# 158 - Changing Careers And Challenging The Status Quo With Legal Edge

01/01/22 • 30 min

In today’s episode I talk with two awesome guests - Donna Sewell and Helen Goldberg. They both share their journeys, what led them to leave the traditional legal route and start the business which is called LegalEdge. They share what they are doing now to facilitate flexible working and opportunities for lawyers to work in a way that's different, and impactful.
What you will learn:

It takes time to create the ideal business model
There's no such thing as failure - you either win or you learn
Making sure your team is happy will lead to faster growth as a company

Donna shares, they set up LegalEdge to help businesses who needed an in-house lawyer on a flexible basis and didn’t want to hire. Donna was working In-house for a number of tech companies over several years. During that period of time began to think about a business model to facilitate flexible working and opportunities for lawyers.
After being terminated during maternity leave, Helen was keen to do something different so joined Donna to help her grow the business.
I asked Donna and Helen "how challenging was it to develop a model that wasn't the traditional law firm model that everybody was following?"
Donna highlights "it was quite challenging as it took some time to think through the model and how it would work and to not be just doing things the same way as every law firm was doing at the time. It got easier as time passed on and it feels like less of an uphill battle in terms of the education process."
LegalEdge was a fully functioning remote company that championed flexible working way before Covid and is continuing to lead the way with their people first culture.
Donna says they have been committed to finding different ways of doing things and making people aware that if they're not happy, they can do something about...13 years later and they are still making an impact and enjoying it.
Other episodes you may enjoy:
Episode 152: How To Make A Career Change Without Changing Income
Episode 144: How To Land Your Ideal Role Quickly
THIS EPISODE IS BOUGHT TO YOU BY THE CAREER CHANGE MAKER PROGRAM
This episode was brought to you by my signature program, the Career Change Maker Program.
If you are looking for support with changing career direction, book a suitability call >> Career Clarity Call.

Send us a text

It takes time to create the ideal business model
There's no such thing as failure - you either win or you learn
Making sure your team is happy will lead to faster growth as a company

Send us a text

Previous Episode

# 157 - Wanting More For Your Career Is Not A Bad Thing

In this episode I discuss why wanting more for your career is not a bad thing.
I also share the story of a client I spoke to recently who was experiencing self-doubt and guilt about going for a role in a different department at the same company.
Perhaps you worry about what other people might think about your career choices. Whether it’s a boss, colleague, a friend or family member, other people’s opinions can easily impact the decisions we make and inadvertently cause us to choose a different path.
When you are thinking about your career, I want you to remember it’s a two way thing. You are there for a reason, that’s why they hired you. What’s your reason for applying/ working there?
This is often why your professional development plan comes up at interview stage. If you are ambitious it’s not likely that you will stay in that role forever. Rather than being sad or thinking bad of you, a good line manager will support you in your decision to move department.
If your company knows that you’re brilliant and you can add value, they would much prefer an internal move, rather than a move to another organisation. It’s likely that they will respect the fact that you are making efforts to better your personal and professional development.
So, what makes sense for you in terms of your next role?
The time you spend at work is a lot of time. So if you spot an opportunity, you need to check in and make sure you aren’t making assumptions about the reaction you will receive.
I want to encourage you to focus less on what other people think about a decision and focus more on whether this is the right decision to be making for you.
What you will learn:

How to recognise the self-imposed barriers of career change
Why investing the time and energy into making a move is worth it
How to put your career goals front and centre, despite what other people think

Other episodes you may enjoy:
Episode 156: The Real Cost Of Settling In Your Career
Episode 139: Stop Counting Yourself Out Of Opportunities
THIS EPISODE IS BOUGHT TO YOU BY THE CAREER CHANGE MAKER PROGRAM
This episode was brought to you by my signature program, the Career Change Maker Program.
If you are looking for support with changing career direction, book a suitability call >> Career Clarity Call.

Send us a text

Next Episode

#159 - How To Position Yourself For Better Career Opportunities in 2022

In today’s episode I discuss how to position yourself for better career opportunities in 2022. This is a time of the year when everybody is talking about New Year's resolutions and forming new habits.
I also share how you can be approaching things differently when it comes to your career and career development.
Episode Highlights:

· 01:40 – I share that I want to talk about how you can do things differently in a sustainable way.
· 04:30 - The reason why so many people fail when it comes to setting new year resolutions.
· 07:30 – I want you to be thinking like an athlete as you approach your career this year.
· 09:40 – I suggest that you as an individual get to be the CEO of your career and need to do things on a day-to-day basis.
· 10:40 - The second thing that you need to be doing this year, so you can position yourself correctly is be strategic.
· 12:25 - If you're looking for strategy, and you're not sure exactly what you need to be doing, it’s possible for you to get support with that.
· 13:00 - The last thing you need to ask yourself is: do I have the resources that I need to meet the goal?
· 15:10 – You need to identify what resource gap is there, and what you need to be paying attention to so that you’re able to step up to what it is that you want to do.
· 16:15 - If you're surrounded by people who are of a similar mindset, and who want the same things that you want, it's so much easier for you to just be moving, be amongst people where there is momentum, and there is movement.
· 17:30 – I share how I’m planning to bring the community over to LinkedIn. This is going to be a think tank of different professionals who are looking at changing, advancing, and developing in their careers.
· 18:35 – I reiterate that to be successful, have your plan, be strategic, and arrange the essential resources; focussing on these three things is going to help you to get to where you want to go this year.
What you will learn:
1. Research has shown that only 8% of people who set New Year’s resolutions will follow through and be successful on those - They have great intentions at the start but by February or March, it goes a bit left, and then they don't follow through. So there are three things that I talk about, that you should be focused on throughout the year when it comes to your career development.
2. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail - Because if you don't have a plan, you cannot make it to reality. So having a plan, taking the time to map out, and putting the plan in place so that you can be successful is important.
3. A bonus thing you can do - Surround yourself with people who are doing what it is you want to do, or who are on the journey. Getting into a community is super important as that is going to accelerate your results.
‘Career Change Maker’ podcast host, Janine Esbrand, is a Career Strategist, an Executive Coach and the Creator of Career Change Making Method.
THIS EPISODE IS BOUGHT TO YOU BY THE CAREER CHANGE MAKER PROGRAM
This episode was brought to you by my signature program, the Career Change Maker Program.
If you are looking for support with changing career direction, book a suitability call >> Career Clarity Call<