“It is important to connect with people. Not only in our personal lives, but also professionally. Establishing connections with our clients, colleagues, and co-workers not only impacts our “bottom line,” it is imperative for deriving joy in our professional lives. And often, the only way to truly connect with another is to open yourself up to them. We must reveal layers of ourselves to build connections. Often those layers are made up of our vulnerabilities. I think of it as ‘exposing our soft underbellies.’

We are all aware of how to build connections in our personal lives: be present and truthful, sharing parts of ourselves that the rest of the world typically doesn’t get to see. But in my legal practice, I found I was able to build trust, credibility, and lasting professional relationships by sharing my personal experiences with my clients. In particular, sharing with them the story of why I went into trust and estate law and my very painful personal story of what happened when my mom passed away.”