How Kristyn Carmichael combines legal and financial divorce mediation
Kristyn Carmichael is the owner of Couples Solutions Center, an Arizona-based divorce mediation practice serving couples in Arizona and California. This conversation explores its combined legal and financial approach, how referrals and educational content bring in clients, and the decisions behind expanding beyond a solo practice.
Build relationships with professionals who can refer clients, and share useful information before people are ready to reach out. Growth also depends on bringing in the right team instead of trying to do everything yourself.
What’s the short story of how your business started, and what makes it genuinely different from the other options your customers have?
I founded Couples Solutions Center almost five years ago to give couples a divorce process that addresses the legal and financial sides together rather than separately. As a neutral mediator who is also an attorney and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, I built the practice around helping couples understand their options clearly so they can reach a settlement that works for both of them after the divorce is final.
What makes us different is that couples don’t have to piece together separate professionals to understand their full picture. In one process, I guide them through the options for retirement accounts, the house, support, parenting plans, and every other detail of their process, so their decisions are informed by both the legal framework and the financial realities. We charge flat fees, so couples know the cost up front, and we prepare and file the paperwork, so they leave with a finished divorce, not just a mediated agreement.
How did you win your first customers, and where does most of your new business come from today?
Our very first client came through a referral, and that set the tone for how the business has grown. Referrals are still one of our two main sources of new clients today. We’ve built strong relationships with real estate professionals, attorneys, financial advisors, and networking groups, who send couples our way because they trust that their clients will be guided through the process respectfully and with a clear view of both the legal and financial options.
Our other main source is social media and content. Many couples come to us already familiar with our approach because they’ve been reading or watching our content, so by the time they reach out, they understand what mediation looks like and feel confident it’s the right fit for them.
What’s one decision that changed the direction of your business, and one mistake that taught you the most?
The decision that changed the direction of our business was choosing to grow beyond a solo practice into a technology-centered firm with multiple mediators. Part of that was building DivorceSettled, our platform where couples can work through and negotiate their own divorce agreements, with our team there to prepare and file the paperwork or support them in mediation if they need it. That shift let us serve more couples, in more ways, without everything depending on my own calendar.
The mistake that taught me the most was underestimating how much the right team matters. For a long time I tried to carry too much myself, and I learned that the right people, both internally and in the outside partners we rely on, like marketing, make everything happen faster and more successfully. Now I put real thought into who we bring on and who we work with, because the team is what makes growth possible.
What has changed in your industry or in what your customers expect over the last couple of years, and how have you adapted?
Over the last couple of years, couples have come to expect divorce to work more like the rest of their lives: convenient, transparent, and on their own schedule. Many arrive already well informed, having researched their options online, and they want a process that respects their time and their budget rather than one that drags on for months with unpredictable bills.
We’ve adapted in a few ways. We offer virtual sessions alongside our Gilbert and Phoenix offices, so couples can mediate from wherever works for them. We use flat fees, so the cost is clear from the start. We’ve invested in technology, including DivorceSettled, which lets couples work through their agreement on their own time before we step in to finalize it. We also use AI in our practice to streamline behind-the-scenes work like intake and document preparation, which moves cases forward faster and frees our mediators to spend more of their time with the couples themselves. And we create educational content and resources, so couples can understand their options before they ever sit down with us. The goal is to meet couples where they are, while keeping the guidance and care that make mediation work.
If you were advising someone starting out in your industry today, what would you tell them to do first, and what would you tell them to ignore?
What to do first: Build relationships. My very first client came from a referral, and referrals are still one of our biggest sources of business, so I’d tell anyone starting out to get to know the professionals who already work with people going through divorce, like attorneys, financial advisors, and real estate professionals, and show them how you can help their clients. Alongside that, start sharing what you know through content. Educating people builds trust long before they’re ready to reach out.
What to ignore: The idea that you have to do everything yourself. It’s tempting to wear every hat when you’re starting out, but the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that the right team, both internally and with outside partners like marketing, makes everything happen faster and more successfully. Focus your own time on the work only you can do, and bring in help sooner than you think you need it.
Thank you to Kristyn Carmichael and the team at Couples Solutions Center for sharing what actually worked with Leaders Perception readers.
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