Meet Elissa Best

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

Elissa, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

A large part of my work ethic comes from my competitive sports background. I grew up playing volleyball and I was also a long distance track and field runner. Growing up, sports is what kept my siblings and I out of trouble. It gave us a sense of purpose and something to strive for. Sports taught me discipline, and most importantly, it taught me how to push past pain. When I was feeling tired, when my body was hurting, when I wanted to stop running, I didn’t. I kept going. Why? Because I knew that pushing through would ultimately make me stronger. Sports taught me the importance of mind over matter. I apply this same mind over matter mentality to my work as a lawyer and law firm owner.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am an attorney and the founder of Best Law, PC, a boutique injury law firm in Los Angeles, California. I opened Best Law for the sole purpose of helping everyday people get through some of the toughest and potentially darkest times of their lives. Whether you were hurt in a car accident upon being rear-ended by another driver, or whether you were attacked and beaten by out-of-control security guards while simply shopping at your local grocery store – my sole purpose is to ensure that you have someone on your side fighting for you to ensure that your story is properly told and that you receive the justice you deserve. Not only do the attorneys and staff at Best Law provide the highest quality of legal services, but we do it with compassion, empathy, and vigor.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The three qualities that were (and still are) the most helpful in my journey are: confidence, audacity, and resilience. The decision to leave my law firm where I worked as a Senior Litigation Counsel and start my own firm took a lot of confidence and a very strong belief in myself, my skills, and my ability to be marketable, build a brand, and bring in clientele. I’d say it took almost a delusional amount of belief and confidence in myself at times.

The close cousin of confidence is audacity. I truly believe that life somewhat meets you at your level of audacity. Early on in my journey I realized that some of the attorneys I knew who were running successful law firms were not smarter or more qualified than I was, they just had the audacity and guts to do the “scary” thing, to take the risk, and even when things weren’t going as planned, they didn’t stop. They kept going. This was a lightbulb moment and I realized that this was the key.

This leads me to the third most helpful quality in my journey, which is resilience. When things are going good, keep going. When things are going bad, keep going. To be a successful business owner you need to be able to weather the storm. You can’t fail at a thing unless you put insufficient effort into it or you quit. So, work hard and don’t quit, keep going.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

When I feel overwhelmed, I sleep or take a nap. I know, that’s probably not the most quintessential answer to this question, but it works wonders for me. Sleep helps me to clear my mind and feel refreshed. Sleep is vital for brain function and the body. After a good nights sleep or nap, I will usually wake up feeling more clear headed and feeling ready to do whatever it is I need to do for that day.

Although I am a big sleep advocate, this should not be confused or used as an excuse to procrastinate. For me, when I feel overwhelmed or stressed, particularly because of my crazy to-do list, the only thing that really helps me feel better is getting the stuff done. Tackling each task one-by-one. Procrastination just adds fuel to the fire. Address the issue head-on and just get it done. Even if that means I need to block off a weekend for work, or whether I need to work late into the night. Lock in and get it done. That will make me feel better.

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Image Credits

Tony Bowen Photography

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