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

Hi Wakisha, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents got it right! I grew up in a home being the third oldest of four girl children. Both of my parents worked, sometimes two jobs outside of the home, so they could make sure their girls had the best education and the best life possible. My mom and dad are the epitome of leadership, hard work, and dedication to their field. I attended private school as a young child because my parents wanted to make sure I had the best education. They encouraged me, although I am a first generation attorney, to go after my dreams and reach for the stars. My parents sacrificed so I could be an attorney and own my law firm. They paid for my law school career. When I finished law school, I was debt free and did not have any loans. Being debt free helped me to start my own business, free and clear of any worries to pay student loans back. I have been in business ten (10) years all because I did not have the extra stress of law school debt. I could focus on building my law practice and helping people as they faced some of the toughest times in their lives.
The work acumen, being dedicated to your passion, and never giving up are just some of the core values my parents taught me as a child that I applied to life. My parents definitely got it right!

Wakisha, 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 grew up in Savannah, Georgia, with my mother, who was an educator, and my father, who was a longshoreman. They instilled great things in me from a very young age. I was always encouraged to go after my dreams and goals and that nothing was too hard as long as I put in the work and I had faith. I was very personable and enjoyed discussing multiple topics of world events, fashion, and cooking with my family and friends.

I had a passion at a young age to help people. My uncle was convicted of a crime he did not commit and was sent off to prison. My mother and grandmother were devastated and tried everything they could to get him released. To no avail he served a sentence for something he did not do. That spurred my passion for the law, but criminal law specifically. I wanted to help those who could not fight for themselves and try to make sure justice was served.

I started my law practice in 2012 where I primarily handled criminal defense cases. Thereafter, I expanded my firm to include matters related to family and domestic relations along with personal injury cases. Hazzard Law Firm is a boutique firm located in the heart of downtown Birmingham. We have three attorneys that work for the firm with staff that is there to assist. We remain a smaller firm because we want to have a great one-on-one working relationship with all of our clients. Our clients are more than clients, they are like family. Everyone that walks through our doors has a good understanding about their case. We believe that sets us apart from other firms. We are most proud of our success rate. The Hazzard Law Firm also specializes in winning cases for our clients. Whether it is a personal injury case or a criminal defense matter, we work diligently for our clients and our success rate proves that. Integrity, Justice, Success is our motto and we strive to attain that high standard every single day.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

COVID hit hard for many businesses in March of 2019. I had never experienced a pandemic before, like many others, and that was the most trying tome for my business. We had to close our doors because everyone had to stay at home. I had been practicing for years at this point, but I never had to close our doors since we opened on April 16, 2012.

This pandemic was a shock to everyone. Many people lost their jobs and did not know how they were going to make it. I was a true solo practitioner at that time with staff to assist. I ended up furloughing my staff because I was not sure if the business was going to continue or if we would even make it through those unprecedented times. Where were the clients coming from? Where would the money come from? We could not go outside, we could not network or meet people. It was a difficult time that was very trying. Before my staff was let go, I had to pay them by taking money from my savings to make sure payroll was made.

I was blessed to have only furloughed my staff for one month, then I was able to bring them back. I kept working for the month that my staff was not there, so our business never stopped, it just slowed down. We picked up where we left off and business was picking back up again. I implemented some new strategies at the law firm, started using zoom so we could meet clients virtually, utilized social media and other resources that I had not tapped into very much before COVID. We even implemented handling more divorce and family law cases.

Resilience is how I would describe my attitude. I knew our doors needed to stay open. I knew we were helping people. I knew we needed to be in this industry. God helped us to keep going and I was blessed to have my staff back so we could keep helping people and putting goodness out into the world.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Many different people throughout life had a significant impact on my entrepreneur thinking and philosophy. My parents being the first most significant impact in my professional career.

There are several books that gave me the mindset to achieve great things and have big dreams. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill is one of my all time favorites. That book helped me set the right mindset to achieve anything that I wanted to achieve. That book taught me that it’s not necessarily where you come from, but we ALL have that special gift within us. We just have to believe and tap into that special something everyday.

How to win friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is another great read that I believe every entrepreneur should read. This book essentially taught me that you can take any situation and make it what you want.

Finally, everyone should read the four agreements. This read taught me that everyone needs to become their true selves. This will ultimately help you live in peach and harmony.

Every entrepreneur needs to live in peace and harmony. Every business owner needs to be a go getter. Every entrepreneur needs to know that whatever they want to achieve comes from within.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hazzardfirm.com
• Instagram: thehazzardlawfirmllc
• Facebook: The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC
• Linkedin: Wakisha E. Hazzard

Image Credits
De’Angelo Rose Photography