Conversations With Cady

Lawyers need vacations too! We all desperately need to disconnect and take a real break from the office but it is so hard to do when running a busy practice and you want to be of service to your clients. Technology has changed the definition of “emergency” and there is a pressure to be available at all times. I’ll never forget being in New York City when a client called to vent about his brother. I was on my first trip with my boyfriend at the time and I explained to him that when you’re a lawyer, it never ends.  It is really up to us to choose ourselves and do something different. Here are three simple boundaries you can create when going on vacation: 1. Create a detailed out of office message. Identify what day you will be coming back to the office and who can be contacted in your absence. Note that you will not be checking your emails or answering calls while you are away. Set clear expectations. 2. Notify your most active clients that you will be gone and let them know the stat...

As I continue to grow my business, I feel conflicting emotions. The most obvious is fear. Fear of failure. Fear of judgment. Fear of the unknown. Negative emotions have a tendency to stand louder than the positive ones. They’re based in history, society’s views, and the pressures imposed by our parents and family members. Fear will almost always be present.  But, I experience other emotions too. A deep desire to help others and grow my business. A need to align myself with my values of independence and service. Excitement for what’s to come and the authority to make decisions completely on my own. It is an adventure and a learning experience.  Many will say that you cannot live with both the positive and negative emotions. That you have to overcome the fear and anxiety before you can succeed. I disagree. I believe that we will always live with some level of fear but that we have to learn to acknowledge it and let it live within and alongside our other emotions. It will always ...

I just finished Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” and it has me inspired to consider my purpose and why even more than I did a few weeks ago on this blog. Sinek’s position is that all great businesses and entrepreneurs start with why and then develop the what and how from the why. He references Apple, Southwest, and Harley Davison as companies with a clearly defined why that customers can believe in and therefore support.  My “why” is shaped by a lot of things. My experience as an employee in an industry dominated by outdated policies and practices. Conversations with colleagues that are burnt out, tired, and unfulfilled. My confidence that things can be done differently with great success if only people were willing to make a change. My willingness to work with others, to engage in conversations, to make a difference in an outdated industry.  My “why” is to make the world a better place by helping build confidence among peers so that they can ask for what they need in their pers...