With nearly a decade of redefining conventions and creating change, Rethink Compliance—a women-owned and led compliance firm based in Denver—leverages its banking relationship and know-how to grow from a start-up in 2015 to a thriving 41-person company, serving nearly 200 clients internationally. Rethink hasn’t only modernized the compliance industry but is on track to being among the top training vendors in the market.

We sat down with Kristen Liston, founder and CEO of Rethink Compliance, to discuss the history of her business and how a positive banking relationship impacted its growth.

1. Briefly describe your business (what does it provide, who does it serve, etc.)

Rethink Compliance empowers corporate compliance teams to build and sustain ethical cultures. More than 30% of Rethink’s 175+ clients are Fortune 500 or Global 2000 companies, but we serve organizations of all sizes. Our primary products and services include online compliance and ethics training, development of Codes of Conduct and other policies, and consulting engagements to help companies create or improve their compliance programs.

2. How did the business start, and how is it going today?

In 2000, I joined a start-up that pioneered some of the first-ever compliance training products. I developed their first online courses and helped build a library of over 500 titles, on topics ranging from anti-bribery to insider trading to global trade. As compliance programs became standard at most organizations, I noticed the industry was doubling down on older product formats and ignoring the digital revolution. Clients started to demand shorter, better, more engaging training that could be tailored to reflect specific audience and workplace situations. There was limited interest in changing the status quo, so that’s when I decided to leave and start Rethink Compliance.

Today, Rethink has 41 employees. We were recognized as one of 2023 and 2024’s 50 Fastest Growing Businesses in Denver, and a Top 100 Women-Owned Business in Colorado. Rethink Compliance is a certified women-owned business and a four-time honoree on the Inc. 5000 List of fastest-growing companies in the U.S., making the list every year 2021-2024.

3. What makes your business unique or sets you apart from competitors?

Rethink Compliance challenges the business-as-usual approach to ethics and compliance training. Instead of boring, cookie-cutter content with outdated production values, we feature modern, engaging, and effective training built using current technology. Unlike competitors that outsource customer service, we maintain a seasoned client services team of high-service professionals and an in-house Advisory team to advise clients and provide input and review for Rethink’s own products.

Put simply: We don’t think compliance training needs to be boring. Instead, we’re committed to delivering excellent creative quality with support from a high-service team with deep expertise.

4. What is your proudest achievement as a business owner or leader? 

I’m most proud of the workplace culture we’ve built at Rethink. Our team values each other — we have ongoing internal chat threads about pets, books, recipes, and other virtual water cooler topics, from llama competitions to vacation photos. After one colleague left Rethink for film school, we held a private Zoom screening of one of her award-winning short films. Our Chief Operating Officer does wildlife photography in his free time, and we turned some of his best work into a calendar that we sent as a holiday gift to our team and clients.

Rethink and its leaders also make it a point to support women’s careers by encouraging them to pursue leadership roles and front-facing projects. We also have an inclusive work culture and welcome candidates who might not be able to put in a traditional 40-hour-work week, like students, caretakers and parents/guardians. This approach helps us broaden our talent pool and gain advantages over companies that may disregard those individuals.

5. Describe a challenge the business faced and how you overcame it.

March 2020 was terrifying. We were in our fifth year of business when the world shut down due to the pandemic. Despite having rapidly grown and adding several team members, including a new hire set to start on April 1, demand began to slow. He had given notice at his last job, so we still brought him on.

I quickly realized we needed a plan and wrote a letter to the team saying our only goal was to: “Preserve the company, preserve the team, and live to fight another day.” We cut expenses to the bone and set a “keep the lights on” sales number that we communicated to the team and gave monthly updates on progress. We looked for new marketing and sales channels that didn’t require in-person meetings, ultimately launching a monthly webinar series that today draws hundreds of registrations each month. We were also fortunate to receive a Payment Protection Program (PPP) loan in the first round, which underscored the importance of having a solid relationship with your banking partner.

In the end, we were successful. Sales resumed, and we ended the year with modest growth and many valuable lessons learned.

6. What do you think are the most important skills/considerations for running a successful business? What advice would you give aspiring entrepreneurs?

1. Offer something the market wants. The best advice I’ve gotten in this area is from Steve Blank’s “Lean Start-Up” model. He counsels you not to sit alone in a room and cook up business ideas in a vacuum — instead, go out and talk to your market and find a problem they will pay you to solve (at a profit). If you can get that right, everything that follows gets a lot easier.
2. You don’t need to know everything to get started — I certainly didn’t. For me, building this business was a series of small decisions and steps forward, not giant leaps. I tapped a lot of people for mentorship and sought out books and articles related to every new situation I faced. The information, knowledge, and resources I need always eventually showed up.
3. As a mentor of mine once told me, be relentlessly optimistic. It helps a lot.

7. Why did you choose FirstBank as your banking partner?

When I moved to Colorado in 2008, I opened a personal checking account with FirstBank and later financed a real estate purchase with the bank in 2010. By the time I formed Rethink in 2015, I needed a business bank account, and FirstBank was my first choice considering my personal banking relationship and great experience. I continue to appreciate just how easy it is to get someone knowledgeable on the phone. FirstBank is a very accessible bank. By this point, I’ve made many calls and branch visits, and I always have a positive experience.

8. How has your FirstBank relationship helped with your business goals?

We’re at the stage of company growth where access to capital is critical — as the saying goes: “growth eats cash.” Carrying a payroll for 41 people is a serious commitment, and our banker is one of our trusted business partners. FirstBank helped us secure a $500,000 line of credit for working capital. We’ve also leaned on the bank for administrative support, including switching payroll providers. Each time, it was easy to get the help and support we needed, whether in person or over the phone.

9. What do you hope to see the business accomplish in the next several years?

It’s our goal to be the #1 compliance training vendor in the market and to set a new standard for what’s possible in terms of serving our clients. Every year that our business grows, it’s an affirmation for us that we are on the right track in providing our clients with the products and services they need to build effective compliance programs.

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