Latest / Wealthy Woman Lawyer Podcast, Helping you create a profitable, sustainable law firm you love / 224: A Season of Change

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224: A Season of Change · Wealthy Woman Lawyer Podcast, Helping you create a profitable, sustainable law firm you love

• 0:00
  Davina: Think we often forget to look back at all we've already accomplished and reflect on the impact of those decisions on our lives. Even when things didn't go the way that we planned, there's often a really positive outcome in moving us forward. There's power in taking inspired action as even when you're scared, especially when you're scared, especially when your goal is so big that it scares you.
• 0:27
  Intro: Welcome to the Wealthy Woman Lawyer Podcast. What if you could hang out with successful women lawyers, ask them about growing their firms, managing resources like time, team, and systems, mastering money issues, and more? Then take an insight or two to help you build a wealth generating law firm. Each week, your host, Devina Frederick, takes an in-depth look at how to think like a CEO, attract clients who you love to serve and will pay you on time, and create a profitable, sustainable firm you love. Devina is founder and CEO of Wealthy Woman Lawyer, and her goal is to give you the information you need to scale your law firm business from 6 to 7 figures in gross annual revenue so you can fully fund and still have time to enjoy the lifestyle of your dreams.
• 1:13
  Now here's Devina.
• 1:18
  Davina: Hi, this is Devina. And before we jump into today's show, I'd like first to introduce you to some of our sponsors. When prospective clients are looking for an attorney, they usually turn to Google first. Optimize My Firm helps law firms grow their practices and attract more right fit clients through on page and back end search engine optimization. Optimize My Firm can help your firm rank higher on Google so that clients can find you before they find your competition.
• 1:49
  They serve personal injury, family law, workers' comp, immigration, and other types of law firms. Optimize My Firm does seo the right way, delivering meaningful results with geographic exclusivity and no contracts. Contact them today at optimizemyfirm.com or click the link in the show notes. Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the Wealthy Woman Lawyer Podcast. I'm your host, Devina Frederick, and this episode is being published worldwide on Thanksgiving Day in The United States.
• 2:21
  However, instead of my typical Thanksgiving message where I share all that I'm grateful for, and there are so many, many things, I thought I delve into a different topic today. And here's your warning. This episode is a little bit different for me. I'm used to teaching and sharing, but today's content is more personal. My hope is that you'll find it inspiring and maybe that will open up some own thoughts about your own life and your own desires and sort of those big audacious goals and making those come true.
• 2:52
  So after a lifetime of living in Florida, I was born and raised here, one of those rare native Floridians. And thirty seven years of living in Central Florida in December, next week after Thanksgiving, in fact, I will be moving to a new home in Colorado, just North of Boulder. So as you can imagine, this is a big deal. And it's made even bigger because I'm moving with my husband who's also a native Floridian and our English bulldog puppy who doesn't necessarily travel well, and my mother-in-law who is uprooting herself from a place she's called home for at least six decades. So next week, we will load up the movers and then we're gonna start our three day, ten hour a day journey driving about 2,000 miles across five states to meet the movers.
• 3:42
  Some people think that we are nuts. And quite frankly, during the process of organizing this move, we thought that too sometimes. Of course, for many people in our lives, this feels like a very sudden change. We went on vacation and then we came back and we announced we were selling our place here in Florida and moving halfway across the country. What they didn't see and what you didn't hear about is that we've been considering this move for several years.
• 4:07
  We made multiple trips to different areas of Colorado. We visited other states, all with moving someplace else in mind. In fact, we've spent years debating among ourselves all of the pros and cons of moving. For some reason though, our conversations over the last several months have felt quite different. It finally felt like the time was right for us.
• 4:30
  Even though some of the circumstances we've been worried about have not changed, circumstances like the needs of other family members. My parents are in their mid eighties and they're getting a bit frail and they live in Florida as do my sisters and my nephews. If something happens and they need me, I'm no longer able just to hop in the car and be there in a few hours. Now it's gonna take me at least a day to travel to get there. That hasn't changed.
• 4:56
  The needs of my husband and his mother, also their whole family's here. His mother will be leaving behind her brothers and her friends, in a few cases, lifelong friends to move across the country with us, and that hasn't changed. The needs of our bulldog, we'll be moving our sweet Princess Aurora with us. She's an English bulldog, so she cannot fly because of her breed. We refuse to put her in cargo because she's our child, and also it's likely that it would kill her if we did so.
• 5:26
  And no airline will sell us a first class ticket to have her in a seat. So this means we're gonna be driving for three days and that's gonna be our only option. And that circumstance hasn't changed. Also selling our house, we've had a number of friends tell us that it's not the best time to sell because there aren't enough interested buyers out there with the interest rates what they are. So these kinds of circumstances are still the same.
• 5:52
  And yet, despite all of that, we have chosen to move ahead. I could go on with this list of cons, both in our own heads and cons so many worried people who love us have shared with us. While none of those circumstances have changed, one thing has changed though. We are in a different season in our lives. One that feels more urgent, like time is no longer on our side.
• 6:17
  For example, although I'm worried about how my parents are aging, I'm also concerned about how I'm aging. In particular, both my husband and I want to embrace a more active outdoor driven lifestyle, one where we can just step out of our door on a day to day basis, go hiking, go mountain biking, go snowboarding, go skiing, all of these sort of outdoor activities. And to those of you who live in Northern States and you have a particular vision of Florida, that may sound kind of odd coming from a Floridian. Don't people move to Florida because it's the Sunshine State? Don't all Floridians spend all their time outdoors playing golf, boating, skiing, biking?
• 6:55
  Well, certainly some do, but it's really not our jam. We don't love the heat and the humidity. So every time we take a vacation, we head to the mountains for cooler temperatures. Also, it's pretty flat here where we live, and it's getting harder and harder to get out in nature as developers around here keep building apartments and plan developments where we live. They have wiped out the bear habitat across from us, and they literally are paving paradise all around us and putting out parking lots.
• 7:23
  So for us, it is just time for a change. The main thing though, is that it's our choice. It doesn't really matter what the reasons are, it's our decision, it's our opportunity to do what we want to be able to do while we are still able to do so. And if not now, when? When we are 65, 70, 80, we're not getting any younger, any fitter, any healthier.
• 7:47
  And while we can't control the younger part, we can't control the fitter and healthier part. We can offer a better quality of lifestyle, one that suits our desires, our needs, and our interests at this particular time and space in our lives. One of the many, many lessons I've learned after almost two decades as an entrepreneur and almost six decades on this planet is that there are seasons for everything, both in life and in business. Sometimes it's our season for planting, other times it's our season for harvest. Fallout seasons are as critical to our lives and businesses as full seasons.
• 8:23
  To me, this change feels like we're entering into a new season in our lives. It's not exactly about retirement or slowing down because we're really not doing that as much as it is about being intentional about what we're choosing. And maybe that's more work life balance, but at a minimum, it's about prioritizing feeling good and feeling healthier and enjoying life and creating businesses that support more of that in a stronger way. It's also about feeling confident in choosing what makes us happy without worrying about the opinions or agreement of others. We've reached a point in our lives, which, you know, we probably should have reached a long time ago where we really don't concern ourselves with other people's opinions about what we're doing.
• 9:09
  Of course, we want people to love us, to agree with us, but they don't always. And personally, I'm feeling the desire to really strip away the superfluous, to let go of what no longer fulfills me and to focus 100% on what I value the most. That doesn't mean I don't expect there will be challenges. In truth, I'm not sure what to expect. Transformation can and often is a very messy process.
• 9:34
  We've already experienced some discomfort as we've had to make some really difficult decisions and have some hard conversations. And no doubt there's more of that ahead as we make these adjustments. But I also anticipate that there will be many wonderful aspects that will come about as a result of our allowing this change of being willing to sort of step out into this unknown scary place. There's something about this decision in my personal life that's causing me to want to make shifts in my business as well. And it feels like some things and some people will not be traveling with me on this new journey.
• 10:08
  And there will be others who will continue to be with me every step of the way, perhaps even growing closer to me. And then there are those people that I'm gonna meet who are waiting there in the future in a different place, in a different time. And I'm so excited about that. And while the day to day functioning of my business will not be affected by this move because we're fully remote and reportable, Because I'm changing, I'm also opening myself up to leveling up my business and transforming my business in this process. And I'm super excited about that shift as well.
• 10:41
  Am I scared? Am I worried? Am I anxious? Yes, you betcha, it's all of that. But I'm also really excited and I'm curious and I'm open.
• 10:53
  This big transformation has got me thinking a lot about fears I've faced in the past and overcome really scary steps I've taken. Fears like moving away from home for the first time when I was in my 20s, getting my BA while I was working two jobs to support myself and pay for school, getting, working and quitting or being fired from several professional jobs in my fifteen years as a marketer, getting married, getting divorced, getting remarried, taking LSAT, going to law school, taking the bar, starting my own firm, hiring and managing employees, starting a new business while running my law firm, investing in coaching, not once, but multiple times, high ticket coaches, marketing, investing in marketing software and other growth initiatives, selling my law firm to my partner, starting another firm and then closing that down to pursue other goals, starting another business entirely and operating it for ten years, and now recently considering buying a new business. At this time, each of these life events made me feel so scared. I was worried about whether I was making the right decision, but I also always felt excited about the possibilities. Yes, even when I got fired from job hubs, I was excited about the possibilities.
• 12:14
  On some level, I was excited about the change of what was coming for me. And I'm sure you can relate because no doubt you've had many of these types of experiences yourself. I think we often forget to look back at all we've already accomplished and reflect on the impact of those decisions on our lives. Even when things didn't go the way that we planned, there's often a really positive outcome in moving us forward. There's power in taking inspired action even when you're scared, especially when you're scared, especially when your goal is so big that it scares you.
• 12:51
  I hope you've enjoyed today's episode. I really appreciate all the support from my family, my friends and my wonderful clients and community as we make this transition. And I wanna thank you for listening. As always, if you like the content we're sharing on the Wealthy Woman Lawyer Podcast, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast so we can continue to rank as the number one podcast for women in law in The United States. I'll be back next week with some juicy topics to help you end 2024 in the best possible way.
• 13:20
  So I'll see you then.
• 13:23
  Intro: If you're ready to create more of what you truly desire in your business and your life, then you'll want to visit us at wealthywomanlawyer.com to learn more about how we help our clients create wealth generating law firms with ease.