From NASA to HR Tech: Evan Ferl, Chief Strategy Officer & GC, Bambee

Introduction: 00:00 

• Introducing Evan Ferl, Chief Strategy Officer and GC, Bambee

Finding your passion for working in legal: 02:14

• Jumping from interest to interest in undergrad in order to learn what you really like to do.
• Taking a legal writing class and finding a passion for formulating arguments.
• Finding a path to law school based on understanding your interests.

Starting his career at NASA with a cold email: 06:23

• Looking for work you’re passionate about when you live somewhere with limited options.
• Taking a chance and reaching out to GCs at organizations you’ve always loved.
• Learning how to use legal as a means to positively influence an organization.

Exploring work at big and small companies: 11:10

• Disregarding the boxes people want you to put yourself in and finding the right attitude.
• Looking beyond titles and allowing what excites you most to guide your career choices. 

Expanding beyond legal: 14:06

• Seeing legal as a way to get as close to the core business as quickly as possible.
• Building your resumé by taking on tasks that your organization’s GC doesn’t want to do.
• Improving yourself until you feel confident enough to expand beyond the traditional GC role.

Approaching strategy and corporate development from a legal perspective at Poshmark: 19:05

• Engaging in constructive conversation with the CEO and CFO about the state of the business. 
• Being transparent about the direction you want to take your career and leaning in.
• Using the GC role to inject positivity into your organization.

Finding ways to activate creativity: 23:48

• Overcoming the fear of embarrassment as you try new things.
• Observing how the boldest people in your organization speak up.
• Becoming comfortable with outspokenness. 

Transitioning into a strategy role at Bambee: 26:12

• Casting off the “attorney” label to focus on a new path.
• Opening up about his goal to become a CEO one day.

Identifying the inflection point to begin a new venture: 28:39

• Capitalizing on excitement and executing ideas the moment you have them.
• Refusing to defer action for the future.

Launching the Neatworking newsletter: 32:23

• Creating a project that allows you to connect with people and rebuild relationships.
• Going deeper with people and getting to know them beyond roles and titles.
• Creating a product that helps others grow as much as it helps you.

Improving your writing and creativity: 37:23

• Getting started and figuring out how to capture your own voice.
• Being unafraid to make mistakes and owning the mistakes that you make.
• Knowing that the point of creativity is “doing”.

Advice for younger lawyers: 40:34

• Ignoring titles and finding what you love to do.
• Finding the power in owning your own mistakes and not taking your job too seriously.