In a picture frame, the phrase “Do the most good” hangs in Emma Crawford’s home, where she lives with her husband, Devin Remiker.
It’s Crawford’s philosophy on life, Remiker noted while nominating his wife for an Amy Award, and it exemplifies the path she’s taken as a financial planner with a Certified Financial Planner designation who specializes in helping people navigate student loans.
“I remember her telling me a story of one of her clients calling her a ‘student loan angel,’ and that’s exactly what she is,” he says. Crawford created her own student loan repayment and forgiveness service under the umbrella of her employer, Perk Planning, a financial planning firm based in downtown Madison. “[It’s] a service that was severely lacking here in Madison, yet desperately needed,” Remiker says.
The people who come to her for help are often anxious, says Crawford. Federal regulations change, loan service personnel don’t always provide accurate information, and with numerous loan forgiveness scams, it’s hard to know who to trust. “It’s such a broken system,” she says of the student loan industry. Her goal is to give people hope, to detangle confusing rules and rhetoric and help put clients on a path toward loan forgiveness (or to simply pay off student loans on a timeline that reduces their stress). And she also does pro bono work and free webinars so even more people have access to professional financial advice.
“I know what it’s like to not feel like you have a lot of hope or power over your situation, and you’re doing everything you can, but sometimes the mountain feels too high and insurmountable,” Crawford says. “I want to bring them up the mountain and show that options do exist and it’s not their fault that they’re struggling.”
Money was once a source of shame and anxiety for her, too. Crawford’s family was evicted from their home when she was in high school during the 2007-08 financial crisis. Her housing situation was unstable and her family survived on food stamps. College was her way forward, and because she had no financial safety net to fall back on, working to put herself through school was her only option. Later, while working as a research assistant in graduate school, illuminating conversations with a colleague taught her about things like 401K matching and helped her negotiate a job offer. The experience ignited her interest in financial wellness, and the course of her career organically led her to where she is today.
Only about 23% of certified financial planners are women, and Crawford is the only woman in Wisconsin (that she knows of) who’s also a certified student loan planner.
She’s seen and experienced the ripple effect financial literacy can have on people’s lives, and through her work, she gives others the knowledge they need to reap those benefits. That’s power, she says, and sharing it is so important.
Shelby Rowe Moyer is a contributing writer at Madison Magazine.
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