Article from SRQ Magazine #1
Published February, 2009 – SRQ Magazine as written by Su Byron
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.”