Sound advice, Kate. Thank you. You've been a great guest. And if our listenership wanted to get a hold of you, how would they do that? Maybe phone number or email address?

Kate Allison: Yeah. They could definitely contact me at the Georgian Club. Our phone number is 770-952-6000. And my email address is kallison@georgianclub.com.

Corey Rieck: Kate, you've been an excellent guest. We appreciate you taking some time.

Kate Allison: Exactly.

Corey Rieck: Thanks so much.

Kate Allison: Thank you.

Corey Rieck: Ellen, welcome.

Ellen Diehl: Hello there. How are you, Corey?

Corey Rieck: I'm very good. We have Ellen Diehl here. And Ellen has a great deal of business experience. And without going into it, I'll just have you introduce yourself and kind of your background and experience for the listenership.

Ellen Diehl: Sure. Great. Well, I am Ellen Diehl. And in September of 2016, I left corporate America and formed my own LLC. And with a last name like Diehl, I had to take advantage of that. So, my company is iDiehl Solutions. And I won't go into the whole details because I think Corey's got some great questions for me that will flush everything out. But I just had to be 20 years in what I call corporate America, working for large companies like Humana, Blue Cross, Kaiser. And arriving at these organizations in a sales capacity, hitting my goals. And then after a few years, when you keep hitting your goals, what they do is they raise your goals. So, I'm thinking, "Well, I've already worked as hard as I possibly can. And now, you're raising my goal. So, I would make a change and go somewhere else." And that cycle would just repeat itself until I finally realized I can do this for myself. And if my bosses said, "Bleep," then well, that's my problem because I would be the boss.

Corey Rieck: So, what what do you think, what are the top two or three things you maybe learned in your corporate experience do you think?

Ellen Diehl: Top two things that I learned in my corporate experience is ... oh, this is terrible because it's going to sound negative. Be careful who you trust.

Corey Rieck: I think that's sound advice.

Ellen Diehl: Yeah. And just do your best, do the right thing.

Corey Rieck: Excellent. So, you have a lot of insurance industry-related experience. What led you to that?

Ellen Diehl: A lot of people that I know, including myself, stumbled into the insurance industry.

Corey Rieck: Now what? Hang on. What does that mean?

Ellen Diehl: It means, at the time, I was looking for work, and I ended up as pretty much a gofer girl at an insurance company. I ran quotes. I made coffee. That was back in the day when girls still fetched coffee. And it was all right. And every two years, I kept getting promoted. So, I would get-

Corey Rieck: That's not exactly a shock to me.

Ellen Diehl: Yeah. So, I would get exposed to the job the first year. And then, the second year I would perfect it and move on up. So, I went from quote runner, coffee, setter, to service rep, to account manager, and then sales. So, before I knew it, I was in sales and just really enjoyed that a lot because the flexibility, you're in the office, you're out of the office, you're dealing with lots of different people. And just when you think you have everything figured out, there's something new to learn.

Corey Rieck: Now, you're right about that. It sounds like you've got a great deal of experience in your travels, and in prepping for calls, and so on. What did you like best about that?

Ellen Diehl: Best about sales? Well, it's a shame, sometimes, people will harp on the bad customers. But really, nine out of 10 customers are a delight and a joy to deal with. And happy to interact with people, myself, and the people that supported me. But what I really like was when I would get a compliment on something that I thought was just standard, like returning a phone call quickly, or following through on what you say you're going to do. And it wasn't until years into this experience that I realized I was interviewing for something, and I keep a folder. Like every, year there's a folder, and it's just labeled plus. It's got a big plus sign on it. And I put emails in there where people have said, "Oh, thank you. Great job."

Ellen Diehl: And I walked into this interview with a folder, my plus folder, And they're like, "What is this?" And I said, "It's just people that have told me, 'Good job.'" They're like, "Why do you have this?" I'm like, "Because people have told me I've done a good job." And he was like, "Well, no. I mean, why are they telling you that?" I'm like, "Apparently, I'm doing a good job." Well, this person that I was interviewing with had never seen such a thing before. So, that's when I realized just doing the basics and doing the right thing is actually exemplary.

Corey Rieck: It doesn't always happen like you think it should. I know, in my experience moving here after I escaped the frozen tundra of Minneapolis in April of '97, getting a return phone call and getting folks to show up on time, what seems like rudimentary things don't often always happen. And I think it's easy for those of us that do those things to take them for granted. But it's not something that always happens. It sounds like you have a lot of health insurance-related experience. How did you land specifically in that? Was that something that you really gravitated toward? I mean, with so many different segments within the insurance industry, how did you land there?

Ellen Diehl: Well, obviously, I think God direct me to the right place that suited my personality. But my personality is very positive, very energetic. I often don't hear the word no. So, if someone is sugar coating bad news for me, I don't hear it. You better be very, very direct that this is no. And that suits itself well to sales because you're gonna get told no by a customer. And if I took no-

Corey Rieck: Were you told no?

Ellen Diehl: Yes, yes, but that's okay because you have to go back. So, someone may say no to you one day. Well, then, a few days later or the next week, you've got to go knock on that door, pick up that phone, and call that person again, and ask them again. So, it's okay. No is not a problem. It's just another stepping stone towards yes. But as far as how I got into this, the places where I worked there, there were openings in the small group areas, and it just seemed to suit my personality. The speed of the sale. I've tried larger sales before, and while they are good and you make more money, it's a much longer sales cycle, and my energy level is more suited towards things that just there's stuff going on every week.

Corey Rieck: You mentioned small group. Is there a certain size of employees that that represents?

Ellen Diehl: Typically, it's two to 50 employees. Some people might refer to it as two to a hundred. Yeah.

Corey Rieck: With everything going on with health care, and there's been a lot of talk, and certainly over the last 10 years, what are your thoughts on that, given your large corporate insurance industry experience and given what we're about to talk about next?

Ellen Diehl: Right. So, I started selling in 1996. And-.

Corey Rieck: I think it's probably been a lot longer than that.

Ellen Diehl: What?

Corey Rieck: You selling. Parents, allowance.

Ellen Diehl: You might have tapped into something. Yes, I think I was born in sales, but my family tried to hide that from me. So, yes. But when I got my first paying job for sales, it was 1996. And at the time, a small business center, let's say you had a plumbing company with 10 employees, the cost of health insurance per month for one employee was $100. So, a plumbing company with 10 employees, $100, that's $1000 a month. People are getting a really souped up fantastic PPO plan. Well, fast forward to now, the cost of a single person in that same group is close to $700. So, the employer is having to pass along the cost to the employee. Well, at $700, $350 a month to an employee, $350 dollars a month to an employer is not very affordable. And the plans we're seeing offered have huge deductibles. So, the affordable portion of health insurance is not really affordable, and it's weighing on small businesses tremendously. I'm actually very involved with my local chamber of commerce and reaching out to small businesses to find out what affects them as far as health insurance goes. And then, also legislative issues, which is probably what you're alluding to.

Corey Rieck: So, you threw your hat in the political ring recently. You're running for office. Tell the listenership about how you got there, how your experience has been, what your thoughts are.

Ellen Diehl: Right. Thank you. So, locally here in the House of Representatives across the State of Georgia, you have a representative. You probably don't know who they are. And there's 180 of them across the State of Georgia. So, I'm running for House District 81, which is in DeKalb County, and it's got Chamblee, Doraville, Tucker. And when the health insurance world started to go tilt, that's when I started to think somebody has got to do something. And I found myself saying, "Somebody has got to do something," long enough. And one day, I heard the words ring back in my ears, "You're somebody." And I thought, "Oh, no, I'm going to have to do something."

So, I threw my hat in the ring. And in 2019, the Federal Government is going to be giving block grants of money to the states and basically saying, 'Here's your money. Georgia. Go figure it out." We've got a few people in the Georgia legislator, Slater, that know a little bit about health insurance, but I'm going to be the only person there that has sat across the table from a small business owner and said, "Here's your 30% increase for the third year in a row," or talk to an individual who's trying to cover themself and two children, and they're having to work three jobs to pay enough for their health insurance.

It's probably no surprise to anyone here that the cost of health insurance is now more than a mortgage. So, I'm trying to find creative solutions on. So, the business and the political tie-ins are tremendous. It's like they're two parallel tracks. I've found health insurance for myself that I was able to cut my rates in half, which I know sounds very dramatic, but it's true. And we need people in the legislature that can come up with creative ideas instead of just Medicare for all, which I may get crucified for that statement, but that won't work. And I can, in a matter of just a few questions, get people down the thought process of, "Oh, I can see how that won't work," if I can just have conversations.

Corey Rieck: Obviously, you would be, to me, a very appropriate person to have in there as somebody with a lot of localized knowledge and specialized knowledge with the insurance industry, especially specifically health care. I would think that would be extremely valuable in your role running for public office and, certainly, a differentiating point because this is on a lot of people's minds. I used to, in the '90s, sell pharmaceuticals, implantable medical devices. And so, have a lot of experience with doctors and hospitals. And it seems like, I think we all ... it seems to me we all recognize we need to do something. We can't really agree on what that something might be. Do you have any thoughts on what the companies, the manufacture pharmaceuticals, the implantable medical devices, the hospitals, do you have any thoughts on that?

Ellen Diehl: Yeah, there's not a one size fits all. So, for the government to have come in and said, "Bronze, silver, gold plans. This will solve everything," not really. We didn't have to restructure the entire system because it was about 7% of the population that needed help, and they needed to be in a high risk pool. And Georgia had a high risk pool set up, but it wasn't funded. Funded means money. So, the risk pool was set up, but there was no money in it. So, it'd be like jumping in a swimming pool with no water in it. You don't want to do that. And the way-

Corey Rieck: Yeah, there are other things they'd probably rather do.

Ellen Diehl: Yeah.

Corey Rieck: And I heard one person use a great analogy. They're like, "Well, it'd be like if you needed to replace the roof on your home, about 7% of the cost of your home, and you decided to just demolish and rebuild the entire home." It wasn't necessary. It didn't need to be done. We just needed different avenues. You hear people talk about wanting catastrophic coverage. What they're saying is, "I'll be responsible for the first $$5000, $10,000, $15,000." I know one lady that has $20,000 in her HSA, but there's not a plan out there that she can purchase that has a $20,000 deductible that will fit her HSA because the government has put the ACA Law. And it is a law into place. So, we need different options. Before the Affordable Care Act came along, you had PPOs, you had high deductible plans, you had limited benefit plans, you had short term plans, a number of different things that all fell under the heading of major medical. But when the ACA came along, it said, "If you are not bronze, silver or gold, you are breaking the law. You are not a legitimate major medical plan."

It seems like there maybe could be some halftime adjustments made and some different adjustments made where more folks could get access to that. When you decided to run for office, was that scary?

Ellen Diehl: I prayed about it for months before making the decision when I made the decision. It wasn't scary. But what's happened since has been kind of scary. I mean, it's good, It's exciting, I'm learning every day. I wake up every morning with just tons of energy, thank goodness, because it takes a lot of energy to work a full-time job and run a full-time campaign. And when I say scary, it's just the amount of things that there are to learn, it's just been exponential. And the growth, my personal growth and the amount of knowledge them accumulating is more than I ever expected. I didn't know I had it in me. And I'm very happy that I do.

Corey Rieck: Well, you certainly do, I think. So, you decided to run for office when exactly?

Ellen Diehl: I started thinking about it in June of 2017, and I declared - I'm using air quotes around declared - you go down to the ethics commission, and you fill out paperwork, and you declare that you're going to run, which allows you to start fundraising because that's a big key is-

Corey Rieck: For sure.

Ellen Diehl: ... yeah, setting up an account and starting to ask your friends and family for money. Holy mackerel. Very comfortable.

Corey Rieck: So, what is the process of the election process for you, for your district?

Ellen Diehl: So, I'm very lucky that I don't have any primary competition. So, the primary ... and I'll just make it real simple for folks that might not know. The primary is when the Republican candidates compete against each other and the Democrat candidates compete against each other. And the voting is done on May 22nd of this year. And so, one person from each side comes out. And then, they duke it out in the general election. And the things that you do from point A to point B are raise money because you have to buy marketing materials, things called push cards, because you push them on people, and door hangers. You have to hire people to compile walk lists for you because I'm going to be walking the entire district. I'm going to be knocking on about 15,000 doors. So, get a look at me now because I'm probably going to lose 15 pounds.

And you have to know that the doors to knock on. If there are people that never in a million years would vote for you, don't knock on their door. If there are people in middle, you want to get to them. There's also a lot that you can do on Facebook. I'm hoping to get the Russian votes. And then, as far as phone banking, you can make a lot of phone calls and just get a lot of volunteers involved. If I could do it all on canvassing. We're doing, actually, our first canvassing, door knocking this Saturday, the 14th, starting 11:00 a.m. So, if you want to knock on the doors of strangers, come on out.

Corey Rieck: When is the election then for you?

Ellen Diehl: So, victory is November 6. And that is six months and 27 days away.

Corey Rieck: How many people will vote in that election from your district, do you think?

Ellen Diehl: To have a solid win ... last time, about 15,900 people came out to vote. So, my goal is to get about 9000 of that.

Corey Rieck: Yeah, that would put you in the winner circle.

Ellen Diehl: That would be solid.

Corey Rieck: What sets you apart to be selected and to be elected?

Ellen Diehl: As I get on and speak with different people in the district, about a third of the people know who the incumbent is, and they like him. About a third of the people know who the incumbent is, and they don't like him. And the other third of the people have no idea. So, I'm already doing things in the district to get out in the community and get exposed to the voters. But I'm not just relying on what's going on. I'm creating my own events. So, like tonight, for example, the district that we live in is very culturally diverse. I mean, we have Vietnamese, we have Indian, we have Mexican. Obviously, we have white American people. But the district itself is a great example of the microcosm of what the United States is. So, I decided to do what I call a world tour in the districts. So, tonight, we are getting a group of people together to have dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant called Nam Phuong. And-

Corey Rieck: I know this.

Ellen Diehl: Yeah. So, every couple of weeks ... would you like to come? It's tonight at 6:30.

Corey Rieck: I can't. I will be enjoying my yoga class where I have as much flexibility as this table here with my wife at 5:00.

Ellen Diehl: Very good, very good. So-

Corey Rieck: I say enjoy with air quotes, by the way.

Ellen Diehl: So, the idea is I'm getting out to the community, but I'm also trying to get the community to get out within itself. And it's not just, "Oh, only the Vietnamese people can come to Nam Phuong." I want everybody to come. And once we get a few of these going, it's going to create its own life and its own activity. So, it's about the diversity, but it's also about getting people exposed to people they wouldn't normally interact with and realizing that we're all living in this district, and we all want the same things.

Corey Rieck: In closing, what advice would you give to your younger self, Ellen?

Ellen Diehl: Buy stock in Coke and Yahoo! And get some Bitcoin early, like on the beginning. Don't wait till later.

Corey Rieck: And what advice would you give a young lady out there that's thinking about following a similar path as what you've done?

Ellen Diehl: Join a good country club as soon as possible because you're going to make a lot of great relationships there.

Corey Rieck: If people want to get a hold of you, how would they do that? Phone? E-mail address?

Ellen Diehl: My favorite way for people to get a hold of me is the phone. So, I'm just going to give my phone number. A lot of people will text. It's so funny when I say, "Call me," and then they text. So, the fastest way to reach me is by phone. And that is 770-712-9990. Again, 770-712-9990.

Corey Rieck: Ellen, you've been a great girl. Congratulations on all your success. And we appreciate you being on the show and best of luck in the election coming up in November.

Ellen Diehl: Great. Thanks, Corey.

Corey Rieck: We'd like to welcome Kristin Curcio to the show. Kristin, great to have you.

Kristin Curcio : Thank you. Thanks so much for having me today.

Corey Rieck: How is everything with you?

Kristin Curcio : Everything is great.

Corey Rieck: Well, you've got a lot of great experience. And tell us about how you landed as an investment advisor with Capital Investment Advisors here in town.

Kristin Curcio : Sure. So, the beginning of my financial experience started at the New York City. I kind of took a leap of faith. I had been living in Atlanta. And I always wanted to get to New York and somehow just found a little bit of extra ambition, and got out there, and kind of landed on Wall Street working for Goldman Sachs first, and then Morgan Stanley afterwards. And so, I did that for about 11 years. I worked in various parts of the firm, including private wealth management, compliance, investment banking, which is where I kind of ended my career at the time there. And then, took some time off, had a couple boys, and-

Corey Rieck: And they're far easier on management than girls, right?

Kristin Curcio : Far easier, yes, yes. I always laugh because when my children were young, I would look at the girl moms, and they would have it so easy. The girls would be sitting around, and cutting, and pasting, and drying, and they'd be so quiet, and the boys would just be running around. And I used to think to myself, "You're going to get payback when those girls get to be about 10, 11, 12 years old. You're gonna have a much harder time." So, right now, I'm in the sweet spot with a 12 and a 9-year-old. And basically, I just kind of describe it as, at this point, I'd rather be with them with it than without them.

Corey Rieck: Oh, that's great. So, you spent time in New York for two huge mammoth companies. What did you like about your experience with each one of those companies?

Kristin Curcio : So, I really thrived in that environment at that time. I would-

Corey Rieck: That's not a surprise to me.

Kristin Curcio : Thank you. At the time, I was single, and it was kind of just what you did. You got into that New York life where working, it was as great as almost going out socially. You wanted to be at work. You wanted to stay longer hours. The face time, actually, I didn't mind because you always wound up getting more projects. You got closer to your superiors. I really did love every part of it. Even those weeks where I'd have to take the subway down on a Sunday and spend all day, I just would get home feeling like I was accomplished, and it was good. And at the time of my life, that was what I was doing, and it was the most important thing. And I wasn't unlike most people there. Everybody kind of works in the same way.

Corey Rieck: So, you've had a lot of experience even within your industry, private wealth management, sales and trading, investment banking research. Is there anything that you liked better out of those experiences than something else?

Kristin Curcio : Yes. So, I kind of ended my ... I say end of my career at Goldman Sachs working in investment banking, which I really loved. I worked in a mergers and acquisitions group. And it was just we're on the cutting edge of everything that was about to happen. We were allowed to determine if we are going to take on new deals for new clients. It was a global position. So, we were just being in the know and everything was so exciting. And also, working with the people in banking, many of whom had degrees from the best schools and, really, the world. And it was just fascinating to be able to work under a lot of those people and really get to learn from them. So, I think that that was probably my favorite. Of course, until I'm working at Capital Investment Advisors, but that was my favorite, in my earlier financial career.

Corey Rieck: With investment banking, describe the kind of deal that you would work on.

Kristin Curcio : So, basically, I worked with all the different sectors, and I worked in a conflicts group, which basically a firm would come in, and ask all men to be their advisor on a certain deal, an acquisition, an IPO, a secondary offering, whatever it might be. And we would basically have to look at what the rest of the firm was doing. So, what banking was doing also has an impact on our research. It also has an impact on our trading desks. And so, there's a Chinese wall in investment banking firm. And so, you have to make sure that everything is on the right side of the wall. And if it looks like it could be that there is not or that there's some kind of impropriety, then we need to make those decisions. So, that was a really fun thing to be able to do.

Corey Rieck: Now, you spent time living on both coasts.

Kristin Curcio : Yes.

Corey Rieck: Is there one coast that you preferred? Certainly different experiences, it would seem.

Kristin Curcio : Yes, very different. So, New York, I loved. I laugh because I kind of feel like Mary Tyler Moore when I lived there. I'd walk out of my building every day, and throw my hat the air, and wonder what was going to happen to me that day. So, I loved that. San Francisco had its own wonderful things as well. Though, obviously that geography of San Francisco's beautiful. We lived on the bay. We lived right across from the water. We could take walks every day. I had my two children there. So, of course, it's very sentimental to me. And I also have a host of probably my very best girlfriends that are from there. So, different but you could get to a lot of cool places. We did a lot of skiing in Tahoe and could go down to Southern California. So, different but both good I would say.

Corey Rieck: So, you played tennis in college, right?

Kristin Curcio : Yes.

Corey Rieck: What did you learn from that that helps you in your role now?

Kristin Curcio: I would say the biggest thing I learned from that is time management because when I went to college, I was not partying all day long. I was either in class studying or practicing tennis. And so, I think that you just have to get a really firm grip in order to be successful in all those areas on your time and learn how to use it the best. And I think that that has helped me tremendously throughout my career, through being a mom, just being able to multitask different things. So, I think that was the biggest thing. And, of course, discipline. You have to be disciplined when you play any kind of sport. So, I think that just having that is important as well.

Corey Rieck: Well, time is your currency.

Kristin Curcio : Yes. Time is definitely your currency. Absolutely.

Corey Rieck: So, now, you have this role with Capital Investment Advisors, a prominent financial planning firm here in Atlanta. Tell the listenership about the firm and what makes you different?

Kristin Curcio : Sure. So, Capital Investment Advisors is a family-owned firm. We've been in business for about 24 years now. And we focus primarily on people that are either retired or are within five years of retirement. So, the majority of these people come in, and they're really looking for a way that's going to supplement whatever other income they have coming in in retirement, such as Social Security, pensions, rental property perhaps. Whatever streams of income they have, there's probably a gap in their monthly spending that they need to fill. So, what we do is we work with them to provide a customized solution in order for them to be able to fill that gap on a monthly basis.

Corey Rieck: So, what do you like best about working at your firm?

Kristin Curcio : I love the client relationships. I think that one of the things that CIA does that maybe sets us apart from others a little bit is that every client matters. And that's the most important thing to us. And somebody could come in with $500,000 or somebody could come in with $4 million, it doesn't matter. Everybody's treated the same, and everybody is getting phone calls on a monthly and then maybe every six-month basis. We're meeting with our clients face to face. We welcome the opportunity for them to come in whenever they want to meet with us.

Kristin Curcio : We're also a holistic financial planner. So, we're not just about their investments, but we're also looking at other things that are important to them, such as their estate planning, their long-term care planning, insurance, health insurance. Maybe they have needs from a CPA. And so, we actually have a lot of those people under the roof in our office that can also help our clients with that. So, they can come in and kind of we can kind of be a one stop shop in all those different areas. So, it's nice to be able to have the other professionals within our building, and then, of course, outside of our building who can help us with those things.

Corey Rieck: The firm is a very, very impressive. I know it's been around, what, 25 years.

Kristin Curcio : Yes.

Corey Rieck: Very, very well-thought of. And I'll tell you, two words that come to mind in my experience in helping your clients with my expertise is. You do a great job, you and the firm do a great job of creating an air of consultative engagement. And what I mean by that is you make people comfortable. People come in. They can speak freely. They can ask questions. They can disagree. And everything is very, very laid back. People really know their stuff. And I think the firm isn't shy about accessing people that have specialized knowledge if they don't have experience in it. Do you think that's accurate?

Kristin Curcio : Oh, absolutely. Our network of other professionals like yourself is so vastly important to us and to be able to connect our clients with people that can help them. And these are people that we've worked with. So, we trust and we have good relationships with. And that referral system is just so critical in our industry because there are so many ways that people can be taken advantage of these days. And to be able to refer somebody that you've worked with personally is it really worth its weight in gold.

Corey Rieck: Absolutely. So, you mentioned that Capital Investment Advisors, their sort of focus is people that are in retirement or within five years. How did the firm arrive at that client segment?

Kristin Curcio : So, really it started first with the kind of investing that the firm wanted to do, which was basically investing for income. So, as opposed to maybe a 30-year-old who is investing and wants to be invested in the fang stocks - Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google - and just wants to see their portfolio grow, we were really more focused on how can we generate income in a portfolio through ways up both, of course, dividends from blue-chip paying stocks, but also interest from bonds, distributions from alternative investments. And so, it kind of started a little bit there with the income investing portion.

And then, really seeing that the people that that really is good for those people that are in retirement because they're really looking for that income. And a lot of people don't even realize that they can generate so much income from their portfolio if it's properly put together, and if it's allocated properly, and if it's customized for their needs.

Corey Rieck: Is there a particular segment that you're focused on within the firm?

Kristin Curcio : So, I love working with everyone, but I really have loved working with the women. I have a lot of single women clients that come in that span the ages. And I love just being able to help them because I think so many of them are intimidated. They've never done it before. Perhaps, they're widowed. Perhaps, they've always been single. They haven't had a man doing it for them. And they're very nervous about it, and they're scared, and they don't really know who to trust or what to do. And so, I feel like that's really been such a blessing for me to be able to work with those people because I feel like we try to educate them, or I try to educate them a little bit, so that they feel like they're with me in it and it's a partnership as opposed to them just handing everything over to me and saying, "Here, do it. Please, you do it."

And I think that once they get more comfortable with being more educated and on it, then I think that they feel like they're part of it. And they're opening their world up also. So, I would definitely say that I really have enjoyed working with the women so much. And I do encourage, whenever I have a male client come in that's married, and his wife doesn't come with him. I always encourage him on the next meeting, please bring her with with you, because I think it's just so important for them to get to know me as a family in the event that anything unexpected happens, that that woman should know what's going on.

Corey Rieck: Yeah, from my experience with you, I think you've done a very effective job of creating a teamwork kind of environment where you're in it with the client. And my experience is extremely positive. You participated in all the meetings, you asked questions, you were heavily engaged. And that's not always the case. Do you think that the females getting insight into financial planning, do you think that that's an underserved market?

Kristin Curcio : Yes, I think it's very underserved. I think that a lot of times ... I think two things, though. I think that women don't realize how important it is for them to be able to understand it, number one, but also, I think that they're so scared, and many are very scared and intimidated by it. I think we've been kind of taught us as a society for all these years that math and investing is really for the men to take care of. And the reality is that it's not. And we live in a society where a lot of women are getting married older, and they need to start early investing. People also don't understand that investing has to start in your 20s when you have your first job. And even if you can only contribute a tiny amount to your 401(k), start there and start to learn the principles of how much you should be saving a month out of every paycheck. So, I do think it's an underserved market that could be much more greatly served than what it is right now. And I think that part of that is just getting women to understand why it's so important for them to understand it.

Corey Rieck: Do you think a big part of being a financial advisor is being able to make people feel at ease, making them feel free to ask questions?

Kristin Curcio : Absolutely. I think that they need to feel at ease. And I think that they need to feel a trust immediately in you. And a lot of times, first meetings, you can get a lot about a person. And I just think that if you have an uneasy feeling, it's probably the right one. I think if you're with a financial advisor, you immediately want to feel like this person has my best interests at heart. And in line with that is that our firm is a fiduciary, which means that we have to do what's right, what's best for the clients, not what's suitable for the clients. And there's a fine line there, but there's a definitive line. And so, that is the way that we operate, again, as a fiduciary. And a lot of people are hearing this rule out there a lot now with the recent fiduciary rule that's gone into place for a lot of the other brokerage firms that haven't had it in place before. So, I always suggest to anybody, whether you're at CIA or whatever kind of investment advisor you're going to, make sure that they are a fiduciary.

Corey Rieck: If you had to counsel our listenership on how to go about finding a financial advisor, what would you tell them?

Kristin Curcio : Sure. So, I would say the most important thing that you want to look for is a fee-only financial advisor.

Corey Rieck: Why do you say that?

Kristin Curcio : And what this means is that a fee-only financial advisor means that you pay for a percentage of the assets that the advisor is managing for you. They do not get any commissions. They don't get any extra fees. There's no kickbacks. For example, our firm, we do not sell any proprietary products. We don't sell insurance. We don't sell annuities. Our only charge is what we're charging to manage our assets. So, a lot of times, if you go to a fee-based advisor, then what's happening is you've not really sure what you're paying for because part of what you're paying them might be going to the products that they're selling to you. And so, you really want to make sure that you know exactly what you're paying for. And if if the advisor cannot transparently show you what you're paying for, then it's probably not a great thing.

Corey Rieck: There's a lot of people out there being taken advantage of. So, how would you tell people to put them in a position where that is less likely to happen?

Kristin Curcio : So, I think one thing is if you can ever get a referral to a financial advisor, I would say that that's probably the number one way to be able to ensure. If somebody else has had a good experience with someone, that's a good thing. I think that for maybe an elderly woman, if she's got a son or daughter that she can take, or a trusted friend, or maybe even a CPA, or other advisor that she can take with her to interview someone and to sit down with them, I think that that's important. We see so many issues with elder care abuse in so many different areas of our society. And certainly, the financial planning area is one of them. So, I think that taking somebody along is a good thing as well. Also, for people, no matter where you live, there is a directory of fee-only advisors. It's the National Association of Professional Financial Associates. So, people can look there also. You can look online. You could just simply put in your zip code, and you'll find a fee-only advisor in your area.

Corey Rieck: Do you think women are getting more and more informed about financial planning because of everything that's happened the last 15-20 years?

Kristin Curcio : I think because we've had so many bad stories in the media that have been maybe not glamorized, but certainly that we've heard over and over. And I think, definitely, in 2008 when things happened. But yes, I think that because we're hearing more about these things on mainstream media that women are becoming more informed about them. Yes. And I think that they're also seeing that ... we're seeing these statistics that come out that are telling us that people have $35,000 at retirement. And we've seen a lot of more scarier statistics coming out the last few years than we had before. So, I think that when women are seeing these, then they're ... yes, I think that they're starting to get a little bit nervous and maybe that's prompting them to do a little bit more about it.

Corey Rieck: Is there a certain kind of client, a certain kind of female client that you're looking for? Age? Is there any sort of metrics? Are there any sort of metrics that you're looking for in potential clients for you personally?

Kristin Curcio : I don't think that there are any certain metrics. I have women that range from, say, 40 up to 85. And I like working with all of them in different ways. I do think that I do enjoy, I think, my work with the elderly ones a little bit more because I really feel like I'm able to help them. And I think that, also, they are a lot more open to talking to me about what they're nervous about, and what their fears are, and that sort of thing. And so, I think, you become very much of a counselor in this role, like I think many of us do in any kind of advisory role. And you learn so much about people's lives and they want to talk to you about everything. And a lot of these people might be lonely and might not have a lot of other people. So, actually, really enjoy being able to be there for them.

Corey Rieck: I saw that the counselor part, in addition to the teamwork, I saw that loud and clear on the cases they worked with you on. And you've certainly done a great job of making people feel comfortable, and answering their questions, and certainly delivering the message that you're in it with them, and just try to bend over backwards to help them. Certainly, you must see or have seen a lot of transition. And the scenario I'm thinking of is if a married woman suddenly finds herself single, maybe there's a death in the family, a relationship change, I would imagine that you are a great person to know if those things happen.

Kristin Curcio : Yeah. I mean, I think that one thing that we can do as as women to prepare ourselves for something like that is just to get a firm handle on where are your finances. Do you have brokerage accounts? Do you have checking accounts? Where's your mortgage? Do you have long-term care? What are your other insurance policy? So, many of us go day to day and think, "Oh, I'll just get all that information when I need it." But you need it today because we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. And so, I think that in preparation for any kind of life event that those things are so critical. And know passwords, and where to find things. And all that just can take so much time. And it's sometimes impossible to find anything if you don't have those.

Kristin Curcio : And then, if something does happen, then maybe at least you have those things in place because it's going to be such a hard time emotionally anyway. And then, after that, you can start thinking of other things, such as you might need to contact Social Security depending on your age. There are definitely benefits for spouses. So, you might contact them about what the benefits might be. Your husband might have had an IRA at his firm. You need to call HR at his old firm and see if it's still there, that sort of thing. So, there's a lot of things that women do have to think about but I would say that the biggest thing is get the basics in order, get your financial house in order, and know what the order is at all times. And then, don't make any big decisions. Don't plan to sell your house six weeks later. Don't plan to invest all that money six weeks later. Just give it a little time, kind of get through what you need to get through in the beginning, and then you can kind of take it from there later.

Corey Rieck: Well, sounds like you play a big role in acting as counselor, especially in these times of transition. One question that I was wondering about is, is there a first step that you would tell somebody that, "Hey, Kristin, I don't know where all the IRAs are. I don't know where the insurance." I mean, what's the first step that somebody would take to sort of get all that together and get it in a file? I mean, do you have some sort of aggregating tool, or is there some advice that you could give the listenership?

Katy Galli: So, I think that the best thing to be able to do is just ... again, I would just emphasize, before anything were to happen, try to have a handle on a lot of those things. If you don't know them, then there might be things perhaps in a will that might tell where certain things are. But you want to make sure that you know those things prior to anything happening. If something does happen, and you don't know, you can come to a financial advisor, and we can help you. We can parse it out. We can figure out where certain things are. There might be statements that are coming in the mail from Vanguard, and you always ignored them before. And all the sudden, they're coming in, and you're realizing, "Oh, this is where my husband's IRA is." So, it could be things just as simple as that. But again, I would just strongly emphasize getting a hand on all of that earlier rather than later.

Corey Rieck: To me, in knowing you over the years, there's so many things that separate you. You're obviously compassionate. You have a great deal of experience. You have different experience within your industry. And I think the competitiveness in having played a college sport, and having to prepare for that, and manage the time. What else sets Kristin Curcio apart? I'm putting you on the spot just in case you're wondering.

Kristin Curcio : I know. I'm totally on the spot. Well, I think that ... well. I'll say what I think that most of my clients would say, which is that I'm extremely diligent. You'll always get that call back within 24 hours. You'll get a clear and concise answer. And if I don't have the answer for you at that moment, I will find the answer out for you, and you will have an answer in your lap within a very short timeframe. I do think that the communication with the client is key. I do have people come in that say, "Oh, I tried to call my advisor five times. I didn't talk to them for the last year." That's just not acceptable for me or for our firm. That's not how we operate.

Kristin Curcio : So, I think that just knowing that you have direct access to me at all times is incredibly important. I have a couple very nervous clients. I give them my cell phone numbers. Text me, call me whatever you need to do. I was on spring break last week and a few of them did with the market doing what it was. And that's fine, but that's what I'm there for. And for a lot of these clients, this is their everything. This is their nest egg. This is what they are going to retire with. They don't have 30 years to recover if something blows up. So, I think that being able to be there for them at all times when they need me is critical.

Corey Rieck: In closing, what advice would you give the younger version of Kristin, knowing what you know now?

Kristin Curcio : Sure. Be more confident, I think, is the first one. I think that no feat is too big. You just have to go for it. I've only learned that a little bit later on in life. And I wish that I had more confidence as a young adult to be able to do that. So, just go for it.

Corey Rieck: What advice would you give a young lady that was thinking about following a similar path that you followed?

Kristin Curcio : Meet people. Get out there, talk to people in the industry, see what they're saying, talk to women and men. Don't just talk to women, talk to men too, get their perspective on things. And then, go talk to women and get their perspective on how it is to be a woman in a very men-driven industry, because it's not always easy. It can be intimidating, and it can be difficult. And I, sometimes, think that women have to work a little bit harder for the credibility factor and whatnot. But if you put the time in, and you talk to the right people, you can kind of make a path through yourself, get recommendations, do internships, study on your own. There's a lot of ways that I think that young women can make a name for themselves in this kind of community.

Corey Rieck: Sound advice, Kristin. And if people wanted to get a hold of you, how would they best do that? There's maybe a phone number, an email, perhaps.

Kristin Curcio : Absolutely. So, my phone number is 404-531-0018. And my email is kcurcio@yourwealth.com.

Corey Rieck: Well, ladies, we've had a great show. Kate Alison, thank you very much, Ellen Diehl and Kristin Curcio. Another great show with Tuesdays with Corey. Thanks so much for listening.

Katy Galli: And of course, this wouldn't be made possible, Tuesdays with Corey, without Corey Rieck, of course, and The Long Term Care Planning Group. So, Corey, if anybody wanted to learn more about The Long Term Care Planning Group, where would they do that?

Corey Rieck: They could contact me directly at 678-814-5088. They could e-mail me at corey@thelongtermcareplanninggroup.com or they can visit the website at www.thelongtermcareplanninggroup.com. Thanks.

Katy Galli: Perfect. And of course, I love producing this show, and having the opportunity to sit in this room, and hear the stories of these incredible women that you bring in. So, thanks for making this such a great episode, guys. So, again, thank you guys so much for listening into this episode of Tuesdays with Corey. We'll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.