The BD Catalyst

Kristo Sween, BD Coach, Trainer and CGO at Lawyer BookBuilder
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Marketing

A podcast for law firm business development and marketing changemakers.

  1. 4d ago

    Emily LaCount, Marketing & Events Manager at Carlton Fields

    Emily LaCount, Marketing and Events Manager at Carlton Fields, joins The BD Catalyst to dig into the ways law firm events work as business development tools and how attorneys are involved from invitation lists to follow-up post-event. She walks through why, post-pandemic, attorneys and clients demand more intentional, high-touch experiences, rather than the old standard "beer, wine, and cheese" event. Emily talks about how her firm pairs seasoned shareholders with associates to teach real networking skills in low-stakes settings, and fosters structured, low-lift follow-up that helps attorneys turn a good event into a great relationship. Events aren't the finish line, Emily says. They're just the opening shot.

  2. Jul 16

    Marguerita B. Dolatly, Director of Business Development at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP - Part 2

    In Episode 12 of The BD Catalyst, Kristo continues his conversation with Marguerita Dolatly, Director of Business Development at Katten. Marguerita shares a training session that nearly fell flat and what it taught her and her attorneys about the value of failing and strategies on how to pivot. Marguerita and Kristo also dig into AI's growing role in legal BD, from live networking research to drafting first passes lawyers can make their own, and close with a discussion of Marguerita's core mantra: business development can be learned and taught, it isn't a unique personality trait.

  3. Jul 14

    Marguerita B. Dolatly, Director of Business Development at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP - Part 1

    In Episode 11 of The BD Catalyst, Kristo sits down with Marguerita B. Dolatly, Director of Business Development at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. This is part one of a two-part conversation in which Marguerita, a former practicing attorney turned two-decade BD leader, shares some of her coaching mantras and philosophy: no fixed template, no forcing extroverted lawyers into round tables or introverted lawyers onto panels, just helping each attorney find the approach that's actually theirs to sustain. Marguerita and Kristo dig into emotions and personality traits on the way to what Marguerita calls the "glimmer moment," the instant a lawyer sees a suggestion and recognizes it as something they could genuinely do, and how that recognition becomes the seed of a repeatable habit. Coaching lawyers is less about behavior modification and more about self-recognition.

  4. Jul 9

    Alexandra DeFelice, CMBDO at Jeffer Mangels & Mitchell LLP

    Alexandra DeFelice, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at Jeffer Mangels & Mitchell LLP, joins the podcast to share how she turned a wave of unexpected turnover into an opportunity to elevate her team's roles and educate her firm's attorneys to see the BDM team as trusted and valued partners. The conversation is a masterclass in building talent and fostering trust. By coaching confidence and a consultative approach, Alexandra's team now delivers higher-level solutions and outstanding client service. They are modeling key components of business development that attorneys would do well to emulate.

  5. Jun 30

    Laura Gutierrez, Director of Referral Partnerships at JD Supra

    In Episode 9 of The BD Catalyst, Kristo sits down with Laura Gutierrez, Director of Referral Partnerships at JD Supra, for a conversation about what it's like to grow up inside law firms, literally. Laura's mother worked at a Minneapolis firm for thirty years, and Laura was in the office by age eight, long before she ever considered a career in legal marketing. Laura shares the moment that changed everything, when she saw the data behind a piece of content for the first time and realized the potential when marketing and intelligence work together. She also makes a sharp case for where AI fits in a writer's process and where it doesn't, arguing that when everyone uses the same tools the same way, you just get an average, not the unique voice that actually builds a book of business.

  6. Jun 18

    Amanda Bekric, MBA, Marketing Manager at Dady & Gardner, P.A.

    In this episode of the BD Catalyst, Kristo sits down with Amanda Bekric, MBA, Marketing Manager at Dady & Gardner, P.A., for a conversation about the "old-fashioned" secret sauce behind her firm's success: genuine, deeply human relationships built on trust and authenticity, in a national franchise law practice. Amanda shares how she channels David Kelly's "fail faster, succeed sooner" ethos in her own approach with attorneys by encouraging them to show up authentically, embrace the occasional fumble, recover quickly and let real human connection be what actually wins clients. The result is a firm culture where what clients hear on the phone, see online, and experience in the room are all exactly the same. And that consistency is a metric that truly predicts decades of client retention.

  7. Jun 11

    Lisa Jones, Senior Practice Development Manager at Miller & Martin

    This week on the BD Catalyst, Kristo sits down with Lisa Jones, Senior Practice Development Manager at Miller & Martin, for a practical, grounded conversation about what it actually looks like to move the needle on business development inside a law firm, sometimes one attorney at a time. Lisa shares how pairing consistent coaching with real accountability has helped one of her attorneys go from casting a wide net to building genuine, results-producing relationships over the course of three years. Lisa also talks about why BD professionals who stay close to the process, not just the outcome, make all the difference. Her closing thought is the one that sticks: many of the successes in her career aren't hers alone. They belong to the attorneys she's coached, trained and mentored.

  8. Jun 4

    Kaley Green, Director of Business Development at Fogler, Rubinoff LLC

    In Episode 6 of The BD Catalyst podcast, Kristo sits down with Kaley Green, Director of Marketing and Business Development at Fogler, Rubinoff LLP, for a conversation that ranges from what it takes to build and inspire BD culture at a regional mid-market firm, to what happens when two law firm BDM professionals (who also happen to be Irish dance parents) walk into a podcast. Kaley shares a robust collection of parallels between competitive Irish dancing and lawyer business development. From the power of a first impression to making the case that the same discipline, resilience, and repetition that brings wins in the competition hall is exactly what delivers success in client loyalty and business development.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

A podcast for law firm business development and marketing changemakers.

Information

  • Creator
    Kristo Sween, BD Coach, Trainer and CGO at Lawyer BookBuilder
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 David Freeman Consulting Group