The Lawyer's Escape Pod

Illegal Design: Less Hustle, More Flow

In today's episode, I talk about Human Design, hustle & flow, and why it's ok to be more of a sprinter than a marathoner.

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megansmileyesq/

Human Design Chart: https://www.jovianarchive.com/get_your_chart

Kat Johnston leaves her high intensity in-house attorney job purposefully plan-less

Kat Johnston spent over a decade between BigLaw litigation and being in-house at a Silicon Valley company. The intensity of working in those environments and the stress took their toll. So, Kat started to prioritize taking better care of herself. Ultimately, as her focus and priorities shifted, Kat decided to leave practice and has taken the past 2 years off to give herself time to reset, explore, and find the next right step for her career journey. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• Working hard along the path isn’t the same as working hard at figuring out a path
• Kat enjoyed the clarity of mission working in-house and the ability to be more herself, have room to innovate and be creative 
• In-house practice at a Silicon Valley company is still an intense place to work
• Kat was really burned out physically and emotionally
• She realized that she had to take self-care more seriously and set real boundaries at work
• You can start being the person you want to be before you leave your job
• The more she took care of herself, the more it made her question “what are we all doing?”
• As she shifted, she was more out of sync with her colleagues
• For Kat, she came to decide that she didn’t need to have the answers before leaving her job
• She left with no plan for a year - other than that she’d planned out the money piece with her financial advisor
• She sold her home, sold most of her things, and traveled for a year
• The first year was not about figuring it out - it was about allowing herself to reset and live differently
• She then spent another year traveling the US in an airstream, but more focused on thinking about next steps
• She’s now in the early stages of building her own wellness & nature retreat

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megansmileyesq/    

Kat’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildkatwandering/

 

Illegal Design: Action Breeds Confidence

We all want to be able to sit in a room, research our career options, and come up with a plan we're 100% confident in before taking action.  

But here's the thing: you can't wait for total confidence and clarity to take action because it's the action taking that grows your confidence and clarity.

 

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megansmileyesq/

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megansmileyesq/ 

 

Illegal Design: Experiment, Have Fun, and Be Less Boring

Being a lawyer can make you feel very one-dimensional. Finding the time and space to explore your interests will both make you a happier person in the moment, and help you figure out that elusive right next step in your career.

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megansmileyesq/    

Vicki Huebner leaves litigation for law school career services and ultimately her own dog training company

Vicki Huebner is the Director of Online Legal Programs and an Adjunct Professor at Santa Clara University School of law. She is also the founder of Upskilled Canines, a dog training business. Vicki spent a number of years in litigation, from a clerkship, to a big firm, to a smaller firm. She realized that practice did not light her up the way she saw it do for some people she worked with. On somewhat of a whim, she took an opportunity to work in career services at a law school. 25 years later, she’s still working in higher education. But, she has simultaneously pursued her real passion for dog training and started her own business. She figured why wait until retirement to start doing what she really loves.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Vicki’s parents had pushed her towards law as a stable and lucrative career

• Vicki’s practice ranged from a clerkship, to BigLaw litigation, to small firm litigation

• Vicki saw the partners at the small firm be so passionate about the work and having fun

• That’s when she realized law practice was probably just not her thing

• Somewhat serendipitously, Vicki came across a job in law school career services 

• Although it was a bit of an impulsive move and Vicki thought she might return to practice in some form, she’s now 25 years into higher education

• She enjoys the scholarly environment

• At some point, Vicki felt she was outgrowing career services, but was able to pivot to a more strategic area of the law school in online program development

• Vicki realized she liked the business strategy and operations, which is what she’d liked from the small firm

• Higher education can be very slow to evolve and bureaucratic 

• Vicki followed her passion for dogs and started training them and volunteering at the humane society

• Her natural talent for dog training came through, and she now has a small side business

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megansmileyesq/

Illegal Design: Why Excellence at Work is Stunting Your Career

Working in your zone of excellence can be the enemy of finding true fulfillment at work. I know it can be very hard to even think of what else you'd do besides being a lawyer. Working to uncover your Zone of Genius is one step in that process.

 

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megansmileyesq/   

Elena Deutsch helps women leave the law

Elena Deutsch is the founder and CEO of WILL (Women Interested in Leaving Law). With a background in executive and leadership coaching, Elena guides women through the process of discovering what they want, leveraging their strengths, and researching inspiring new possibilities. 

In today’s episode, we discuss:

• Many of Elena’s clients want to do work that’s more meaningful to them
• Try saying “I do lawyering” versus “I am a lawyer” 
• We are all creative, we just have to access it
• The power of the StrengthsFinder test
• The concept of zone of genius 
• We often don’t recognize our own strengths because they are so natural to us

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megansmileyesq/    

Elena’s website: https://womeninterestedinleavinglaw.com/

Jay Harrington leaves a big law bankruptcy practice to start a marketing & PR company with his wife

Jay Harrington is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategist at Harrington Communications. Jay went from a big law bankruptcy practice to a portfolio career that spans from marketing & PR to training & coaching to book author. Jay highlights two things I think are so important. First, you can design your life. You can pick the work that supports the life you want to live, rather than live the lifestyle demanded by a certain job. Second, he talks about making yourself your own best client and committing time to pursuing your priorities, whatever you decide they are. Without that, you’re stuck in a reactive mode that makes it very difficult to move forward in a meaningful way.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Jay had a relatively positive experience as a big law associate, but found he had the entrepreneurial bug
• Jay jumped into a marketing business with his wife, a graphic designer
• The company provided him with an outlet for more writing, which he enjoyed
• The benefits of taking a chance before the golden handcuffs and family obligations take full hold
• During the Great Recession, as a hedge, Jay started doing some bankruptcy work again, which snowballed into a small law firm
• 3 years into that, he burned out on doing both law and marketing
• The way Jay decided which route to take was by deciding what he wanted his life to look like 
• Jay and his wife decided their priority was moving to a small town where they could get outdoors often. So, that led him to lean into the marketing business, but do it remotely
• Jay now has portfolio career of marketing, consulting, trainings, and writing
• Find the time to prioritize yourself, or you’ll stay stuck

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megansmileyesq/ 

Jay’s Website: https://www.hcommunications.biz/

Illegal Design: Why we all need a gratitude practice

A gratitude practice will not only make you feel happier on a day-to-day basis, but it will help transform you into the kind of person who sees possibilities, rather than limitations.

 

Lawyers’s Escape Call: http://bit.ly/escapecall 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megansmileyesq