Introduction: 0:00
- Introducing Brittany Leonard, General Counsel at Civix and LinkedIn legal community influencer.
Starting your career in local government before entering law school: 2:24
- Working for the city of Orlando while pursuing a passion for business.
- Disliking law school and the feeling of alienation in a large, traditional law firm.
Finding a path to your first general counsel role: 3:54
- Deciding that any role outside of the legal field would be better than repetitive work at a major firm.
- Applying for a marketing role and eventually working with their legal team.
- Combatting the idea that in-house roles require decades of experience.
- Building well-rounded expertise in every aspect of legal.
Approaching the GC role with a business mindset: 10:03
- Viewing business teams as a partner instead of a client.
- Making your legal department approachable, trustworthy, and valuable.
Rebuilding your confidence after working under an abusive boss: 11:43
- Absorbing harmful feedback and threats as a young lawyer.
- Developing confidence and a positive mental attitude.
- Looking back on your experience and identifying abusive behaviors that you never want to enact.
- Staying close with your co-workers and uplifting each other throughout your careers.
Building a personal brand on LinkedIn: 16:34
- Turning to LinkedIn at the beginning of the pandemic after being dissatisfied with in-person networking events.
- Overcoming a fear of posting to cultivate interest, grow a network, and helping other lawyers.
Advice to lawyers who have never posted on LinkedIn before: 19:39
- Embracing temporary discomfort for permanent growth.
- Maintaining consistency to harness a sense of camaraderies and community.
- Dealing with insecurity and accepting that low engagement can come from uncontrollable factors.
Launching a consulting business on the back of your social presence: 24:54
- Realizing you can share your expertise to help others build their personal brands.
- Leveraging requests from new GCs for advice and coaching.
- Overcoming perfectionism when announcing her new endeavor.
- Leading group trainings and allowing people to realize they can grow revenue and a client base from home.
Tips for creating your own business: 28:22
- Following your gut and chasing what makes you happiest.
Book recommendations: 29:36
- The Cane Brothers series by Meghan Quinn
- Never Split The Difference by Christopher Voss and Tahl Raz
What you wish you had known as a young lawyer: 32:08
- Embracing the journey and knowing that every day brings you one step closer to where you want to be.
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