Shows
The Passive Income Attorney PodcastEP 225 | How to Escape Your Job and Live a Lifestyle by Design with Megan Smiley (Encore)On this episode of the Passive Income Attorney Podcast, Seth is joined by Megan Smiley as they talk about how to find more flow, fulfillment and fun in you life by unshackling from the golden handcuffs and breaking through the traditional school of thought. In this episode, you’ll learn how to untrain your brain to live a happier, more fulfilled life. Megan is a recovering attorney turned podcaster and life coach. She provides expert advice on how to get unstuck and start living a lifestyle by design on your own terms. Enjoy the episode!
“The world is y...2024-09-1834 minThe Passive Income Attorney PodcastEP 103 | How to Escape Your Job and Live a Lifestyle by Design with Megan Smiley (Encore)On this encore episode of the Passive Income Attorney Podcast, Seth is joined by Megan Smiley as they talk about how to find more flow, fulfillment and fun in you life by unshackling from the golden handcuffs and breaking through the traditional school of thought. In this episode, you’ll learn how to untrain your brain to live a happier, more fulfilled life. Megan is a recovering attorney turned podcaster and life coach. She provides expert advice on how to get unstuck and start living a lifestyle by design on your own terms. Enjoy the episode!
“The worl...2022-09-1534 min
NLBP.TVSix-Figure Souls Podcast with Megan Smiley | SFSP S05 EP03Megan Smiley, Esq. is the founder of Megan Smiley Coaching and the host of The Lawyer’s Escape Pod. She is herself an escaped lawyer, having practiced corporate transactional law. Before taking the big leap into entrepreneurship, she took a baby step away from practice by working for a law school, where she was the Director of International Programs. She first launched an interior design business and then pivoted into coaching. She now primarily helps people design their own creative or coaching businesses through her one-on-one coaching. Her mission is to help people who feel stuck in unfulfilling professions lau...2022-07-1414 minThe Passive Income Attorney PodcastEP 54 | How to Escape Your Job and Live a Lifestyle by Design with Megan SmileyOn this episode of the Passive Income Attorney Podcast, Seth is joined by Megan Smiley as they talk about how to find more flow, fulfillment and fun in you life by unshackling from the golden handcuffs and breaking through the traditional school of thought. In this episode, you’ll learn how to untrain your brain to live a happier, more fulfilled life. Megan is a recovering attorney turned podcaster and life coach. She provides expert advice on how to get unstuck and start living a lifestyle by design on your own terms. Enjoy the episode!
“The world is y...2021-09-0246 min
The Legal Learning PodcastHow to Find Your It - Your one thing you are meant to doHave you ever wondered if you are on the right path? If you are doing what you were MEANT to do? What is that ONE thing? Or is there only one thing? How do you KNOW if law is the RIGHT path? In this episode Megan Smiley of The Lawyer's Escape Pod talks about her legal journey, her attempt to find her "it" and how you can find your "it". Show notes and full transcript are available at www.legallearningcenter.com/thelawyersescapepod Important links: www.thelawyersescapepod.com www.instagram.com/megansmileyesq...2021-05-1828 min
The Lawyer's Escape PodShunta Grant leaves practice to create her own business and to live on her termsShunta Grant is a former litigator turned business owner. When it became clear that practicing law wasn’t a fit for her, she leaned into her side project making hair bows. She grew that business successfully and leveraged all of her new business experience to launch her current product, The Best Today Guide. Shunta tells us about the power of letting go of the expectations you had for yourself and creating a career around your life, rather than the other way around.
In this episode we discuss:
Being focused on checking all the boxes
Gaining clarity th...2020-12-1536 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodJess Salomon leaves human rights law for stand-up comedyIf you ever feel like you’re drawn to something that just isn’t “realistic”, think about Jess’s story. It's hard to make a bigger leap than from international human rights at the Hague to stand-up comedy.
In this episode we discuss:
The limited view of career options many of us have
Jess’s career in international criminal law
At the end of the day, practicing law is still practicing law - even in an interesting context
Looking down the career path, Jess realized she wasn’t excited to practice forever
Watching Jon Stewart inspired Jess to combin...2020-12-0943 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodJessica Medina leaves 14 years of law practice behind to pursue financial coachingJessica Medina is a former big law litigator and SEC investigator who now runs her own financial coaching business. She helps big law attorneys who need a financial plan in place to allow them the freedom to explore new career options. Basically - she helps people avoid or remove those pesky golden handcuffs so many of us get caught in. Jessica tells us about her own journey of 14 years in practice, 5 and 10 year financial plans, and finding the right fit for her next career move. I think her story is very relatable in that she identifies herself as a...2020-11-2448 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodCharlotte Smith goes from employment attorney to life design coach for lawyersCharlotte Smith is a former UK employment attorney who now runs her own business coaching lawyers in her Life Design for Lawyers program. You can also check out her podcast, Limitless Lawyer. Charlotte tells us about her journey away from practicing law. She followed the breadcrumb path of her interests and intuition to her new career. It wasn’t always smooth, but these paths often aren’t. Charlotte’s core message to lawyers is that anything is possible, and you should design your life around what you want - rather than letting life happen to you.
In this e...2020-11-1845 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodJordan Hellman leaves litigation for sales and business developmentJordan Hellman is the Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships at Care Partners at Home. After working in litigation in a few different environments, Jordan decided it wasn’t a context problem - he just didn’t enjoy practicing law. So, he leaned into his strength in relationship-building to create a new career in sales and business development.
Sometimes your best laid plans for your career don’t pan out
Pay attention to the things you enjoy about your job for clues
Some people make moves in big jumps, and others in smaller steps
Even sun and surfing in Califor...2020-08-1851 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodJan Newman leaves Big Law to earn her PhD and become a licensed clinical psychologist and executive coachDr. Jan Newman is a licensed clinical psychologist, certified executive coach, and former Big Law attorney who works with multi-passionate high achievers who want to level up their lives.
Jan shows us how to take a scientific, systematic approach to leaving law and finding a new career. This process is an experiment: outline your ideas, try them out, learn from the feedback. Don’t expect to have all the answers all at once. But, if you stick with it - you’ll eventually find a good career fit.
Jan has very generously offered 3 free 4...2020-07-2154 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodHeather Hubbard leaves law firm partnership to start a personal and professional development companyHeather Hubbard is a former Intellectual Property and Entertainment lawyer who practiced for 10 years before being drawn by her unique talents into starting her own personal and professional development company. She tells us about her journey out of practice, the limits we place on ourselves as lawyers, and tools we can leverage to help us move ourselves forward.
In this episode, we discus:
Heather wasn’t miserable, she just realized there was a better fit in another roll
It can take some time and reflection to realize you have unique strengths; something you may think everyone is...2020-07-0642 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodSummer Challenge: Take ActionSummer Challenge!! Today’s episode is a little different. Instead of having a guest, I wanted us to take some of the inspiration we’ve gotten here and elsewhere and turn it into action. We can consume advice, wisdom, and ideas until we’re blue in the face. But, we need to translate that into action in our lives if we want to see real change. I think the important thing is that you don’t have to take one big, dramatic step. The idea is to just start showing up for yourself and doing the small things that ultimate...2020-06-2912 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodAlex Su leaves big law litigation for legal technology salesAlex Su is a former big law litigator who now does business development and sales within the legal technology industry. Currently, he is the Director of Business Development at Evisort, an AI-powered contract intelligence platform. Alex talks about taking the time to reflect on his interests and natural inclinations, and how this allowed him to identify his unique set of skills. His thick skin and talent for persuasion may not have found their place in litigation, but he uses them all the time in sales.
Being a litigation associate is nothing like what it looks like on TV
Lo...2020-06-2240 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodMary Cobb tells about how she took a break from law to learn to paint in Italy, and now combines her careers in law and artMary Cobb is both an artist and a working lawyer. She tells us about how she left full-time practice to move to Italy and learn to paint. She’s now built a dual career, returning to practice as a staff attorney while building her art business on the side. I think her story gives a good glimpse into how pursuing your interests and passions can be balanced with a legal job, if that’s where your comfort zone lies.
Sometimes the life you carefully built no longer makes sense to you
It’s ok to make a change, even i...2020-06-1526 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodAlexis Robertson talks leaving litigation to run diversity and inclusion programs in Big Law, and what really needs to happen to achieve progressAlexis Robertson is the Director of Diversity & Inclusion at Foley & Lardner LLP where she provides firm-wide strategic direction and oversight on all diversity and inclusion related matters. Alexis talks to us about her journey out of litigation to recruiting, and ultimately to diversity and inclusion work. We speak about the structural racism within our industry and the challenges law firms face in making meaningful progress on diversity and inclusion with respect not only to recruiting, but work allocation, mentorship, and professional development. Ultimately, Alexis tells us that the work begins at the individual level and challenges us to all...2020-06-0858 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodAnnie Little talks about shifts in law practice and career searches in the Covid-19 eraFor the first episode after this Covid-19 break, I’m speaking again with Annie Little, a former lawyer turned career coach specializing in coaching lawyers. We jump right into what this new reality means for lawyers thinking about career shifts. There are obviously a lot of challenges in this new reality, but there are also a lot of opportunities. And I hope this episode is more hopeful than anything.
We discuss:
Big firms are generally cutting salaries over laying off lawyers
Will some of these structural changes, like remote work and flexible hours, become permanent or mor...2020-06-0153 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodChris Gillett leaves litigation to become a headshot photographerAfter nearly two decades in litigation practice, Chris Gillett took his hobby of photography and grew it to a full-time headshot photography business. Chris shows us that prioritizing time pursuing an interest can open up doors down the road. His story also emphasizes a theme we’ve discussed before: there are seasons in your life and career if you allow there to be.
In this episode, we discuss:
It is possible to enjoy the people you work with, but still hate practicing
Inertia keeps you in place, and life circumstances can make you feel particularly stuck
Tim...2020-02-2545 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodJosh Ferguson leaves legislative practice to be a stay-at-home dadMy guest today is Josh Ferguson, a Research Consultant at Common Good, a government reform think tank. Josh practiced at a firm for a few years, then moved into legislative work at the Maryland State House, which he loved (making him a little bit of a different case than some of my other guests). But, with a baby on the way, his wife got a new job in a new city. They wanted one of them to stay home with the kids, so as it shook out - Josh decided to leave practice to be a stay-at-home dad for 12...2020-02-1129 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodAngela Han tells us how she built a dual career in law and health coachingAngela Han is Corporate Counsel at HealthPro Heritage, runs her own company, Angela Han Health, and hosts the podcast Fit to Practice. Angela gives us some great tips on how to devote time to a side hustle you love while you’re still practicing. She’s not looking to move out of law completely. You could find a dual career balance, as she has. Or maybe you take her approach as a stepping stone towards fully leaving the law. Either way, she really shows us what it means to purposefully build the life you want. And we get some tips...2020-02-0440 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodTravis Hornsby tells us how to break free from the student loan albatrossTravis Hornsby is a Chartered Financial Analyst and the founder of Student Loan Planner, a company that helps analyze the best repayment paths for people with significant student debt. Travis gets into detail about strategies that will allow you to manage those loans without having to be stuck in a job you hate. This means getting into quite a bit of math - and it’s a complicated system. But don’t be turned off! Travis does a great job of outlining the basic principles. If you take nothing else away - just know that there are resources to be l...2020-01-2852 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodClara Jung leans into her impulsivity and leaves litigation to build her own interior design firmAfter almost 5 years in litigation practice, Clara Jung found herself dissatisfied with practicing and considering her next steps. Initially, she looked into legal recruiting. But, after not getting any traction there, she didn’t give up - she just went back to the drawing board. She thought about what genuinely interested her - whether or not it had any legal connection. She realized that interior design was something she’s always enjoyed, but had dismissed as an unrealistic career option. She did a little research, and then took a big leap of faith. There was definitely a transition period, and...2020-01-2032 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodAnnie Little helps rid us of lawyer-brain and get on the path to a happier careerToday's guest is Annie Little. She is a former lawyer, and now a career coach specializing in coaching lawyers. Annie walks us through a very helpful framework on thinking through a career shift. It means going back to the drawing board and asking ourselves about our core values. It means training ourselves to think differently. It’s not a quick fix, but a helpful approach for long-term satisfaction.
In this episode, we discuss:
Taking care of your physical and mental health
The difference between working for lawyers and working with lawyers
There are easily accessible, low-investment pr...2020-01-1356 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodYear-End Wrap-Up and Top 6 Lessons (I know it should be 5 or 10, but 6 is what I’ve got)This mini episode is a quick season/year-end wrap-up. I wanted to thank you all for listening. It's been great hearing from some of you, and I'm glad you're finding it helpful. Please be in touch if you have any thoughts on topics, careers paths, or other questions you'd like me to cover.
Top 6 Lessons:
(1) You are smart. You can learn how to do something new, and to succeed.
(2) Take Action. As lawyers, we are thinkers, planners, researchers. But the only way to really make a change is to act.
(3) Let go...2019-12-1606 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodAdam Oliver tries multiple law firms and practice areas before leaving practice to run his own legal recruiting companyAdam Oliver is the Managing Director of Firm Prospects, which offers data-driven market intelligence for legal search professionals. Out of law school, Adam practiced corporate law in a number of firms before deciding it was time to pull the plug. His experience working with legal recruiters during his firm jumps opened his eyes to that profession. He took the leap and started his own legal recruiting company. After years of doing that, he saw a pain point in the industry and decided he could solve it. So, he’s built a second company, which he’s now running.
To...2019-12-1046 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodJonathan Laubinger has no regrets about leaving practice before he even started for a career as an actuaryJonathan Laubinger is an actuary at Argonaut Insurance Company. Jon earned his JD/MBA thinking he’d go into politics or antitrust law. But before he ever even practiced law, his path took a turn towards insurance and the actuarial field. I think Jon has a really interesting perspective. For him, leaving the practice of law wasn’t wasting all the effort he put into earning his degree. It was just part of an ongoing learning journey. Mindset and perspective matter so much in how we experience our situation.
We discussed:
Why going straight to law scho...2019-12-0339 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodJonathan Liu leaves employment law to become a real estate agent and investorJonathan Liu is a realtor at H&M Realty Group and President of Res Ipsa Real Estate Solutions. As his company name hints, he’s a lawyer turned real estate agent and investor. Jonathan practiced primarily in the employment law area. For a while it was the sensible decision to stick with something secure in light of his growing family. On the side, though, he had begun investing in rental properties. Eventually, it became clear to him that taking the riskier road was more aligned with what he wanted to do and the lessons he wanted to teach his da...2019-11-2635 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodRachel Solomon leaves litigation to pursue storytelling: first as a freelance writer, then as a novelist, and ultimately through brand creation at her own firmMy guest today is Rachel Solomon, who is the Founder and Creative Director at Honor Code Creative, a branding company that offers a full spectrum of creative, design, copy, editorial, PR and marketing services for her clients. Rachel started off in big law litigation, but realized after a few different positions that practicing law just wasn’t the right fit. She pursued her interests in writing and fashion, which put her on a path from copywriter to PR strategist and ultimately to company founder.
In this episode, we discussed:
Changing firms allows you to narrow down wh...2019-11-1945 minThe Lawyer's Escape PodAdam Friedl tells us how he transitioned from public interest law to software engineeringAdam Friedl spent many years practicing in various public interest organizations. One of these organizations was a non-profit technology company with the mission of improving access to justice. Working there sparked an interest in the tech side of things, and he started teaching himself to code on the side. Fast forward a few years, and he’s left the law completely to be a full time software engineer.
The topics we touch on:
Going to law school because it seemed practical, not because he felt uniquely drawn to it
The mission of your organization matters in you...2019-11-1230 min
The Lawyer's Escape PodWelcome!Hello and welcome! Before getting into the real episodes, I wanted to say hi and give everyone a little more information on my background and what the podcast is all about.
Come find me at:
Website: www.thelawyersescapepod.com
Instagram: @thelawyersescapepod
Facebook: thelawyersescapepod
And join our private Facebook group.
2019-08-0906 min