One Thousand Gurus Podcast

#37: Clark H. Fielding - Excellence in Your Career, Challenges of Being an Employer, and Having Values that Ground You

• J.R. Yonocruz • Season 4 • Episode 7

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Clark Fielding shares his journey from personal injury attorney to founding his own boutique law firm, offering wisdom on career development, entrepreneurship, and maintaining work-life balance while raising a family.

• Clark's formative experience on a two-year church mission to Brazil
• The "sorting hat" theory of career development
• Importance of staying curious and exploring different subjects when determining a career path
• Founding Fielding Law in 2019
• Why relationships and building a strong network are crucial for long-term career success
• Red flags when hiring
• The value of in-person office work for skill development, especially for early-career professionals
• Balancing family life with three children
• The power of daily gratitude and manifestation exercises with his children
• Career advice for younger generations: develop ethics, find mentors, work hard, and enjoy the journey

Guest bio:
Clark H. Fielding is a passionate personal injury attorney and the founding attorney of Fielding Law. Known for his genuine care and unwavering dedication, Clark puts his clients first—always. He built Fielding Law on the belief that every injured person deserves to be heard, supported, and fiercely represented. Known affectionately as Clark the Shark, he blends sharp legal skills with a big heart, making sure each client feels seen, valued, and protected every step of the way.

Clark H. Fielding

Fielding Law Firm

Links/resources:

One Thousand Gurus Podcast:
Everyone has a compelling story to tell with insights we can all be inspired by. J.R. Yonocruz is a self-improvement blogger, relationship coach, and serial hobbyist with a passion for learning. He interviews unique guests from various fields to distill the strategies, habits, and mindsets we can use in our own lives. Each “guru” has a chance to give the audience a peek into a new world.

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Email: onethousandgurus@gmail.com

J.R.:

Hello everyone, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, all of my lovely listeners out there, Welcome to another fun episode of 1000 Gurus with me, your host, jr Yonacruz. So today's guest is Clark H Fielding. Clark Fielding is a passionate personal injury attorney and the founding attorney of Fielding Law. Known for his genuine care and unwavering dedication, clark puts his clients first. Always he built Fielding Law on the belief that every injured person deserves to be heard, supported and fiercely represented. Known affectionately as Clark the Shark, he blends sharp legal skills with a big heart, making sure each client feels seen, valued and protected every step of the way. So this recording was another blast from the past for me, as Clark was one of the early mentor figures I had in my career, since we worked at the same law firm, and I learned so much from his example that I implement in my life today. What I admire and respect about Clark is not only his success and ability to balance his priorities of being a family man, but also his high level of work, ethic and integrity. We talk a lot about his upbringing and main influences. Some hobbies he has being a parent he's actually one of the few parents on my show what it's like going out on his own and building his own law firm for almost six years, and also there's a lot of practical and tactical career advice for people in the workforce. Today, clark dropped so many nuggets of wisdom that you'll definitely miss a lot of them if you don't listen carefully. So be sure to rewind it and re-listen to this episode as needed, because I even found myself taking a ton of notes on this one. So, without further ado, hope you enjoy this episode with Clark Fielding.

J.R.:

Hello everyone and welcome back to 1000 Gurus. Please welcome my guest, clark Fielding. Thank you, marlon. Thanks for being here, clark, I really appreciate it. Thanks for taking the time out Memorial Day weekend to spend with us and to share your knowledge. Happy to be here, yeah, so let me go into how I know you. So, oh, yeah, disclaimer. So most of my guests know me as JR, as friends do, but I worked with Clark. He's an old coworker of mine and so he knows me as Marlo. So if you ever hear someone refer to me as Marlo, I probably worked with them before. So just disclaimer, don't get confused. If he says Marlo, I go by both. So, anyway, so let me go into how I know you.

J.R.:

So we met. I want to say like 10 years ago-ish around eight or nine maybe we both worked at Bergen Wojcicki's law firm. You were one of the senior attorneys when I started there. I started out in liens and negotiations and eventually moved to accounting and you were one of the first attorneys that I worked with directly and to me I don't know if I've ever told you this before, but you're kind of like a mentor figure to me because I remember to this day a lot of the things that I took from you.

J.R.:

Working with you as a liens negotiator, I took into my career meaning how I work, the standards that I do. So some things that I wrote down was like being meticulous with the details, staying organized. We had huge workloads, especially yourself, people skills, managing up and down, striving to be the best. I knew that that was one thing that you held yourself to and I think that level of leadership carries across the board and gratitude, keeping track of the well-being of your organization and taking care of and looking out for others.

J.R.:

One of the big things that I learned from you specifically was you were a big proponent of tracking the value that you add to the company, because if you were to go into asking for a raise or promotion. You can't just be like, hey, I demand my raise now, after a year or whatever. But you were really good at keeping track of the things that you did and I always did that as well moving forward so that when I go into those things, that I know what I'm doing and keeping myself accountable and not just entitlements, walking in and saying, hey, I deserve a raise, or because this is actually what I'm doing, this is what I'm expected to do, but this is what I'm doing on top of that. So just wanted to give you your flowers. You're a big influence on me, so I really appreciate you being here.

Clark:

Thank you. You're too kind, marlo, and I will say so. At my law firm we call it case resolution and you truly were one of the greatest at liens at case resolution. It was really fantastic working with you, likewise super into the details and, as you said, it's about the value that you bring to the table, not about your personal needs, but the value you bring to an organization. Yeah, I love that Cool.

J.R.:

Thank you for that. And so let's go into the warmup questions. Grease the wheels to make this a little bit more fun. I know there's a lot of things we can talk about with being an attorney and personal injury and a lot of other things we'll get into, but I wanted to ask about your. It was a church mission right To Brazil. Was it Rio? Exactly Rio? Yeah, for two years. And you said you were like in your late teens, early twenties, yeah, so could you walk us through that, like what that experience was like and how has it informed you to like where you are today? Maybe?

Clark:

Yeah, it's a really great intro. So during my formative years, when I was 19 to 21, so I'd finished my freshman year of college I was going to Brigham Young University and I got a call to serve a mission for my church, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and so for two years I went down to Brazil. I was in Rio de Janeiro and it was a really big challenge. I hadn't studied Portuguese before. I'd studied some Spanish growing up in Arizona and you get about two months of language instruction and then you're out on the streets. It's an adventure down there in Brazil and you have to be very outgoing because you have to meet people and you have to build relationships of trust and you're looking for ways to serve people. So it it teaches you a lot about taking the initiative and it's really learning how to figure something out and then thrive.

J.R.:

I like it. So what is your level of Portuguese now? It's still conversational, or like. What is the degree of that?

Clark:

I follow Portuguese. Oh yeah, so I've. I have kept up with it, so I try to study it, I try to speak it. We have clients who speak Portuguese. I have friends who speak Portuguese, so I work really hard to immerse myself in it so that I don't lose the language.

J.R.:

And your son. Your third child is named Rio too. Is that a coincidence or?

Clark:

Because of my mission down in Brazil and my love for that experience, my love for Rio, we named my third child Rio.

J.R.:

That's awesome. Any other clarifications or anything you want to add into what you're up to nowadays before we jump in?

Clark:

Yeah, so it's been a wild ride since we worked together. So I founded Fielding Law hung a shingle in 2019. And then, since we worked together, so I had my daughter Violet, and when we were together, and then I had my daughter Dahlia, and then my son Rio, who we talked about, and so I've had the law firm and then, as we opened California, I also opened an office in Arizona. So just really been working on bettering myself as an attorney and then also bettering myself as an employer and a business owner during that time.

J.R.:

Yeah, and so we'll get into a lot of that and so there's a lot of good nuggets we can get into. So it'll be a good conversation and, like I mentioned in our pre-recording, we probably won't get to half these questions, but if it's in the cards, perhaps part two, but we'll see. I know you're a busy guy, all right, so let's go into first topic, which is basically your origin story or maybe main influences. So where did you grow up? What were your biggest inspirations and influences?

Clark:

So I was born in Salt Lake City, utah. I was about two years old my parents moved to Arizona. Dad was getting into professionally, getting into commercial real estate, which he still does today very successfully. So I was raised in Mesa, arizona, and growing up I was in Boy Scouts and then with church youth programs. So I was surrounded by an incredible community, a lot of great mentors, youth sports coaches, and so I grew up in Arizona and then went away to college in Provo, utah, at Brigham Young University, and I also did a semester at their. They have a Hawaii on the North shore, so I did a semester in BYU, hawaii and then my church mission Brazil that we talked about, returned to BYU, graduate from there and then law school back home at Arizona State University.

J.R.:

So then I guess, through your formative years, maybe high school or college, what were your career aspirations? And I know you mentioned the phrase sorting hat. I know it's come up a couple of times, but could you elaborate on that Absolutely.

Clark:

So I didn't, from a young age, know what I wanted to be. There's no attorneys in my family, it's mainly commercial real estate business and I was exposed to a lot of different things growing up, had a lot of wonderful people in my community who did all sorts of different things and professions, and naturally during school there were certainly subjects that I gravitated to. So in college at one point I remember I was even considering a career in medicine. So I took an anatomy class, had a cadaver lab. It was one of the most challenging courses at my college and did really well in it, and there was a certain point where I knew I wanted to go to law school for the academic pursuit. I didn't know if I wanted to be a practicing attorney. I just continued down that rabbit hole and here I am today with a sorting hat.

Clark:

So my daughter, my oldest child, violet, years ago we started reading Harry Potter together and we have a couple books left. We've read through quite a few, and so the analogy is with the practice of law. You don't necessarily choose the practice of law, the area of specialty, it picks you, and that's some of the advice that I give, and so I never intended to end up as a plaintiff personal injury attorney I actually was taking. My undergraduate degree was business management with an emphasis in finance and a lot of the courses I took in law school federal income taxation, business associations I was taking courses to become business transactional attorney and a high net worth estate planning attorney. And here I am. I fell into a plane of personal injury and I've just loved it. I've really looked back. So similar to Harry Potter. You put on the sorting hat. It says what house you're going to go into Hufflepuff Gryffindor. I feel that I was chosen by my practice area.

J.R.:

Quick tangent. Do you know what your Harry Potter house is? Have you taken one of those quizzes before? I have not. What do you think you would be if you had to choose?

Clark:

Man.

J.R.:

Have you read all the books?

Clark:

I've got a couple left.

J.R.:

Violet and I have a couple, so you have an idea of what the house characteristics are If you had to self-sort yourself.

Clark:

Well, it depends. Oh, if I had to self-sort others would probably say some people would say Slytherin, some would say Gryffindor, probably Gryffindor, oh, okay.

J.R.:

I think either of those two fits. Yeah, I think either of those two fits. Yeah. No, I think that makes sense. I think I'm a Slytherin when I've taken it and it's the whole ambitious resourcefulness sort of thing.

J.R.:

Obviously, they're painted as the bad guys, but there's no bad in personalities, it's just anyways, going back to it, I guess, for someone who's looking forward in their career so let's say they're in high school or college and you said it chose you and you were open to these things what considerations do you think people should look into or how should they approach it if they're in a similar space of okay, I don't really know what I'm supposed to do. I'm not that person who's like, yeah, when I was six, I knew I was going to be a doctor or an engineer, right, but keeping an open mind, what do you think people should?

Clark:

consider as they're going through their journey, figuring out what they should do. I think you should stay curious. I know early on in my career, when I was having a professional crisis, I ended up going and doing aptitude testing Johnson O'Connor, I believe, is the name of the institution. So they put you through a gamut of tests, all kinds of different things, to see if you would be best as a butcher, baker, candlestick maker, and it was good. It was a confirmation.

Clark:

The subjects I'd study in school, my undergraduate degree, my law degree, what I was doing professionally. It lined up with my aptitudes and it'll also tell you your hobbies, and so if you have access to something like that, it's good to understand yourself better through aptitude testing. But certainly trying your hand at things, I think, things that come naturally. I enjoyed history in school, growing up, different subjects like that, and so what do you gravitate to when you're studying in high school or college? What are the subjects that you normally do first and then the other ones that you hold off on? Those are the homework assignments that you do last, that you really should do first. You could get a sense for what comes naturally.

Clark:

So just reading the signs of your own personality, what you're gravitating towards, and being more aware of those things, Absolutely and then trying because you may study it in school and really like it, but in the real world that may not be the case, and oftentimes it's the opportunities that you have in the working world and also who you get to work with. Right, the, you referenced the law firm that we worked at together. I was there almost nine years and the reason one of the main reasons I kept coming back is a lot of the people who I worked with and I enjoyed. I didn't necessarily hang out with our co-workers outside of work, but I enjoyed the people who we worked with Definitely, and that's a big part of a working environment, right?

J.R.:

They say people stay because of the people, regardless of other things too. One of the things I wanted to ask was along your career journey. I know you're further along now and you have your own firm, but are there any pieces of advice that stand out to you that you learned from mentors, professors or any people that shaped your career from the front end of? It when you were just going into it not necessarily directly on point.

Clark:

So Steve Jobs gives a Stanford commencement address, so he talked. He has a quote how you can't connect the dots looking forward. You could only do that looking backward. And so, as I mentioned when I was thinking about momentarily maybe being an anesthesiologist, that anatomy cadaver class is a plaintiff personal injury attorney. It's about injuries and medicine. So connecting that dot. That's been so helpful in my career and so I definitely sought out advice from people as I was going along the academic journey and the professional journey and I was blessed with a lot of good mentors. So, to sum it up, during law school I did two externships with the state court judge judge Ryan, federal judge judge Teelborg, and then during college I was able to go to Washington DC and intern for Congressman Jeff Flake, so really had access to some really smart, high character people, positions of power, who were really good honorable men.

Clark:

That was a really big influence. I guess. More osmosis, not necessarily direct advice, but to be in their presence and see how they navigate, how they went about comporting themselves see how they navigate, how they went about comporting themselves.

J.R.:

That makes a lot of sense. It's the environment, can inform a lot of how you carry yourself and that influences you later on. I don't know if I've mentioned this on the podcast, but after I graduated I did have a stint in DC for about a summer. I did a UCDC program and I did intern at the department of transportation and with attorneys, and that was right before I came to Bergen-Werjawski. But I would echo that sentiment. The attorneys that I was surrounded with had a lot of integrity and character and it did put me in a place where I'm around this elevated standards of people and I think that carried a lot as well. So, to your point, being around those people, I think, really inform you moving forward.

Clark:

Yeah, one point is misery loves company and you don't want to get caught in groups of negativity or toxicity. You want to surround yourself by people who are positive and they want to be the best versions of themselves.

J.R.:

Like that average of your five closest friends, sort of thing. All right, Just a little bit of a switch. But you are a family man. You have a great family, your wife Miranda, your three kids, Violet, Dolly and Rio that you mentioned. How does your approach to family inform your career and or work-life balance?

Clark:

So family keeps the perspective and I've found over the years things I've achieved academically or professionally, different awards. They lose their luster over time. You just realize those things.

Clark:

They don't really matter and so I'm very lucky and blessed to have a wonderful spouse you know, Miranda, and she's phenomenal. You know, Miranda, and it's she's phenomenal and to have our kids. So it's very blessed and I really do enjoy spending time with my family and all the activities that kids are involved with, all the youth sports. So it's family helps for me, keep me grounded and help to keep my values aligned.

J.R.:

So not necessarily chasing those accolades that could distract other people. You're like, okay, that doesn't matter too much, but I enjoy spending my time with my family and it grounds me a lot. One question I want to ask you, because I think you're one of the few parents that I've had on the show. But if you had an idea of the biggest or most important lessons you've learned about parenthood that you can impart on the audience?

Clark:

So an idea of the biggest or most important lessons you've learned about parenthood that you can impart on the audience. So I think, going back to self-introspection and finding your aptitudes and gifts, it's the same as a parent with your child, and so we try to expose them to different things and see where their natural aptitudes and talents are and support them and give them direction. So we're really the. What is the analogy? I think it's the gardener type analogy.

Clark:

We're trying to provide the support and help them with their endeavors and their individual, I guess, their purpose and mission in life. So a lot of love, a lot of affirmation.

J.R.:

What would you say? Maybe you've already touched it, but what is your parenting style? I know there's a million different ways to parent, right, but how would you self-categorize or characterize your parenting style?

Clark:

I would say. So major props to my wife, miranda. She is doing most all the things and orchestrating everything and it would blow your mind that just the calculus and algorithms on the calendars for all their activities and school events and sports schedules and getting together with friends and all that. So, man, I would probably surprise people. I am not a strict disciplinarian. I'm very not hands-off. I let my kids be my kids. I'm not cracking the whip.

J.R.:

So you're the cool dad or you're the chill dad.

Clark:

I wouldn't say I'm the cool dad. I think Miranda's the cool mom, I see. I see, I think Miranda's the cool mom, I think.

J.R.:

I'm… You're not the disciplinarian. Is it Miranda's more leans into that, or Miranda's?

Clark:

both. She's the CEO, she's the fun parent, and then she can also be the disciplinarian. So I try to be, I try to be a support where I can. I try to not goof anything up.

J.R.:

Okay, I'll take your lead, I'll do my best yeah. I like it, so your lead, I'll do my best. Yeah, I like it, so switching a little bit more. You have a ton of hobbies that we can go into, and maybe it's in your bio as well, but my question is, how do you incorporate these into your life and I guess, maybe what's the importance of them into you or for your life?

Clark:

Well, we had talked about that, you and I, how you have a love and passion for dancing and how you wouldn't. I don't think you'd be Marlo without that. That's part and parcel of who you are and that's a facet of your life, and so it's important to to have hobbies and activities and not be so single-minded, because those enrich us and I actually should be doing a little bit more of that. But I've found over the years there's different things that I gravitate to and there's some things that but on my list for a while that I want to get into or back into.

Clark:

So I grew up wrestling, I did jujitsu for a bit and I want to get back to jujitsu with my son, rio, who just came off his first year wrestling really successful wrestling season, so he's going to start in a jujitsu. So there there's things that I like to spend more time doing. I really love training, so working out with my trainer, jeff. I like getting stretched. I do assisted stretching with Casey. I like to go sauna. So I really like the working out and the recovery things. But there's other sports and things that I'd like to get into.

Clark:

I love snowboarding. It's what was probably one of my main passions growing up.

J.R.:

Yeah, pretty active. What is your? So you work with the trainer Like, what's your? What is your? When we worked together you were into CrossFit a bit right. Yeah, still do that. Or what is your like workout thing now?

Clark:

So actually so my trainer, jeff. He was the manager of that CrossFit and I think it's 2017 that CrossFit fire office closed down, became a different circuit type training gym, which is still there. So I had approached Jeff and we've been working out ever since then.

J.R.:

So you have a focus of how you approach your workouts or how your trainer approaches it.

Clark:

What kind of things do you do? He is very dynamic, very cutting edge. So, believe it or not, I'm sprinting, I'm doing jumping exercises, so he has me. He keeps it varied. He really likes to get out on the field, and so I'll get out there barefoot in the sun and get sunlight and grounding all kinds of different things.

J.R.:

I mean calisthenics, weights, very functional right.

Clark:

I'm not going for the beach physique per se. I want functional. I want to be able to show up whatever I'm doing and perform at a high level. So, yeah, it's really intense workouts, for an hour more, two days a week, and I'd love to have more time to get in more sessions, but so I've found, with my busy career, busy days, that's a good mix.

J.R.:

Yeah, like bang for your buck. Yeah, it covers all the bases too. And longevity I think for me, as I get older, it's not so much about trying to gain mass or aesthetics necessarily, but I think functionality and longevity is what I'm trying to do, like I want to be able to move well as I get older. Cool, let's pivot a little bit. So now this section entrepreneurship, opening a business. Could you walk us through how Fielding Law Firm came to be and like what was the starting vision and or if it's evolved over time?

Clark:

So timing, I think there's a time and a season in your life for different things, and I had looked at doing my own law firm pretty seriously to maybe three times prior, and it just wasn't the right timing. I was very content where I was at and I actually, you know, maybe it would be there today and unfortunately the firm where you're at, the two partners had split up, and so I was at a crossroads, having to basically pick one of the partners, one of the bosses, and so it was really a natural time to really choose and command my destiny, so to speak, and so it was just years of contemplation. Talking to my parents, I really love reading biographies, so I'd read a lot of biographies Steve Jobs' biography, walt Disney's biography, phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, his biography, bill Marriott, and so there were different books that I'd read, all the wild, bumpy rides that these individuals had to grapple with and endure, and so I knew it was going to be wild and I was ready for the challenge, and Miranda was ready for the challenge as well. I didn't know how wild it would be. Until you're in those moments. You just don't realize the pressure and the stress, but I wouldn't have it any other way and it's great.

Clark:

Some of our team you also worked with, and so I there are people who I'd worked with for many years. They trusted me, I trusted them. They know exactly who Clark is and so it was great. I had a team around me right from the start and so, yeah, so it made sense to go for it and I really wanted to go big right out of the gate. I knew that I could do it. Going back to my church mission I mean, I spent two years basically selling faith and religion and I knew I could get clients professionally. That naturally happens. I knew that I could persuade people that we'd be able to represent them successfully.

J.R.:

So you knew you had the skill sets. You had faith in yourself and the people around you and your organization. I guess two-part questions. What was the vision? Moving forward? You said you wanted to go big. And also what were some of those jumping into the deep end points where you're like, okay, I knew I could do this, but these challenges maybe I wasn't expecting, or these were the biggest challenges that I faced.

Clark:

Yeah. So in opening the law firm we wanted to make it a boutique law firm. We wanted to make it a boutique law firm. We wanted to improve upon how we manage cases and lawyered. I wanted to get more and deeper experience, and so we wanted to do what we were doing really well at a high level and do that even better, be even more responsive and more communicative and tailor things for our clients in their cases. So one I wouldn't say rude awakening brow of the gate.

Clark:

I started to advertise on radio and it was Labor Day and I remember so our intake department, myself and one other guy. We came in on the holiday and we're sitting in the office and really nice building, but they turn off the air conditioning on the holidays, so we're there, and it was the first day of our radio campaign and so we're there by the phones. We gave everybody else on our little team the day off and we were there and like, okay, here it goes. I don't think we got one call that day. So I realized, okay, this is, it's going to take some time to get it going. So, like anything, I think in life, things generally take longer than you think they will. So you have to plant those seeds and realize it's going to take some time to really be able to. You have to sow those seeds, plant them to really reap the rewards can take many years.

J.R.:

That's a really good point. I think in most things in life that are worth building and growing, it does take a long time, and my personal two cents on this that saying of overestimate what they can do in a month, a year, but underestimate the 10 year. I think that's where the compound interest, the compound efforts over time you'll see the results skyrocket, and so I like that point. It's like self-delayed gratification. Did you have any more? The next question you might've already covered it, but it's lessons learned along the way as you're building this firm. I know it's probably a big question, but anything else come to mind.

Clark:

So there's a great book, good to Great.

J.R.:

Jim.

Clark:

Collins. So it has the analogy of the bus and it's not necessarily the destination, but it's getting the right people in those seats on the bus and getting the wrong people off the bus right away. So I am a very loyal individual. So I really we had our core group, our loyalists and our OGs who are still part of the firm, and but along the way there's some people who came on who were not the right people for those seats on the bus and we should have gotten those people off sooner than we did. So that's basically one thing is one concept is when people show you who they are, believe them.

Clark:

So I'm an aspirational guy and I think I do see the best in people and the potential, especially in the seat that I'm in. As an employer and a business owner, I really do want the best for people and I see that they've got this potential. But day in and day out I've also found that some people you can try to motivate them, push them along, but if they don't have that natural desire to work and to work hard, usually you can't really with how much motivating and cultivating you do. So I think we should have been quicker to get people off the bus and it's taken years to identify our people. We have a wonderful organization and so you have to surround yourself by people of high character, of ethics, who can get behind your vision, and people you could trust.

Clark:

And so I've been really lucky and blessed with my core group right, and so Savannah, employee number one, we decided to really start that law firm together and we had that core group. We had Hannah and Jared and Dre, and then early on, Ryan Cooper, who's an attorney, came on board. So I'm surrounded by people who are high character, high ethics. So I think that's just one of the keys is you have to. What's that phrase? If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go alone. If you want to go far, go with a group.

J.R.:

Yeah, I like it. I remember when I saw when you're starting a firm and then you took on those people and I worked with a lot of them, I remember thinking that choice of people makes a lot of sense because they were always on Savannah especially, always on top of everything. They always dotted their I's, crossed their T's and, similar to you, work ethic was always there and knowing that they're still there and doing good work, I'm like that checks out, because that was there when I was around. Last question on that is if you could redo anything or do something differently starting your firm. Is there anything that comes to mind?

Clark:

Well, I think early on I was. I'm generally conservative. I wouldn't say frugal, I'm a conservative guy.

Clark:

And again, I was going big and I'm a very loyal guy, so I for I I spent more than I should have on radio and not a crazy amount. But looking back, it really was Miranda after a while who said, hey, we're paying everybody but ourselves. So I was always just really putting the money out there and sowing those seeds and I think earlier I could have ratcheted that back and been more conservative with the finances and not spending as much for certain things that weren't that. I was analyzing the data and I was seeing the rate of returns and we still do radio. But there are different things that I saw the right on the wall, but I should have really reined things in sooner than I did. Right, it would have just made it a lot more comfortable financially earlier on.

J.R.:

I see, I see I feel like it's always that balance, like people in your position, where it's okay, maybe this is a longer term investment or we can look at the data and the ROI. But at what point do you make that mental calculus of, okay, this is what we should pull back on or we should put the gas on? So, yeah, it's a tough thing, but now in retrospect you're like, okay, maybe that didn't pan out.

Clark:

And then two, the other thing when I started out I thought, okay, I'm going to say yes to a lot of things and I'm going to, I'm going to put legs on things and see if they go. So in the early days it was a bit of trial and error, and now I'm trying really hard to not chase this the shiny object, so to speak, and really stay focused.

J.R.:

Chase this, the shiny object, so to speak, and really stay focused, and so I just am more selective with what I'm doing.

Clark:

In the early days I was spread a little bit thin, trying to figure things out, experimenting, and now I know what serves me, and so, for instance, coming and talking with you, right, that's something that I was really excited about. So I think the other thing is, if it's not a definite yes, it's probably a no yeah.

J.R.:

Do you have any other examples of the sparkly, shiny things? That might be not what you're whittling on down on.

Clark:

Man, there's just stuff that comes at you all day long the longer that we're around. It's coming up on six years our anniversary in August of the law firm.

J.R.:

So there's opportunities to all kinds of things.

Clark:

Okay, different opportunities that come by and you're like professionally.

J.R.:

Sure, let's try this, but you're like, okay, never mind, I didn't really pan out, or don't work with different people.

Clark:

There's a lot of vendors out there. There's a lot. I mean there there's always some shiny object in the legal field, conferences and you have to. When I started, there were different conferences and now it seems like there's a legal event or conference every night, every weekend. So you have to be okay with not. I guess it's that jomo joy of missing out. So you have to be selective about where you're putting. I'm going back to the family thing. It's you have to really prioritize and be dynamic with your schedule in terms of where your priorities are at any given moment.

Clark:

That makes sense, I like that.

J.R.:

Okay, we had a ton more questions in there, but we should move on. We will save it for next time. So the next topic is being a great employee advancing your career and self-improvement tips or advice. So you sent me this list, which is great. It tips for a successful career as an employee and I'll just really I'll just read it out real quick and you can elaborate if you'd like. Positive attitude, gratitude, paying your dues. Don't scrolling on your phone, doing extra things to help out your boss or people around you. The opposite of eat and skate. Work hard when your company boss plans events, activities. Go. Socialize with the higher ups, seeking out advice, mentoring. Loyalty can pay off. Communicate with your boss. Give them the benefit of the doubt, give appropriate notice. Don't bridge a super small world. Are there any ones that stand out to you that you feel like you need to really elaborate on?

Clark:

Yeah. So I have a really rich network. We're sitting down here today. And one story when I was starting the law firm and building it out, I reached out. You were one of the few individuals who I reached out to said, hey, can we meet up? And I think at that point you're probably in software and so you had moved on and you were really great at liens and because of that you had the opportunity to move into the accounting department, which is that's a lot of trust, and so you graciously came in and helped me out with consulting and you did that as a courtesy and we grabbed dinner. And so your network. You can't ever have too many friends, and so I think when people come into the workforce when they're in college they're college graduates or right out of law school baby attorneys, they're very your relationship is with your employer, your bosses, your coworkers, and it can be a very small world, and so I think people don't take full advantage of just being a person of high character and protecting your reputation.

Clark:

So I'd say relationships, because of all the time at that law firm and all the people who came and went, people I was able to mentor and they'd come with questions and I'd take my time to help them out where I could. We've had a lot of people who've wanted to come work with us and that's been really great to be able to add to the team. So at the law firm I'm an employer and then we have another health and wellness business where I'm an employer. So I've been able to interview all kinds of different people and you never truly know how somebody's going to be in the seat. But in this day and age, with the younger generations, it doesn't take much to set yourself apart from the others. It really doesn't take too much effort today and it's just basic stuff. But I think the main thing is in paying your dues, really build relationships.

Clark:

Don't burn bridges. If you're going to leave your organization, which is normal when you're trying to figure out where your niche is, give notice. I mean, I have people who we put a lot into them. We train them and put a lot of resource into people and sometimes they'll resign effective immediately, you know, talk to your employer hey, how much time do you need? I mean, why are you going to burn that bridge? Right, when we're hiring somebody, they want to come work for us. If they currently have a job and they say they could start on Monday, I'm not going to extend an offer because they're going to do that to me too. They're going to quit on me without giving me notice. So it's just common decency, right, and just being focused when you show up at work, be present. Don't be scrolling on your cell phone and learn and seek out mentors. There's plenty of people. I mean, you saw the other law firm. I would take the time. When people are curious and they ask questions and they're wanting to improve and progress, you want to naturally help them.

J.R.:

I had a question on this and you mentioned you sitting down as an employer and you're trying to hire people or onboard them or just screening for them. Are there any particular red flags that might stand out to you? I know you mentioned good things to do while you're employed, but maybe like when you're in the interview as an employee.

Clark:

Yeah, like I said, until somebody. So our human resources representative Naba. We talk about this a lot. Somebody could be really good on paper. They could present really well in an interview.

Clark:

Until you get them in the seat and you see how they perform over time. You just never really know. There are certain red flags. I was looking at a resume the other day of an individual and she's a jumper. She jumped around, she'd worked at three other plaintiff personal injury law firms in Orange County and reputable, good firms. I thought we're not. We think we're special but we're not going to be that much more special than these other firms. So right there, track record.

Clark:

And I tell people at a certain point, jump around a bit, can or that's possibly natural, but at a certain point jump around a bit can, or that's possibly natural, but at a certain point you got to lock in and you need to move up within an organization. You need to show loyalty. And the firm that we were at I had the perch that I had and the opportunities because I paid my dues and I stuck around and I was loyal and that wouldn't have been possible if I was a mercenary and jumping all over the place. So I definitely look at resumes what is the track record? And I also want to get a sense for the connection that they have to the geographical location where they grow up. What are their ties to where I'm at? So I mean there's a lot of different red flags that we've picked up on tells over time, with people who some people who haven't worked out.

J.R.:

It's kind of one of those things you learn over time with experience and you get that intuition sometimes.

Clark:

One other question too is we're very adamant in the interview. For most all of our positions are in person in office. So I really, if they bring me in an interview, I really grill them. You understand, this is in person in office because we've seen that we'll bring somebody in and it might be in college, fresh out of college, right out of law school, and several months in they're demanding, clamoring, to work from home.

J.R.:

Let's go into that then, because that's one of my other questions is in-person versus hybrid versus remote. I personally know your thoughts on that, but do you want to elaborate on maybe the differences between them and maybe how people should approach that?

Clark:

So I think you're doing yourself a disservice early on your career if you're not spending time in the office. I'm not a fan of remote work. I don't do it for myself. I think the only days that I worked at home is when I actually had COVID a couple of times. So I like being in the office.

Clark:

I think when you're starting out in your career, you should be in the office. You need to understand the cadence, you need to surround yourself with people who know what they're doing and you can pick up on the nuances. It's really frustrating when people are not there present and you're going back and forth in messaging on Slack, whatever it may be. There's so much loss in translation. It takes so much more time. So I understand that's not a popular opinion. I've seen all different types of situations with employees and then myself personally, and I don't think it's a good thing. I think when you're in person in office, when you commute and you're there in the office, you're present and you're focused. And then when you leave your home and you're there in the office, you're present and you're focused. And then when you leave your home and your home with your loved ones and you're doing your hobbies and I found that people who say they're in a little apartment and they were sitting at their desk or sitting at their kitchen table and they're working during the day and they're doing their personal stuff work would spill into their personal life, personal life would spill into their work life and they weren't doing well at any one of those things. Then they had mental health issues and depression. I saw all kinds of really sad wild stuff. So I'm a big fan of it.

Clark:

And again, there are some people too who they've done this long enough. They're professional, they take the initiative, they have all my trust and they do really great. We have some people who don't live by our offices, who are all over the United States and so we don't have an office for them. But they're professional and they know what they're doing and so for them and for me, it works out. But because they are experienced in their leaders, I really wish they would be live close enough to an office so they could mentor people who are coming into the profession. So, and then my other business, health and wellness. That's all in person because it's a service. So that's all in person. But I think you're selling yourself short If you're in college, coming out of college, coming out of law school, and you think you know exactly what you're doing. You don't and you're just missing out. And it's not just FaceTime, but you really do want to also ingratiate yourself and you want to have opportunities. And those are going to come more naturally when you're in front of people.

J.R.:

Yeah, definitely On the same topic of institutions we talked about this a little bit where it seems like employers are expected to be these institutions that used to be separate, like family, social clubs, activities, things like that and your employer and that sort of workspace. Now it seems like in this culture of people wanting to work remotely and now they want their employer to be the end-all, be-all of their whole life. So there's that kind of same topic. Or the other thing is what do you think that the younger generation, so let's say, millennials, gen Z, gen Alpha coming up? What do you think they can learn, based on, perhaps, your generation or the work-life culture that you benefited from?

Clark:

So one thing, and again, I was an employee for a very long time in three different professional environments, three different firms, and so I've seen the good, bad and the ugly and I so I totally get it. I didn't start my own business right out of the gate and so I've been there in that position. I feel like there's a lot of expectations and pressure on employers. Right, you'll see a lot online, a lot of hate. Hey, we should just all get to work wherever we want remote, and the workplace boss is toxic and hostile and all this stuff.

Clark:

There's just a lot of hate, so I usually don't really chime in on different things. I think institutions have crumbled and for all kinds of different reasons, some legitimate, some warranted. But is there's less trust with the younger generations, with, say, churches or religion, or there's less social clubs I mean bowling leagues, I don't know? I feel the pressure to really be everything for the employee right, to be the social center, to be the motivator, all that. So I think it's a really good thing. As an individual and employee, you can figure if you could have more going on outside of work, things that you or you have a belonging right. You do dance. There's different things like that. There's all kinds of different things. So I think that's I mean even our family structure. However your family's structured I think families have that unit has crumbled over time.

Clark:

Whatever your definition of is family, we're more because of our technology and smartphones. We're connected, but we're also very isolated, and so I found that, going back as an employee, seeing different situations, there's some people they just doomsday scroll on their cell phone and all the studies are out there. It's not healthy for your mental health. Yeah, so we're totally connected. We're also very isolated. So get out in nature, right, if the law firm. We go on hikes and we have one coming up so, and a lot of our people enjoy nature and hiking, and so that's part of our culture.

Clark:

the law firm.

J.R.:

Nice. I guess last thing on this topic is I know we're talking a lot about advice and best practices for employees on how to navigate their career. Do you have any last thoughts on things for the younger generation or, in general, how they should approach their own career that you might think that they're getting wrong?

Clark:

First off, having ethics is really important and not being so short-sighted. Try things out and really step up and go outside your comfort zone. Reach out to people. You want to have mentors. Everybody should have a mentor and a mentee. So that's what I've done in my life, right? One of my favorite mentees, stephanie. She's done several stints at the law firm. She just graduated from loyal law school. I went to her law school graduation and that's been very energizing for me and it helps me think of all the memories good, bad and ugly when I was coming up through college and law school. And now she's studying for the bar exam. So I think it's. I think it's just being a good person showing up and doing an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. I don't think you need to. For me, I felt a lot of pressure. What am I going to do professionally? You know I wanted to arrive right away and even the point that I'm at.

Clark:

I know that I have so much to learn and there's so much more that I want to learn, and so I would have enjoyed the journey a lot more. I don't get so caught up in comparing yourself to others. Comparison is a thief of joy. So I think because of the algorithms right it's. Oh, I have to have this crazy exotic sports car and I have to have this type of lifestyle. When you're I mean I was, my wife and I were driving our beat up cars for years because we were sacrificing and playing the long game because we wanted to get into a house Took a lot of sacrifices to be able to get into a house. I know that that seems to be something that doesn't seem to be attainable in this day and age. So you have to make sacrifices along the way and, like we talked about, things generally take longer than you think they will to achieve.

J.R.:

Cool, I like it a lot. Any last thoughts before we go to rapid fire questions.

Clark:

Oh, I think, just some of the people who I've had the privilege and pleasure to work with, it's an attitude of gratitude, it's a positive mindset. So, going back to that, I think and that's what I try to do I'm preaching to myself. That was really big for my dad. Is it's all about your attitude, son, whatever I was doing sports, even if we were at a losing season, whatever sport it was. So I think it's some of my highest performers, most loyal people who don't need to be highest performers, most loyal people who don't need to be gracious. Those are the people actually who professionally benefit me the most with how they perform and how amazing they are, and those are the ones who will handwrite a thank you card or give me a gift and that just means so much. So the gratitude, the appreciation.

Clark:

I've just been so blessed to have had so many different people who I could look up to and also that grit and perseverance. I had my son, rio, who just finished his first wrestling season. The kids started when he was five and six and you're taking a lot of beatings in that sport and he just continued to show up day in, day out. So I think you have to not be afraid to fail and not look cool when you in day out. So I think you have to not be afraid to fail and not look cool when you're trying things out. You have to get those repetitions in.

Clark:

So I think that's what I try to be better at is okay, when I start out, I'm not going to be the best, I'm going to look like an idiot and I have to be comfortable with that.

J.R.:

It's great. Yeah, that was a. We're going to go into rapid fire questions, but that's 50 minutes of gold right there, so you got your money's worth to the audience. First question from rapid fire, a billboard question. If you could put up a sign for millions of people to see what would it say?

Clark:

I think one of the iterations probably was our motto bite back. So I think it would be as simple as that. Bite back. A lot of different meanings. So as a plaintiff, personal injury attorney, we're up against the big bad insurance companies and so really, if you're ever in a legal situation, you really should reach out to a competent ethical attorney to get some good advice. So we believe in standing up to the bully. So it's in my line of work. It's about standing up to the bully, fighting for the underdog and really biting back against the insurance companies.

J.R.:

What is one of the hardest challenges you face and what did you learn from it?

Clark:

So we talked about this. So my snowboarding accident of a really big jump and blew up both my knees and went through multiple knee surgeries and painful physical therapy, grueling physical therapy, and so that was definitely one of the darkest moments of my life. I was a younger attorney with a wife and our daughter, violet was one, and just excruciating pain and agony, and so I was able to realize how resilient the human spirit is and as dark as that was, I wouldn't change that. I wouldn't have that taken from me. It's made me who.

J.R.:

I am. If you could give your younger self advice, what would it be now as I alluded to.

Clark:

as I said earlier, it's enjoy the journey. It's the journey, not the destination, and I have a lot of foresight, so I have to really be in the moment. Yeah, be in the moment be present. So I think it would be be present, because time flies, definitely flies, and I've seen that with my kids, my young kids, absolutely.

J.R.:

I heard that it's like when you have kids time flies and you blink and they're leaving the house or something You're like, oh, we got to be in this moment because it's going to be gone. In the last few years, what?

Clark:

new belief, behavior or habit has improved your life, so I've naturally done this growing up. It's manifestation. Our minds are so powerful and we have all kinds of stuff going on that hold us back, so it really is manifesting, that's it's powerful.

J.R.:

Do you have any examples that you want to share on manifesting for yourself or how it works? Is it just thinking about it often, or what is?

Clark:

it. So I actually have when I drive my kids to school in the morning. There's two to three days a week where I do that. The days that I work out with my trainer, I don't because it's earlier. I have routines that I'll go through with them, and one of those, the gratitude, is expressing three things out loud that I'm grateful for. And another, and we'll do manifestations, I'll do that with my kids. And so there's all kinds of different manifestation. Like my son will say intentions, manifestations hey, I want to win my wrestling tournament. Or even things as a family will say hey, we want to go on this tropical vacation. And when you put that in your head and you put that in the universe, you speak in the universe, it happens. It's no different from writing down your goals, how powerful that is. So it's intention, manifestation, whatever it is that you're chasing. You put that out there. Your mind will consciously, subconsciously, figure out a way to get there. I like that.

J.R.:

So you guys do it like verbally with each other.

Clark:

Oh, that's cool, my kids can't stand it Like dad. We're doing the mom's fun. She plays music, Right, right, right, but I do that with them.

J.R.:

Yeah, I like that. That's one of those things where, when you're an adult, you're like I didn't appreciate this when I was a kid, but actually it's one of those things that will help you later on. How do you define success?

Clark:

I would say success is staying aligned with your values. It's finding your mission or purpose on this earth with the one life that you have and staying true to yourself. So I think that is success for me, somebody who is really striving to figure out what their purpose is and following your purpose.

J.R.:

What is something that you've been pondering recently or something that you often think about deeply, if we haven't covered it already?

Clark:

Yeah, I think with my children is you just assume that they're going to be with you forever and maybe they will, maybe they'll never move out. I think how time is fleeting, and so all these things that I've had on my punch list, I want to make sure that I take the time to really spend with my kids while they're with me and when I have that the amount of time, all that time with me, and when I have that the amount of time, all that time with them.

J.R.:

What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you've ever made in either time money, energy, et cetera.

Clark:

Well, one thing and again I know this is it's not as attainable as it was, but sacrificing my wife and I working full-time jobs and she had side hustles as a florist and it really was sacrificing and sticking it out in California and we're living in apartments but really getting into our house. That's been a really great investment for us. And anytime you're putting resources into yourself to improve yourself or learn a skill or whatever it may be, but what we talked about is when you can support and help out friends and family and what their dreams and aspirations are call it karma that actually ends up benefiting you in a crazy, weird way in the universe. So I'd say it's just helping out other people. Yeah, I like that. This is one of the best investments, right. Cheer people on, be happy for other people's success yeah.

J.R.:

Be there for them, reinvest into them, because that pays more dividends than you think and it's not a hard ROI. Sometimes you might not expect anything back and you don't, but sometimes the universe, like you said, gives back to you tenfold, right, yep.

Clark:

Do you have a favorite recent purchase in the $50 to to 100 range that has impacted your life in the last six months or so? Just some fun, small purchase? Such a tough question. So my mom, who's into all kinds of different health wellness things? There's an app and I think I got a lifetime subscription but I listen to it morning, night and it's different hertz frequencies and it's like a sound sort of sound and then they mix in these hertz.

Clark:

So I listen to it in the morning, at night, when I'm commuting to work in the morning, and supposedly what is it? They mix it up with all kinds of different music. So vocals, just music, and I enjoy listening that in the morning, night. Supposedly it does something with stem cells. Who?

J.R.:

knows. I was about to ask what effect have you noticed on yourself before using it? Or if anything, or you just like the sound yeah, I just like the sound. I think it's the routine and could be the placebo effect, right, just like getting in the groove, like it's my routine and it's nice, it sounds comforting. Yeah, and maybe there's some physiological benefits.

J.R.:

Science to it like some sort of vagus nerve being stimulated or something Cool. Okay, last rapid-fire question Favorite books, movies, videos, articles or media that you share or recommend the most so two, so I Gladiator 2.

Clark:

Really love that movie. I just love like the war stuff and combat and we actually my family, we just went to Italy, which was great a couple months ago, and then books, chris Voss, never split the difference. I'm constantly recommending that the law firm and just in life and my wife and I were able to meet him at a conference in Santa Barbara and did a meet, and greet and.

Clark:

Miranda who's very witty, my wife. She went up to Chris when he was signing her book and they got a picture together and she said so what's your advice when your children are the terrorists? And Chris said that's when you call on the SWAT team Nice I like it All.

J.R.:

Right, Cool, that is it for rapid fire questions. So we are on to our ending questions. So gratitude shout out to my mom for teaching me this. She will be on the show in the future. But yeah, Clark, what are you grateful for?

Clark:

I'm grateful for life and family and friends. I and memories. I'm a big memory guy. I love walks down memory lane. So I think life we all have. Life is difficult, there's a lot of challenges, so it just where's your perspective? We all experience some really sad, tough stuff. And are you keeping your face toward the sun or where are you pointed? So I'm just grateful for it. I know that seems, I guess, trivial, but I really am grateful for life.

J.R.:

All right, final ask from the audience or any final takeaways you'd like to have from this conversation. So if you want to self-plug or direct them into some sort of intention, any last thoughts?

Clark:

Yeah, so I'll just start with the self-plug. So fieldinglawfirmcom plan of personal injury law firm, arizona and California. We provide free, confidential, no obligation legal consultations for accident injury cases and we're also well connected with a network in different areas of law. So we're there and you could find us, I think Instagram is fieldinglawfirmcom, and then I have my Clark the Shark Law Instagram as well. And in terms of an ask of the audience, I think it would be as I referenced is finding ways to support and cheer on other people your family and friends Really reach out.

J.R.:

Nice, I like it. All right, clark, I think that's pretty much it. I will link all of your links and socials and everything in the show notes so people can check that out to see what you're up to your Instagram, your website and your law firm. Highly recommend it. Second personal injury attorney I've had on the show, but I highly recommend both of them for the same reasons why you said character, integrity, competence and everything. Highly recommend them, especially Clark. Like I said he's I consider him a mentor figure in my early career. So all right, clark, that is it. I really appreciate having you on the show. I think I've learned a lot. I'm going to take a bunch of notes on this. Hopefully the audience will too, and I end with the DJ air horn.

Clark:

I've been all episode. I've just been wanting. He's like I want to press this button, I want to, and before I do that, shout out to Ali he's a great friend and really look up to Ali and really loved his podcast episode. So I'd love to do the DJ Airhorn, if I may do it, yeah nice, we like it.

J.R.:

Alright, guys, thanks for tuning in. I really appreciate it. Make sure to subscribe, follow whatever you guys do. If you like this episode or any feedback you have for me or clark, definitely leave in the comments, we'll see it and a reminder to always be kind to other people, especially yourself, and reminder that you can always learn something from someone if you take the time to listen. So thanks, thanks for being here.

Clark:

Thanks, Marlo.

People on this episode

Head Shot

J.R. Yonocruz

Host
Contributor

Clark H. Fielding

Guest