Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lerae Funderburg. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lerae, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

The biggest risk I’ve taken was choosing to redesign my entire life at a time when, on paper, it made very little sense.

I was already successful. I was practicing law, building businesses, raising two children, and doing what many people would consider “making it.” But internally, I felt the strain of constantly running. Managing clients, deadlines, motherhood, and the pressure to sustain a version of success that didn’t leave much room for presence or peace.

The turning point wasn’t dramatic. It was quieter than that. It was the realization that I had built a life that worked externally but wasn’t fully aligned internally. I started asking myself a harder question. What would my life look like if I centered wellness, time, and intention first, and allowed the business to grow around that instead of the other way around?

That question led me to take what many people saw as a huge risk…moving to Costa Rica with my children.

There wasn’t a perfectly mapped-out plan. I didn’t have every financial detail guaranteed or a clear picture of how everything would unfold professionally. I just knew I wanted a different pace of life. One where my kids and I could walk to school together, where nature was part of our daily rhythm, and where I could rebuild my work from a place of clarity instead of survival mode.

Starting over in a new country challenged me in ways I didn’t expect. There were moments of uncertainty, cultural adjustments, business shifts, and the reality of building community from scratch. But it also forced me to trust myself at a deeper level and redefine success on my own terms.

The most beautiful part is that the risk didn’t take me away from my work, it refined it. My legal practice became more intentional. My wellness work deepened. My framework, The Sacred Pause, became something I wasn’t just teaching but fully living.

Looking back, the real risk wasn’t moving countries. The real risk was allowing myself to believe that I could choose peace and still be powerful, that I could slow down without falling behind.

And the outcome has been clarity. I work differently now. I parent differently. I lead differently. I no longer build from burnout. I build from alignment.

Taking that risk taught me that sometimes the biggest leap isn’t toward something new; it’s away from the version of yourself that you’ve outgrown.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m Lerae Funderburg, an attorney, wellness practitioner, and founder of both Funderburg Law and Elevate Legally, where I help entrepreneurs, creatives, and purpose-driven leaders protect what they’re building while also protecting themselves in the process.

My journey into this work wasn’t linear. I built a successful legal career advocating for clients, but over time I realized that many high-achieving professionals, especially women, were quietly burning out while building incredible businesses and legacies. At the same time, my own personal healing journey led me deeply into wellness, mindfulness, and sacred self-care practices. What started as personal survival became a calling. I began integrating legal protection with holistic well-being because I saw that true sustainability requires both structure and soul.

Today, my work sits at the intersection of law, healing, and legacy. Through my legal practice, I provide services such as copyright and trademark registration, contracts, estate planning, and strategic legal counsel for entrepreneurs, creatives, and globally mobile business owners. Through my wellness and coaching work, I guide women, particularly high-performing mothers and professionals, in slowing down, reconnecting with themselves, and creating lives that feel aligned rather than exhausting.

I’m also the creator of the S.A.C.R.E.D. Pause™ framework, a philosophy and methodology centered around Stillness, Awareness, Clarity, Release, Embodiment, and Devotion. It’s designed to help people move out of survival mode and into intentional living. Whether someone comes to me for legal services or personal transformation, the underlying goal is the same – helping them build something that supports their life instead of consuming it.

What sets me apart is that I live in both worlds fully. I understand contracts, compliance, and strategy, but I also understand nervous system regulation, healing work, and the emotional reality behind entrepreneurship. My clients often tell me they feel seen not just as business owners, but as whole human beings.

What I’m most proud of is the way my work continues to evolve organically from my own lived experience. Relocating internationally, rebuilding, mothering, healing, and redefining success on my own terms. I’m proud that my brand gives people permission to be powerful and soft at the same time.

If there’s one thing I want people to know about me and my work, it’s this: I believe legacy isn’t just about what you build; it’s about how you feel while building it. My mission is to help people create businesses, brands, and lives that are legally protected, spiritually aligned, and deeply sustainable.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

One of the deepest lessons in resilience in my life has come through my experience as a mother and navigating a complicated co-parenting relationship with my children’s father.

Like many women, the reality of the relationship and the family dynamic didn’t unfold the way I imagined it would. There were seasons marked by disappointment, emotional strain, and learning how to keep moving forward even when support didn’t show up in the ways I expected. What made it especially challenging was balancing that emotional landscape while still building businesses, serving clients, and showing up fully for my children.

For a long time, I thought resilience meant pushing through. Being strong, staying busy, and holding everything together no matter what. But motherhood has a way of confronting you with yourself. I realized that true resilience wasn’t about pretending things didn’t hurt; it was about learning how to respond differently without losing myself in the process.

There were moments where I had to make hard decisions about boundaries, communication, and how to create emotional stability for my children even when circumstances felt unpredictable. I learned to stop waiting for external situations to feel perfect before choosing peace for myself. That shift changed everything.

What I’m most proud of isn’t that everything became easy. It’s that I learned how to lead with grace instead of resentment. I made a conscious decision that my children would experience consistency, presence, and love, regardless of what was happening behind the scenes. That required a lot of inner work, healing, and letting go of the story I thought my life was supposed to follow.

That experience deeply shaped the work I do today. It’s part of why I’m so passionate about helping women create lives that feel grounded and aligned, especially when life doesn’t go according to plan. Resilience, for me, now looks like softness paired with strength; the ability to hold boundaries and compassion at the same time.

The truth is, resilience isn’t a single moment. It’s choosing yourself, your peace, and your growth over and over again, even when the journey is messy. And that ongoing commitment is something my children get to witness every day.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the biggest lessons I’ve had to unlearn is the belief that being strong meant carrying everything alone.

For a long time, I wore independence like armor. I was the person who handled the business, the motherhood, the responsibilities, and the emotional weight without asking for much. That mindset was shaped by experience. By moments where I felt I had to figure things out on my own or keep moving even when life felt heavy. On the outside it looked like resilience, and in many ways it was. But underneath, it also created exhaustion.

The turning point came as I started building my businesses while navigating major personal shifts in my life. I realized that my definition of strength had become tied to over-functioning, doing more, giving more, proving I could handle it all. I was admired for being capable, but I wasn’t always allowing myself to be supported.

Unlearning that lesson required me to ask a different question – What if strength isn’t about how much you can carry, but how honestly you can live?

I began practicing something that felt unfamiliar at first. Slowing down, setting clearer boundaries, and allowing space for rest without guilt. I learned that asking for support or choosing a softer pace didn’t make me less powerful; it actually made me more grounded and more present, both as a mother and as a leader.

This shift influenced everything. How I run my businesses, how I define success, and how I show up in relationships. It’s also a big part of why I created my Sacred Pause philosophy, because I realized so many high-achieving people, especially women, are praised for self-sacrifice while quietly running on empty.

The lesson I had to unlearn was that my value came from how much I could endure. The lesson I’m living now is that true power comes from alignment and from building a life where you don’t have to abandon yourself in order to succeed.