PARTNER, PRIVATE EQUITY MANAGING PARTNER, LOS ANGELES OFFICE LAW SCHOOL GRADUATION YEAR 2003 YEAR JOINED WEIL 2024 HOMETOWN LOS ANGELES, CA If your younger self could see you now, what do you think her reaction would be? I was a very shy little girl. I wanted to be an artist because I loved reading books and drawing quietly in my free time. My younger self would be shocked at what an extrovert I turned into! I would have never, ever thought of being a lawyer – no one in my family had an advanced degree, and even college educations weren’t common (only a few cousins had gone to college). Lucky for me it turns out I was good at school, and as I got more and more invested in my education I knew I wanted to go to college and ultimately get a professional degree. Once in college, I figured out pretty quickly that I wanted to work in business or finance and briefly considered business school. Law school felt like a faster, less risky path to transactional work in the end, so I went that route and just ignored all the classes that tried to convince me to practice litigation. What was your first job? I feel like I have never not had a job. My first job was selling newspaper subscriptions door to door when I was thirteen, and I worked pretty much from then on (other than the first quarter of law school when you weren’t allowed to work, which annoyed me!). I don’t think of any job I had as a bad job, as they all taught me something I would use later – customer service, persuasiveness, attention to detail and similar skills. A lot of what I learned from random jobs has contributed to my career success as much as my legal education did! What is one insight you have now about your career development? Practicing law at the highest level as we do can be incredibly daunting, even more so as a woman. I feel like women are often natural collaborators, which is ultimately a huge strength in building a strong practice, but early on can leave women open to being undermined or dismissed simply because we are open to the perspectives of others (some of which may be said louder or with overconfidence). While it didn’t happen overnight, I worked as a young attorney to build my confidence in my perspectives, and when my contributions to my deal teams proved valuable time and again, I learned to trust my instincts more and more. It didn’t come naturally at first, but it was an important skill to develop, given our clients pay us specifically to be trusted advisors to them in their toughest decisions. How has your definition of success evolved over time? When I was getting started in my legal career, I measured success in more finite milestones – getting a good review, making partner, getting a call from a client with new work. While all of those achievements are important, if that was all I strived for, I think this job would have ultimately become unfulfilling. It may sound a little cheesy, but the pandemic made me focus on what made this demanding career really worth doing, and what my legacy as an attorney could or would be. As a result of that, I have come to focus much more on how I can have a positive impact through my work and my firm for my clients, my team and our community more generally. When I am retired and look back at my time practicing, I am confident those contributions are going to be what I am more proud of than any marquee deal announcement or legal award. I have come to focus much more on how I can have a positive impact through my work and my firm for my clients, my team and our community. “ ” 42 · WEIL WOMEN’S WISDOM
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