Episode #144 When there are no role models who look like you

I can’t be who I can’t see. I hear this from Black lawyers all the time, and it makes complete sense. When you look up the ladder and there’s no one who looks like you, no one you can relate to, it’s hard to picture yourself there. But the belief that you need someone like […]

Episode #143 When your best isn’t good enough

You’re working twice as hard. So why does someone else get the invitation to the client event? You prepare more thoroughly than anyone on the team. You stay later, check the draft one more time, and deliver work you’re proud of. And still, the invitation goes to someone else. The high-profile matter lands on another […]

Episode #142 The Power of Awareness

You don’t need anything groundbreaking to get unstuck. What you need is Awareness. Most people underestimate it. Writing it off as too simple and too obvious. But awareness is one of the most powerful tools you’ll ever use — because it’s the only thing that turns a problem you can’t see into a problem you […]

Episode #141 Double your confidence (in 30 days or less)

I want to talk about doubling your confidence in 30 days. Can I actually prove that number? No. But what I’m about to share has worked for me, and it’s worked for client after client inside Be The First — so I’m confident it’ll work for you. Do you find yourself preparing twice as much […]

Episode #139 The Right Time for Business Development

You’ve been telling yourself it’s too soon. Or too late. Junior enough that BD can wait. Senior enough that you’ve already missed the boat. Neither is true. Ask most lawyers when the right time to start BD is, and you’ll get one of three answers. Not yet — I’m too junior, nobody wants to hear […]

Episode #138 Know your numbers

There’s the work you do. Then there’s the number attached to it. Alot of senior Black lawyers can tell you, in detail, how good their work is. Ask them their utilisation rate, their WIP, their BD conversion rate — and the fluency disappears. It shows up in small ways first. You’re behind on your time […]

Episode #137 Activity Isn’t Revenue

You’ve done the panels. The podcast guest spots. The thought leadership posts that get hundreds of likes. The coffee catch-ups with every contact who’ll give you fifteen minutes. By every measure that matters in a networking sense, you are doing it right. So why hasn’t a single one of those relationships turned into a matter, […]

Episode #136 Setting boundaries

There is a word that high-performing Black lawyers consistently struggle to say. A word that, when they learn to use it, transforms their careers, their health, and the way people treat them at work. That word is no. I know. You already know this. You’ve heard it before. So here’s the real question: why aren’t […]

Episode #135 Assuming Failure

When you’ve been trying to build your book of business, or get better work allocation, or achieve any other result in your career and there’s no proof it’s working, what do you do? Do you persevere? Do you invest more time and effort? Or do you assume failure, give up or change tack? This week […]

Episode #134 Stop Procrastinating

Everyone procrastinates a little. But when it’s a common feature of how you work, it’s time to do something about it. Tasks on your to do list growing mouldy and old. Missed deadlines. Being repeatedly chased for tasks you said you would do. Neglected to-dos preying on your mind in the early hours of the […]