We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jodie Shihadeh a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jodie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

There are plenty of people who can become successful over night, but true, lasting, enduring success starts with a mentality. It requires a deep rewiring of any limiting beliefs or false narratives that you tell yourself everyday and which might be holding you back from assuming an energy of greatness and certainty in the outcome. With this mindset, you can turn obstacles into opportunities. If you invest your energy into negative thinking and deconstructive thoughts, those thoughts become your reality and beliefs. If you choose to flip it around and instead invest your energy into positive, and constructive thinking, your beliefs will start to become your reality. Success requires the right mindset so that you can weather any delays or detours and turn them into opportunities or pursue different paths that you might not have initially considered.

The recent fires this year in Los Angeles were a real reckoning for all of us who live and work in Los Angeles. Not only were we fearing for our homes, our communities, our environment, and our livelihoods in some cases, but personally it unlocked some really deep-seated fears surrounding “success”. Having these realizations incentivized me to perform a granular audit of the firm’s foundation and infrastructure, having been in business now for almost 5 years, and to install certain mechanisms and changes to support its continued growth of both clientele and the team, but also to weatherproof it against any potential storms in the future.

Jodie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am the founder of Shihadeh Law P.C., a Los Angeles-based entertainment firm that represents a cadre of global superstar recording artists and music creators, media and production companies, models, influencers, and business executives in all areas of the entertainment industry. I started the firm at the peak of the global pandemic in 2020, after having practiced at a previous N.Y. based entertainment law firm where I was a partner.

I provide our clients with counsel and strategy for the complex and legal business issues that they face in the entertainment industry. We are in the business of building our clients’ businesses so there is a strong focus on long term growth and success. Because we are striving for long term success for our clients, we are highly attuned and sensitive to the importance of servicing the client’s daily matters with the highest level of quality and timeliness. We strive on providing the “boutique” law firm attention to clients and having a close relationship with them and their teams in order to foster their growth.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

My role is to make deals happen. I’m hired to ensure that my client’s deal is finalized. Accordingly, I come to the negotiation table with a positive, productive mindset to make sure that my client’s deal is negotiated at the highest level, with respect, and ideally, that both sides walk away feeling positive and that they got something out of it. In this business, relationships are everything and I try to focus on making sure the really important details are addressed, and not holding up a closing over a point that might not actually have any realistic impact just for the sake of “lawyering”.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Our clientele is entirely referral-based. We get referrals daily from managers, agents, and A&Rs at record labels and publishing companies. Some of the most personally rewarding referrals come from existing clients who recommend us to another artist or creator that is not getting the attention or service they need from their current lawyer. Those clients that come onboard because our strong work product and work ethic speaks for itself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shihadehlaw.com
• Instagram: @shihadehlaw
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/shihadeh-law-p-c/