The Hardest Decision I Ever Made

Lisa Ehrenreich, Attorney
Partner, RKE Law Group

I’m the “E” in “RKE”, and for anyone that has ever thought about opening up your own company or business (yes, believe it or not, I've learned that a law firm IS a business), I think you’ll find my personal story quite interesting – and perhaps even inspiring if you’re on the fence about moving forward with your own personal entrepreneurial dream.

I come from a long line of small business owners on both my mother’s and my father’s side of the family. My grandfather on my mother’s side owned several small businesses over his life time – though none of them were ever very monetarily successful. My grandfather on my dad’s side was a clothing tailor and owned his own shop most of his working life.

My father, following in his father’s footsteps, opened up a motorcycle shop in the Fort Walton Beach area when he was young which he owned for many years. My dad then met my mom and decided to try a different, new business venture. He decided to pioneer a new business model (which to our knowledge had never been attempted before) over 40 years ago. He decided to try renting out these new water craft vehicles called “jet ski’s” right off the beach to anyone who wanted to ride for a 30-60 minute interval. My dad started out with a mere two jet ski’s to rent. He then grew and expanded the business over the years. When I was 15, I remember being at my parent’s business on the beach and counting over 30 jet ski’s and the new “wave runners” that had just come out. They still own the business and continue to rent watercraft today. It was a very unique and cool up bringing for me and my brother and sisters.

Although owning such a unique seasonal business, on the beach, by the water and in the sun, may seem like the coolest and best business in the world (for me and my friends it sure was!), I also saw firsthand the stress and angst of what business ownership could entail. For more than 20 years now, my parent’s employee count during the summer months has been around 18-20 employees. Over the years, I witnessed employees not showing up or calling out unexpectedly; the stress of dealing with all walks of life from the general public; watching my parents have to completely re-build their business countless times due to hurricane devastation (and worrying about this constantly every summer and fall), and the concern and fear that would settle on my parents’ faces after a particularly slow day, or even worse, a slow week or month. Heaven forbid if it was a rainy summer! My parents were constantly concerned about being able to meet the expenses of the business, their payroll for the week, and after everything was paid, whether they would be able to take anything home for them to pay for our families bills and to put food on our table.

I witnessed my mother being constantly stressed out about our finances at home, as well as just the general concerns that come along with owning a business, including taxes, insurance, processing payroll timely, paying bills on-time and every other concern that comes along with owning your own business.

I remember my mom always telling me when I was growing up, “Lisa, you never want to own your own business. It takes over your life and you become a slave to it.” Needless to say, watching my parent’s stress every summer over the business and heeding my mother’s advice, I made a personal resolution when I was in high school that I was going to go to college, get a great job (I wasn't sure what in – I just knew it was going to be great) and that I was going to focus on climbing the “corporate ladder” all the way to the top. I had absolutely no interest in being as stressed out as my parents looked and felt every summer.

Fast forward 15 years from my sophomore year of high school. I had successfully completed college with honors (in a degree that I absolutely did not enjoy – computer technology and database management), worked a brief period of time at an office job in “Corporate America” (which I also discovered I wasn't that crazy about either!), and had finished law school and was the managing attorney of 30 plus people at a large law firm in Fort Lauderdale, FL. I found myself constantly stressed out and unable to sleep, tired and anxious, and between my commute and work hours, dedicating a minimum of 60 plus hours every week to working for someone else. I was not a happy camper and I was completely burned out after a mere 5 years. At this point, my parent’s stress levels in their business seemed like something that I would happily exchange my current professional life for. I also felt trapped with very little freedom and independence. I wanted something to be different but didn't know what to do or how to proceed in my professional life.

Enter my now business partner and “sister-in-law” Monica Reyes. Monica is someone who seemed to have always had the itch to go out on her own. We met and worked together at the law firm where I was managing at this time. Monica and I had become fast friends and she had quickly relayed her ambitions to go out on her own and start her own practice or other business venture. At first, I remember thinking, “well, good for her if she can do that – but this is definitely not for me”. However, the more that Monica spoke about it and the more miserable and burned out that I became with my own professional life, the more appealing this talk of opening your own business became to me. Before I knew it, I wanted in. I wanted to go with her and take the leap into the vast unknown – the leap into owning your own law practice.

We started out with a very small micro loan (which I’m proud to say we paid back in less than two years) and working from our homes. We rented out office space to meet clients, met clients in our condo lobbies and hustled! Our other sister-in-law, Alexandra Kontos, joined us a few months after we took the leap and jumped right in with everything that we were doing. RKE was officially born! We had an office space and our first employee within a year. As our firm (business) exploded, we quickly grew to 5 employees, then 15, then 25 - all the way up to 40.

We all learned, and learned quickly, about the need to have HR policies, and time clocks, and up-to-date technology. We also learned about employees that called in at the last minute or were no shows, about having to deal with Bar regulations, about days and weeks when the in-flow of clients seemed to slow and falter, as well as the stress that comes with having to make sure that our firm’s (now it was really becoming a business in my mind) expenses, payroll and overhead were met. And lastly, that there was something left over for us to take home to pay our bills and put food on our tables.

I will admit – there have been some scary times when I felt beyond overwhelmed. When I was working consistent 60 plus hour weeks and felt stressed beyond belief. I will also admit that there were times that I wanted to throw my hands up and walk away from our business - that I actually almost wished that I was working for someone else.

But then something strange happened - I found that I couldn't. That as hard and as stressed and scared that I felt at times, that for the first time in my professional life, I also felt a sort of personal freedom – an independence in my professional life that I had never experienced before. And I had absolutely grown to love and respect both of my business partners beyond belief. My firm had become my life and my family, and I realized that this was something that I had built and created collectively with my partners. I could never walk away from this creation without a fight. 

The moral of my story is that if you have ever wondered about opening up your own business or had any sort of entrepreneurial dream – just take the plunge and do it! There is no guarantee that you will succeed (but there never is in life, is there?). In fact, most business owners that venture out on their own don’t make it past the year mark their first time. And there are times that it will be scary, and you will feel stressed out beyond your dreams as you grow and learn with your business. However, I can guarantee you that the rewards that are to be reaped when you've achieved success, be it first time success or on a third try, are immense. I've learned that it’s about the journey along the way and not necessarily about the destination. So go on – take the plunge and start your own business – and see how your life and your world around you changes in ways your never thought possible.

I wish you the best of luck. And if you feel like you need assistance as you open up your business, you can give us a call at anytime and we’ll be happy to help you and provide you with some advice – both legal and the type that we have learned on our personal journey.

Until next time….

Lisa Ehrenreich (The "E")

RKE Law Group

Chief Execution Officer, Attorney & Head of the Harmonious Family Separation Division