99 episodes

On The Lawyer's Edge podcast, attorney and professional business coach Elise Holtzman sits down with successful lawyers, legal marketing specialists, business leaders and authors to talk about how lawyers and law firms can grow and sustain healthy, profitable businesses.

The Lawyer's Edge Elise Holtzman

    • Business
    • 5.0 • 15 Ratings

On The Lawyer's Edge podcast, attorney and professional business coach Elise Holtzman sits down with successful lawyers, legal marketing specialists, business leaders and authors to talk about how lawyers and law firms can grow and sustain healthy, profitable businesses.

    Valerie Madamba | How to Stand Out as a Thought Leader By Becoming a Better Presenter

    Valerie Madamba | How to Stand Out as a Thought Leader By Becoming a Better Presenter

    Do you struggle to connect with audiences in your public speaking engagements and legal presentations? You can continue to struggle or learn how to be a more engaging and memorable presenter.
    Valerie Madamba knew she had to overcome a huge learning curve as a public speaker if she wanted to be happy and successful as a lawyer. Once she figured out how to connect with an audience and help them solve their problems, she started learning to love being on stage and owning that as part of her career development.
    Now, having gone from regulatory lawyer to legal presentation coach, Valerie has so many great tips, suggestions, and pieces of advice to help you stand out as a thought leader, public speaker, and presenter. And she’s here to talk about the benefits of public speaking as a lawyer who’s a go-to expert in your field.
    In this episode of The Lawyer’s Edge podcast, you’ll learn about how to raise your profile as a visible expert and be known as a leading authority other people seek out. You’ll discover why stories are such a critical vessel and how to use them in your presentations, the most common mistake to avoid in presentations, and steps you can take to begin building a better experience for your audience.
    1:10 - The surprising thing that sparked Valerie’s interest in presentations and public speaking
    4:09 - Why lawyers need to be persuasive speakers, elevate their voices, and tell stories that people will remember
    11:53 - The mistake lawyers make when they deliver their presentations and how to flip it around so that you increase engagement with your material
    18:02 - Where to start if you want to create more engaging presentations and present on a complex topic without dumbing it down
    26:04 - Public speaking trends that have emerged post-pandemic and the impact they’re having on attorneys
    30:25 - Suggestions for making conversations more comfortable for people who are asked to share their experiences
    34:27 - One thing you have to be prepared for as the person leading the presentation
    36:13 - One thing to keep in mind when delivering engaging presentations that position you as a leading authority in your practice area
    Connect with Valerie Madamba Valerie Madamba brings a wealth of experience as a former food and drug regulatory lawyer, having navigated roles in the federal government, Biglaw, and in-house settings. Founding her own legal presentation coaching consultancy, Valerie now resides in Brussels with her family, assisting lawyers worldwide in refining their presentation skills to bolster their practices and brands.
    Valerie Madamba
    Valerie Madamba on LinkedIn Mentioned In How to Stand Out as a Thought Leader By Becoming a Better Presenter Get Connected with The Coaching Team at hello@thelawyersedge.com
    The Lawyer’s Edge
    SPONSOR FOR THIS EPISODE… Today’s episode is brought to you by the coaching team at The Lawyer’s Edge, a training and coaching firm which has been focused exclusively on lawyers and law firms since 2008. 
    Each member of The Lawyer’s Edge coaching team is a trained, certified, and experienced professional coach AND either a former practicing attorney or a former law firm marketing and business development professional. Whatever your professional objectives, our coaches can help you achieve your goals more quickly, more easily, and with significantly less stress.
    To get connected with YOUR coach, just email the team at hello@thelawyersedge.com.

    • 38 min
    Tara Stingley | How to Become a Visible Expert in Your Practice Area

    Tara Stingley | How to Become a Visible Expert in Your Practice Area

    Those first travelers making their way West did so without a roadmap. But in taking the opportunity, they paved the way for the nation’s expansion.
    That spirit of the West is very much rooted in Tara Stingley and the Nebraska law firm of which she is a partner. As the first woman to serve on Cline Williams’ executive committee, she challenged other members to think about how they defined issues and the impact of their decisions.
    She also established her niche as an employment law expert within the legal community. Laying down that foundation has paid dividends in affording her opportunities, as it can for you, too. And unlike that first wave of westward travelers, you don’t have to go forward blindly; Tara has tips to help you build your roadmap to greater visibility.
    In this episode of The Lawyer’s Edge podcast, you’ll hear about the payoff potential in raising your profile and building your brand as a subject-matter expert and how to start proactively doing it (even if you’re still a young lawyer). Tara will also discuss the importance of representation, the need for professional women to stop underestimating their value, what plays into a client’s decision to pick you over others, and so much more!
    1:51 - How Tara became a lawyer and partner at Cline Williams and how the law firm differs from others
    9:51 - The importance of Tara’s role as the first woman on the firm’s executive committee
    13:22 - Why you should strive to increase your visibility as an expert in your field, even when you can’t see an immediate payoff
    20:58 - How lawyers can create branding opportunities for themselves rather than wait for them to appear
    25:06 - The mindset you need for approaching opportunities to raise your profile and ultimately get clients you want to work with
    29:40 - An essential piece of advice for professional women (especially those dealing with imposter syndrome)
    Connect with Tara Stingley
    Tara Stingley is a Partner Cline Williams and the Chair of it’s Labor and Employment Law section. Cline Williams, established in 1857, is Nebraska's oldest existing law firm and is a full-service firm with approximately 60 lawyers working in 5 offices located in Nebraska and Colorado. Tara is also the firm's primary representative to the Employment Law Alliance, the largest international network of labor and employment lawyers. Tara focuses her practice on employment law, advising businesses in a variety of industries on compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations.
    Cline Williams
    Employment Law Alliance
    Tara Stingley on LinkedIn 
    Mentioned In How to Become a Visible Expert in Your Practice Area
    Get Connected with The Coaching Team at hello@thelawyersedge.com
    The Lawyer’s Edge
    SPONSOR FOR THIS EPISODE… Today’s episode is brought to you by the coaching team at The Lawyer’s Edge, a training and coaching firm which has been focused exclusively on lawyers and law firms since 2008. 
    Each member of The Lawyer’s Edge coaching team is a trained, certified, and experienced professional coach AND either a former practicing attorney or a former law firm marketing and business development professional. Whatever your professional objectives, our coaches can help you achieve your goals more quickly, more easily, and with significantly less stress.
    To get connected with YOUR coach, just email the team at hello@thelawyersedge.com.

    • 32 min
    Charlène Gisèle | Banish Burnout to Optimize Performance and Happiness

    Charlène Gisèle | Banish Burnout to Optimize Performance and Happiness

    Are you up late at night, pulling all-nighters, and burning out from the fast-paced nature of your job as a lawyer? 
    As a former litigator, Charlène Gisèle loved all of it! She reveled in the things you’re not supposed to love. While she was thriving in her environment, though, she got a wake-up call that made her realize that she’d been neglecting something along the way. 
    All signs pointed to burnout that affected her health and marriage. She took a drastic turn and eventually changed her focus from litigation to burnout prevention and high performance. Now, she’s fueled with a mission to lead the way in helping lawyers, leading law firms, and Fortune 500 companies optimize performance and transform their lives and businesses by banishing burnout.
    In this episode of The Lawyer’s Edge podcast, you’ll learn how to optimize your performance and happiness through burnout combat and prevention. Charlène will reveal the 3Ds linked to neglect caused by stress and burnout, five aspects to determine where you are on the burnout spectrum, small shifts you need to decrease or break away from burnout, and so much more!
    2:01 - The incident that made Charlène ask, “Will I survive my success?” and caused a career pivot
    5:25 - Charlène’s radical approach to educating herself on ways to combat burnout and the mission it fueled within her
    7:45 - How Charlène approaches lawyers who might not be as open to learning more about anything they suspect is woo-woo or out there
    9:52 - Pain points (and their signs and symptoms) that affect those in the legal industry the most
    11:37 - How the term ‘burnout’ gets misused and how Charlène figures out where someone is on the burnout spectrum
    17:32 - What you can do to start stepping away from, minimizing, or preventing burnout (even if you have a really heavy workload)
    23:22 - Why you should not just do anti-burnout techniques when you need to and how to anchor them as habits easily
    26:56 - Example of how Charlène tailored a blueprint for working out for a hyper-successful client who didn’t feel he had the time for it
    31:02 - A quick way to boost your energy and optimize the way you feel in the morning
    32:05 - What law firms and organizations can do to help people overcome burnout challenges
    35:33 - A recommendation that may help rekindle the love you have for your profession
    Connect with Charlène Gisèle
    Charlène Gisèle is a former Big Law litigator turned High-Performance Coach and founder of the unique Charlène Gisèle® Coaching method. Charlène empowers high-achieving professionals to prevent and recover from burnout without having to sacrifice their career.
    The power of her approach is not to work less, it is about recovering more, which is why her expertise has been featured in major publications and is sought after by world leading organisations and professionals.
    Charlène Gisèle | Instagram | LinkedIn
    The Charlène Gisèle Show
    Mentioned In Banish Burnout to Optimize Performance and Happiness with Charlène Gisèle
    Get Connected with The Coaching Team at hello@thelawyersedge.com
    The Lawyer’s Edge
    Sponsor for the episode...
    Today’s episode is brought to you by the coaching team at The Lawyer’s Edge, a training and coaching firm which has been focused exclusively on lawyers and law firms since 2008.
    Each member of The Lawyer’s Edge coaching team is a trained, certified, and experienced professional coach AND either a former practicing attorney or a former law firm marketing and business development professional. Whatever your professional objectives, our coaches can help you achieve your goals more quickly, more easily, and with significantly less stress.
    To get connected with YOUR coach, just email the team at hello@thelawyersedge.com.

    • 38 min
    Paula Edgar | How to Boldly Be YOU in Everything You Do

    Paula Edgar | How to Boldly Be YOU in Everything You Do

    Paula T. Edgar, Esq. is the CEO of PGE Consulting Group LLC, an organizational strategy firm providing training and educational services to promote professional development and DEI. As a sought-after keynote speaker and facilitator, Paula develops customized programming for attendees, integrating personal branding, relationship building, and business development into each event. Additionally, she hosts the Branding Room Only podcast, which features career stories and strategies on how industry leaders and influencers have built their personal brands. 
    As a civic leader, Paula is active in numerous organizations and social justice initiatives, including serving as a New York City Bar Board Officer, a Commissioner of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Commission on Women, and as a past President of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association (MBBA). She was also a 2015 Council of Urban Professionals (CUP) Fellow and a Trustee of the Ellis L. Phillips Foundation. 
    Having written for and been featured in publications, including the New York Times and Bloomberg Law, Paula has received awards like the Ruth Whitehead Whaley Service Award and the Ms. JD “Women of Inspiration” award. As an attorney, she practiced employment and workplace discrimination law for the New York City Commission on Human Rights. Paula has developed the Engage Your Hustle method, which teaches professionals to elevate their endeavors by asserting themselves boldly. 
    In this episode… Law is a relationship-based profession. Because people are at the core of what you do as a lawyer, being approachable, likable, and REAL can be the key to growing the connections that lead to success and enjoyment. That means being professional, of course, while still showing up as your authentic self.
    Through adversity and unimaginable loss, former practicing lawyer and DEI advocate Paula Edgar has remained authentic and evolved her leadership skills to forge connections and promote inclusivity. She maintains that authenticity is a scale presented on various levels depending on the situation. You must identify an ideal level of interaction and engagement and present yourself accordingly through a crafted elevator pitch. Observe how your audience responds and leverage emotional intelligence to adjust your interactions. If executed correctly, your personal brand should inspire inclusivity and a sense of belonging.
    Join us for this episode of The Lawyer’s Edge Podcast as Elise Holtzman welcomes highly energetic guest Paula Edgar, a former practicing lawyer and the CEO of PGE Consulting Group LLC, to chat about building a personal brand by being boldly authentic. Paula reveals how adversity has shaped her leadership approach, offers advice for lawyers who want to build their own unique brands, and shares practical tips for fostering genuinely inclusive environments.

    • 42 min
    Gina Zapanta | No Excuses: The Power of Investing in Yourself and Others

    Gina Zapanta | No Excuses: The Power of Investing in Yourself and Others

    Gina Zapanta is the Co-founder and Partner of Z.A. Lawyers, a firm dedicated to protecting injured workers’ rights. She is also the CEO of AlderLaw and the Founder of Empowered with Gina, a platform for women to embrace empowerment. Passionate about helping others empower themselves through education, motivation, and community-building, Gina offers events and wellness retreats for women to embrace their power and live life on their terms.
    As an advocate for employees and injured people, she has experience in contracting, healthcare management, and personal injury strategic partnership development. Gina served a two-term appointment on the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association’s Board of Retirement and was appointed to the California Organized Investment Network Commission by the California Insurance Commission.
    Dedicated to addressing education and food insecurities in underserved communities, Gina and her husband established a $100,000 endowment at Loyola Law School Los Angeles for a first-generation Latina to attend law school. She also contributes to many other causes to help further access to quality education and additional opportunities. Through her charitable contributions, Gina demonstrates the value of investing in yourself and others. 
    In this episode… If you think you’re too busy to devote time and attention to having a deep impact on your own life and the lives of others, think again! Meet Gina Zapanta, a practicing attorney and the Founder of Empowered with Gina.
    With an unwavering commitment to community empowerment, self-empowered lawyer Gina Zapanta has created programs and endowments to offer transformational opportunities to motivated women and lawyers. Making a consequential difference in the community begins by helping yourself; you must remain accountable for your actions and decisions and develop your ideal life to achieve self-love. In addition to self-satisfaction, charitable contributions allow you to market your law firm authentically, developing a mission that extends beyond the scope of traditional law.
    Listen in as Elise Holtzman, host of The Lawyer’s Edge Podcast, interviews Gina about how to invest in yourself and others through community involvement and a fierce devotion to pursuing success and bringing others with you. Gina doesn’t pull any punches as she shares the benefits of women’s empowerment programs, the typical barriers to freeing up time for what you really want, and how to empower yourself personally and professionally.

    • 40 min
    Kelly Culhane | Keeping It Real: How To Make a Difference for Yourself and Others

    Kelly Culhane | Keeping It Real: How To Make a Difference for Yourself and Others

    Kelly Rittenberry Culhane is the Founder and Managing Partner of Culhane Meadows, the largest full-service, women-owned law firm in the US. She is a member of the firm’s insurance and outsourcing practice groups, where she handles sourcing human resources, professional services, consultant functions, and risk management counseling. Kelly has over 20 years of experience advising clients on insurance and risk-management matters. Her authenticity makes her a trustworthy and reliable advisor to her clients.
    As a former trial attorney at one of the world’s largest firms, Kelly represented individual accountants and the Big Three firms in complex regulatory matters and was appointed to serve on a task force for a Fortune 100 company advising on CPA regulatory issues. Since 2014, she has been recognized by her peers and clients as one of D Magazine’s Best Lawyers in Dallas. 
    Kelly has been named “First Person” by Womenetics, an organization focused on advancing women as business leaders. As a member of the Board of Directors for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, she mentors and advocates for survivors of exploitation and human trafficking. Through her charitable contributions, Kelly makes a considerable difference for herself and her community. 
    In this episode… Most lawyers want to create positive impact for themselves and others. But how do you do that when faced with daily responsibilities, a mountain of work, and constant pressure to bill hours?
    After experiencing burnout from working 100-hour weeks at a global law firm, Kelly Rittenberry Culhane created an innovative law firm that defies traditional structures. She implemented an objective formulaic compensation system and established an environment that allowed women and diverse individuals to thrive. If you’re facing an internal battle and are struggling to take action, Kelly advises being realistic with yourself to gain the confidence to make profound decisions. By venturing out of your comfort zone, subverting established norms in the legal profession, and remaining humble, you can impact yourself and your clients.
    In this episode of The Lawyer’s Edge Podcast, Elise Holtzman interviews Kelly Rittenberry Culhane, a Founder and the Managing Partner of Culhane Meadows, about making a difference by being true to yourself. Kelly talks about her involvement with YoungLives, how she attracts attorneys who share her firm’s values and goals, and her history as a litigator.

    • 32 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
15 Ratings

15 Ratings

listenerneha ,

Transforming intellectual into practical tips

I love this podcast because it is takes an intellectual approach to examining our realities and how to improve them while also making the takeaways actionable. It feeds my mind as well as my heart!

StarbuxLegalConsutant ,

Great podcast/Great Guests

Elise does a great job of bringing valuable career and marketing advice to the legal community. Her guests are first rate and she does a great job of getting them to share their pearls of wisdom.

Kirsten at KSB Law ,

Outstanding podcast!

The Lawyers Edge is a great podcast for the legal community! I’ve been the owner and managing partner of a woman-owned law firm in New Jersey for the past 15 years. I have listened to practically all of the episodes and always take away something of value. There are many helpful insights from the professionals Elise interviews. Elise herself also provides useful tips and is a skilled podcast interviewer. I strongly encourage others to listen to this podcast!

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