Steady guidance through one of life’s hardest changes

Rich Palzewic

Staff

January 26, 2026

GREEN BAY – As the state’s only known certified divorce coach north of Milwaukee, Kristen Jonas said the divorce process is best navigated with the involvement of a full team – including a lawyer and certified divorce financial analyst.

As the founder and owner of Capstone Divorce Coaching in Green Bay, Jonas said a certified divorce coach can be a valuable member of that team.

“I can definitely be a part of that [team] – guiding you through the whole process,” she said. “When it gets to the heavy-duty financials, I refer clients out for that. I’m also not an attorney, but I help people identify and find somebody suitable for their situation. It’s not a one-size-fits-all.”

To become a certified divorce coach, Jonas said she went through an online certification process.

“When you get certified, you get a high-level overview of the court system, the legal process, parenting plans, co-parenting and so on,” she said. “It’s a self-study program, and it provides a really nice overview of how the divorce process typically goes.”

Jonas said the certification is not specific to any state, because each state has different laws regarding divorce.

“I don’t touch the legal details of the divorce, so that’s why I can be certified to coach people and help them through the process in all 50 states,” she said. “Part of the virtual process [of coaching] is using digital guides and digital products. I sell templates that help people get started and provide them with some foundational templates to work from. Those templates are very universal.”

Speaking from experience

Jonas said her own high-conflict divorce years ago has shaped her work at Capstone – acknowledging she made “plenty of mistakes” along the way.

“The mistakes I made permanently had an imprint on my finances, on my kids and family structure,” she said. “Had we done things differently, and had I had some of the information I now help other people with, would we have had a better outcome? Yes, definitely.”

Jonas said she waited until her children were adults and she was no longer involved in the legal aspects of co-parenting before pursuing certification.

“Certainly, we’re still co-parenting, but I wanted to give it enough time for my kids’ sake,” she said. “Once I started the certification process, I sat down with my kids and asked them their thoughts. They both thought it was a great idea for me to help other people. My kids were definitely encouraging and continue to support me.”

Even before she became certified, Jonas said she would often talk to other divorcees about her own experiences and try to help them.

“I started recognizing that becoming a certified divorce coach is a business and people do this for a living – it just hasn’t been recognized in this area,” she said. “I started looking into it and thought, ‘I could do this.’”

Since officially launching Capstone in June 2024, Jonas said “it’s been a journey.”

“I’ve moved and changed and ebbed and flowed how I do things, but I’ve landed on a combination of one-on-one coaching, digital guides and templates,” she said. “As I learn and grow, I’ll make changes that are better suited to helping people.”

Jonas said when she tells people she’s a divorce coach, she often hears one of two things.

“The first thing I often hear is [divorced] people wish they had known me a couple of years earlier,” she said. “Secondly, almost everybody I start with says, ‘I don’t have any idea where to begin.’ That’s where I was when I started the divorce process, and I made really uninformed decisions that had a permanent imprint on the future – beginning with picking the wrong attorney.”

Jonas said when her divorce was settled, the plan should have been more inclusive.

“That’s one of the biggest things I help people with – getting details in writing so you don’t even have to discuss it – it’s already legally decided and part of your court-ordered document,” she said. “That’s what you have to follow, instead of the back-and-forth communication and the debate, discussion and the hard feelings that come out of it.”

Jonas said even if you and your ex “get along now,” that doesn’t mean it will always be that way.

“That’s why it’s a good idea to get something in writing,” she said. “You don’t anticipate the conflict when you are getting along well and co-parenting, but things could change in that regard.”

Jonas said as an example, most people who get divorced when their kids are young aren’t thinking about cars and insurance for them 10 years down the road.

“Along with those things that are likely to happen, kids throw a lot of other things at us,” she said. “The parenting plan template I use is 35 pages long – that doesn’t mean all 35 pages are relevant, but it’s very detailed and doesn’t leave anything out. It covers how to pay for school, travel sports, etc.”

Balancing a working career

Since launching the business, Jonas said Capstone has seen steady growth.

“The best marketing in Green Bay is word of mouth, so I’m hearing more from people who have friends who want to chat with me,” she said. “I have also gotten referrals from social media, from attorneys and by attending networking events.”

Jonas said the length of her work with clients varies, as each divorce situation is unique.

“In one recent example, I worked with a client for about eight months,” she said. “When the divorce was final, I said we could keep in touch as things might happen. I always tell people your divorce team should be trusted. Not every family member is the right person to talk to about your divorce situation because maybe they’ve never been divorced and can’t relate.”

Jonas said there’s no definitive endpoint for her services.

“I have a client who is considering doing a modification,” she said. “She’s been divorced for several years, and her kids are still young. She hadn’t done several things when the divorce was finalized, so she’s considering a modification. She was divorced before I became certified, but she would like some help now.”

Jonas said she believes judges appreciate the work she’s doing.

\“I can possibly help prevent the aftermath of going back to court a second time, a third time, a fourth time, because we didn’t do things right the first time,” she said. “I can potentially help with not crowding the court system, too.”

For more on Capstone Divorce Coaching, head to capstonedivorcecoaching.com. 

Along with running Capstone, Jonas founded Kinesiology HR LLC in August 2025, balancing her focus between the two.

Jonas said Kinesiology HR is a fractional human resources organization that blends the principles of movement and performance.

Drawing inspiration from both kinesiology and HR practices, she said the company provides solutions designed to strengthen and optimize a workforce.

Kinesiology HR services, Jonas said, include work in the areas of employee engagement, organizational development, compliance, policy and performance management that help drive efficiency, alignment and results.