Brooke Summerhill, divorce financial consultant: This work found me long before I chose it.

I grew up in a family where money was a source of disagreement, and those financial conflicts became part of a divorce battle between my parents that lasted for years. Many professionals became involved and a great deal was spent, yet very little of it made life better for my parents, my siblings, or me. That experience shaped me, and it is the reason I approach this work the way I do.

I left home early and entered the financial industry in 2012 at 22 years old. I became almost obsessive about saving money, not because I wanted more things, but because money represented something entirely different to me: freedom.

I never wanted another person to have the ability to control my choices, my security or my future through money.

Over the years, a lot of therapy, personal work, and more than a decade of helping people make financial decisions changed the way I understand money. I came to see that financial security was about far more than account balances. It was about confidence, autonomy, emotional safety and knowing that you would be okay.

And eventually, I realized there was a place where that work could have an enormous impact: divorce.

After years working inside banks and financial firms, I kept meeting women who were intelligent, successful, and capable in nearly every area of their lives, yet suddenly felt completely overwhelmed when they were asked to make some of the largest financial decisions of their lives in divorce.

I also saw how often uncertainty drew families into long, costly disputes that left everyone more exhausted than when they began. I knew that story from my own childhood, and I wanted to offer women a calmer and clearer way through.

Today my work is to help women understand the money, evaluate their options, and make thoughtful decisions about how assets are divided before those decisions become permanent. I sit beside clients during one of the most complicated transitions of their lives and help turn confusion into clarity.