Say it Out Loud - How Lawyers Who Launch Really got Started

Hi All,

As we celebrate one year of Lawyers Who Launch, we wanted to share more of our origin story with you all. The inspiration for everything we do came from challenging times and was nurtured by our friendship.

Take networking connections and building them into mutually beneficial relationships is at the heart of what we do. The best networking connection either of us ever made happened on the first day of law school orientation in 2007 - when we met for the first time. It was then that we became friends and study partners.

At that point our career options seemed limitless and the future was very bright. But next year changed everything. In our second year of law school the Great Recession hit. Established law firms were liquidating. Job offers were evaporating. The economy was tanking. Our career prospects in law looked very different on graduation day than they did on orientation day.

Thanks to the power of networking we both have successful careers in the law. By 2020, we were both partners in our respective law firms and 2020 was looking bright - until March.

We all know what happened next. The economy was unstable, schools were closing, offices sent everyone home. Technology kicked in and we were able to work from home, appear in court from home, and continue work with careful social distancing.

It was at this point that we were sharing our fears and challenges with each other and it was so reminiscent of our fears in law school. Saying it out loud to each other just how scared and unsure we were allowed us to find the courage to start a brand new venture (and “say it out loud” is something we continue between us and as a regular segment on the podcast).

This reminder of our time in law school also made us think of law students today and all of the struggles that the pandemic has brought out on top of the usual challenges of law school.  It was this convergence that led us to the inspiration for Lawyers Who Launch - sharing our networking planning and skills with attorneys, and soon-to-be attorneys, because we know how intimidating networking can be and we saw just how important our networks were to our professional success. We practice what we preach.  The tools, tips, and strategies in The Law Student’s Guide to Networking is the base for how we actually network.  

In the last year we have both utilized our network to help expand the message of Lawyers Who Launch, but also we have exponentially expanded our network in this new venture.

It is so interesting to utilize the strategies we are teaching to find and reach our audience to learn these strategies.  Getting to meet with law students and other legal professionals both virtually and in person has fulfilled us in so many ways. We know that students and professionals alike struggle with networking.  Getting to now share that with them and directly communicate our message to them has been so rewarding.  Our struggles with networking in law school have really come full circle for us.  Now we are affirmatively thankful for that experience because we understand the difficulty but we have an easy to implement solution that works.

Thanks for being here on this journey with us! What are you going to say out loud today?

Have a great day!

Haley & Amy

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

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