Lerae Funderburg

Truth is, I never actually wanted to be a lawyer. I went to law school because people always told me I should be one, and at the time, I couldn’t think of anything better to do. Plus, I’m one of those strange people who love office supplies – paper, colored pens, post its, stationary – you name it. Law school was just an opportunity for me to play with all of my favorite toys. I graduated at the top of my class and passed the California bar first time around. I went into it like, if I don’t pass, I’ll have to figure out something else to do with my life, because again, I wasn’t sold on a career in the law. After all, I’d never met a lawyer I liked, and I usually didn’t hear good things about them. I wasn’t looking forward to joining that crowd.

I jumped around in the legal profession for about a year after passing the bar. Trying out different practice areas – cannabis law, employment law, personal injury law, and entertainment law. Entertainment law is the area of law that stuck for me. I like music, reading and writing, copyrights and trademarks, so it made sense for me to be a music attorney. But it wasn’t until I was out on my own and could make my own rules that I really came into my own. I hated law firm culture. I didn’t fit the mold and I wasn’t trying to. It wasn’t until I went through my glow up and became comfortable and confident in who I was and the value that I bring to any table, that I really started to shine.

At first, I would see the side eye from other attorneys. I was too much for them. Hell, I’m too much for most people, but I spent too much time hiding who I was before. Once I fell in love with the woman standing before you today, there wasn’t a thing anyone could say or do to make me hide her under a bushel. And although other lawyers would mumble about me under their breath, my target audience began forming lines at my doorsteps. My phones were ringing off the hook and people I’d never met had decided based off of my social media presence that I was going to be their attorney. You wouldn’t believe how many times a client told me they put me down on their vision board or business plan and now here they are. Or how many people contact me just to tell me how much they appreciate all of the knowledge and value I provide in my newsletters and that they’ve learned so much since subscribing. It wasn’t long before I started getting recognition from my peers about how I was “killing it”.

Now, they wanted to know my secret. How did I grow my following? How do I consistently bring in income via social media? How do I keep business booming to the point that I turn away clients and money that doesn’t match my energy?

People say you should always do in life, whatever it is that people constantly come to advice for you on, and for me – those things are entertainment and business legal advice and counsel and growing a successful solo law firm. I knew that while social media was a great marketing medium, it was only one marketing medium, so I made it my business to become not just a person who runs a law firm, but a marketer who happens to market legal services. And it was when I made that transition, I began to see the most growth and stability in my business. With my tried-and-true strategies as a law firm owner combined with the implementation of The 1-Page Marketing Plan, I am able to help other attorneys take their law firm to new heights.