Jessica Medina leaves 14 years of law practice behind to pursue financial coaching

Jessica Medina is a former big law litigator and SEC investigator who now runs her own financial coaching business. She helps big law attorneys who need a financial plan in place to allow them the freedom to explore new career options. Basically - she helps people avoid or remove those pesky golden handcuffs so many of us get caught in. Jessica tells us about her own journey of 14 years in practice, 5 and 10 year financial plans, and finding the right fit for her next career move. I think her story is very relatable in that she identifies herself as a risk-averse person. But, just because you value security or your timeline may be a bit longer does not mean you can’t be making a plan to open up options for your future self.

In today’s episode we discuss:

• How a big firm career seemed like the only responsible option right out of law school as a single mother of twins 
• It’s great if a firm supports parents with free, onsite childcare, but there are still always challenges of balancing work and family time
• When faced with the possibility of partnership, Jessica was forced to admit to herself that she didn’t want to continue down that road
• Working for the SEC was a big improvement in terms of work/life balance, but also made it clear that practicing law was not Jessica’s forever dream
• It’s hard to decide what to do when you’ve spent your whole life chasing one career path
• In thinking through possible alternative careers, intuition told her that financial counseling (a “fun” hobby for her) felt right and aligned
• It was hard to walk away from practice - both for prestige and financial security
• Jessica did this on her own timeline, one that made sense to her
• Entrepreneurship works different muscles, but you can learn new skills
• Jessica now helps big law associates who are both “underwhelmed and overwhelmed” by their situation
• Having a financial plan in order allows you to think more broadly about new career path options
• Talk to people outside of your immediate work environment; include non-lawyers in your friend group
• Competitive karaoke singers remind you that life doesn’t all have to be so serious

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Guest Website: https://www.jessicamedinallc.com/