{"id":10904,"date":"2026-10-21T11:30:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T15:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedwaysem.org\/?post_type=impact_story&p=10904"},"modified":"2026-10-21T14:03:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T18:03:31","slug":"our-woman-of-the-year-karen-chapell","status":"publish","type":"impact_story","link":"https:\/\/unitedwaysem.org\/es\/impact-stories\/our-woman-of-the-year-karen-chapell\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Woman of the Year: Karen Chapell"},"template":"","class_list":["post-10904","impact_story","type-impact_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic-women-united"],"acf":{"details":{"featured_image":10905,"quote":"When you do make mistakes, be accountable to them. Learn from them and move forward. The greatest lessons in life are from mistakes.","citation":"Karen Chapell, managing partner at Retirement Income Solutions","topic":[293],"program_theme":false,"button_text":"Read More"},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_impact_story_hero","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_impact_story_hero":{"kicker_text":"Power of the Purse","heading":"Our Woman of the Year: Karen Chapell","summary":"","image":10905,"cta":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"Karen Chapell is a Managing Partner at Retirement Income Solutions, where she champions community engagement and support. With a deep commitment to Washtenaw County, Karen believes that strong communities are built through service, collaboration and meaningful investment. In honor of being named Women United\u2019s 2026 Woman of the Year, she shared her passion, her role models and valuable advice.\r\n\r\nRead on for our full interview with Karen and join us to celebrate her accomplishments at El poder del dinero<\/a> on Nov. 4, 2026.\r\n\r\nCongratulations on being named our 2026 Woman of the Year, Karen.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nTell us about a woman who helped you be where you are today.<\/strong>\r\n

I have many influential women in my life, but specifically in my career, I would start with Audrey Johnson. She was one of my first mentors and a CFO back in the early 90s. In the male-dominated financial services industry, there weren't very many women mentors to lean on, but she was sensational.<\/p>\r\n

She introduced me to challenging my fears, making certain that I felt confident walking into a boardroom and making an ask where other women might not have. She was very instrumental in showing me it was okay to be a mother and an investment advisor, along with offering women in the industry and within our firm opportunities that just didn't exist at that time.<\/p>\r\nHow did she shape the way you balance life and work?<\/strong>\r\n

When I had my first child, I thought I could do it all and realized very quickly that I couldn't. I walked into Audrey\u2019s office and I quit. She would not let me and said, \"No, you create a job that you can do while still staying in the industry, because you can do both.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

At the time, it was unheard of, but Audrey walked into the CEO's office and said, \u201cThis is the job we're creating; this is what we're going to do for her, and this is how we're going to do it.\u201d It takes strong women to support other women in the field. She was a trailblazer and I owe her my career to this day.<\/p>\r\n

Sadly, she was diagnosed with ALS shortly after her retirement. We walked alongside her through her diagnosis until her passing and it ended her life too young. Just to witness her strength during that time; she brought inspiration to everyone around her.<\/p>\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nWe\u2019re so sorry for your loss, and what an incredible legacy she left behind. Building on her legacy, what are the three pieces of advice you give women to find success in the workplace? <\/strong>\r\n

    \r\n \t
  1. Find your people. Find the people that you want to emulate, spend a day in their shadow, but be true to yourself. There are many people, both women and men, who I regard in the highest light and it's because they are authentic, genuine, willing to share their successes, but more importantly, their failures.<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Don't be afraid to stub your toes. It's a family joke because I stub my feet all the time. But really, don't be afraid to stub your toes. When you do make mistakes, be accountable to them. Learn from them and move forward. The greatest lessons in life are from mistakes.<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. You don\u2019t need to know everything. Sometimes, we feel the need to, but the older we get, we realize the less we know. Don't pretend you know everything, instead be responsible for finding the answer. When you don\u2019t know, use your resources to find out\u2014 that's your role in life.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nAs a builder of a strong community, how did you get your start giving back?<\/strong>\r\n

    Community work has been a part of my life from day one. I was brought up in a household of educators, and we were always doing something at our school or church. I was a Brownie, a Girl Scout. The community was a part of our everyday life.<\/p>\r\n

    As part of my professional life, it's very important for us at Retirement Income Solutions to be philanthropically engaged. My partners and I spend a lot of time creating a culture of community as an extension of what we do as financial advisors.<\/p>\r\nYes, Retirement Income Solution\u2019s has a long-celebrated history with United Way! Tell us more about the partnership.<\/strong>\r\n

    The founders of Retirement Income Solutions, Griff McDonald and Larry Hastie, have a long history with the United Way. Both were instrumental leaders as far back as the 1980s here in Washtenaw County. When my three partners Brock Hastie, Todd Kephart, John Goff, and I took over the firm in 2012, they said, \u201cWe want you to continue our legacy with the United Way.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

    There was no question that we were going to continue philanthropic engagement. Now, all of us were already connected with United Way, but I loved that they asked us to continue that relationship. And we still, as a firm, have a very strong partnership with UWSEM as a company and are very engaged with the activities, both in terms of volunteer service and personal payroll deduction.<\/p>\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nHow do you mobilize your organization to get involved?<\/strong>\r\n

    We're very mindful to ensure wherever our employees are spending their philanthropic dollars, it speaks to them. We connect them with agency partners that mean the most to them and find ways to get out in the community.<\/p>\r\n

    Many people today don't really recognize the magnitude of the work or how we're filling the gaps for individuals that don't always have access to resources. It's all about providing that overarching education to make certain that the volume of work United Way supports is understood, and then creating a pathway for our team to get involved. We also have a funding plan and a generous matching program for all of our employees to encourage charitable gifting.<\/p>\r\nAbsolutely, you are leading the way in philanthropy and inspiring so many towards success in their lives. We cannot wait to celebrate you as Woman of the Year!<\/strong>\r\n

    It's an incredible honor to be named Woman of the Year. I don't take this honor lightly\u2014 I do so on behalf of all of the women united that go to work every day, raise families, take care of their extended family, and volunteer their time. Every one of us truly makes a difference together!<\/p>\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nWell said! Thank you for sitting down with us to share your life and wisdom. We look forward to hearing more at Power of the Purse!<\/strong>\r\n\r\nGet ready to meet Karen Chapell and offer your congratulations at this year\u2019s El poder del dinero<\/a>, held Nov. 4 from 5 to 7:30 pm at the Morris Lawrence Building at Washtenaw Community College.<\/strong>","right_rail_type":"none","stat":{"title":"","abstract":""},"image":null,"callout":{"text":"","abstract":""},"":null,"settings":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_our_impact","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_our_impact":{"header":{"title":"More stories like this...","abstract":"","link":""},"dynamic_population":false,"version":"1","topic_filter":[],"program_theme_filter":[],"layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"version_4","story_col_1":3397,"story_col_2":10379}]}}]},"yoast_head":"\nOur Woman of the Year: Karen Chapell - United Way for Southeastern Michigan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In honor of being named Women United\u2019s 2026 Woman of the Year, Karen Chapell shares her passion, her role models and valuable advice .Read on for our full interview with Karen and join us to celebrate her accomplishments at Power of the Purse on Nov. 4, 2026.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/unitedwaysem.org\/es\/impact-stories\/our-woman-of-the-year-karen-chapell\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Woman of the Year: Karen Chapell - 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