The Grace Period: Shining A Light on Lawyer Wellbeing
The Grace Period: Shining A Light on Lawyer Wellbeing
Episode 25: I am a businesswoman.
Discover the transformative journey of redefining a legal career with Emily Logan Steadman, who challenges the traditional path of big law by embracing a business mindset. What if you could reimagine your career as not just an attorney but as a business-minded professional from the very start? Emily shares her inspiring story of how adopting an entrepreneurial mindset has not only enhanced her autonomy and skills but also significantly improved her mental health. By treating her role within big law as her own small firm, she has reignited her passion and carved out a career path that aligns with her personal and professional goals.
Join us as we explore Emily's transition from attorney to business owner, highlighting the crucial balance between achieving career success and maintaining personal well-being. Emily's strategic approach to using platforms like LinkedIn demonstrates the power of community in supporting a thriving career. Through her journey, she illustrates that the key to not only surviving but thriving in the legal profession lies in prioritizing personal health and community support, offering a fresh perspective on navigating the demanding world of big law.
Find out more at https://thegraceperiod.substack.com/.
Welcome to the Grace Period where we get real about attorney mental health and well-being and pull back the veil on the high-stakes world of big law.
Speaker 1:I'm your host, emily Logan Steadman. In this demanding profession, it is crucial that we don't lose ourselves in the hustle for billable hours. On the Grace Period, we have honest conversations about finding consistency, minimizing chaos, developing coping strategies and destigmatizing mental health. It is time to prioritize our shared humanity, to find our grace period. This season, on the grace period, I've talked about the partner track, reflected on my first year as partner, discussed how I find motivation and focus when I lose it, and shared about how I built a routine and habit for billing my time. This week, I want to share about how I found and embraced the identity of being a businesswoman. This was a transformation of how I see myself in my career. It allowed me to find and embrace a confidence and sense of self that is new to me and that has changed my view of big law over the last few years.
Speaker 1:In law school, while clerking in my first years of practicing law, I had an image of what a big law partner should be Excellent legal skills, dedicated to serving clients. Often that image was of a man, even though I'm a woman and I had at least some, even if only a few, examples of women in that role. It also included box checking, ticking the skills and responsibilities and metrics that the firm expected as lawyers and associates move up the ranks. In the law. You hear a lot about business development, but in most firms associates are told to wait, focus on the skills. Business development comes later. That's fair. I understand where it comes from, but I also think it's a mistake. Why? Because business development is not a switch you can flip when you become a senior associate or a partner. It's a skill Like other skills. You need to collect skills like business development and you need to grow them. And you have to start building them, building these skills, including business development, from the very beginning. Building these skills, including business development, from the very beginning.
Speaker 1:Culturally, in the United States, we now hear a lot about having an entrepreneurial mindset. This isn't talked about a lot in big law. I think that's another mistake. Having a business mindset, thinking like an entrepreneur, like an owner, is one way to build autonomy, even in a big firm, and you can build this mindset from the very jump. Greater autonomy in turn is a key driver in improved mental health and well-being and job satisfaction. Some of you are listening to me and thinking you can't have that in a big firm. I disagree. In late 2019 and early 2020, when I thought about leaving the law altogether, another option I considered was opening my own firm. So I started reading and still read, lots of books about going solo. That naturally led me to lock lots of books about being a business person, about being a manager, running a business. As a result, I adopted that mindset of being a solo practitioner, even in my big firm, when I'm in the four walls of my office. That is the law firm of Emily Logan Steadman.
Speaker 1:A small or solo firm within a firm, it's my business. I am in charge of it. Each case I handle is essentially its own profit center. Every associate I mentor or help recruit is an investment in future talent, my LinkedIn presence and professional brand. It's marketing. It's building a community. It's creating opportunities. This podcast, it's part of a broader business strategy. It's building trust, showcasing expertise, creating connections in a way that traditional firms and traditional legal markets and marketing haven't always done or even been open to.
Speaker 1:Freer to spend one to two hours each day developing my business, I devote time every day to building a book of business, improving client relationships, improving relationships with associates and partners and growing my professional brand. Yes, and of course, the billable work, the working hours on client matters, takes precedence. But I can and should and do focus on my long-term plan of becoming a rainmaker. I cannot rely on anyone else for that. It's something I must own and I must build. So I am a businesswoman. Let's use LinkedIn, and really social media generally, as an example here.
Speaker 1:I first started posting on LinkedIn in late 2020. I had no goal or no plan. I updated my profile when I thought about starting my own firm, when I thought about maybe lateraling to a new firm. My posting was sporadic and haphazard and then something shifted. I started approaching it as a business owner would. I'm sure one of those books I read helped me figure this out. I started thinking about my audience. I started thinking about what my audience was reacting to. Where were I getting signals that the content was valuable? Where could I build actual relationships? Today, I have over 18,500 followers on LinkedIn. To me, it's not just a number, it's a community. It's grown because I started thinking like an entrepreneur. I'm more I was more than an associate now than a partner. I'm more than a cog in the wheel of my big firm.
Speaker 1:None of this was easy. I had doubts. I had episodes of imposter syndrome. I'm not a business person, I'm a lawyer. I like reading and writing, researching and arguing. I live for depositions. What do I know about running a business Turns out quite a bit, and the rest I can learn.
Speaker 1:Understanding the business of law has made me a better attorney, a better advisor to my clients, a better mentor, a better coach, because I understand my role in the business, their role in the business and the value of building my own business with the support and machine of my firm helping me run it. Building my own business with the support and machine of my firm helping me run it. Plus, it's fun, I love it, I enjoy it. It helps me get through the billable work. It's a new challenge and it's really lit a fire under me. It's really made me excited about the future that I'm building for myself. I'm a businesswoman and I'm proud of it.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining me on this episode of the Grace Period. I hope this discussion has provided some insights about my transition from a big law attorney to a businesswoman, a business owner and an entrepreneur. Next week, we'll talk about networking owner and an entrepreneur. Next week, we'll talk about networking, both internal and external networking another skill you can develop and harness over time. Remember you don't have to sacrifice your well-being for career success. By prioritizing self-care, setting boundaries and seeking support, you can survive and even thrive in the law and in big law. Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other. That is the path to our grace period. Disclaimer this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It does not constitute professional advice of any kind, including legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by listening to this podcast.
