Latest / Go Big with Gib Podcast / Ep. 139 Rock Bottom To Law Firm

Transcript

Ep. 139 Rock Bottom To Law Firm · Go Big with Gib Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Go Big With Gibb podcast, where we talk to professionals, business owners, and entrepreneurs about their big wins.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: In December of 2005, I graduated from law school.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: I took the North Carolina bar exam and passed it on my first try.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I landed a job at a prominent real estate law firm here in Greenville.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: In March of 2006, I got my law license.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: I was finally a lawyer.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Everything was going exactly according to plan.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Six months later, I was in rehab.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm an alcoholic, and in September of 2006, I checked into an inpatient treatment facility for 30 days.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: At that point, my legal career had barely started, and it already looked like it might be over.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: I came out of treatment and stayed sober for about eight months.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Then in June of 2007, I flew to California to visit with some of my buddies from Pepperdine.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: The first night I drank a few beers, and after that, I got completely wasted for pretty much every night for the rest of the trip.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: At one point, I actually thought about staying in California and never coming back.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: But I came home and when I did, my alcoholism got worse.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: A lot worse.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Then came July 7th, 2007.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: I was arrested for DWI.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Shortly after that, I was fired from my job.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now think about where I was: a brand new lawyer with a very public alcohol problem.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: A DWI and no job.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember wondering who in the world is going to hire me now.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: But something happened that I never could have predicted.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: What looked like the end of my legal career became the beginning of something much bigger.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: I stopped drinking and haven't had a drink since.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Then on August 15th of 2007, just a month after my DWI, my father Ben and I opened Irons and Irons.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: We were 50-50 partners, and the understanding was that I was going to run the business.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Less than two years out of law school, five months after getting my law license, I was in rehab.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Less than a year later, I had relapsed, gotten arrested, and lost my job.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: And a little more than a month after that, I was running a law firm.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: I certainly wouldn't have drawn it up that way.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: But almost 20 years later, I can look back and see something I couldn't see then.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the thing that feels like it's destroying your life is actually forcing your life in a different direction.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Getting fired felt devastating.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: But if I hadn't gotten fired, maybe I never would have started my own firm.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I would have stayed comfortable.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I would have spent my career working for somebody else.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: But what I do know is this your worst moment doesn't have to define the rest of your story.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it becomes the dividing line, the person you were before and the person you decide to become later.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: July 2007 looked like rock bottom.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: August 2007 was the beginning of Irons and Irons.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Those two events were separated by just a few weeks.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're going through something right now and it feels like everything is falling apart, you may not be able to see what comes next.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: I certainly couldn't.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the next chapter starts when the chapter you thought you were writing gets ripped up.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Gibb Irons, and I want you to remember to go big.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to this episode of Go Big with Gib.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: If you haven't already, go follow us on social media at Gib Irons.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next time.