Sarah Walter - Northwestern Mutual

09/30/2025

✈️ Flew into Milwaukee last week to kick off an incredible addition to my leadership development journey — The Managing Director's Development Program. What a power packed 2 days we had!

I’m grateful for the opportunity to be part of a program designed to grow Managing Directors across the country.

Hearing directly from established, inspiring leaders - Brent Goska and Chris Andricopoulos not only provided valuable insights but reinforced the impact that strong, intentional leadership can have on teams, culture, and results.

I burned through several pages of notes and action items and this week we are putting it into practice many of the tools and techniques I picked up. As a leader, I love learning because I know I will readily share with others.

Big thanks to everyone who I’ve met in my cohort, those who helped launch this initiative, and NM and my local leader Mark Heurung for their investment in me and others.

09/16/2025

We're proud to share that our team from the Northwestern Mutual-Lake Elmo office brought home 1st Place in this year's Woodbury Chamber Kickball Tournament!

Not only did we play kickball, we also competed in the costume contest by dressing up as Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift! It was a fantastic day of teamwork, strategy, and community spirit.

A big thank you to the Chamber, the fellow teams, and the volunteers!

09/10/2025

Calling all student athletes, sales club students, aspiring entreprenuers, and business professionals!

We are actively filling our Financial Advisor Development Program for both December 2025 and May 2026 Grads, as well as our College Financial Representative Internship for Summer 2026.

Why reach out?
- You are looking for a career with continuous training, development, mentoring and growth
- You value relationships and want to have meaningful interactions with people every day
- You want to be in control of your career - with no financial ceiling and no lay-offs
- You want flexibility, to be there for the things that matter in your life

Email me at [email protected]

09/09/2025

Last Friday I wrapped up the week with an inspiring and simple message from the guest Sterling Lock at the Purpose Fueled Community session.

As a Marine, CFO, father, son, husband - Sterling embodies his personal mission to "Do Hard Things".
Those hard things could be simple in nature like showing up. Or calling your mom and siblings each day. And as challenging as running outside every day, no matter the conditions. Or signing up for The Great World Race (7 marathons, 7 days, 7 continents!).

This message and these values resonate with me. In fact, "Show Up" is the first of 3 principal expectations I have in our office.

Show Up: for yourself, your team, your clients, our office, the list goes on.

Unfortunately this is simple not easy. This week has started with multiple people not communicate and not show up for their interview. Some had 90 minutes on my calendar, and yet these individuals couldn't be bothered to send a professional email to let me know they no longer wanted to meet. I wish this was a fluke, but it's not. Needless to say, they are not a fit for our culture and we are fine with that.

Thank you Sterling for doing the hard things and sharing your purpose with us, and to Jasmine Webber for hosting this great session!

09/08/2025

Welcome Jeremy Miller to the Northwestern Mutual - Lake Elmo office!

Jeremy recently moved to the Twin Cities from the Quad Cities with his wife to be closer to family. He has been a Financial Advisor with Northwestern Mutual for 10 years and started as an intern while at the University of Iowa. Jeremy’s energy is magnetic, and we are happy to help him make the transition within our NM family. He and his team member, Reece will continue to serve all of his clients while growing new roots in our community as well.

In his free time, he enjoys cheering on the Iowa Hawkeyes, golfing, listening to music and visiting breweries.

Please help us by sharing a warm Minnesota welcome to Jeremy!

08/29/2025

Northwestern Mutual-Lake Elmo proudly welcomes Matt Hoenk to our office as our Director of Recruitment!

Matt is originally from Winona, MN and attended Winona State University for his undergrad and master’s degrees. Today he lives in Woodbury with his wife, two children and golden retriever. Matt has a decade of experience as a Technical Recruiter, and will bring his passion for connection and attracting the right people for long term success to our firm in his role.

In his free time, Matt enjoys spending time outdoors, jet skiing, swimming, bike riding, working out and taking his kids to parks around the Twin Cities.

Please join us in welcoming Matt and feel free to connect with him on LinkedIn or reach out at [email protected].

08/15/2025

College Students and New Grads 📣

We’re thrilled to announce we've been recognized as one of ‘America’s Best Employers for New Grads’ 🎓 by Forbes for 2025!

This is testament to the success of our award-winning college financial representative (CFR) and corporate internship programs and full-time opportunities.

08/07/2025

Hi everyone, I have some news to share:

🚨 Now Accepting Two Final Candidates to our Last New Advisor Class of the Year! 🚨

I’m reserving two more spots for my last training class of the year — and if you’ve been quietly thinking,
“There’s got to be more out there for me…” this might be your sign!

This opportunity is for career-driven professionals who are:

💡 Feeling capped or unfulfilled in their current role
💡 Craving more independence, income, and impact
💡 Ready to be mentored, challenged, and supported
💡 Looking for something meaningful that aligns with their values

No finance background needed.
We’ll teach you everything you need to know — we just need you to bring the right attitude, work ethic, and vision.

This isn’t just a job. It’s a career shift, a mindset shift, and a chance to build something real — with guidance, structure, and full-on support.

📩 Message me directly at [email protected] if you are curious or if you have someone in mind - please connect us. I’ll learn more about your aspirations, share what it looks like, and we’ll determine together if it’s a fit.

Let’s build something - together. 🤝

08/02/2025

We love our internship program! A life changing professional, leadership, and sales development program is what it truly is!

Happy ! We are grateful to celebrate our interns across all 6 of our local offices each year on this special day. Our offices have a great group of College Financial Representatives this year, working hard to make strides towards building a foundation for their businesses, expanding their knowledge of the financial services industry, and serving their clients and communities.

07/28/2025

The 2025 Northwestern Mutual Annual Meeting is always a time of learning, connecting, meaning, and fun!

My highlights include:
- 5k roots & wings run along Lake Michigan. I’m not as fast as I once was, but I’m always thankful to be able to run the race.
- Our leadership team earning #1 in the Team Award, recognizing our recruiting and productivity of advisors.
- Hearing from the Tim Gerend our CEO about the competitive landscape and the bright future we have to serve more Americans.
- Seeing the accolades and recognition of our top performers in our office and across the country.
- My study group meetup where I am able to learn from my peers and support one another.
- I loved hearing from Mel Robbins - she is vulnerable and real and helps provide such useful tools on how to navigate growth. Her “Let Them” book is the best self help book I’ve read in the last decade!
- Spending time with the Lake Elmo advisors, team members, and especially those attending their first meeting. I loved hearing their awe and appreciation for this company and the people, and making some new memories revisiting places I went to 20+ years ago!
- Entertainment was Teddy Swims and Carrie Underwood. They both can rip, we enjoyed hanging with our friends in the Duluth office for the concert.

Now we get to put it all to work each day within our office and with our clients!

07/23/2025

Advisors and team members from our office got together to volunteer in Woodbury last week with the Miracle League. Miracle League offers adaptive recreation programs for individuals with cognitive and/or physical disabilities. One of the programs offered is a baseball league and our volunteers were able to offer assistance in hitting, throwing and catching as well as helping to cheer them on.

It’s an evening that we look forward to every year and have so much fun interacting with the players and families.

07/21/2025

We would like to extend a huge congratulations to Joel Seleskie and Seleskie Financial on leading all firms and advisors in the company for the Financial Security Award!

This award showcases Seleskie Financial's comprehensive approach in planning for their clients as it is based on an accumulative ranking across all of the Northwestern Mutual planning solutions provided for clients.

Leading this award among the best of the best really highlights the pride and work this team does for all of their clients.