Sabrina Shaheen Cronin Podcast – Women in Leadership

Wise Counsel Sabrina Shaheen Cronin

Sabrina Shaheen Cronin is not your typical lawyer. She is also a musician and actress who takes the job title of counselor very seriously and literally.



"I always say if you don't have difficulties, will then you won't grow, you won't know what true growth is and hard lessons can teach you to propel yourself forward and move you further. It really, really elevates you to that next level."



What prompted her to change careers from the arts into law was what she was seeing and experiencing around her. "When I was pursuing a music career I decided to go to law school shortly after my undergraduate degree, because I wanted some of my passion for the arts to translate, to really help people. I was in front of the camera a lot and as a musician, as well as an actress, I felt the need to be a voice for people in my community of music theater." She did not like how she was being treated or how others were being treated. "And I thought it would be a good way to be a voice for them." While working in entertainment law she has also worked in general business areas and has found that people needed help getting through tough times when family legal matters arise. "I have found that over time, at the end of the day, people just really need someone to help them through one of the toughest phases in their lives."

Honest Communications

Children need those tools to they need to learn how to resolve conflict in a very mature way

She often has to give communication advice to clients, especially in family law situations, where emotions can run high. She's a family law specialist and an expert in managing shared parenting. One of her goals is to get acrimonious parents out of the courtroom and into her workshops. Successful co parenting, she says is about good, honest, open communication. "I think that a healthy dialogue about issues that concern you should be had maturely and reasonably and respectfully. When I coach my co parenting clients, and when I'm in the middle of a very high conflict, divorce with children, I will tell my clients look, you have to learn how to communicate effectively, not fly off the handle with such heated emotion, not react in the moment, and not project all of your anger and frustration at the other person, especially when your children are watching. Children need those tools too, they need to learn how to resolve conflict in a very mature way. And I think that's where a lot of issues arise with couples, because they don't know how to resolve those conflicts in a healthy mature way."

Grace is Amazing

Very often she believes it is about showing grace and understanding for the other person. "I firmly 100% agree that we wouldn't have such polarizing views in the realm of politics these days. I believe people are so quick to judge without that compassion, they don't put themselves in the other person's shoes, they don't care to know."

So many people are so worried about what their next line is, or what they want to say next, that they don't take the time to listen

Her acting skills especially the art of listening have been very useful to her in her work and she uses these skills daily. "I learned to hone in on what people are saying, really saying. Being a good actress or actor, is someone who can react, who can hear what the other person is really saying, who can feel the emotion of the other person, be sensitive to it, be leaning in and turn tuned in to that, and then reacting accordingly. So many people are so worried about what their next line is, or what they want to say next, that they don't take the time to listen to what that other person is saying. And therein lies once again, the disconnect between people, between communities, between civilizations, it's that skill, that we are so devoid of right now that really needs to be honed in on and for many people.