For the first podcast episode of 2021, I’m sharing about how a cancelled vacation was a turning point for me in my process of leaving the law. I’m also talking a bit about why the law was wrong for me. And, I’m sharing what other lawyers can learn from my story. I was a young associate just a few years…
I’m calling this week’s episode, “Most Lawyers Would Not Admit This.” Today, I’m talking about my experience with clinical anxiety, and why it’s so often mistaken for “typical” lawyer stress. For most lawyers, it’s hard to admit that we’re struggling—even to ourselves. I’ve actually written about the topic of this episode before on the blog. I thought it was the…
Valerie Beck felt like she didn’t fit in from the moment she arrived in law school. After several Biglaw jobs and an in-house gig, she decided law was truly not the place for her and decided to forge her own career path in the world of chocolate. Nearly 20 years ago, she started a business providing chocolate tours to people…
In episode 059, Jessica Medina shared all about how she ended up in law school, and then Biglaw, before deciding to leave to take a job at the SEC. In this episode, Jessica shares about how she realized after making the move to the SEC that it wasn’t just Biglaw that she didn’t enjoy—she didn’t enjoy being a lawyer. She…
Jessica Medina went to law school thinking she would work for the government and change the world for the better. But during her 2L year at Columbia Law School, she gave birth to twins and became a single mom. Biglaw seemed the inevitable and obviously correct choice for her if she wanted her family to have a good life. But…
Hobbies and side hustles can seem like a distraction when you’re on the law firm treadmill. But cultivating interests outside the law is often the ticket to figuring out what you really want to do career-wise. In this episode, Helynn Nelson shares about becoming a level 3 sommelier—and how it helped her figure out that she wanted to leave the…
