We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jodi Bishop Runger. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jodi below.

Jodi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

There is a post that I see on social media from time to time and it is a quote from Heath Ledger. He said, “Everyone you meet always asks if you have a career, are you married or own a house as if life was some kind of grocery list. But no one ever asks if you are happy.”

I think in order to be successful you have to be happy. That doesn’t mean that you will always be overjoyed to work long nights and put in extra hours, but I think you have to be at peace with yourself and find some enjoyment in the career path you choose. Some people measure success in terms of money or awards, but I measure success in how you feel about yourself and what you are putting out into the world on a daily basis.

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.

When I was in the fourth grade I knew I wanted to be an attorney. I remember the teacher going around the room and asking everyone to write on the board what we wanted to be when we grew up, and I was the only person in my class that said an attorney. I had to explain to the class what attorneys do and I remember saying that attorneys represent people who have problems. I am a people person, I love to problem solve and I also love to fight for a cause. Hence, it seemed being an attorney was the natural thing for me to do.

During college at the University of Tennessee and law school at the Cecil C. Humphreys SchooI of Law, I worked as an intern for the District Attorney General’s Office of the Eight Judicial District. Upon law school graduation I decided I wanted to see what civil litigation had to offer and worked as an Associate for a creditor’s rights firm where I represented large credit card companies, auto dealerships and banks. After a few years handling creditor’s rights I decided to explore other options.

I currently work for Russell, Oliver & Stephens where I represent third party administrators and large health insurance companies in ERISA and non-ERISA subrogation matters throughout the country. ERISA is the acronym for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. This is a broad federal statute that applies to many pension plans and healthcare plans. I did not specifically seek out to practice ERISA law, but the idea of handling cases in a niche area intrigued me.

I love being able to focus on one area of the law and work with attorneys in different regions of the country. I believe my tenacity, an ability to see the big picture and an ability to relate to people from all walks of life have assisted me in my legal career.

One thing I am most proud of is what sets my practice style and our law firm’s practice style apart from other law firms. That is our fantastic customer service. In today’s world with technology advances and so many large companies, I think customer service tends to get lost in the shuffle. At my current firm, we like to get to know our clients and form positive relationships. Our clients know they can call us at any time with any questions. We also stand behind our word. If we say we are going to do something, we will go the extra mile to get it done.

While I enjoy being an attorney, I often felt that I still had a creative and fun part of my personality that was left unattended. I am a strong believer that unless you are nourishing yourself as a whole, you will never be able to live up to your full potential. So, I also try to focus on hobbies to entertain the non-attorney part of myself. I love to exercise, specifically hip hop dance classes, travel and I love anything to do with fashion.

I think it is important and healthy to have non-work related hobbies. I never had a desire to run a marathon, but I recently joined some friends in the Mammoth March, which is a 20 mile hike that must be completed in eight hours. I know endorphins are real because I felt them when I was on the last few miles, but I cannot say that I could still feel my legs!

Regarding travel, my husband and I decided when we got married that we wanted to travel every other year out of the country. If you want personal growth and to grow your business acumen, then you should definitely travel. It is always so eye-opening to see other parts of the world, interact with different types of people and see how different cultures transact business. It also makes you recognize all your unconscious biases and how initial perceptions are not always the correct perceptions.

Last, but not least, my love of fashion. Since I was a kid my nightly ritual every Sunday to Thursday night is to pick out my clothes and accessories for the next day. This ritual is one of my favorite things to do and it helps me start my day off on a positive note. Putting looks and outfits together has always been something I enjoy. I also started a blog and a social media account to post about clothing and travel. It has been such a fun experience as I have met some great ladies at influencer events. You never really know where different types of networking will take you in your career or life.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

In every business or career field there are many different types of strategies people use to grow their business or clientele. Many people like to use certain sales tactics or technology to reach potential clients. I think the best way to gain quality clientele is to be genuine. I prefer to get to know people to decide if this is someone I would like to do business with and have a working relationship. Our firm also attends various conferences in the industry where we meet our potential clientele. References are also always a great way to gain clients.

On a personal note, if someone approaches me on social media or locally about promoting a product I always think to myself is this something I would wear or buy without the discount or free item? If I find a product or retailer that I genuinely love, such as a small local female-owned boutique I like to promote those places even if they have not reached out to me. Many times they will reach out to me later and offer a discount, which works out great for me as I would buy the product or service anyway. I think that my social media followers are sometimes more likely to buy an item/service I post about because they recognize my opinion is real and I am not just posting about something to make money.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I often like to read personal development books and listen to podcasts. One of my favorite books about management is The Energy Bus , The book illustrates ten rules for approaching problems in life with a positive and forward thinking attitude.

If you have ever been around an energy sucker, you will appreciate this book because the energy we give off really is contagious. Speaking of contagious energy, I also enjoyed UnTamed by Glennon Doyle. It is an empowering read. The book has a lot of great one-liners that will motivate and inspire women to stop second guessing ourselves and just go for it.

I also have to mention a fabulous book that my good friend, Natasha Hazlett, wrote called Unstoppable Influence. The book is about finding and being your true self and overcoming fear. Along the lines of being true to yourself and overcoming fears, I recently started listening to a great podcast a friend from Instagram mentioned. It is called Manifest with Cathy Heller.

I hope that some of these recommendations are helpful to someone out there and thanks for reading this article. I would love to meet you on social media so if you have any questions about a legal career or fashion/what to wear, please feel free to reach out to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.spunkysouthernbelle.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/shopwithjodi
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodi-bishop-runger-baa7172
• Other: https://www.shopltk.com/explore/ShopwithJodi www.roslawgroup.com