Businesswoman

When joining big law, I didn’t envision myself as a businesswoman.

I didn’t think about the business of law.

I didn’t think about collections, being a service provider, or how my salary was tied to bills being paid.

That shifted.

Slowly at first.

And then bam. I took on the mentality. I fully embraced it.

This was spurred, in 2019-2020, by considering opening my own shop and reading all the books about that—and I’m still reading them now, as a big law partner.

I have enjoyed this shift immensely. I’m learning so much, still, and have so much to learn. But I like it.

I like feeling like I run a business. Like I own a business. Like I have a business.

Because: even in a giant firm, I do.

And it’s no secret: I love the big law machine. It makes me life easier in many ways. But, even in big law, we must own our work and think like a businesswoman.

The “entrepreneurial mindset” is sometimes a trite and overused phrase.

And yet: I find I thrive when I put it on, when I wear it, when I treat my office within a sea of nearly 1,100 attorneys as a solo shop, as the Law Office of Emily Logan Stedman.

I am a businesswoman. ♥️🔥✌🏻