Kristin Stutz, Financial Advisor with illume Financial Strategies, LLC

05/13/2026

For years, I’ve been helping business owners navigate the intersection of their business finances, personal wealth, taxes, long-term goals, and ultimately... the life they want their business to create.

Your business is likely the largest investment you’ll ever own. And we know you’ve poured everything into building it.

Eventually, whether by choice or circumstance, every business owner exits. Yes... every single one.

That’s why I’m excited to share that I’ve officially earned my Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) designation through the Exit Planning Institute.

What I love about the CEPA® framework is that it aligns so naturally with how we already serve our clients. We’ve never believed financial planning is just about investments. And it’s certainly not about creating a static plan you revisit once a year. Especially for business owners. Nothing about running a business is static.

Financial planning is about helping owners:
• build stronger, more valuable businesses
• connect business decisions to personal wealth
• think strategically about taxes and long-term options
• prepare for unexpected life events
• and ultimately create the freedom to make work optional someday

One of the biggest misconceptions around exit planning is that it only matters when you’re ready to sell your business.

Good exit planning is really just good business planning. Healthy businesses begin thinking about these strategies long before an exit is on the horizon.

One of the most important parts of exit planning is creating a company that becomes less dependent on the owner over time... something nearly every business owner wants from day one. In fact, most entrepreneurs created their businesses with freedom as a driving factor and yet find themselves chained to it. Incorporating exit planning into your financial planning is about freedom.

Whether you plan to sell, transition to family or employees, slow down gradually, or simply want more clarity around your future... the work starts now.

I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to continue growing in ways that better serve the incredible owners we work with every day.

05/06/2026

Home with a full heart, a notebook of ideas, and friendships that last a lifetime. This group is so full of brilliant, passionate, generous souls. The best of the best in beauty biz. Intercoiffure, you never disappoint.

11/10/2025

For all my salon owner friends, did you know you still have time to enter the 2026 Salon Today Top 200? Yep, you have until 11/15/2025 at midnight.

Not sure how or why you should?

Being a Top 200 Salon is a great way to grow your business, boost employee engagement and retention and be recognized for all the amazing work you do.

Check out my podcast with the Modern Salon's Stacey Sobel for expert tips on how to enter!
https://youtu.be/J6yv1aWhRco

Link to the application in the comments.

Kristin and guest Stacey Sobel from Bobbit Media (Salon Today, Modern Salon) discuss Modern Salon Top 200 Awards. Stacey shares tips and best practices for t...

04/08/2024

Excited to be a Sponsor and Speaker again this year. Will I see you in TX?

02/17/2022

This …
The world could use just a little more of this.

02/13/2022

Why did the football coach go to the bank?

To get his quarterback … 🤣🤣🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

02/11/2022

Remember this when you’re fed up, disappointed or just want more/better.

Whatever it is you’ve set your sights on improving:

Money
Health
Relationships
Work
House/car/stuff

Where you are RIGHT NOW is someone else’s big dream.

It might have been yours once, too.

are some of the most powerful things on earth … and so is .

Stop a minute and breathe all your glory in, give thanks and then keep pushing!

01/15/2022

Sometimes life forces you stop and pay attention.

There are 2 dates on the calendar every year that give me pause.

Diagnosis day (today) and transplant anniversary (May). The first stopped my life ... the second brought on a whole new life.

Twelve years ago today I was diagnosed with cancer. I cannot believe it’s been 12 years.

I remember it like it was yesterday and then again like it was a movie or someone else’s life.

I’ll never forget sitting in that tiny room, listening to the unbelievable words, the diagnosis, the options.

I asked what would happen if I chose no treatment. He told me I would live a few weeks ... maybe a month.

I didn’t see it coming.
I had just worked a 50 hour week.
I had a business to run.
I had a Life to live.

That day, twelve years ago, life as I had planned it stopped in its tracks and a fork in the road appeared.

We chose our path with blind faith and held on for the long and bumpy ride.

I’m grateful it has led us to an even more beautiful place on the other side.

I’m often amazed at the level in which my life has been enriched sine that day 12 years ago when someone told me I was dying.

We plan and God laughs is perhaps, in some respects, a blessing and a curse.

I believe we are all just one doctor appointment away from our lives changing forever.

Good health may be the thing most taken for granted by those who have it.

I know how incredibly blessed I am to have been gifted 12 years since diagnosis.

The fact that many others like me don’t see 12 years is never forgotten.

Survivors guilt is real and powerful and hits me every time I hear a story with an outcome different than mine.

To those who have faced this and/or are in the thick of it ... you have my prayers, good juju, and all the positive energy I’ve got.

I pray you find yourselves remembering your 12 year diagnosis day, too.

Press on, warriors. ♥️

01/11/2022

If you're depending on a refund check this year it might take longer than expected to see that .

This might be the exact time then to ask yourself if you have set appropriate tax withholding from your paycheck.

Instead of having the government act as a savings account for you and then be forced to wait for them to give you that money back ...
it might be a great time to reassess and create your own savings.

This year you may also be surprised that the return you are used to getting might not be as large as previous years.

Why?

Stimulus payments and Advanced Child Tax Credits received in 2021.

Being aware of issues like these and how they affect your finances is just one key reason it is beneficial to have both a Tax Professional and a Financial Advisor on your bench of trusted resources.

What are your thoughts about withholding?
Do you prefer to build up a large return by overfunding in advance? Or perhaps you prefer to work toward a more balanced contribution with the goal of eliminating owing or getting a refund?

The mid-April deadline is returning as the Internal Revenue Service tries to whittle down piles of paperwork.

01/10/2022

"Surely, there must be some magic formula for success", she asked.

Yes, there is.

It's you.

You're the sparkle. 💫
You're the fire ❤️‍🔥
You're the star 🌟

You, my dear are the magic. ✨
Shine on.