One of the many reasons I started WILL is that I flailed early in my career. It seemed like law school was one of the only options.
When I graduated college, many people asked…
“Are you going to go to law school? You can do anything with a law degree.”
My dad had been a criminal defense attorney with a small office one flight up on W. 72nd street, in New York City. I always thought I would be a lawyer. As a kid, we frequently played mock trial around the dinner table.
But when I was 14, my dad was arrested and disbarred for embezzling money from a client. I then put the idea of being a lawyer on the back burner.
After college, I went on an uncharted career journey, filled with exploration and discovery.
I worked mostly in non-profits, in a range of areas, including HIV/AIDS, sexuality education, tobacco control, and a brief stint in market research.
I learned what I liked and what I didn’t. What I was good at and what to avoid. Do not ever ask me to manage a project.
It wasn’t until I found coaching, that I felt at home.
Through coaching, I learned a career transformation process that I used on myself, then honed and tailored.
One reason I love to do this work with women lawyers, is that I so easily could have been one of you.
I could have gone to law school, and skipped those years of self-discovery.
I would’ve tried to prove myself at a big firm, and been terrible at it.
My attention to detail is not stellar, nor is my capacity to take crap from older white men. (I may have a little bit of an authority issue.)
Remember the Gwyneth Paltrow movie Sliding Doors? It’s like I catch a glimpse of that alternative life trajectory from this side of the river.
WILL is a bridge for women lawyers who feel stuck in unfulfilling, time and soul sucking jobs, desperately wanting work that’s more meaningful.
If you want self-discovery, clarity and control of your time, WILL guides you to new terrain with love, curiosity, and friendly fellow travelers.
You’ll be amazed what and who you discover along the way.
It’s never too late to figure out who you were meant to be.
Let’s slide some doors,
Love, Elena