15 Dec Spotlight on Shira Katsir
Shira Katsir, CFP®
Wealth Advisor
Stearns Financial Group
Quick 10!
#1 Briefly tell us about your business.
I specialize in comprehensive wealth management for high-net-worth individuals as well as younger professionals building their net worth. I’m passionate about empowering my clients to achieve financial success, and I firmly believe that their passions and life pivots are directly connected to meaningful financial outcomes. Living and working in Chapel Hill, NC, I’m also a big advocate for engaging with and supporting my local community largely through the Hillsborough Run Club’s annual 5K and half marathon and tennis tournament.
#2 What is the most rewarding part of being a financial advisor?
Seeing people feel genuinely lighter, clearer, and more empowered after understanding their financial picture. Helping someone move from stress to confidence never gets old.
#3 What is the most challenging part?
The emotional weight clients carry into conversations, money touches every part of a person’s life, and navigating the complexity beneath the surface can be demanding.
#4 Knowing what you know now, what piece of career advice would you give your younger self?
You don’t have to earn your worth through overachievement. Protect your peace early and let your career fit your life, not the other way around.
#5 What is one idea to further move the needle in attracting, retaining and/or advancing more women in financial advising?
Normalize flexible, humane work structures that allow women to build thriving careers without sacrificing their personal lives. When firms value well-being as much as production, women stay and lead.
#6 What’s one of your superpowers that has nothing to do with wealth management?
Creating a sense of ease and safety for others.
#7 What’s one of your non-negotiable self-care practices?
Playing tennis, it keeps me grounded, present, and connected to joy.
#8 Who is a woman who has had an important impact on your life or career?
Cathy Seeber, a former advisor colleague at CAPTRUST, supported me through my CFP journey with incredible generosity and encouragement, while Courtney Kidwell, a fellow advisor at SFG, taught me the power of healthy boundaries and prioritizing well-being. Both profoundly shaped how I approach my career and life.
#9 What are three of your all-time favorite books?
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Atomic Habits by James Clear
The China Study by T. Colin Campbell
#10 If your life were a movie
“Nevertheless, She Persisted.” Because grit and grace have been my guiding
stars.