Hi, and welcome to The Former Lawyer Podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Cottrell. I practiced law for 10 years and now I help unhappy lawyers ditch their soul-sucking jobs. On this show, I share advice and strategies for aspiring former lawyers, and interviews with former lawyers who have left the law behind to find careers and lives that they love.

Hello, everyone. I'm really excited to talk to you this week about the upcoming spring Guided Track through the Former Lawyer Framework. I want to talk to you about what the Guided Track is, how it relates to the Collaborative, which, as you know, is my program where I work with lawyers to help them figure out what else it is that they want to do that is not practicing law, answer some questions that I've received, and let you know where you can get more information if you're interested. Short version, the Guided Track is essentially an extra level of support and accountability for you when you are working through the curriculum inside of the Former Lawyer Collaborative, which is my framework (The Former Lawyer Framework). It’s a five-step framework that people follow in order to figure out what sort of career they should be pursuing that aligns with their unique priorities and values.

As you know, the Collaborative is open for enrollment all the time. You can join the Collaborative at any time and it is self-paced. We have monthly calls where you can come and ask questions live. We have a community platform on Circle where you can ask questions in between calls, where you can interact with the other lawyers in the program. Then we also have monthly workshops and events that get recorded and added to a replay library in addition to, of course as I mentioned, the Former Lawyer Framework, which is the curriculum that actually walks you through the process of figuring out what it is that you want to do that is not being a lawyer.

For the first time ever this past fall, I ran a Guided Track which is essentially for people who are inside the Collaborative and want to have an additional level of support and accountability to move through the material. What that looked like was weekly calls and an action plan where every week, you know what it is that you should be working on that week. It was super successful. We had 28 people, something in that range, participate and we ran the program for 10 weeks. We have made a couple small adjustments coming into the spring based on the feedback from people who went through the Guided Track in the fall and so that's what I'm going to talk to you about now so you know the details and what it's going to look like, etc.

First of all, let's talk about dates. In the fall, we had a 10-week track and this spring, we're going to do a 90-day track. The reason for that is everyone expressed that an additional week or two on top of the 10 weeks would probably be helpful just in terms of giving everyone a little bit more time to get through the material. That is what we're doing. We are going to be offering a 90-day track. There are going to be two cohorts: there will be an evening cohort and a daytime cohort, and that's evening my time, which is Eastern Time. There will be an evening cohort on Tuesday evenings at 8:00 PM Eastern, the weekly calls will be Tuesday at 8:00 PM Eastern, and then there will be a daytime cohort also on Tuesdays at noon Eastern. Each cohort is going to be capped at 20 people. That is just based on the experience this past fall and my experience running the entire Collaborative program for the last almost two years in terms of what will make a good size group and help us to have the best type of discussion and feedback and involvement, etc. Again, there are going to be 20 spots in the evening cohort, which is going to be at 8:00 PM on Tuesdays, and then there will be 20 spots in the daytime cohort which will be at noon Eastern on Tuesdays.

The Guided Track will be kicking off on Tuesday, February 15th, and they will run through Tuesday, May 17th. Here are a couple of things that you need to know if you're thinking about doing the Guided Track. One, our group calls are not recorded. Inside the Collaborative, if we have a workshop, a panel, or something like that, those are recorded. But group calls where people are coming on and talking through what's going on, where they are, and what issues they have, those are not recorded. Which means that if you participate in a Guided Track, you will be participating live in the live calls. That's why I want to make sure everyone knows exactly when the calls are going to be happening. Because in order for you to get the most that you can out of the Guided Track, you're going to want to try to be able to come to most of the group calls live. That's the first thing.

The second thing is that when you participate in the Guided Track, we have prepared an action plan that goes through the entire 90-day period, giving you things to do each week to move you through the entire Former Lawyer Framework curriculum. Each week, you will know exactly what to work on and you will come to that week's call prepared to talk about what you've worked on that week, what questions have come up, what issues are coming up, etc. Then you can always check in within the Guided Track group inside of Circle in between those weekly calls.

The other thing that I am super excited to share is that for the first 25 people to enroll in the Guided Track, either cohort, you are going to be invited to a StrengthsFinders workshop that is going to be happening during the first week of the Guided Track. The reason it's kept at 25 is simply that I'm bringing in an outside consultant to do this particular workshop and assessment because, of course, StrengthsFinders is an assessment that you take and you will get results. Each of the 25 people who are going to participate in the StrengthsFinder workshop will also get included in that StrengthsFinders assessment which is an assessment that you typically would pay for but it will be included for you with your enrollment in the Guided Track if you are within the first 25 people who enroll. That's going to be happening the first week of the Guided Track. I'm super excited about that. Again, the reason it's capped at 25 is simply because that's the cap for my outside consultant.

If you're interested in getting to be part of that workshop and to have the StrengthsFinders assessment as part of your process going through the Guided Track, then you definitely want to make sure that you are on the waitlist for the Guided Track because when enrollment opens, I will be sending that information first to the people who are on the waitlist and you will have the first chance to sign up. Before I continue on, I just want to say if you're interested in getting on the waitlist, go to formerlawyer.com/waitlist. That is where you can sign up. Again, the people who are on the waitlist will be getting access to enroll in the Guided Track 24 hours before the link to enroll goes live public to my email list, social, and all of that. If you're thinking about doing the Guided Track, definitely get on the waitlist.

Let me continue on. Why would you do the Guided Track versus just enroll in the Collaborative? Some people really like doing things in a self-paced way. I personally am one of those people who likes going through curriculum on my own schedule. I like not feeling like I have to show up to something at a certain time but that's just me. I have realized that there are many people who really appreciate having the accountability of not just calls where they can ask questions based on where they are, but also some accountability around what needs to be done for each call, etc. If you're someone who's thought about joining the Collaborative but you've thought, "Ah, but I really think I need more personal engagement, more structure, and more accountability," the Guided Track is basically created for people like you. That is what is going to be happening starting February 15th.

I just want to share a little bit about some of the feedback that I received from people who participated in the Guided Track in the fall. Here are a couple things that lawyers like you had to say about their experience going through the fall Guided Track. “Like many lawyers, I'm skilled at considering all the different arguments and rationalizing a decision six ways from Sunday, it's what we've been trained to do very well. Hearing others' experiences as we all consider options to leave the law has kept me grounded and refocused me when I've talked myself into simply staying put.”

Another participant said, “The Guided Track has been like a weekly checkpoint with good trusted friends who all understand my experiences practicing law and why one would consider leaving. The weekly assignments are manageable and broken up in a way that allows you the time and space to ask yourself the hard questions and reflect on your answers. When the group comes back together each week, we share what we've learned through the exercises and what actions we are taking to discover our why. We support each other and share ideas when someone has a question, needs an introduction, feels stuck, is having a tough time, or is facing a difficult decision. We also celebrate each other's victories however small they may be. The Guided Track is the push that I needed to join the Collaborative and I'm so thankful for the support and guidance that it has provided me. I have made several friends for life and I can't wait to see where everyone goes from here.”

Another participant in the Guided Track this past fall said, “Sarah is a whip smart, experienced, straightforward coach who delivers feedback and shares ideas with plenty of emotional intelligence. She is very transparent when discussing what practicing law is really like while giving you space to add your own narrative to the conversation. I would recommend her to anyone who wants to make a real lasting change in your professional and personal life.”

If you're listening to this and it is before January 31st, then you should go to formerlawyer.com/waitlist and sign up to get on the waitlist because you will get the link 24 hours before the link goes live for the general public to see all the information about the Guided Track and to enroll. One other thing that I wanted to mention is that when you enroll in the Guided Track, you are also enrolling in the Collaborative, so you will be enrolling in the Collaborative, which typically when you enroll in the Collaborative, you get access for a 12-month term to all of the resources that are inside the Collaborative.

Enrolling in the Guided Track means that you get all of that for 12 months and in addition, you get access to the Guided Track which is the 90-day program with an action plan and weekly calls. Of course, if you're the one of the first 25 to enroll, you will also get complimentary access to the StrengthsFinder workshop and a StrengthsFinders assessment. When you enroll in the Collaborative, the enrollment fee for just the Collaborative is typically $1,950. Enrollment in the Guided Track will include both enrollment in the Collaborative as well as in the 90-day Guided Track program. That enrollment fee is going to be $3,450. There will be payment plans, of course, so that you can break up your payment over time if you don't want to pay in one lump sum. But those are the basic details. I am so excited to be offering this program to you. It was super transformative for so many people in the fall. Again, if you are sure that you want to or even think you might want to be on the Guided Track with me this spring, please get on the waitlist so that you get first access to signing up if that's something that you want to do. As always, any questions, just email [email protected], and I will talk to you next week.

Have you watched my free masterclass, The Simple 5-Step Framework To Identify An Alternative Career (That You Actually Like!)? In this master class, you'll learn the proven framework that I use with all of my clients to help them identify an alternative career. You can watch the masterclass right now, just go to formerlawyer.com/masterclass, sign up, and get the link to watch. Once you've watched, message me or email me and let me know what your biggest takeaway was from the class. I would love to know.