We recently connected with Paige Sparks and have shared our conversation below.
Paige, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I am a first generation lawyer, and I am not being dramatic when I say it feels like I have had to really fight for everything I have in life! I am used to having nothing to lose, and I have always been comfortable taking chances and risks that give other people pause. You have to be relentless and just keep trying when you want something because nothing worth having comes easy. I used to be afraid of failure, and I would get a lot of anxiety about the “what if” scenarios that would play out in my mind. Now I know that that’s all success is really, -just a bunch of little failure experiments until eventually something works out. You have to keep trying and experimenting to be resilient because you are going to be told “no” the majority of the time.
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?
I am not your average lawyer, and I love being unconventional. I have worked in a wide variety of jobs all of my life, and I can never turn down a good side hustle! During the pandemic, I started making informational legal videos on employee rights at work. I am extremely passionate about employment law because I hate seeing victims be taken advantage of by the corporate system. Many workers are not even aware of their rights, no matter how simple or complex they are. For example, most employees don’t know your employer cannot prohibit you to discuss your pay with other co-workers, but this is one of the most common labor violations we see! I love helping to educate the public on their rights at work, and I love a good underdog story.
My law partner is my sister-in-law, and together we have Sparks Law Firm, which is a St. Louis, Missouri based Plaintiff law firm. We practice in a range of areas including personal injury, consumer protection, and other limited areas, but my passion is for employment law. We are a no frills, no pressure law firm that does things a little differently than your average run-of-the-mill firm. For example, we prioritize our client’s mental health and try to help them get resources depending on their situation. We offer honest and aggressive representation for our clients on a contingency fee basis for all employment cases, and we will always over explain what is happening with a case. Legal things are scary enough on their own, you don’t need to be confused or kept in the dark.
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?
Empathy – Being overly empathetic is both a blessing and a curse, but it helps me connect with my clients and understand where why are coming from. A lot of my clients just want to be heard, for once. Being able to practice empathy with others has helped me tremendously because I can better understand someone else’s point of view.
Working knowledge – I have done a little bit of everything in terms of work, and I really think having a well-rounded employment background has helped me understand my clients ranging from blue collar workers, white collar clients, nurses, restaurant industry clients, and everything in between! I have worked on farms, made wedding cakes, helped with seasonal wedding makeup, worked as a tour guide at the state capital, worked as a law clerk, worked in clothing boutiques, bar tended, and too many others to list! I usually know exactly what feelings my clients are going through because it has happened to me too at some point.
Tenacity – I think one of my best qualities is that I am tenacious about everything I do. For better or for worse, I can never let anything go! I am like a terrier once I find a violation or case to pursue, and even if it is low damages or we have some issues to navigate, you cannot talk me out of it. Being stubborn and having tenacity for my clients helps me get them good results because if it is important to them, its important to me and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
My biggest problem right now is being pulled in a lot of directions and I can’t make everyone happy. I am blessed to have the problem that we are turning people down due to caseload because I am only one person and there is only so much I can do. We have systems in place for managing this, we hope to hire additional staff soon to continue to expand who we are able to help. Our law practice blew up a lot faster than we would have ever anticipated, so we had a lot of growing pains that are mostly sorted out. I have also been going to therapy, which has really helped me manage these feelings when I’m getting overwhelmed with law and life.
Contact Info:
- Website: sparks-legal.com
- Instagram: _paigesparks
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SparksLawLLC/
- Other: Tik tok: LawyerPaige
