We recently connected with Idara Bassey and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Idara thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
When it comes to coaching- especially where lawyers are concerned- the focus tends to revolve around issues like marketing one’s practice, securing more clients…things of this nature. My work concentrates on the “inner life of lawyering” so to speak. With my company JOY Legal LLC we are firm believers that it is possible to be a peaceful, fulfilled individual who loves their lawyer life- the idea being that investments in personal development work yield benefits in the quality of lawyering one can provide. A happy, healthy lawyer is best positioned to do his best for his clients, and ultimately for the legal profession as a whole and we concentrate on supporting the necessary inner work to produce optimal outcomes.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
One day I was chatting on the phone with a friend of mine from high school and the conversation landed on the challenges a mutual friend of ours who was a partner at the local office of a global law firm was experiencing. Our friend was stressed out beyond belief; constantly traveling for trials and last time I talked with her she mentioned that she almost never saw her husband. We went back and forth sharing observations about other lawyers we each knew and suddenly my friend paused and remarked, “You know what Idara? You’re the only lawyer I know who’s not hating her life.” I was taken aback by her statement; I didn’t immediately know how to reply. Fortunately, she didn’t notice the brief silence on my end and the conversation veered back to talking about other things, but I couldn’t get her words out of my mind. While I am grateful for the life I currently live and enjoy in many respects, I didn’t think it was particularly remarkable until my friend’s words got me to thinking about how my own lawyer life had unfolded (and is still unfolding), and distilling some lessons learned to pass along to my clients who are engaged in their own inner reflection and evaluation of their own. As such, my company (JOY Legal LLC) evolved out of my desire to empower young to mid-career lawyers to become inner-resourced so they can become peaceful, fulfilled individuals who love their lawyer lives. To this end we offer:
1.) Customized individual and group coaching geared towards improved work performance, stress reduction, and emotional well-being
2.) Wellness regimen consulting for small-to-medium progressive law firms &
3.) Corporate intuitive services
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I clearly remember as a first-year law student seeing the image of a sea of people-my fellow classmates-wearing sensible blue suits. Its energy felt more like an agitated swarm of bees really; everyone racing to grab a prized summer associate position; a frenzied seeking of confirmation that they were on THE RIGHT PATH, so to speak- and thinking to myself, “This is not me.” I didn’t have an objective basis for this realization, and I certainly didn’t know what other options were available for me to pursue at the time. All I had was a visceral gut feeling that the law firm associate to partnership trajectory- which was presented back then in the early 90s as the only professional path to take-did not resonate with me. This was further solidified by my traumatizing experience of being a woman of color at a law school in the South where it became clear rather quickly that the options that were being presented were not necessarily as available to me.
Despite the fact that I found myself navigating a quieter and less popular path during my law school years, it allowed me to assess (traditional) professional opportunities through the lens of how well they aligned with my personal values vs. viewing them as options I should automatically pursue. It was a more difficult, less obvious route to travel at the time, but it was ultimately empowering for me because I cultivated a high level of discernment, and I have been able to gift my clients with lessons learned about how to integrate one’s personal values into their professional life as lawyers
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I was fortunate to run into the classic book Do What You Love the Money Will Follow by Marsha Sinetar and that got me thinking about what I really stood for as far as personal values are concerned. It stands for the proposition that work is an avenue of service to society and it’s always been important to me to incorporate the spirit of service in the work I do. I have come to learn that the difficulties I had early on in my legal career could possibly help someone in the same boat that I was especially given how the legal profession has evolved over the years.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.LoveYourLawyerLife.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/attyartisthealer/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/idara-e-bassey/
Image Credits
The credit for my bio pic (me with the headtie) was Lenna Davis Photography