We didn’t have a lot of money when I was growing up. My dad passed away from cancer when I was 7, so my mom was a single parent doing everything she could to provide for our family. When my freshman year of high school rolled around, she sat me down and said, “Kristina, I love you, and I believe in you, but there is no way I can support you financially after you graduate from high school. You need to start thinking about college and how you’re going to pay for it.”

I was overwhelmed. I didn’t have perfect grades, and I wasn’t a star athlete, so how was that supposed to happen? But she had so much faith in me that the more we talked about it, I somehow started to believe in myself. She said, “I know you’re not meant to struggle your entire life, and if you work hard enough now, you can go on and achieve the life of your dreams.”

So, I read like crazy, strategized, took on new activities to add to my resumé, and treated scholarship applications like a part-time job. Thankfully, that commitment paid off. I ended up winning $500,000 in scholarships, graduating from Vanderbilt University with two bachelor's degrees in business and education, and then getting my master's degree in education from Belmont University—all 100% debt-free. I went on to write (and tour the country with) two books that have helped over 100,000 young people pay for college. Oh, and a huge blessing happened along the way: I met and married a handsome police officer, and now we have two beautiful children!

Over the past few years, I’ve gotten to interview scholarship administrators, financial aid officers and National Scholars who, like me, had huge success using little-known strategies that set them apart from the crowd. All of this became part of my mission to show students how to steer clear of predatory lenders and pay for college without loans (because no one needs that burden in their life—especially not college kids who have their whole lives ahead of them).

Then I got the chance to share my story and help expose the toxic student loan industry in Ramsey Solutions’ award-winning documentary, Borrowed Future. I was beyond thrilled when they asked me to join their team, and now I get to co-host The Ramsey Show and help families learn how to approach college and other money issues the debt-free way through articles, live events, podcasts and online courses. One of the best parts? I get to work with Ramsey Education, helping out with their courses that give young people the tools they need to understand and win with money.