The Limitless Lawyer

Lawyer turned Shoe Company President

Matthew Miller, President of CLAE shoe company shares his wisdom below. With a combination of interest and luck, he followed an opportunity that has proven quite satisfying to him. It seems as if, for him and others, being a lawyer is just the platform on which to build an exciting career. For the pdf, click here.

MATTHEW MILLER, President, CLAE shoe company

1. Why did you go to law school?
I liked the idea of a constantly evolving profession.

2. When did you first think about leaving the practice of law or decide to quit law school?
I had a dream that I wouldn't be a lawyer for the rest of my life. Two weeks later a client offered me an in-house position as COO/general counsel.

3. What thought, experience or event first inspired your current career choice?
I've always loved shoes and as a lawyer, I had several shoe companies as clients. I learned about the business from the legal perspective and thought I could do it too.

4. What was the very first action you took when you decided to switch careers?
Accepted an in-house position that still involved the law but started my transition towards a non-legal career.

5. What resources (people, books, money) assisted you most during your transition?
Luck?

6. How did you handle fear and/or uncertainty during your transition?
Denial of what the change would mean.

7. What skills from law school or your legal career have proven most useful in your new career?
Law school has given me so many skills – an analytical approach to problem solving, an understanding of cost benefit analysis, an understanding of contract law – that I use every day in business it is impossible to list them all. I have no regrets at all about going to law school.

8. What advice would you give to someone trying to make the leap from law into your field?
Do something that you love and understand.

9. Any final words of wisdom? How has living your passion impacted your life?
I loved being a lawyer, but I also love not being a lawyer. But I have found that if you seek out something that you find entertaining and that you feel passionate about you won’t mind the hard work that is required.

Terry Carter: Update

Quick update on Terry Carter, owner of Travertine Spa. We featured him before here.

Travertine Spa owner looks to make bigger makr in body-care market, LA Times, July 21, 2008 by Ronald D. White

Terry emphasized in our first encounter that he didn't hate the law but simply believed that he wanted to do more. He reinforces that theme in this article as well. "Carter said his training gave him the legal skills to write his own business contracts and the foreign language and people skills to pick the brains of spa experts and lab technicians in formulating his products."

Transitioning to a career where transferable skills aren't obvious and being a lawyer doesn't impress

Antonia Floyd made a tremendous leap from law practice to the world of beauty and fashion. I say tremendous because, as she indicates, she "...left law school thinking [she] could jump right in to being a 6 figure manager and found that [she] had to work full time for free before anyone would even take [her] seriously." How's that for a wake-up call?

That is just a teaser because I think anyone who is thinking about entering a field where traditional legal expertise is not obvious or even valued should take the time to read Antonia's survey in its entirety. Continue reading below; and if you still want to download a pdf version, click here.

Antonia Floyd, Calvin Klein Global Marketing Coordinator

1. Why did you go to law school?

I was a business major in college and as graduation approached, I just didn't know what I wanted to do. And, the prospect of doing something completely random for only $40-50K a year wasn't appealing. I knew I always wanted to go back to school so I set my sights on getting my MBA. A few mentors and teachers told me that the top programs don't generally take students fresh out of college with no full time experience. So, I decided that the JD/MBA would be my best route to getting into b-school - I was serious when I said I didn't want to work! I studied for both entrance exams - did well on them both - and started applying for law schools with the intention of applying to the joint degree program during my first year. I got into Harvard, and there was no question, that's where I was going. My father and my older sister are both attorneys. But, there was no pressure on me to follow in their steps, it was more like an absence of pressure to sit and examine what kind of career I really wanted. My family's thinking was that the legal education is a great primer for many things and that the law is a solid, stable career - so even if I eventually quit practicing, I would still be in a great position in life.

2. When did you first think about leaving the practice of law or decide to quit law school?

During law school, I was never sold on the idea of practicing to begin with. I knew going in that I did not want to be a lawyer. My first year, I really explored the more traditional non-legal careers for lawyers and fell for management consulting. I went to a presentation from McKinsey & Co. and saw that their work was exactly the kind I wanted to do and that they didn't even need me to have an MBA to do it. So, I did not apply to the business school for the joint degree as I planned, thinking that my law degree would be more than enough to get me into the kinds of fields that I wanted.

3. What thought, experience or event first inspired your current career choice?

My blog. I started my blog on a whim, after having finished my last day as a summer associate in a DC law firm. I had always liked beauty, and more than that, the products. I was really into products - the packaging, the design, the displays, the ingredients, delivery systems, colors, textures, smells, everything. I loved it and I absorbed it like an encyclopedia. Eventually, I started writing and recommending products to my friends and blog readers. I enjoyed the work I poured into that blog for FREE far more than anything I did at that firm that earned me $2,300 per week.

4. What was the very first action you took when you decided to switch careers?

When I got my offer for a permanent position at the firm after graduation, I was very hesitant to accept it. After a few weeks, I didn't quite realize how much I really had the passion for beauty but I did know that working at that firm wouldn't get me any closer to uncovering that true passion. So, I politely declined that offer without anything else in hand. I went back to management consulting and tried my hand at another round of case interviews. I made it to the final round but did not get an offer. That forced me to really step back and examine myself and what I wanted out of a career. My thought process up until then was that I'd be a consultant then make sure to take assignments at companies I liked - L'Oreal, Chanel, Saks Fifth Avenue - and eventually lateral over to one. Not getting the consulting job made me think about just eliminating the middle man entirely and pursuing those opportunities on my own. I first sought out an internship at a luxury department store in Boston just to get a better feel of the environment of beauty and fashion. Then, I trolled my personal network for contacts at major firms and ended up getting in touch with a friend of a friend at L'Oreal. Through her, I was able to talk to her manager and then meet with a few people in Human Resources. Though I didn't eventually get a job there, that process made me start mining any networks I had for contacts. I took to the alumni directory, spent hours researching the industry online, joined trade organizations for access to the membership rosters and career banks, I even reached out to people I didn't know at all through LinkedIn and asked questions about their experiences. I networked my tail off!

5. What resources (people, books, money) assisted you most during your transition?

My most valuable resources were the trade organization for my industry - Cosmetic Executive Women - my alumni directory, and the support of my family and friends. My parents let me move back in after I graduated and still didn't have a job and also supported me financially when I went to New York to work an unpaid internship at a skin care firm.

6. How did you handle fear and/or uncertainty during your transition?

I don't know that I handled it in any particular way. There were times that I thought that I just couldn't take it and times when I thought that I would have been better off (financially at least) if I had just taken the firm job. I think the one thing that really helped me hold it together was knowing, deep down all the way to my core, that I was doing the right thing for me. That was the only thing that kept me from giving up and gave me the strength to perservere despite the snide comments that people can sometimes make. I knew that if I did give up, I would regret it.

7. What skills from law school or your legal career have proven most useful in your new career?

A big picture focus. Law school really helped me be able to take a huge step back and see everything and exactly where it falls into larger plans. I was also a trained mediator in law school and those skills have helped me to be able to always stay above the fray.

8. What advice would you give to someone trying to make the leap from law into your field?

I would tell anyone looking to move from law - a field that is highly paid and prestigious - to beauty that humility is number one, followed closely behind by perserverence. This transition is not a common one. There aren't too many lawyers launching new fragrances or makeup lines, so a lot of managers and HR professionals are not going to be gung ho or impressed by an alternative skill set. The solid truth is that in this industry, you learn by doing and the doing is respected far more than degrees or other experiences. I left law school thinking I could jump right in to being a 6 figure manager and found that I had to work full time for free before anyone would even take me seriously. Being humble is the key to convincing people that you are serious and willing to put in the same work that they all did despite your degree. Perseverence is next. I got told no a lot more times than I got a yes and I got ignored even more times than I got a no. Perserverence is key. Being able to wake up every day and know that you are going to lay the seeds for your future even if you can't see anything grow. Anyone who isn't humble and persistent would be better served by choosing the path more taken.

9. Any final words of wisdom? How has living your passion impacted your life?

I'm happy. Doing what I want and living my passion has made me happier than anything else. I don't make a ton of money and I still have worries and concerns about paying back the dreaded student loans, but it's all worth it - because there's never a day when I dread going to work or don't want to be in my office. I may be tired some days and want to sleep in, but I never want to skip work.