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Happy Lawyer, Happy Life: how to create an authentic personal brand

Law as stated: 24 June 2021 What is this? This episode was published and is accurate as at this date.
Clarissa Rayward aka "the Happy Family Lawyer" joins us in this episode to discuss how to create an authentic personal brand as a lawyer in a way that not only brings you success, but most importantly happiness. She shares with us insights gained from her journey finding success, balance, contentment and joy as a lawyer.
Practice Management and Business Skills Practice Management and Business Skills
Clarissa Rayward
Brisbane Family Law Centre

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1 hour = 1 CPD point
How does it work?
What area(s) of law does this episode consider?In this episode, family lawyer, blogger, podcaster, author, business owner and coach, Clarissa Rayward, joins us to discuss her success in building and communicating her ‘The Happy Family Lawyer’ brand. We also discuss burnout culture, finding your values and developing your network as well as the importance of fun in fostering a healthy and sustainable work/life balance.
Why is this topic relevant?Finding work as a lawyer is not all coffees, lunches and golf games.  A personal brand, communicated effectively through social media as well as ‘high-value’ content likes books, blogs and podcasts, can communicate your values to the market and find you new clients from outside your immediate network.  But more importantly, a personal brand that matches your values will help you find the right kind of clients – the ones you actually want to work with, and who want to work with you.
What are the main points?
  • Lawyers and law firms can cultivate a distinctive brand for themselves by identifying their strengths and values through discussions with people they interact with closely. Developing a brand that aligns with your values is a way to differentiate yourself in the market.
  • A network of many weak connections is more valuable than a few strong ones, so remember that time spent on business development will increase your reach and can help you to attract and keep clients.
  • Once you have discovered the differentiating factor for your own brand, develop a business strategy around it to consider the various options available to communicate it to the market. For example, assess how relevant a social media presence may be to your target audience or high value content such as books, blogs or podcasts.
  • As with all things in life, balance is key. Depriving yourself of adequate sleep for example has the same effect on your brain as being drunk. In order to avoid burnout, it’s important to prioritise rest, food, sleep and time for other non-work-related activities to satisfy your emotional and physical needs as a human.
  • Creativity fosters happiness and happiness fosters creativity. This positive feedback loop is created when you, or your workplace encourages you to, approach work with a sense of innovation and enthusiasm. Encouraging failure in the workplace under the ‘failing fast’ model is one way to ensure that lawyers have a creative outlet with regards to their work.
What are the practical takeaways?
  • Find out what your values are and what is important to you in life. Happiness in the law means approaching your work in a way that is consistent with your own personal values.
  • Being a lawyer doesn’t mean you have to work long hours, sacrifice an active social life and always be serious. Lawyers should strive for a healthy work/life balance, instead of pursuing endless growth, and feel comfortable expressing their personality and creativity. This ties into inciting a wider discussion in the legal industry around mental health and wellbeing.
Show notes

 

Paula Davis’ 2021 article in Forbes ‘Why you can’t yoga your way out of burnout’

The Happy Family Lawyer website

Happy Lawyer Happy Life website