Article from SRQ Magazine #1

Published February, 2009 – SRQ Magazine as written by Su Byron

Sarasota Marriage Mediator, Freya Robbins, Featured in SRQ Magazine

Freya Robbins, CDFA, specializes in helping people see clearly. No, she’s not an ophthalmologist! Zollinger is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, CDFA. For the past six years, she has guided divorcing couples through the divorce process and all of the financial and emotional difficulties that can result. This seasoned expert combines years of professional training and specialized financial expertise with empathetic people skills, drawing from her life experience in marriage, parenting, divorce and step-parenting. A sought-after speaker, she presents regular seminars on mediation, divorce and women’s issues at the Women’s Resource Center of Sarasota County. She has also been a co-facilitator at Sarasota’s Center for Child Protection. “Our goal is to create a settlement that fully addresses the divorcing couple’s long-term financial and strategic needs,” she says. “Divorce affects the entire family. We help the couple move through the process with the least disruption to the family as possible.” Zollinger explains that her role includes providing the couple with expert financial guidance during and after divorce, enhancing communication with attorneys and other professionals and, most importantly, creating amicable solutions.” We help divorcing couples understand the reality of their situation and reach beyond an emotional reaction to what’s truly in everyone’s rational best interest,” she says. “The result is a better, more peaceful resolution.”

What is your top business passion?

“I’m passionate about helping people! Mediation is my gift. My entire life prepared me for what I am doing – navigating couples through the choppy waters of divorce. I understand divorce from all perspectives because I’m a child of divorce. When my mother later remarried, I became a stepchild. In my marriage, I was a stepmother. I also experienced divorce and know what it means to raise children alone. So, I truly see the situation from all sides and understand how delicate the process is. Ultimately, it’s about trust. even in the most amicable divorces, trust has been broken. It’s exceptionally fulfilling to help couples see that they can build trust again and proceed, in an amicable fashion, through the divorce process. It’s rewarding – to me and to my clients – to show them that they can get beyond immediate emotions and honor the bond they once created. I help them remember how precious that bond once was to them and how vital it is to experience divorce n a peaceful, diplomatic and equitable manner. it makes my heart sing to witness a couple go beyond their fear and anger to a place where reason reigns. For me, it’s about honoring each person’s integrity. In my own life, when things have been tough, I have always raised to the challenge. I remade myself and I know it’s possible for others to do so, too. Mediation is my gift and I feel blessed every day to do what I do.”

Freya Robbins

Freya has been assisting families for years, combining professional training and her own experience in marriage, parenting and divorce; she truly relates to her clients. Freya founded Zollinger Mediation was in 2004, and she has been assisting families with divorce mediation, marital mediation, pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements and eldercare mediation since. Freya business is known as The Positive Alternative to adversarial divorce. She educates her clients and shares ideas in a straightforward but accepting way about how to resolve conflict. In addition to her mediation practice, Freya holds a Series 6 License and is licensed to sell Life and Health Insurance, Annuities, Mutual Funds and Retirement plans. She holds a Certification in Long Term Care (CLTC) and is certified as a Chartered Special Needs Consultant (ChSNC). She helps families with special needs as she has a son with Epilepsy. She also cared for both of her parents as they needed assistance with care and in preparation for passing. Freya has written articles for West Coast Woman Magazine, the Observer and has been volunteer speaker for the Women’s Resource Center of Sarasota County. Freya is an advocate for eliminating Childhood Sexual Abuse and serves on the Board of the Child Protection Center in Sarasota, FL. Freya raised her 2 children as a single parent while building her businesses. Freya serves on the board of the Sarasota County Senior Advocacy Council and Josh Provides Epilepsy Support Group. Her most recent claim to fame is her marriage to Loyd Robbins in May of 2015. Love lives again!