You Are A Lawyer: Take Risks and Change Careers in Law

Dana Shaker is a trademark lawyer, policy consultant, business owner, and yoga and wellness teacher helping lawyers, law students, and law graduates build more intentional wellness practices. In this episode, Dana returns to You Are a Lawyer to share how her relationship with yoga has evolved, why she launched her own trademark law firm, and how lawyers can create space for themselves while building demanding careers. Lawyer Side Hustles Journey and Practice grew from Dana’s personal experience using yoga and mindfulness during stressful periods of her own legal journey. Today, she teaches yoga and wellness specifically for the legal community, including lawyers, law students, law graduates, and bar exam students. Her approach extends beyond physical movement to include meditation, reflection, mindfulness, and creating intentional space to reconnect with yourself. “That's the beauty of life is that we have the opportunity to change every day, and we do change every day,” shares Dana Shakerin Episode 71 of You Are a Lawyer.Becoming a teacher has also changed Dana’s relationship with yoga. Teaching a class is not the same as practising for herself, and she has learned that being of service to others cannot replace making time for her own wellbeing. Sometimes that means rolling out her mat for only ten or twenty minutes and asking herself what she needs that day. That mindset has helped her become more intentional about balancing her own practice with the demands of teaching, consulting, practising law, and running businesses. This episode is produced by Skip the Boring Stuff, a podcast strategy company for business owners and creatives.

Jeffrey Deskovic was wrongfully convicted as a teenager and spent 16 years in prison before DNA evidence led to his exoneration. Today, he is an attorney, advocate, and founder of the Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice. In this episode, Jeffrey shares how he maintained hope, why he went to law school, and how he's using his legal career to help free others and fight for criminal justice reform. Lawyer Side Hustles Jeffrey's work extends far beyond representing clients in court. He has written more than 200 articles, speaks nationally and internationally, participates in policy advocacy, works with criminal justice organizations, operates a nonprofit foundation, and uses media appearances to educate the public about wrongful convictions. For Jeffrey, public education is directly connected to changing the systems that allow wrongful convictions to happen. “The public education as the first step towards legislative changes is what the philosophy is, which is the same reason why I speak, the same reason why I do the interviews,” Jeffrey Deskovic expresses in Episode 263 of You Are a Lawyer.Writing has also become a creative outlet for Jeffrey. He describes building an article almost like creating a piece of art, deciding what arguments to make, how to transition between them, and how to combine statistics, case examples, and his own experiences. That work allows his advocacy to reach people he may never meet, including incarcerated people who have later told him that simply knowing his story helped them continue fighting. This episode is produced by Skip the Boring Stuff, a podcast strategy company for business owners and creatives.

Misty Leon returns to You Are a Lawyer after leaving her corporate in-house role to launch Practical Counsel Advisors, a consulting firm helping small and mid-sized law firms improve their operations and navigate AI. In this episode, Misty shares why she stopped waiting to make her career change, what lawyers should understand about adopting AI, and why sometimes the most important career question isn't whether you can do something, but whether you still want to. Lawyer Side Hustles Misty didn't wait until leaving her corporate position to begin creating her next chapter. She spent months preparing Practical Counsel Advisors while continuing to work full time, using AI and other tools to help build the infrastructure of the business. The transition required additional work and less certainty, but it also gave her the opportunity to test her ideas before making the leap completely. “I've always found the best way to get started is to just take that first step,” Misty Leon expresses in Episode 262 of You Are a Lawyer.That first step doesn't have to be quitting your job tomorrow. Misty's story shows how a future business, side project, new skill, or professional interest can begin alongside an existing legal career. The important part is moving beyond thinking about what you might eventually do and finding one tangible action that moves you toward it. This episode is produced by Skip the Boring Stuff, a podcast strategy company for business owners and creatives.

Elektra Yao is an international attorney, law firm founder, and lifelong creative who built a legal career serving artists and creators. In this episode, Elektra shares how studying and working internationally shaped her approach to law, why she considers law her creative medium, and why young attorneys should network, experiment, and fail faster. Lawyer Side Hustles Elektra encourages young lawyers to think of career development almost like having two jobs. The first is becoming excellent at the substantive work of being an attorney. The second is intentionally developing relationships, joining committees, finding mentors, attending events, and creating a professional reputation that exists beyond a job title. That additional investment can create options when an unexpected career change eventually arrives. "For my baby attorneys, my young attorneys, fail faster. Fail faster, fail faster,” Elektra Yao expresses in Episode 261 of You Are a Lawyer.For Elektra, experimenting early is preparation rather than failure. She encourages lawyers to use the early years of their careers to meet people, test ideas, develop skills, and make themselves known within the legal community. As responsibilities increase later in a career, time becomes increasingly valuable, making those early relationships and experiences an important professional foundation. This episode is produced by Skip the Boring Stuff, a podcast strategy company for business owners and creatives.

Kayla Williams-Campbell is Deputy Director of Community Legal Services of Prince George’s County, where she oversees attorneys, manages grants, and supports eviction prevention programs. In this episode, Kayla shares how networking opened doors throughout her career, why public service became her passion, and how young lawyers can build careers around work they genuinely care about. Lawyer Side Hustles Kayla’s career story expands the idea of what lawyers can build beyond traditional client representation. Although she isn’t pursuing a conventional side hustle, her role requires her to use skills that reach far beyond litigation. Grant writing, program management, data reporting, staff supervision, training development, and organizational leadership have all become important parts of her work. Those skills have allowed her to create impact without spending every day in the courtroom. “I just want to highlight the importance of taking advantage of different areas of law that your office provides,” Kayla Williams-Campbell expresses in Episode 260 of You Are a Lawyer.That approach has allowed Kayla to explore expungements, domestic violence matters, wills, and other areas beyond eviction prevention. Rather than allowing a job title to define the limits of her experience, she intentionally looks for opportunities to learn. For young lawyers, that mindset can turn a single position into a much broader professional education and create options for future career moves, leadership opportunities, or entirely new directions. This episode is produced by Skip the Boring Stuff, a podcast strategy company for business owners and creatives.