Start Before You’re Ready!

Alexandra Kontos Esq.
RKE Law Group, Partner

I have always loved to write. I graduated from college with a degree in Public Relations. I even worked as a Senior Staff Writer for my college newspaper. Then came law school during which I un-learned everything I’d learned about writing, and replaced it with the rigid, law school-required IRAC method (Issue, Rule, Analysis, Conclusion… for those who are curious). Then, of course, followed several years of drafting legal letters, notices and motions in my practice. I’ve done my share of writing. So, why have I felt so much resistance to sitting down and committing to writing this blog?

I’ve recently picked up meditation as a way to relieve stress and become a more centered and spiritual person. I’m a huge fan so far! When I sit in the “stillness” (as my woo-woo friends say), I feel guided to answers that I’ve been looking for. So, for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been seeing “signs” and Facebook and Instagram posts EVERYWHERE with this message: “Start before you’re ready.” So here I am!

When I look back at the last few years since we first hung our shingle and went out on our own, that is exactly how we’ve approached opportunities:  we start before we’re ready. The three of us met at a giant “foreclosure mill” law firm during the height of the foreclosure/housing market crisis. The work itself was very faceless, in that there was little, if any, client interaction, and we certainly weren't helping anyone, aside from helping the banks foreclose on struggling homeowners who could not afford their mortgage payments.

I remember conversations about how we should go out on our own and actually help people SAVE their homes. We had the experience from both sides of the law; we loved to help people; and we wanted to make an impact in this world (doesn't every lawyer start out wanting that?) We had plenty of drive, but what we DIDN'T have was capital to comfortably start the business, clients, or a concrete plan for what the business would actually look like and how it would operate.

We did it anyway. We street-hustled our way into business networking groups and professional happy hours, and talked to whoever would listen. We gave away a lot of free legal advice, and a ton of our time, but we made relationships that later proved to be invaluable to our law firm and to us as individuals. We started before we were ready, and learned along the way.

These efforts led us to work with a marketing company who gave us a huge (and I mean HUGE) boost to our bottom line. This company knew how to generate leads, and allowed us to focus on what we were good at: the law and helping people. The explosive growth in business came at the expense of having to outsource certain aspects of our business, and not having complete control and autonomy over our law firm, and over the manner in which we served our clients. As fate would have it, about a year later, it was time to put our big-girl pants on and bring everything back in-house (i.e. I hired six loan modification processors in one week’s time!) And, no, we were definitely NOT ready for this. But we did it anyway. And, thank you Universe!

Now that you know our story, I’ll tell you about our intention for this blog (by the way, I can actually feel the resistance lifting as my fingers hit the keys on my MacBook Pro... Yay!!)

Our vision is to provide a platform for women to learn about who we are, and why we do what we do. The legal world has traditionally been a man’s world, and we are here to change that. We want to inspire women to gain control of their lives, and to lead their families and their businesses to a healthy and abundant future. We want to inspire little girls (like my daughters, Alexa, 5, and Athena, 3) to set super-high goals, and to never play small in life. We want to change the perception of the legal industry and, while we’re at it, we want to change the world.

Please keep reading this blog. Send us comments. Tell us what you want to hear more about and less about. At RKE, we dig honesty, so don’t be shy! You will hear from Monica and Lisa, my “Sisters-in-Law and Business” (a/k/a my Partners in this crazy venture), as well as more from me. We will probably stumble along the way, but we totally expect that… and that’s part of the fun!

Remember that if you feel resistance before setting out to take action on something you've been wanting or meaning to do, this is totally normal. The reward on the other side will be so great! (I promise!!) Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best:  “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”

So, I encourage you to take the first step. Start Before You’re Ready! J

Peace, Love and Lawyering…

Alexandra Kontos, (The “K”)

Chief Business Development Officer; Guardian of Client and Team Happiness and RKE Culture; Attorney & Head of the Family Wealth Building Division