From Courtrooms to Vineyards: The Power of Uncomfortable Pivots
Sarah’s dad tried to talk her out of being a lawyer.
As a lawyer himself, he tried again and again to persuade her not to go to law school. But the more persistent he was, the more determined she was to go.
Sarah loved being a lawyer, until she found herself working on a case where both sides of the aisle were not the best people. She was disheartened by the lack of integrity she saw. The way everything went down during the case made her re-examine how she was spending her time, professionally.
She ended up quitting her job as a litigator to become an entrepreneur.
She went from running 100 miles an hour as a lawyer to running 100 miles an hour in a different direction.
In hindsight, she would probably do things differently. In fact, a few years after Sarah started her business, she met with a lawyer from a big firm who also wanted to leave and become an entrepreneur.
“After this meeting, I’m going to put in my resignation,” her friend told her over coffee. Sarah started asking her about her business plan and how she was going to start generating revenue.
After the meeting, she decided not to resign right then. Instead, she started building gradually, and now her business has taken off and won a bunch of awards. She eventually stepped down from the law, but did it in a really measured way.
I asked Sarah to share some of her top lessons as a litigator-turned-CEO:
1. Ask a lot of questions.
The fastest way to learn something is to ask, whether it’s a friend, peer, or someone else who’s already successful.
Take stock of what you know and what you don’t know. It’s neither good or bad. It is what it is. Get help and create opportunities for others to be part of the journey winning alongside you. Bringing in people to fill the gaps so that you can all win together, cuz there is so much you don’t know.
People want to help. Sarah sees that every day. They are willing to spend an inordinate amount of time helping other people.
If you want to inspire people to help, cast vision for what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and why their help is adding value. Make them feel like what they do matters and they’re important.
2. Don’t let quitting be an option.
The way Sarah approaches marriage is that divorce is not an option. It’s the same with her business. There’s no quitting. If you approach something like that, then everything after that is: “All right. What’s next?”
How do you get through hard stuff when there’s no other option? You just do. If giving up is not an option, then you just make it happen.
3. Believe in yourself.
The theme Sarah’s seen in the Olympics this year is that anything is possible.
A venture capitalist employee who wasn’t cycling three years ago just won two gold medals. In the men’s 1500 race, two athletes from the US were counted out, and then ended up on the podium.
Anything is possible if you believe in yourself and work hard. It sounds simple, but it’s hard to do.
Belief in yourself is a mindset you have to build. There’s no secret sauce other than making commitments to yourself and following through on those commitments every day.
When you make small commitments to yourself, then follow through, you continue to reinforce your belief in yourself.
For Sarah, those ar things like:
Answering the phone every time one of her kids calls
Working out at least 5 days a week
Going outside and walking for at least 20 minutes
Learning something new every week
Sarah has truly been an inspiration to me. She was the first former lawyer I’d ever seen take a different dream and decide to go after it.
I remember meeting her and thinking, “Why can’t I take a chance on myself and see what would happen if I did something differently?”
She introduced me to a social selling opportunity that completely transformed my career. It gave me a chance to join a community of women doing things differently and build a skillset outside the law.
To listen to our full conversation, hit the link below:
Where to Find Sarah’s Company, Scout and Cellar Wine:
Website: scoutandcellar.com
