Forty Under 40: Kristin Baldwin

Kristin Baldwin had worked for almost a decade in the Northwest Arkansas legal community when she took a job as a paralegal at Fayetteville law firm Smith Hurst in October 2013.

She made a terrific first impression — Jim Smith and Rebecca Hurst hired her at the initial interview — and Baldwin has not stopped impressing since.

After two months, Baldwin was promoted to a position as the firm’s office administrator. In another six months, she was again elevated to her current role, empowered to administer one of the top business law firms in Northwest Arkansas.

Baldwin said the news was humbling. She oversees a staff of 10, including four attorneys, handles the firm’s business and financial operations and develops long-range strategic planning goals.

Her bosses say Baldwin has outdistanced the high hopes they had for her with the boutique M&A firm, and she is an indispensable team member.

“I cannot imagine operating our law firm without Kristin,” Hurst declared.

Baldwin says she works well with Smith and Hurst, adding that whatever the future holds for her professionally, “I’m sure I will be doing it with them.”

A Colorado native, Baldwin moved to Northwest Arkansas when she was 16 and has become a visible leader not just in the legal arena, but in the charitable and civic community as well. She obtained a business communications certificate from the University of Arkansas Global Campus, is a 2016 graduate of Leadership Fayetteville and actively volunteers for several organizations, including Children’s Safety Center of Washington County and Susan G. Komen Ozark.

A married mother of two girls, Baldwin said her advice for other up-and-comers is to live deliberately.

“Whatever you do, do it to your fullest. Live life every day to make it mean something.”