The Former Lawyer Podcast
From “Hating Every Second” of Working in Law to Legal Educator for Entrepreneurs with Sam Vander Wielen
Dec 30, 2019
Season 1
Episode 21
Sarah Cottrell
Sam left legal practice and has spent the last three years helping women entrepreneurs legally protect and grow their online businesses with her DIY Legal Templates and Fearlessly Legal™ Ultimate Bundle program.
In this conversation, Sam shares about:
- Why she “hated every second” of corporate litigation;
- How she got sick of her own complaining about being a lawyer;
- Being told from a young age that she should be a lawyer because she was loud and opinionated;
- Being “laser-focused” on getting into law school in undergrad, even though she didn’t know that much about law school or being a lawyer;
- Her nightmare first job where associates were paid at 1/4 of the typical rate and made to compete for a permanent position;
- Her experience with harassment and the ways in which the legal profession props up abusers;
- Winning an attorney of the year award and not even wanting to go to the ceremony;
- Desperately Googling for stories of people who have successfully left the law;
- How there’s no such thing as vacation when you have a billable target to meet, because you’re just “buying time” that you have to make up;
- The moment that changed everything for her and made her decide to leave the law;
- Putting tons of pressure on herself to have the thing she chose to do after leaving the law be “THE THING” she was going to do forever;
- Leaving the law and opening a health coaching business;
- Why making her hobbies her job was not a good choice for her;
- How just listening to what other women entrepreneurs were asking her led to her current business;
- The importance of doing the inner work to detangle who you are from what you do for work;
- Why leaving the law will not solve all of your problems;
- Her best piece of advice if you want to get out of the law;
- and much more!
Show Notes: