Karisa Grothe was born in Mankato, MN in 1972. She is from a large family and is blessed with four sisters and two brothers. Her parents divorced when she was only two years old. She attended elementary and middle school in southern MN. In 1987, she moved to Burnsville, MN and graduated in 1990 from Burnsville High School. Her Dad is a 3rd generation farmer and still resides on the family farm in southern MN. Growing up on the farm gave Karisa a deep respect for and love of agriculture. Some of her fondest memories include riding on the John Deere tractor as well as planting and harvesting corn and soybeans. Surrounded by agriculture, her aunts and uncles were dairy farmers, cattle ranchers and crop farmers, while her cousins are still farming the original family farm settled in 1864. This rich heritage shaped her values and instilled a hard work ethic.
After high school Karisa worked at Chili’s Restaurant, as a trainer, bartender and waitress for seven years. That job supported her throughout college. She graduated from St. Catherine University in 1996, with the goal of being a medical sign language interpreter. As a young child, her deaf uncle inspired her to become fluent in American Sign Language. Little did she know that her passion for signing at a young age would lead to a very rewarding career. Karisa worked for Harris Communications – a small business owned by a deaf man, for 2 years, which sold sign language books and novelty items for the deaf and hearing impaired. There, she worked as a sign language interpreter and contributed to the sales team. This position also afforded her the opportunity to travel to trade shows, selling and promoting various products, which became a rewarding and challenging job.
After 6 years of dating, Karisa married her best friend, Ross Grothe, on December 5, 1998. They worked very hard for several years to grow their fishing business and custom home building company. Their free time was spent fishing, hunting, snowmobiling and playing softball. They have always been a very active and adventurous couple, who love the great outdoors and the beauty of God’s creation.
In 1999, Karisa was recruited by Waddell & Reed Financial Services, where she worked as a Paraplanner and a Financial Advisor until March 2018. In this role, she provided clients with sound advice regarding their financial planning and investments. She regularly met with clients to establish their needs and develop financial plans to maximize profitability and reduce debt, and for short and long-term goals, such as budgeting for education expenses and saving for retirement. This was very meaningful work that she felt was tailor made for her. She relished the client rapport and was honored to earn their trust and loyalty, and help them achieve their dreams.
In 2007, their son Reid was born and in 2010, they welcomed a second son, Roger. Their two sons have been their greatest joy! As parents they have been truly blessed to watch them grow into fine young men.
Karisa’s husband Ross has been a Professional Walleye Fisherman since 1994. Their fishing business promotes professional fishing and the great outdoors. Ross and their boys fish together in walleye tournaments. After High School graduation, Ross began working with his dad and became a 4th generation home builder in Minnesota. After his dad passed away, he continued in the home building business, starting Grothe Homes in 2006, working together with Karisa, until they closed it in 2022.
Since 1995, the family had been traveling to ND for fishing tournaments and hunting trips. Karisa has always been impressed with all that North Dakota has to offer. In 2020, when Covid arrived on the scene, communities and businesses were shut down completely in MN. Families were unable to go to work or attend school. Their school district had announced that distance learning would continue in fall 2020. Their sons did not thrive under those circumstances and needed to be present in the classroom, in order to fully thrive socially and academically. For these reasons, the Grothe’s decided to leave MN in order to escape Covid tyranny and Minnesota’s extremely inflated taxes. They moved to Baldwin, on September 30, 2020. They know they made the best decision for their family, by moving to North Dakota.
Soon after moving to Baldwin, Karisa became immersed in local ND politics. She got involved in District 8 Republican politics, prior to the 2021 redistricting. On April 21, 2021, she was responsible for forcing the Wilton school board to remove mask mandates from all students. In 2022, she was elected as a Delegate to the NDGOP State Convention, and has since been elected to the District 14 Republican executive committee. In 2022, she served as an Election Judge for District 14 in Wing.
From 2001-2015, Karisa was involved with BNI (Business Networking International). BNI is a networking organization for business professionals. She served as President, Vice President and helped on the membership committee. Additionally, she helped recruit and originate several BNI groups in the southern Twin Cities area. As a family, the Grothe’s enjoy hunting with their 3 labs, and of course fishing all year round. Pickleball is Karisa’s current obsession and she plays as often as she can. She stays busy caring for her family, keeping the home, as well as working part time for a small Veteran owned company in Bismarck. Her husband Ross continues to focus on his fishing career. They are both extremely grateful for the life they have built in N.D. and feel blessed to live here.