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

Hi Lerae, thanks for joining us today. One of the toughest things about entrepreneurship is that there is almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

Toward the end of last year my Instagram account was hacked. I had over 17,000 followers and they were engaged followers at that. I invested a lot of time, money and energy in my Instagram account over the past 4 years – from engaging social media managers, paying for photoshoots, makeup artists, IG coursework and research, spending hours coming up with engaging copy. But it was all worth it because most of my clients came from Instagram. So you can only imagine the horror I felt when my page was stolen from me. The hacker tried to extort me for Bitcoin in exchange for the return of my account.

Instagram was of absolutely no help. When I tell you I had so many people trying to get this account back for me for weeks, the support was unreal. Interestingly enough, after the initial shock of it all, I accepted the fact that my account was gone and was reminded of something I learned in my marketing certification course, which is that we don’t own these platforms and our access can be denied at any time; and for this reason we should rely on other marketing sources in which we have more control – like your email list or search engine optimization.

This was the cold hard truth staring me in my face. I’d relied almost exclusively on Instagram as my platform for bringing new clients in the door and it was no longer available to me. The idea of growing another Instagram page from the bottom up, with the pain of the hack still fresh on my mind, was not my idea of a good time. I’d previously had a very love-hate relationship with Instagram, after this, I was leaning a lot more toward the hate. And my business was definitely feeling the loss.

I decided to pivot and begin to look more into the other available marketing options to me. Naturally I began to engage my email subscribers a bit more and started creating more content, but I decided to invest some more time and energy into my google rating and search engine optimization (SEO). I engaged a company that specialized in SEO to handle it for my website and I started to see results almost immediately. Where my referrals for the past couple years normally said Instagram, all of the contact forms stated google, and I knew it was from the decision to invest in a new marketing tactic.

Things begin to flow. I was ranking higher than some of my competitors and one of the first firms that showed up when searching for trademark attorneys, which increased my traffic tremendously, thereby increasing my revenue.

Now…I like to switch it up from time to time. WIth that said, since launching my law firm in 2017, I’ve had 3 different website designs. This last one was recent and the proper procedures weren’t taken to redirect my traffic from my old website, so I lost all my SEO traction. It’s like I was starting from scratch. This was even scarier than the Instagram hack because I’d just taken on my assistant full time, which means my load was a lot heavier and my income needed to reflect that.

So, let’s recap. November 2021, my Instagram is hacked. I pivot in January 2022. New website and SEO fiasco, April 2022. So, as you can imagine, I’m still in the thick of it and still very much feeling the burn, but I have been managing by maintaining the faith, understanding that struggle is part of the journey and accepting it for what it is. I practice self compassion and instead of asking myself why is this happening to me, I wonder why is this happening for me. And I concluded that while business is slow, I can take the opportunity to lay the foundation for the new addition to the firm and refine and improve up all of the organizational structures, systems and processes.

All of these things are vital to the success of any business and are often overlooked by entrepreneurs because we’re so busy keeping business in motion, so I appreciate the time to sit down and focus on the business side of my business.

Lerae, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am the proud mother of an 8-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. I am the founder of Funderburg Law, a boutique law firm that focuses on business, entertainment, and intellectual property (trademarks and copyrights). I help our clients start and build sustainable businesses, protect their brands, and take the steps to start building their legacy. I am also the founder of Lawyer Mommy, an e-commerce platform that provides free legal resources and affordable digital products (contract templates, DIY courses, guides, etc.) to start up business owners. And now, I’ve expanded my legal and life experience to begin my latest (and most exciting) venture, Elevate Legally. Elevate Legally provides wellness coaching services to lawyers and other high-level women entrepreneurs.

I actually wanted to be an elementary school teacher, but when I got to college, the people I knew with that major didn’t have work that I felt wanted to use my college experience doing, so I majored in Criminal Justice, minored in Spanish, and the law thing really just stemmed from that. After college, I got a job as a paralegal in the public defender’s office and then worked in a death penalty mitigation firm. Quickly I realized becoming a lawyer was the next logical step. I hadn’t yet given up on my dream as a teacher, so I applied to law school and grad school at the same time. Interestingly enough, I didn’t get into any grad school, but was accepted to almost every law school I applied to.

I thought I’d want to be a criminal defense attorney and ended up hating all of my criminal justice classes and found a great interest in contracts, copyrights and trademarks. After law school, I took and passed the California bar and after hopping around from firm to firm, I worked independently as an attorney, representing independent film production companies. When I relocated back to Atlanta, and after taking a couple years off for the birth of my son, I worked for a prominent music law firm before deciding to go out on my own.

The birth of my daughter really brought out the boss in me. Whereas I took time off with my son, I piped up when I had my daughter. I opened an office and brought her to work everyday. She sat in meetings while being breastfed and was considered my junior associate.by office mates. I was proud to build a 6-figure law firm within that first year and with baby in tow. I was amazed by how my clientele changed to reflect people who were like me and being a mother became a major part of my brand.

I began to work almost exclusively with black and brown women, mostly mothers. We were connected by our shared experiences and I could advise them well because of my educational background coupled with my knowledge from growing my own business.

Lawyer Mommy grew from my desire to bridge the economic and educational gap between blacks and whites and empathizing with the fact that not everyone can afford legal counsel at the outset of their business, rather they prioritize other expenses. I wanted to be able to provide an affordable way for entrepreneurs to have access to legal resources.

Elevate Legally was a product of a journey I’d been on for years. After building my law practice and reaching certain levels of success in it and other areas of my life, I still felt like something was off. From the outside looking in, I had it all. But for me, something was still missing. And I was determined to figure out what it was. So, I began the self-work. I was already a big fan of some form of self-care, being an devoted spa goer, and a huge fan of massages and solo-cations. But that wasn’t enough. Then I started to read all the books, engaged several different coaches, meditated, did energy work, mastered reiki, and tried all the things.

I went through an intensive Rites of Passage program for 4-months and healed my entire mind, body, and soul. In doing so, I finally reached that point of true inner peace and joy. I was able to combine all of the things I’d learned along my own journey these past few years coupled with the tools implemented during my Sacred Woman Rites of Passage journey and I found my happy place. Since, the quality of my life has improved drastically. It’s like the old version of me died and a new and improved version was born. I soon felt compelled to share this work with others, especially my fellow sisters in law because, just like my legal clients, I am one of them.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I built my audience on social media by being me. I never tried to sell anyone on anything. My page was just a photo journal of my life. And sometimes it was my diary. It was a place where I could be transparent and live my truth in a way I felt afraid to with people who were close to me. Being a lawyer was just part of my Instagram handle and rarely mentioned as a sales pitch. Of course since I am a lawyer and this was my photo diary, it naturally included elements of my experience as an attorney.

I engaged with my audience. Built relationships with them. Acknowledged them on their own pages. Maintained positive interaction regardless of the situation and blocked any foolishness if and when it occurred. And was simply present. I invested money in professional photography often so I always had a variety of good content that could be used for all the different aspects of my life – as a lawyer, parent, business owner, wellness entrepreneur and everyday girl.

The best advice I could give for anyone starting out is to be transparent in who you are and your people are certain to find you. No one else is important. Neither is the number of followers, unless they are quality followers. Trust the process…because it is a long one.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

My most accessible form of contact by far is email. I do like to be accessible to my clients because I believe that helps to foster brand loyalty. When clients can reach you, they feel cared for since their needs are addressed in real time, and it makes them understand that I have their best interests at heart. With that said, I will respond to an email over a text or call any day.

Another way I foster brand loyalty is by being totally transparent. When I don’t know something or something is outside of the realm of my expertise, I am very candid about the fact. I am relatable and personable and I talk to my clients about things outside of the scope of my practice.

More than anything, I provide exceptional and timely services.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.funderburglaw.com www.lawyermommylerae.com www.elevatelegally.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/officiallawyermommy
• Facebook: facebook.com/b.lerae.funderburg
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/leraefunderburg
• Twitter: Twitter.com/TheLawyerMom

Image Credits
Brandprenuer