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.

It is the new year. It is 2023, and I am really excited because we are kicking off the new year with a series of episodes that are interviews with various of my clients who are in the Former Lawyer Collaborative. I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about the Collab if you’ve been listening for any length of time. At this point, we have a little bit over 160 lawyers who are in the program and as you also probably know if you’ve listened before, I take the confidentiality of my clients very seriously, which means, you go to the sales page of the Collab, you’ll see some quotes from people, you might see a name if someone has told me that they want their name to be attached to their testimonial, but for the most part, everything is anonymous.

However, I do have some clients who have worked through the process in the Collab and wanted to share their stories both their own transition out of the law and also a little bit about their experience in the Collab, and also just the story that you generally hear on the podcast when I’m interviewing someone which is how did you end up as a lawyer and how did you end up leaving? I’m really excited that you’re going to get to hear from four different Collab members during this month.

One of the episodes is actually a follow-up episode from a previous episode that released, I want to say it was the summer of 2021, with Jamie Spannhake. She came back to celebrate the one-year anniversary of her leaving the law and to share where she is now and update us on some of those things. That episode will be releasing this month. If you want to prepare for listening to that episode, head on back and listen to the previous episode with Jamie. It will be linked in the show notes. You also can just search for her name in your podcast app.

Regardless, I feel like it's so important for you to hear these stories. Because one of the things that we talk about here all the time is how easy it is when you're in the lawyer bubble to feel like you don't have options, you don't have transferable skills, and it can feel often pretty hopeless. I think that there is power in being able to hear people tell their stories, talk about how they figured out what it is that they want to do or the experiences that they've had. Of course also for me, it's just really wonderful for me to be able to give you a little bit of a glimpse into the work that I'm doing, especially if you're someone who is thinking about joining the Collab or working with me in some other capacity.

These episodes will really give you a great idea of what that's like, what your experience in the Collab could be, and why it might be something that you should think about doing here in the new year in 2023.

I am super excited to let you know that a new round of the Guided Track is going to be kicking off in February. So if you've been thinking about working with me to figure out what it is that you want to do that isn't practicing law, now is a great time. First of all, what is the Guided Track? The Guided Track basically takes the Collab and everything that you have in the Collab, the community on Circle, the curriculum The Former Lawyer Framework, all of the replays of the various events, panels, workshops that we have had in the Collab, etc., so it takes all of that. In addition to that, what you are doing is you are going to be working with a small group of lawyers.

This round is capped at six lawyers. What we're going to be doing is we will meet weekly for 10 weeks. We’ll first have an orientation call, then we'll meet weekly for 10 weeks, and you will be following an action plan that I've created to help you move through the Former Lawyer Framework in those 10 weeks. We'll have weekly calls where we will meet and talk through what you've worked on that week, what questions have come up. As a member of the Guided Track, you also get a 30-minute one-on-one call with me to use it whenever you want during the Guided Track.

You also get some free personality assessments that I recommend in the framework. You also get a free CliftonStrengths 34 Report and a half-day virtual workshop with a certified CliftonStrengths coach. This workshop is a favorite of past participants of the Guided Tracks. It is incredibly helpful in terms of understanding what you bring to the table, in terms of both soft skills and talents. It also provides you with a lot of language and ways to talk about who you are, the way that you work, and why a non-legal employer should think about hiring you for their role.

If you're someone who wants that weekly accountability, that small group support, the ability to get on live calls with me and a small group of other lawyers to talk through all of these things as you're working through them, what you are looking for is the Guided Track. Go to formerlawyer.com/guidedtrack and you can sign up there. Enrollment closes on Friday, February 17th, and we get started on Monday, February 20th. The calls will be at 8:00 PM Eastern on Mondays starting February 20th and will run through Monday, May 8th. If you want one of these six spots, go to formerlawyer.com/guidedtrack.

The first interview will be going live next Monday. Then there will be three more each Monday after that. I can't wait to share these conversations with you. I admire every single lawyer who is in the Collab so much. You'll hear in their stories some of the things that they've been through and you probably will hear some things that you really relate to and you really identify with because even though many of us are in all sorts of different types of practice and have all sorts of different life experiences, there are some things about being a lawyer that just seem to be universal. Happy New Year. Thank you for listening, and I'm so excited to celebrate my clients this month.

Thanks so much for listening. I absolutely love getting to share this podcast with you. If you haven't yet, I invite you to download my free guide: First Steps to Leaving the Law at formerlawyer.com/first. Until next time, have a great week.