I was born near the tranquil backwaters of the Mississippi river in a small Minnesota town, called Foley, Minnesota. I was one of 9 children brought up in a home that was built in 1901 using square headed nails! My dad was a factory worker and my mom was a stay home mom and entrepreneur (she babysat up to five more kids!). We grew up poor but rich with family values and small hometown spirit. I knew growing up we were poor but you never really felt that way. It’s hard to feel poor with a family of 11 growing up in a small town- living a simple lifestyle. Heck, everyone around us was poor too so we didn’t know any better anyway.
Raised the Old Fashioned Way
Growing up in a large family, with little money, meant getting little in the way of material things and a hell of a lot of hot dishes! If you wanted anything beyond the bare necessities you had to earn it- and earn it the old-fashioned way- you worked for it!
As young as I can remember, I would do anything to make a buck. Shovel sidewalks, mow lawns, lemonade stands, or heck even paint houses when I was like 13! There is an abundance of humility when you grow up this way. It wasn’t always fun bailing hay on really hot days and stacking the bails in a barn - when the loft in the barn was like a 100 degrees and I suffered terribly from hay fever. Now that I am a Bankruptcy Attorney in Maple Grove, MN, this life seems like it was so long ago and yet ever present. Those early days- filled with hard work and low pay made me appreciate the men and women who work hard and earn little but who are good, honest, hard-working people who deserve respect from all of us.
Grew up with 9 siblings
My dad stood at a machine in a factory for 45 years, not because he loved to stand at the same machine, doing the same damn thing over and over in a hot factory for 45 years- that was not my dad’s dream. But, he did it to support a family of nine children and a wife back in Foley, Minnesota. To this day, not one of my dad’s kids, including me, has replicated his feat. Not one of us has risen as large of a family as my dad did on his income and my mom’s meager self-employment income. My mom always said, if you think raising children is easy, you’ve never done it.
In order to raise this large of family on a small income, you have to be a brilliant mathematician, a master chef, lucky as hell, and have nerves of steel. You have no idea the stunts that get pulled by nine bored children in a small town! Principals, teachers, cops, fights, theft, garden raids, drinking, smoking, running from the police (for no reason and some times for good reasons) were all part of small town Foley, Minnesota.
Graduated High School in 1987
I graduated from high school in 1987. My parents were so embarrassed because as my class was graduating from high school- I was still trimming trees to work off some detention time. Turns out my senior year for me was just agonizingly boring- I had mentally moved on from high school before it ended. While at the ceremony, the speaker discussed an award I won out of all Minnesota high schools for the best piece of literature written by a student that year- and there I was trimming trees- good times.
Attended college and law school
I went to college at St Cloud State University and Law School at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul. I am not going to lie to you- my only desire in going to college and law school was to make a crap load of money. I wasn’t one of these people fortunate enough to know from like 3 years of age, what they wanted to be when they grew up. I was one of those drifters that didn’t know quite where I fit in and what I wanted to do.
About the only dream I ever had, was not to be as poor as my parents were growing up. My dad would take us to the factory, to show us what he did there, but he also was giving us something more, a reason to go to school, and dad was successful!
After graduating from law school I did, in fact, make a crap load of money, but I was miserable? What? How can you be miserable making a lot of money? I hated the way we practiced, who we had become, and the service we were providing to our clients. My employees were miserable, my partnership in turmoil, and I was personally the most unhappy professionally and personally I think I have ever been in my life.
Had An Epiphany After College
And then it hit me- I can’t even explain it really, I realized that some of the happiest moments of my life were when I was young, and poor, and humble, and a giver. I realized I had lost my way and forgotten my roots. For me, the road to happiness was treating others well, in fact treating others better than they deserve to be treated. I was not going to live a lie. I wanted honesty, candor, accountability, and what I coined “extreme humility.”
I wanted myself and those around me, and employed by me, to do the same and promise each other that we will work in a certain way and treat each other extraordinarily well. I wanted to deeply honor the courage and humility it took for clients with overwhelming debt to call us, to come in and speak to us, to deal with this problem without judgment and to know exactly What To Expect When You File Bankruptcy in Maple Grove
Rebuilt a new Law practice in 1972
So I set out to figuratively burn down the law practice started back in 1972 and to rebuild a new law practice, a practice built on the most solid foundation imaginable. A foundation so strong that nothing could shake it ever again to its core.
From the top down, our new law practice would be based on the term I had coined earlier- “extreme humility”. Our clients needs and wishes were now paramount to anything else in our business. The needs of a partner, lawyer, or one of our teammates were placed behind the needs of our clients- the clients we are here to serve.
Founded on 4 Core Values
Today, emanating from this principle of “extreme humility” the Kain & Scott Bankruptcy Law Firm is built on a foundation of 4 core values: 1) professionalism, 2) exceptional customer service, 3) kindness, and 4) helpfulness. These 4 core values hold up our entire organization and is the base from which we launch everything else.
When we hire our teammates, they are hired based on how well they will comply with and meet our core values. If they can not, they will not work for us. Indeed, we select the right person for our positions we don’t hire just anyone.
Our teammates are given continued employment and raises based on how well they comply with our business’s core values. When our teammates are let go, they are let go based on a failure to follow our core values.
MN Nicest Bankruptcy Law firm
The culture of Kain & Scott exudes our core values, our service to our clients is now first class, our employees are the happiest they have ever been, and me, well I am making less money and have never been happier in my life! I am so proud of the firm and what Kain & Scott has become for Minnesotans suffering from overwhelming debt. We have become a sanctuary for those looking to get their lives back without judgment, with kindness, helpfulness, professionalism, and yes, exceptional customer service.
I am proud to be a Bankruptcy Attorney in Maple Grove at Kain & Scott, helping others get their lives back- and creating a relationship with our clients that last a lifetime. A big tip of the cap to my teammates who have seen Kain & Scott morph into something so special as what we have. To my former, present, and future clients, I tip my cap to your courage and anxiety in dealing with a debt problem and protecting your family.
Kain & Scott is Minnesota’s nicest bankruptcy law firm guaranteed or 100% off your fees!
