Maximum Mom

This week on Maximum Mom, your host Elise Buie joined Stacey Freeman.

Stacey is a New York City-based writer and journalist and the founder of Write On Track LLC, a full-service consultancy dedicated to providing high-quality content and strategy to individuals and businesses.

She has written extensively on lifestyle topics including career reinvention, health and wellness, personal finance, divorce, and parenting. Her work has been published or syndicated in The Washington Post, The Lily (published by The Washington Post), Forbes, Entrepreneur, MarketWatch, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Woman’s Day, Town & Country, InStyle, PBS' Next Avenue, AARP, SheKnows, Yahoo!, MSN, HuffPost, Popsugar, Your Teen, Grown & Flown, Scary Mommy, CafeMom, MariaShriver.com, and dozens of other well-known platforms worldwide. And is frequently called on for her expertise and insights and have been quoted in media brands such as The New York Times, The Seattle Times, HuffPost, and SheKnows.

A storyteller at heart, Stacey also writes engaging personal essays and reported pieces on her clients' behalf for submission to well-known magazines and newspapers boasting a global readership. With Stacey’s guidance, industry experience, and proven track record, her clients have seen their bylines, backlinks, and quotes appear in highly recognizable names that include Forbes, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, MarketWatch, The New York Daily News, American Bar Association, Above the Law, Yahoo, MSN, PBS' Next Avenue, HuffPost, ParentMap, Marin Magazine, Marin Living, Better, Your Teen, Scary Mommy, and Mantra Wellness.

Her book, a memoir-in-essays, is scheduled for release in November 2022 from Unsolicited Press. Waking up every day to do what she love allows her to bring that same energy to her clients as she advises them on building their businesses and personal blogs to boost website traffic.

She helps her clients grow their presence and increase brand recognition by creating valuable SEO-rich website content, compelling profiles and bios, winning ad copy, and eye-catching press releases. Over the years, and as a direct result of her legal education, life experience, and voice in the divorce community, Stacey developed a subspeciality working with family and divorce and estate planning lawyers. By capturing each law firm's unique tone using education, example, and story, Stacey connects potential new clients with the legal professionals best-suited by skill and personality to represent them.

9:35 a book about betrayal

11:08 the blog: an online resume

13:55 a book deal

16:17 figuring out your tolerance level

29:38 keeping a connection

31:52 tips for co-parents

Listen to the podcast here.

Watch the interview here.

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This week on Maximum Mom, your host Elise Buie joined Jeena Belil.

Jeena is one of the first female owned personal injury law firms on Long Island, which started back in 2007 as a virtual office, while other firms looked at her sideways. She thinks of being a solo attorney not as a job, but as a lifestyle. She was able to create a successful practice on a shoestring with a smart business plan. She was able to stay home and make sure her daughter actually saw her mom for more than an hour or two a day.

Jeena’s areas of practice include Plaintiff's Personal Injury, New York No-Fault and Uninsured Motorist Law, subrogation, medical and auto insurance coverage disputes. She is admitted to the New York State Bar. She received a B.A. degree from Rowan University and J.D. degree from Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center.

Jeena is formerly associated with AutoOne Insurance as Managing Counsel and Travelers Insurance as First Party New York Regional Coordinator. In those positions, Ms. Belil was responsible for the management and organization of the New York No-Fault case handling structure that serves as the template for the defense of first-party claims. In addition, Ms. Belil has been instrumental in the management and preparation of many cases that have established the benchmark for defending arbitrations and suits and investigating and prosecuting No-Fault fraud.

She has presented seminars and round table conferences on diverse topics such as First Party Examinations Under Oath, Using Evidence at Uninsured Motorist Framed Issue Hearings and Arbitration, and Insurance Fraud. Ms. Belil has also represented the interests of Plaintiff clients in Personal Injury litigation from inception through trial.

Since 2007, Jeena has used her prior insurance defense experience in representing New York State Healthcare Providers and the patients they treat in the areas of personal injury, no-fault, and worker's compensation collections.

4:24 you’re not going to have a brick-and-mortar practice

7:05 the younger generations don’t need to be face-to-face

12:33 go where you’re needed

16:32 I consider myself lucky

20:52 people will be happier where they work

24:39 you may not remember exactly what happens

29:01 this accident gave me a perspective

34:58 times have just changed dramatically

38:24 shut it all down

Watch the interview here.

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This week on Maximum Mom, your host Elise Buie joined Pamela Grady.

Grateful for the opportunity to serve the people and businesses of Madison Parish, Louisiana, and Warren County, Mississippi, Pamela co-founded Crews Grady PLLC in 2013 with the desire to empower her clients and her community. She utilizes her love of communication, technology, research, and planning to create successful outcomes for her clients and economic prosperity for her community.

She has a heart for public service and economic development and uses her relationships with her colleagues on the Bench and in the Bar in service of those causes. Committed to access to justice and to educating her clients, she is constantly searching for ways to utilize technology to reach those in need.

Pamela brings her background in agriculture and experience as an environmental and floodplain manager for the Department of Homeland Security to her real estate practice and is a licensed title insurance agent in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi. With offices ideally located in Madison Parish, Louisiana, and Warren County, Mississippi, her real estate practice often involves the purchase and sale of large agricultural and recreational tracts situated in both the states of Mississippi and Louisiana on the Mississippi River.

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In addition to maintaining a real estate practice, Pamela has prosecuted and defended civil and criminal cases in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia in State Courts, Federal Courts, and before the American Arbitration Association.

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Pamela and her husband, James "Bud" Grady, live in Madison Parish, Louisiana, where they are raising their two children, Wyatt and Genevieve.

4:33 federal judge in Texas

7:55 It’s been a real shift

12:34 you’re conducting yourself a certain way

16:19 you’ve got to be upfront with people

20:40 she’s a great partner

24:30 who is this person

29:05 you can take another step

34:17 yes ma’am

38:00 that was a fun game

Watch the interview here.

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This week on Maximum Mom, your host Elise Buie joined Meg Garavaglia.

Starting and growing Woven Legal has been both rewarding and challenging. Yet, it still pales compared to Meg’s most important work helping her son, Matt, who is now 23, arrive at a life of independence, pride in his accomplishments, and a network of support from his close friends and trusted professionals.

She recognized from Matt's extreme hyperactivity as a toddler that he was different. Still, she wasn’t prepared for the difficulties which lay ahead when in 3rd grade, he was diagnosed with ADHD and a Non-Verbal Learning Disorder. Additionally, Meg was told that he was "on the Asperger's side of the spectrum." These differences would profoundly affect his academic and social success over the next nine years, not to mention his self-esteem.

It, of course, also took a toll on her family, particularly her marriage - but she had amazing mentors who told her, "Don't quit before the miracle..." and she persevered. Looking back, Meg can clearly see the gifts she received from being Matt's mom. She is more patient (most moms are!), more FUN (not taking herself so seriously), and more accepting of others. And, perhaps most importantly, through serving as Matt's advocate, she was led to become absolutely unwilling to accept a FINAL answer as the FINAL answer when there's clearly a better way.

Meg believes Woven Legal may be the byproduct of that lesson. The legal industry has been a pressure cooker for years. The broken families and mental health issues that lay in its wake are no secret. There is a better, more balanced way for attorneys to work with top talent, and that's what Woven Legal does. They place high-caliber virtual legal professionals to support busy attorneys so they can focus on growing and leading their firms.

3:25 the science of making paper

7:27 no jerk policy

12:29 practice area alignment

16:52 such rockstars

20:50 learning lunchbox

24:38 all bets were off

29:07 personality plus

34:16 and everything in between

Watch the interview here.

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This week on Maximum Mom, your host Elise Buie is joined by Flora Garcia-Sepulveda.

Flora Garcia-Sepulveda, a founding partner of Woodman & Garcia-Sepulveda and a Certified Family Law Specialist, is an experienced trial lawyer who practices family law exclusively, focusing on diverse financial issues including business valuation, property division and child and spousal support. Flora is fluent in Spanish. Flora also represents clients in difficult custody disputes and move-away cases.

Before she opened her practice, she worked at Bay Area Legal Aid a non-profit Agency representing victims of domestic violence in their restraining orders, divorce and immigration matters. Flora began to practice family law exclusively in 2005, and has focused in this area of law since that time. Flora previous work at the San Mateo Court and her domestic violence litigation background results in the smooth management of her family law cases as they progress to trial. Her attention to detail and knowledge of the intricacies of family law procedure enable her to strategically plan her cases and prepare for settlement or trial in a way that ensures that clients are receiving the best and most comprehensive representation available.

Since 2012 Flora expanded her practice to include probate matters such as wills, trusts, guardianships, conservatorships and step-parent adoptions.

05:34 The importance of education in building resilience

07:53 Teaching her daughters to be self-sufficient

11:00 Discussion on the need to educate people about the long-term ramifications of staying at home

19:08 The value of teaching children self-sufficiency and the importance of not doing everything for them

30:58 The need to let go of bitterness and victim mentality

34:14 The importance of educating and empowering women

37:30 The benefits of remote work and flexibility, particularly for working mothers, and how it can lead to increased productivity and work-life balance

Connect with Flora Garcia-Sepulveda:

• Website
• Avvo
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Facebook

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