FARGO — Job titles have changed for Kristi Huber over the years, but one thing has remained constant: her desire to bring people together.
Whether connecting volunteers with community causes, encouraging young women to pursue leadership or helping executives find their footing, Huber has long considered herself a connector — a personality she doesn’t leave at her office.
Huber and her husband, Gregg, recently checked off a bucket-list goal: visiting all 32 National Hockey League arenas.
Along the way, Huber did what her family has watched her do for years: She made friends.
At one of the arenas, she struck up a conversation with a young woman sitting behind them. Even after Huber returned home, the two continued texting.
“I’m so authentically curious about people,” Huber said. “I care so deeply about people.”
It’s a philosophy that has followed her from United Way of Cass-Clay to Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota and now into entrepreneurship, with
and the recently launched Välv Advisors.
After years of leading within established organizations, Huber is taking her experiences and using them to help others navigate leadership, growth and change.
Kristi Huber talks with an employee during a tour of the Flint Group offices on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in Fargo.
Anna Paige / The Forum
For Huber, making connections began long before she held any leadership title.
Growing up on a farm in Minnesota, Huber said her parents would tell stories about how she could strike up conversations with adults as a young child.
During family vacations, her father would joke about who they might run into that Kristi already knew. And, more often than not, they would run into someone.
“I don’t know any way not to connect with people,” Huber said.
That curiosity has carried into adulthood.
It’s also why she found so much fulfillment at United Way, where bringing people together was central to the organization’s mission.
For Huber, the goal wasn’t simply to introduce people, but to help them find a sense of belonging and contribute to something larger than themselves.
“Part of it is belonging,” Huber said, explaining that people want to feel authentically connected to their communities.
And while that desire to connect has helped shape her career, Huber acknowledged it has sometimes presented challenges, too.
Caring deeply about people, she said, can make it difficult when professional responsibilities leave less room for those personal connections.
Still, it’s a part of herself she has never wanted to change.
Climbing the right mountain
Huber’s career has taken her through some of the Fargo-Moorhead area’s most recognizable organizations.
She spent years with United Way of Cass-Clay serving as its president and CEO, before moving into leadership at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota.
At United Way, she helped strengthen community partnerships, support fundraising initiatives and expand opportunities for leadership development.
Among the experiences she continues to value is her involvement with the 35 Under 35 Women’s Leadership Program, which has helped develop generations of emerging female leaders.
Kristi Huber gives a tour of the Flint Group offices on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in Fargo.
Anna Paige / The Forum
Throughout her career, Huber said she struggled with the fear of failure and the pressure to keep striving for the next accomplishment, focusing on reaching the next professional milestone.
“I didn’t want to fail and that created a lot of anxiousness for me,” Huber said.
With time and reflection, her perspective has changed.
Experiences that once seemed like failures have become lessons she can share with others, helping leaders avoid challenges or see difficult situations differently.
Rather than focusing entirely on the next accomplishment, Huber has begun asking herself a different question.
Are you climbing the right mountain?
“You’re not … not ambitious. You are ambitious, but you’re just making sure that instead of getting to the next level, making sure that you’re climbing the right mountain,” she said.
For Huber, that reflection eventually led her toward entrepreneurship.
Starting a business later in her career wasn’t necessarily what others expected from Huber.
She said some people questioned why she would choose to leave the familiarity of established organizations to build something of her own.
“You’re starting a business at this point in your career. Isn’t that scary?” Huber recalled people asking.
Her response?
“Isn’t that exciting?”
Now, during October’s National Women’s Small Business Month, Huber is among the women putting their experience and ideas into building businesses of their own.
“I would really encourage others, especially women that are thinking about what it is that they want to do with their career,” Huber said, noting that years of experience can provide something valuable to other businesses.
Kristi Huber speaks at a Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber event.
Contributed / FMWF Chamber
For Huber, the timing also reflects a desire to be more intentional about life outside work.
She said starting her own businesses has given her an opportunity to prioritize time with her husband and family, along with her faith.
And for anyone questioning whether they’ve waited too long to pursue a new idea, Huber has a simple perspective.
“Too old to start a new company? That’s not a thing.”
Huber’s new professional chapter includes two businesses that she says complement one another.
Through Perspective Shift Consulting, launched in 2025, Huber focuses on speaking engagements and helping leaders navigate challenges such as burnout, purpose and personal growth.
which launched this summer, expands that work into advising organizations and executive teams, including leadership development, business strategy and succession planning.
Huber is working with Andy Reierson through Välv, bringing together their professional experiences to help businesses navigate decisions and transitions.
Huber plans to grow both ventures, with her speaking engagements sometimes leading to opportunities to work more closely with organizations through Välv.
For Huber, much of the satisfaction comes from recognizing that experiences throughout her career — including mistakes — can now benefit someone else.
“It’s so fun to be able to think about, ‘OK, this is an experience in my career that I can bring forward to help them give them a different perspective,’” Huber said.
Her experiences with burnout have also shaped the conversations she now has with leaders.
She encourages people to consider whether their values still align with their work, whether they have enough autonomy over their schedules and whether they’re taking care of themselves.
Despite years of public speaking, Huber admitted she still gets butterflies before stepping in front of a crowd.
“I still get nervous because I really want my message to land,” she said. “I just always want to be helpful.”
Kristi Huber speaks at the 2025 Develop Dickinson Women’s Leadership Summit
Contributed / Kari Dunn
In February, Huber is scheduled to return to United Way to speak to participants in the
35 Under 35 Women’s Leadership Program,
which she helped expand during her time with the organization.
This time, she’ll return not as president, but as an entrepreneur and adviser, bringing the lessons she’s gathered since leaving.
For Huber, it’s all part of a familiar habit, whether she’s connecting executives, meeting strangers at hockey games or helping someone find their footing.
“I don’t know any way not to connect with people,” she said.