Powerhouse Lawyers

Welcome back to Powerhouse Lawyers with Erin Gerner!   PHL Retreat [00:00] Join us for an in-person community building experience. Reserve your spot now: https://www.eringerner.com/Powerhouse-Lawyers-Retreat    Intro [01:44]   Guest Introduction: Jessica Medina [02:15] Jessica is a lawyer turned accredited financial counselor. After accruing over two hundred thousand dollars in student loans, becoming a single mom to twins in her 2L year, and graduating from Columbia Law School, Jessica made a massive career shift.  Jessica knew early on that she wanted to be a lawyer– as early as high school. She has dreams of changing the criminal justice system from the inside! With her growing responsibilities as a a mom, it became hard to digest how her career was shaping her life. She had virtually no time with her children. Life became wake up, work, sleep, and repeat.  After transitioning her career to work with the FCC, taking a 50% pay cut, Jessica decides she needed stability. Out launched her work as a financial counselor. Money Myth: Lawyers aren’t good with money [09:42] Lawyers are almost always the expert in most rooms we walk in. It's uncomfortable to be put in the opposite seat, where you don’t know anything about what’s going on. Facing the facts of our financial wellbeing is uncomfortable. We have a disinclination to pay attention to math and numbers because that isn’t what our profession is based in! If we reach out for help with our finances, someone else will know our dirty secret. That we aren’t in fact the well paid professional that everyone puts us on the pedestal to be. We don’t know everything.   Single momhood and attorney life [12:15] Becoming a mom in law school solidified Jessica’s true values. Which made it easier to make hard decisions. Her values changed as her family evolved – stability became more and more important than the dream she created for herself in high school. As a financial counselor, her values have helped her figure out the flexibility needed for herself and her clients as they work through the different phases of their life. Everything is temporary, but what do you need right now? Biggest struggles for lawyers  [18:21] Student Loan Debt. The process to become student loan debt free is sticky because the options are so plentiful and tailored for such specific situations. The average loan debt for law students is $145,000.  Fear of the numbers. Facing the facts of your financial situation is scary. Some people know they aren’t making enough money and don’t want to face the facts. Others are very comfortable with their lifestyle, but don’t know that their current lifestyle isn’t aligned with the goals they say they have for themselves. Golden Handcuffs [27:14] A lot of Jessica’s clients find themselves in the loop of paying for convenience. When you work as much as we all do, we end up paying more for food delivery, last minute vacation flight bookings, or house cleaners. Changing your lifestyle, changes your money and vice versa. Once you shift your life outside of survival mode, you can see where you’re spending your money and time.   Jessica Medina at the first Erin Gerner Retreat [31:00] Jessica speaks to her experience as a speaker and attendee at my very first retreat! The women that attended were all warm and welcoming. The space was created for each person to be vulnerable about not just their struggles, but also their desires and goals!   Jessica’s Fall 2023 Retreat [38:00] Register for Jessica’s Fall 2023 retreat here. This retreat equips women lawyers on how exactly to leave the world of law. You aren’t crazy! You should have the audacity to dream big and audacious things for yourself! Sometimes those dreams don’t include the law. Join the retreat to get tools on how to make the financial moves you need to build the life you want.   Guest Questions [42:12]  Jessica answers my signature guest questions: What would you tell your baby lawyer self? What is your superpower?   Closing [46:00]   Join the Powerhouse Lawyers community now! **add link to the podcast landing page** https://www.eringerner.com/powerhouselawyers-podcast    Burnout and overwhelm may be a part of your everyday life, but it doesn't have to be! Here are five action steps that helped me crawl my way out of the weeds of life and into building the life I wanted and knew I deserved. Eliminate overwhelm in life AND law, now! https://www.eringerner.com/eliminating-overwhelm  Connect with Jessica Medina: Work with Jessica https://www.jessicamedinallc.com/scheduling   Jessica’s Breakthrough Retreat https://www.jessicamedinallc.com/fallretreat2023  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jessicamedinallc/  LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-medina-51040b19/  Facebook https://www.facebook.com/jessicamedinallc    Stay connected with Erin Gerner Website eringerner.com    LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-gerner/  Facebook https://www.facebook.com/erin.w.gerner  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/eringerner/?hl=en