We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Pamela Maass Garrett. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Pam below.
Hi Pam, thanks for joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
Unfortunately, I found the estate planning industry was not designed to serve growing families who are experiencing life changes on their way to success, but rather 80- and 90-year olds who were preparing for death.
During the traditional experience, you meet with a lawyer who oftentimes makes things seem very complicated and confusing. You recognize that the lawyer is smart and seems to know what they are doing, so you nod and answer questions as if you understand everything. Because you want to do the right thing for your family, you have the lawyer prepare documents for you, you sign the documents feeling relieved that you’ve got that taken care of. You take your fancy planning binder home, stick it on a shelf or in a drawer, mark estate planning off on your checklist as DONE and never think about it again.
You might vaguely remember your lawyer mentioning moving your bank accounts into the trust, so you go to the bank, unsure of the process. You call your lawyer’s office for clarification, leave a voicemail and wait for hours, if not days, for a call back. By this time, you have gotten busy with other things and never get around to moving that bank account. A few weeks later, you get a bill in the mail for $67.50 for 15 minutes of your lawyer’s time for answering a couple of questions. You make a mental note – don’t call the lawyer ever again.
Several years later, you refinance or buy a new home, your children are older, and at some point you hear something about a change in the tax law. With these changes, you cannot remember if you should call your lawyer to update your estate plan, but you do know you’d get a bill in the mail two weeks later. Plus, you’d have to dig through boxes to find your trust documents to remember your lawyer’s name and find her contact information. Who has time for that? It’s not until you become incapacitated or die that your family finds the binder you stuck up on a shelf several years before, and realize your plan is so outdated that it has nothing to do with your life, your assets or the law. Your family is at a loss.
Our firm is different. We were built with the needs of growing families in mind. We understand you are BUSY, you are growing, you are planning for a life of prosperity and you value ease, convenience and efficiency. You are raising children and caring for elderly parents while also working hard to build your own nest egg for a lifetime of support. You want to feel confident that you have made the best decisions for your family and that your plan will work when your loved ones need it most. You want to ensure your minor children would be raised by the people you choose, and never by anyone you wouldn’t want. It is important that your teen and adult children are properly prepared to care for you and what you leave behind. You want to feel confident that you made the right choices, and handled everything so that you do not leave behind a mess when something happens. This is our focus.
A few ways we do this: 1) Our educational and empowering process: our process is set up to give our clients a “wow” experience in which they walk away understanding how their plan executes their goals. 2) Flat fees: so there are no surprises. 3) Relationship based: Our flat fees allow clients to call us as much as they need, and we deliver a personalized experience. 4) We are proactive instead of reactive.
Pam, 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?
At my law firm, Law Mother, we help parents, real estate investors and business owners protect their futures and their loved ones. Law Mother is an Estate Planning and Asset Protection Law Firm that helps Colorado families state-wide. Three main things set us apart from traditional, “form document” law firms. First, we don’t create form documents. I saw this model fail with my family member who spent over $5,000 on an estate plan that ultimately failed because the attorney did not take the time to understand their needs, maintain the relationship and educate them on the importance of updating the plan.
We take the time to start every client relationship with a Family Wealth Planning Session, where we help our clients get a crystal clear picture of what would happen right now to their families, their businesses and assets if something happened to them. Then, we design a personalized Estate Plan based on their wants and values for a flat fee, so there are no surprises and our clients are encouraged to contact us with questions. We also have systems in place to make it easier for our clients to update their plan, including a complimentary review of their plan every three years to be sure it stays up to date with their life changes.
Second, we have a comprehensive Kids Protection Program that goes beyond simply naming long-term legal guardians. We develop a full emergency response plan, so if something happens, you know your children will be cared for the way you intended.
Finally, we capture the most valuable and intangible assets to be passed on: the values, insights, stories, and experiences that neither you nor your loved ones would ever want to be lost.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Legal topics can be overwhelming and difficult to understand. I realized a major barrier for people seeking legal support is the complexity of the law. Most people are intimidated by lawyers, so to break down this barrier, I started posting on social media with one simple goal: to simplify estate planning.
It’s no secret that death can be a heavy topic. So, I started experimenting with my background in acting and comedy to incorporate humor and character work to simplify concepts. At the beginning, I was a little nervous that my videos might be too silly. Afterall, I am a lawyer. I respect my profession and my colleagues, and it was important to me that I didn’t come across the wrong way. But, I decided to take the risk anyway. The videos resonated with people, in a way I didn’t expect. This impact motivated me to keep going. Plus, I have a lot of fun making reels.
I know social media can be very scary for people because it is hard to be vulnerable and put yourself out there. The more you put yourself out there, the bigger impact you have. With a wider reach, however, you also start to receive more criticism. In the beginning, I let the negative comments get to me. Now, they don’t phase me because I’m focused on my mission of education and service and I know I am helping people.
Social media is an amazing platform for connecting and sharing your ideas. I recommend starting with determining who your ideal customer is, and how you can provide the most value for them. Be true to yourself. Be authentic and vulnerable.
Success on social media, like anything in life, is about small consistent actions.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
My advice for maintaining a team with high morale is to create a mission-driven culture, to hire the right people and align on core values. At Law Mother, we put the client-experience and customer services first. This drives all of our decisions. When challenges arise, we always first ask, what will improve the client experience? This mission unites the team.
We also have a culture of camaraderie and support, not just as colleagues, but as people. Creating the space and culture for creativity, connection and collaboration allows us to accomplish much more than what we could as individuals.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lawmother.com/
- Instagram: lawmotherco
- Facebook: LawMother
- Other: TikTok: @lawmother