We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Elaina Erola. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Elaina below.
Alright, Elaina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
I have a habit of doing things in a nontraditional way. The biggest risk I have ever taken was my decision to go to law school. I didn’t come from a family with wealth or means. I didn’t even know any attorneys. I didn’t know the first thing about how to apply or where law schools were located or even what I would be expected to learn. I just knew it was the only thing I wanted to do. I loved advocating for people. I loved giving them solutions, which was something I had learned from a long background in sales. I live in a very rural but community-oriented part of Northern California and the nearest law school is almost three hundred miles away. The program that I choose is something that is unique to California, called a distance learning program. It was a four-year program but allowed me to work during the day and complete the classes at my own pace. I had to pass the first-year student’s law school exam, something traditional schools don’t require and I had to do it before my second year was complete or I would lose all my credits and have to start over again. Passing the bar exam was also very difficult and expensive. But this program also allowed me to pay my way as I went through it, which allowed me to graduate without any law school debt.
I was adamant about two things; I wanted to stay in my community so I could work and continue to participate in the arts, and I wanted to be able to do any job when I got out. I didn’t want to be beholden to a firm where I would be expected to turn out 100 billable hours a week. Today I work part-time for a firm doing exactly the work that I wanted to do, federal Indian law. I have enough time to work on my writing and painting and I even decided to go for a higher degree in Environmental Law at Lewis and Clark. The program is also fully remote!
Elaina, 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 have been working in visual arts for as long as I can remember, as well as writing. I always hesitated to make either of them my full-time career though, mostly because I loved them so much. Creative freedom is such a precious gift that I never wanted to compromise. While I was in law school I started writing a memoir about my time working in sales and how that unlikely adventure led me to where I am today. I was also painting as much as I could. I participated in community art shows but I also started volunteering with arts organizations. I got on the board of directors for a historical theater in my area as well as the Mendocino Writers Conference. Being able to “fall back” on practicing law is a blessing but the law is also something I’m incredibly passionate about. I ran into the same problem when searching for my career as I did when searching for a law school. The places that specialize in Native American law are very specific to their area, either big firms in large cities or in-house positions in very rural areas. But the pandemic was also a blessing for me and the firm I work at now is fully remote. So once again, I was able to stay in my community.
These two areas of my life are so vastly different but equally important to me as a person. It took years of work but I am so happy to have built a life that incorporates both.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I believe art is the only way to build a society. Without it, we are only left with a system of crime and punishment, which builds in a systemic quest for power. Art is how we learn to understand each other. It’s how we tell our stories to each other and gain empathy for each other. The law can be similar. Some people may see it as black and white, but every case is just a story of something that happened between two parties. The more of these stories we know, and the more creative ways we can think to apply it, the more solutions we can discover.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I got let go of my first job as in-house counsel for a local tribe due to budget cuts. I was devastated. I also hadn’t passed the California bar exam yet. I was already signed up to take it in July so I couldn’t start working again for at least six weeks. It was going to drain me financially. I had also just been told that I was not accepted to my top pick for an LLM program. So I went ahead and applied to Lewis and Clark which has the best Environmental law program in the country. It was like getting rejected from community college and applying for Harvard instead. The California Bar Exam is also the hardest in the country. That July I ended up taking the two day exam in Oakland and then driving to Portland Oregon the next day to interview with the director of the program. I also got hired as a part-time paralegal with my current employers. Since then, everything has really fallen into place. The six weeks off of work turned out to be exactly what I needed to pass the exam (that’s typically what was recommended). I was accepted to Lewis and Clark and just completed my first year. I never thought I would be content as a paralegal or that I would end up back in school after passing the bar exam, but I really couldn’t imagine my life any other way right now. I’m challenged by both the work and the program and couldn’t imagine giving up either.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/sunraealore
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stories/sunraealore/, https://www.instagram.com/paintings_by_sunraealore/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elaina.erola
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elaina-erola-13101977/
Image Credits
Elaina Erola