We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Laura Sadler a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Laura, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
My dad used to tell me that no one who has ever been successful has ever done it without having failed at least once. I had a chance to test out his theory several times in my early twenties as I was figuring out what I wanted to do for my career. One of the first tests I had was when I had just graduated college and I was making the move to Los Angeles. I had taken a job and given notice where I was working and on my last day I found out that my new job had been eliminated. I had been laid off before I even started! They gave me some other company names in their industry that I could call and said I could work for them for 3 weeks. I took them up on it and literally cold called the companies and a landed an interview at one of them. Luckily, I was hired by the other company, but it was very stressful. I could have stayed where I was, but I so determined to move I was willing to take the risk. After I settled into my new life, I decided I wanted to have my own business. I was working in the jewelry business so I decided to start my own jewelry business. I tried to make it work for about 3 years, I had the misfortune of going into business during a terrible recession and also having no experience running a business and it ultimately failed. When I began having trouble making the business work, I took on part time jobs to pay the bills and eventually one of the vendors I sold my jewelry too offered me a job. That turned into the stepping stone I needed, I closed down my business while I worked there and it became an on the job training experience for me and I eventually became the Operations Manager there. As I was approaching my 30’s I decided to move on and I became a web site and graphic designer during the Dot Com boom. I experienced layoffs more than once and got by on freelance work here and there. I didn’t like the environment, stress and instability of that career and I still wanted my own business, so I changed careers again and I started my own massage practice. I had no idea when that happened that I’d eventually be running my husbands law firm. All the work experiences I had leading up to this point have taught me how to make a comeback from failure and to have the strength to hang in there and stay focused on my goals.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My husband, Stephen Cawelti is a family law attorney. He started out as an associate and worked his way up to becoming partner at his firm. When he accepted the partnership the plan was that his partner would retire in a couple years and he would take over the firm. Stephen’s vision was that I would step in and take on the role of office manager. I was not interested in doing that especially since I already run my own massage therapy practice.
In 2018 his partnership came to an abrupt end. When Stephen came home after the partnership was dissolved with a check in his hand and told me that it was over, I knew I had to step up. We talked about his options and he had no doubt that he was ready to start his own firm. I knew there was no other choice to not only support his decision, but to help him run the business. It was really scary, the majority of our livelihood came from his steady paychecks from the firm. Now the pressure was on for us to make it on our own.
The first thing Stephen did was to find an office, but unfortunately the place he tried to lease fell out at the last minute. We literally had to move all the office furniture into our backyard while we found a new location. Stephen was able to secure about 30 clients from his old firm and with that and our partnership buy out check we launched his law firm.
The first month it was just the 2 of us and then he brought on a paralegal as we were finalizing the lease on our new law firm. I had to learn bookkeeping and form a marketing team. I used my graphic design skills to create a logo, design web pages, print ads, business cards and letterhead. There were some antiquated practices in place at Stephen’s old firm and we talked about those inefficiencies and looked for more modern solutions to running a law firm. My role continues to grow as the firm grows and I basically handle all the behind the scenes business management.
I have adjusted our business model several times as I have learned to be flexible in my approach as the world is always changing. Between Stephen’s skill at practicing law and our combined hard work, we have built up the firm and have expanded to having a second paralegal and an associate attorney. When things have been too busy, we have also employed a contract attorney. It’s been a challenge to put it lightly, but given my background and our determination to creating a modern, ethical and supportive law firm we have managed to thrive. Stephen has been a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association for several years and has been on the board of the family law section. This year he was promoted to Chair of the board for Family Law.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Focus on customer service 2. Don’t overextend yourself financially
3. Experience in different fields of study will round out your skill set
For some people it takes time to figure out what career is the best fit for them. I encourage young people to try different jobs, don’t be afraid to go back to school and retrain if you need too. Don’t be afraid to take risks, but also be mindful of saving your money so you have a safety net.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
When I’m overwhelmed I get out and walk. If I don’t have a chance to do that, I find a quiet space where I can be alone and spend a few minutes focusing on my breathing. When you slow down your breathing you can calm your body and mind, then it’s easier to come up with creative solutions. Hiking is my favorite because I get some great thinking done and I calm down faster. I try to get out and hike even when I don’t feel overwhelmed because it helps me get ahead of my stress and I can return to work feeling more organized and ready to take on any issues that come up.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.caweltilaw.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cuj–XLrE3n/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/divorcefamilylaw
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7084554498739732480
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/law-offices-of-stephen-l-cawelti-apc-burbank
