Jennifer talks about the challenge of living an authentic life and sharing it publicly as she transitions between the worlds of legal practice and podcasting. http://roamhowl.com/008
“I believe that if we share the truth about ourselves, we will discover that we are more similar than different from each other." ~Jennifer Gardner
For many years now, my primary work has been in the legal profession. Now, the Legal Profession is still fairly conventional and conservative, although I think this is starting to change.
While working as a lawyer, I have felt like my private life had to be very private, like I couldn't show up completely the way I was to work. I always felt some shame around the duality between the "creative me" and the "professional me."
When I was a young lawyer, a partner in the firm I worked at once lectured me about how if I did not work 12 hours a day I would never amount to anything. I quickly realized that I could not have a life and survive in a law firm owned by someone else. I also thought at that young age that I could not an effective lawyer if I was not well-rounded and if I did not have any real world experience. This is a primary reason why I started my own law firm.
I wanted to do good work to help people for a reasonable fee, and have time to have a life where I could pursue all my interests.
Then, a few years ago I went to Trial Lawyer's College and healed a lot of that part of myself. First, I discovered that my emotional and creative way of approaching my cases was not so unusual after all.
It was very healing to be amongst a group of supportive lawyers who were striving to discover and authentically express themselves. And this confirmed my belief that a huge part of being a lawyer is extremely creative.
What Jennifer has learned from taking acting classes about being polite;
The challenge and vulnerability of living authentically;
How Jennifer is using RoamHowl to peel back the layers and discuss her podcasting journey as authentically as possible;
The mystery of how the podcast is growing organically and engaging people all over the world in this conversation..
You can connect with me on Facebook, @jenbgardner on Twitter, or you can email me here. I am also on the web at www.jgardnerassociates.com and you can read about my approach to practicing law.
