Kristi grew up on her family's farm in Brown County, Ohio where she was involved in raising beef cattle, sheep, corn, soybeans, wheat, and tobacco. Throughout her youth, she was active in both 4-H and FFA, including serving as the 1997-98 State FFA Reporter and as a member of the 1998 Ohio State Junior Fair Board.

Kristi graduated from The Ohio State University Summa Cum Laude with Distinction with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture Education. Kristi then worked at the law firm of Wright & Logan Co., LPA before attending the University of Toledo College of Law. Kristi graduated from the University of Toledo Summa Cum Laude and Order of the Coif. Following law school, Kristi clerked for the Honorable James G. Carr of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in Toledo and the Honorable Mary Beck Briscoe of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Lawrence, Kansas.

Prior to joining BECE, Kristi worked as an attorney at Bryan Cave in Kansas City, Missouri and most recently at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP. Kristi's primary practice area is litigation. She has experience litigating a variety of matters including contract and general business disputes, employment matters, eminent domain/real estate appropriation actions, coal, oil, and gas litigation, and consumer protection matters. Kristi also has experience counseling clients on employment matters and representing clients in administrative proceedings before various federal, state, and local governmental bodies. Kristi is a member of the American Bar Association and the Ohio Bar Association. She is currently licensed to practice law in the state of Ohio and holds inactive licenses to practice law in the states of Kansas and Missouri.

When she is not practicing law, Kristi enjoys spending time with her husband and children, gardening, and remodeling their late 19th century farm house.