Vanessa Kuljis is a BigLaw litigator turned Gallup certified Strengths Coach

Vanessa Kuljis is the Founder of BloomRise LLC and a GALLUP Certified Strengths Coach. She works with lawyers and other professionals to discover individual talents, own their unique value proposition, and move toward setting and achieving authentic goals. Vanessa was previously the Director of Professional Development and Leadership Initiatives at the University of Miami Law School and, before that, a litigation associate.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Vanessa went straight through from undergrad to law school into a litigation practice
• As the child of immigrants, the idea of being a professional working in a big fancy building seemed like the ultimate achievement 
• Vanessa realized she really wanted more interaction with people, and more emphasis on relationship-building in her work
• She also started to realize she wanted to build something, she just wasn’t sure what yet
• Vanessa moved to NY for a year for her husband’s job and decided to explore other interests rather than practice
• Ultimately, Vanessa went into higher education, working in student services at a law school
• As part of her job, Vanessa got the Gallup CliftonStrengths certification 
• She ended up consulting on strengths on the side and realized this was the business she wanted to build
• In leaving her job to do her new business full-time, Vanessa realized how true it is that courage isn’t absence of fear, it’s taking the leap despite your fear
• It may look from the outside like a move was sudden and easy, but it’s just because you don’t see all of the the thought and processing going on behind the scenes
• Strengths coaching walks you through 3 stages: awareness, appreciation, application
• You often can’t see your strengths because they are so inherent to who you are
• It’s a much higher return to invest in your strengths than try to improve on your weaknesses

Vanessa’s Website: www.BloomRiseCo.com

 

Lawyer’s Escape Plan Quiz: http://bit.ly/lawyersescaperoutequiz

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