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

Mika, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had waited to start your own firm or do you wish you had started sooner?

I one hundred percent wish I had started my firm sooner than I did but the timing never felt right. I went to law school straight out of college and had an internship at a law firm at which I went to work for as an attorney right after law school. It was exclusively a litigation firm, and great training and experience but I knew in my gut that litigation wasn’t for me. Yet, I was too scared to shift practice areas and to make a change. Forget even contemplating starting my own firm, I was too scared to even look for another job. Change is always scary . . . It took me almost 15 years of practicing in litigation to finally take the leap. Crazy, I know! I reached the very bottom of unhappiness in my career and when so much time is devoted to work I realized that I should actually enjoy what I’m doing in some way regardless of how scary making the change would be. I explored alternative legal careers and spoke to a number of lawyers that had transitioned into different practice areas but nothing felt right. Then I had the surprising thought to open my own firm, to do things my way, to be mission driven and to use my many years of practicing law and legal knowledge to help female founded businesses. As a minority woman in an incredibly male dominated industry and as a mother of three daughters I felt that it was my calling. While I wish I had started sooner, I think I needed the comfort of having substantive legal experience behind me, and to know what I stood for and what direction I wanted to go in.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a business, trademark and employment attorney and I provide legal support to female founders at any point along their entrepreneurial journey, whether starting out as a solopreneur, developing a brand that they want to protect with trademarks or growing their business with a team. I’m most proud that after almost 15 years as a litigator, arguing cases in the courtroom, that I had the courage to completely pivot and to start my own firm and take on transactional legal work. I’m now able to pursue my passion of helping female founded businesses legally protect not only their businesses but themselves and to have peace of mind as they grow. As a mom to three daughters my work really resonates with me as I want to see women succeed and build things in the same way that any man can and I can help ensure that the legal foundation is there as they do that. I love what I do and I feel invested in my clients and their work. It’s that degree of care that sets me apart, my firm is so much more than a job or a means of earning a living. It’s only been about a year since I started and I’m looking forward to the years to come as I grow my firm.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Networking! I have made a point to put myself out there and to meet as many people as I can and not in a salesy way. Simply networking in an organic way and having great conversations has inevitably led to new clients.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I’m still building an audience and have recently brought on a social media manager to help with that, shout out to Kalee from Sonder Social. I quickly realized after starting my business that I couldn’t do it all and had to figure out where I could invest in help. Social media was the first bit of help that I took on as I found it incredibly time consuming. So far it’s been a huge help and we’re seeing growth. Stay tuned!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mikamooneylaw.com
• Instagram: @mikamooneylaw
• Linkedin: @mikamooney

Image Credits
Erin Silber. Elizabeth Strouzas.