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Megan Smiley interviews recovering lawyers, career advisors, and other professionals for advice and inspiration on transitioning out of law practice.
Episodes
Friday Jan 15, 2021
Friday Jan 15, 2021
In today's episode, I give you 5 tips on designing your home office:
- Quality Chair
- Lighting
- Declutter & Organize
- Plants & Nature
- Personalize
Illegal Design Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/illegaldesign
Tuesday Jan 12, 2021
Tuesday Jan 12, 2021
Sarah Cottrell is my podcasting soul sister. She is a former big law litigation associate who, after 10 years of practice in various forms and paying off her law school loans, moved into the work she’d been wanting to do for years. She launched the Former Lawyer Podcast in August 2019 (within a week of this podcast’s launch!) and now also runs the Former Lawyer Collaborative.
In today’s episode we discuss:
- Sarah and I geek out on our shared brain
- So many of us are under-educated on the realities of being a lawyer
- In applying to smaller firms, Sarah realized she didn’t want those jobs either
- Sarah’s anxiety disorder made her a great lawyer, in many ways, but also made the law a particularly bad fit
- Sarah left big law and took a job making 1/6th what she made
- Eventually, Sarah went on to become an appellate court staff attorney
- This was the best legal job she could have had, so it made it extra clear she didn’t want to practice at all
- Sarah and her husband had a long-term plan for her to leave the law completely, after paying off their loans
- Sarah explored her interests in the name of figuring out who she was, if not specifically for figuring out her next career
- Side hustles work for some people, not everyone
- Sarah left her job to start the podcast and business that had been in her head for years
- Sarah also runs the Former Lawyer Collaborative, a confidential community supporting lawyers moving into new careers
Illegal Design Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/illegaldesign
Former Lawyer Website: https://www.formerlawyer.com/
Friday Jan 08, 2021
Friday Jan 08, 2021
In the Illegal Design mini-episodes, I will go deeper on how we get unstuck and actually design a purposeful and fulfilling life.
Join the Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/illegaldesign
Tuesday Jan 05, 2021
Tuesday Jan 05, 2021
Annette Choti left a 20 year career at the Department of Labor to start her own legal marketing firm. Annette tells us how she came to make a shift, the moment of serendipity that led her to her new career. She also tells us about all the rewards and challenges of running your own business.
- Annette worked for Department of Labor for 20 years
- The stable lifestyle of the job was worth the trade-offs for her
- After 20 years, when she started thinking about a shift, she didn’t know what her options would be
- In a moment of serendipity, Annette heard about legal marketing writing
- Annette built a side business, which for her was a reasonable balance between risk and stability
- She baby stepped to a new career
- Going down this road lead Annette to learn all sorts of new skills in digital marketing
- There’s still a long time left in your career. Even if you’re 20 years in!
Illegal Design Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/illegaldesign
Megan Smiley Interiors: https://www.megansmileyinteriors.com
Law Quill: https://lawquill.com
Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
Today’s episode is a little different. I don’t have a guest. Instead, I’m filling you in on what has been going on in my life and career. I get into the whole process, what I’m doing now, and what I see on the horizon. I also talk about my thoughts on building a purposeful life and my new free Facebook Group designed to help us do that together.
In the episode I talk about:
- Getting stuck in my second career
- Having no idea how to start to take the next step
- Getting help thinking through my confusion
- Considering ayahuasca on the advice of a career coach
- Doing all of the things trying to find a clue to my next career step
- Identifying my core values
- Starting and then pivoting a new interior design business
- My Illegal Design Facebook Group (free)
Tuesday Dec 15, 2020
Tuesday Dec 15, 2020
Shunta Grant is a former litigator turned business owner. When it became clear that practicing law wasn’t a fit for her, she leaned into her side project making hair bows. She grew that business successfully and leveraged all of her new business experience to launch her current product, The Best Today Guide. Shunta tells us about the power of letting go of the expectations you had for yourself and creating a career around your life, rather than the other way around.
In this episode we discuss:
- Being focused on checking all the boxes
- Gaining clarity that your goals and priorities may have shifted
- Letting go of your identity as a lawyer
- Embracing your new identity
- Finding a more aligned career felt like a weight lifted
- It’s an evolution finding what feels right
- Building your business around your life, not the other way around
Shunta Grant’s Website: https://shuntagrant.com/
Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelawyersescapepod/
Podcast Website: https://www.thelawyersescapepod.com/
Tuesday Dec 08, 2020
Tuesday Dec 08, 2020
If you ever feel like you’re drawn to something that just isn’t “realistic”, think about Jess’s story. It's hard to make a bigger leap than from international human rights at the Hague to stand-up comedy.
In this episode we discuss:
- The limited view of career options many of us have
- Jess’s career in international criminal law
- At the end of the day, practicing law is still practicing law - even in an interesting context
- Looking down the career path, Jess realized she wasn’t excited to practice forever
- Watching Jon Stewart inspired Jess to combine her interests in politics and comedy
- She took a huge risk and went all in on comedy
Jess Salomon’s Website: https://jesssalomon.com/
Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelawyersescapepod/
Podcast Website: https://www.thelawyersescapepod.com/
Tuesday Nov 24, 2020
Tuesday Nov 24, 2020
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
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelawyersescapepod/
Website: www.thelawyersescapepod.com
Guest Website: https://www.jessicamedinallc.com/
Wednesday Nov 18, 2020
Wednesday Nov 18, 2020
Charlotte Smith is a former UK employment attorney who now runs her own business coaching lawyers in her Life Design for Lawyers program. You can also check out her podcast, Limitless Lawyer. Charlotte tells us about her journey away from practicing law. She followed the breadcrumb path of her interests and intuition to her new career. It wasn’t always smooth, but these paths often aren’t. Charlotte’s core message to lawyers is that anything is possible, and you should design your life around what you want - rather than letting life happen to you.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Charlotte was on the traditional path in employment law, finding success
- When faced with the opportunity to be made partner, she stopped for the first time to ask “is this what I actually want?”
- Charlotte was a food blogger on the side, which exposed her to a different, creative universe
- A move to California from the UK gave Charlotte an opportunity to reconsider her path
- Pulling together her various interests, she landed as a partner at a creative agency
- Finding that position was serendipitous: but that only happens when you’ve laid some groundwork
- The transition was not all smooth sailing; clarity does not always come in a straight line
- Charlotte did deep dive on her purpose; worked with a career coach
- It is important to identify and push through limiting beliefs
- Life is too short to be unhappy or to play small
- Charlotte highly valued autonomy - and realized she had to design a life with that in mind
- She started her own coaching business - Life Design For Lawyers
- Remember the mantra: Everything is possible
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelawyersescapepod/
Website: www.thelawyersescapepod.com
Guest Websites:
- https://www.charlotte-smith.com/
- https://limitless-lawyer.com/
Tuesday Aug 18, 2020
Tuesday Aug 18, 2020
Jordan Hellman is the Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships at Care Partners at Home. After working in litigation in a few different environments, Jordan decided it wasn’t a context problem - he just didn’t enjoy practicing law. So, he leaned into his strength in relationship-building to create a new career in sales and business development.
- Sometimes your best laid plans for your career don’t pan out
- Pay attention to the things you enjoy about your job for clues
- Some people make moves in big jumps, and others in smaller steps
- Even sun and surfing in California doesn’t always make practicing tolerable :)
- Entrepreneurship often requires even more hours than law, but if you enjoy what you’re doing - it’s much less painful
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelawyersescapepod/
Website: www.thelawyersescapepod.com