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

Alright, Alexis thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?

If I Were Starting Over… Well, I Did Start Over—Twice!

In 2007, after practicing law as a commercial litigation and bankruptcy attorney for three years, I decided to make a career change. I was incredibly stressed and unable to sleep through the night. To attain the almighty “billable hour” – the mechanism by which most lawyers and law firms are paid – I had sacrificed healthy living, including proper eating habits, exercising, and spending time with friends and family. As I began suffering from migraine headaches, I realized I needed to leave the practice of law and transitioned into a career in legal recruiting.

I started my recruiting career at a legal staffing agency before being hired three years later by a law firm client to lead its attorney recruiting efforts. After working at two law firms for approximately 10 years, I decided to make another change in the spring of 2019, launching my own legal recruiting agency. At the time, I thought I knew everything about the legal recruiting industry, but I quickly learned that I did not. I made mistakes by trusting the wrong types of candidates and clients, felt isolated, and made business decisions that were not in my best interests. When my spouse’s job was eliminated at the end of 2019, it felt like a godsend to leave my company behind and return to the security of a law firm recruiting position.

Now, in 2025, I have officially relaunched my legal recruiting firm – this time with a much stronger foundation. So, what did I do differently?

Confidence

I launched version 2.0 of Reed Recruiting with a newfound confidence. Over the last five years in law firm recruiting, I gained deeper insight into the types of candidates and firms with which I should be working. Now, I only agree to work with candidates and clients when I feel we can build a strong partnership. I am no longer willing to risk my confidence and credibility for the possibility of a placement fee.

Planning

I dedicated significantly more time to planning the second launch of Reed Recruiting to establish a solid foundation. I invested in technology to improve organization, refined my brand profile, and defined my processes for partnering with attorneys and candidates in a more strategic way. I even workshopped those processes with trusted industry professionals before launching. This time around, I actually created a business plan before getting down to business!

Expectations

When relaunching Reed Recruiting, I also set clear expectations that extended beyond monetary goals, something I neglected the first time. I carefully analyzed my previous mistakes and established reasonable, incremental goals tailored to my strengths and long-term vision. In my initial attempt, I expected to quickly replace my law firm salary, and when I didn’t hit that financial target, I felt like a failure and struggled to stay motivated. This time, I’m focusing on activity-based goals, such as meeting a specific number of new attorneys and potential law firm clients, to ensure steady forward momentum. I am also setting limits on the workload I commit to take on at any given time to ensure that I have work-life balance (as much as that is possible these days). Just months into this second launch, I am already meeting and exceeding those expectations – and making real money!

Some days, I look back on my career and regret certain decisions – leaving the practice of law, stepping away from that amazing law firm in 2019 to launch Reed Recruiting, and even attending law school in the first place. But as I gain more life experience (I won’t say get older!), I realize that each of those experiences taught me invaluable lessons, all of which have prepared me to be a successful entrepreneur this time around.

I am learning to give myself grace, to set realistic expectations, and to trust that I now know who I want to be in this industry. I am committed to never sacrificing my identity again. I know that in both the near- and long-term, I will be much happier and more satisfied professionally and personally as a result.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a career chameleon. Though I decided at a young age that I wanted to be a lawyer, I didn’t fully understand what that meant. After three years of practicing law left me completely exhausted, I knew I had to pivot. I wanted to use my legal education and experience but in a completely different way.

Enter legal recruiting. My industry is like any other recruiting field, except that I work exclusively with attorneys – specifically those seeking greater career success by transitioning to a new law firm or corporate legal position. I also serve as a consultant to law firms, leveraging the 12+ years of experience I developed in strategic recruiting and integration to help organizations optimize their hiring efforts and become more efficient.

My business grows through positive interactions – not just by helping attorneys find new jobs, but by ensuring every candidate and client receives my best effort. Even when I can’t directly facilitate a placement or hire, my candidates and clients still refer me to others as a result. My goal is to ensure that the attorneys and firms I interact with view my efforts as ethical, transparent, and valuable – not aggressive and outdated like others in my field.

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

Like many others in recruiting and staffing, I have learned a whole host of important lessons: a deal isn’t done until the candidate shows up for the first day of work; never count on the money until it is earned – like actually deposited in a bank account; and never take a “no” as a personal critique – people resist change for a variety of reasons that often have nothing to do with how you approach them or what you are offering.

With nearly 20 years of experience in my industry, I still face failure and rejection almost every day. I failed hard in 2019, but I came back swinging this year, relaunching my business with a stronger foundation built on lessons learned. I’ve come to accept rejection and understand that when I hear “no” today, it’s not a reflection of my character or experience – it just is what it is.

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

Honesty – plain and simple.

The recruiting industry is filled with people who tell candidates and clients exactly what they want to hear just to “get the job.” They over-promise and under-deliver, misrepresent their experience, and chase placements, even when they know it’s not the right fit.

I want to work with candidates and clients who have a clear understanding of what they’re looking for and recognize their limitations. That means having tough conversations – many of them where they hear things they may not want to confront, address, or change. It also means moving through the recruiting process slowly and thoughtfully.

I now understand that my approach isn’t for everyone, and I’m candid about that from the start.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.reedrecruiting.com
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/alexisreed/