LONG JOURNEY HOME

Like any good story, the journey that brought Keaton and Molly Kristick to Lake Forest includes a few plot twists. The couple had just started dating mere months before they’d each be faced with some major life decisions. Both were set to move from Lincoln, Nebraska— potentially in opposite directions.

Keaton, a former San Francisco 49ers linebacker who had moved to Nebraska to help coach the University of Nebraska Huskers football team, was ready to find his next career move. He planned to retreat back to his hometown in Arizona to relax and recalibrate.

Meanwhile, Molly—who had been working in sales at the Lincoln Journal Star and ready to make her mark on advertising—was in the middle of negotiating a new job with PureCars Technologies, an ad tech company that would take her to Cincinnati.

Instead of going their separate ways, the couple went on a vacation together in Colorado Springs to discuss the options that lay before them—and a fateful choice that would ultimately chart their path to the North Shore.

“It was at the Broadmoor’s famous Golden Bee where over drinks we decided to take a leap of faith and move to Cincinnati together,” says Molly, who is now the Director of Digital Strategy at that same company, working with 17 different automotive brands across the U.S. and Canada. “And when the company decided to move us from Cincinnati to Chicago, we didn’t even know the North Shore existed.”

Over the last six years, Keaton has also climbed his way to the top of yet another industry. As the Senior Vice President of Sales at Nolan Transportation Group, an Atlanta-based logistics company, he is now considered one of the most innovative minds in the import/export industry.

“We push each other to accomplish as much as possible,” says Molly, who explains that in addition to each being the first in their families to earn a bachelor’s degree, they share a lifelong drive to succeed. “We love to see how far we can get in everything.”

Soon after marrying in 2019, the Kristicks welcomed their daughter, Mara. Kelly, the youngest, was born about a year later. Their first home after relocating here was near Chicago’s lakefront, followed by a home in Highland Park. But with the girls growing up, they needed more space.

Lake Forest had everything they were looking for and more.

Keaton fell in love with North Shore ravines soon after moving to the area. So, when a vintage home situated on top of a ravine in Lake Forest’s Villa Turicum neighborhood became available, he says it was a “no brainer.”

“The all-glass back of the house makes it seem like you’re living in nature” he adds. “We want to make really good memories and traditions for our kids too. We feel very lucky to have found it.”

A year has passed since they moved to Lake Forest and began renovating what will likely be their forever home.

“We really look forward to meeting families nearby and making great friends here,” says Molly.

The girls are now ages 2 and 3 and love joining their parents at Market Square, whether they’re at Starbucks, the new Hometown Coffee and Juice, or at Lake Forest Bookstore.

“We are both still very driven in our careers but we’re also committed to making time for our two daughters,” she adds. “We love the strong community and safe feel of the neighborhood.”

More than a decade has passed since Keaton’s football days and he rarely looks back. But this fall, for the first time in many years, he will be returning to his alma mater at Oregon State as a spectator. It was Molly’s suggestion, a loving act that is not lost on her husband.

“For a lot of people who have a career playing football or go their entire life playing a sport, to transition out of that—with the schedules, regimens, the attention—is difficult,” he says. “Meeting Molly and having her support and having her see me as successful in a different light made all the difference. Seeing her do the things she does was really inspiring and gave me courage and confidence I needed to transition.”

In this November season of thanks, the couple says they are grateful for the life they have found together and the journey that brought them here.

“We’ve both been promoted to the top of our careers during COVID while raising two infants. I’m proud of us,” adds Molly. “Six years ago, we were in Ohio, and now we’ve stumbled upon this community that we’re so excited to be a part of. We really hope to put some solid roots down in Lake Forest.