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Pamela DeNeuve

Lawyer & Law Firm Peak Performance Strategist

The Lawyer of the Week, Episode 4, Dallas, Texas

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Okeoma Moronu

Creator of the Podcast

The Happy Lawyer Project

Interview Transcript

Pamela: Welcome to Lawyer of the Week. Lawyer of the Week is creating a global community of lawyers, solicitors and their support to inform and to encourage each other. My name is Pamela DeNeuve; please join us for our interview this week.

Pamela: Welcome to Lawyer of The Week, I am so pleased today to introduce you to Okeoma Moronu.

She graduated from Columbia University School of Law with her J.D. and an L. L. M. in international criminal law from the University of Amsterdam.

Upon graduation, she became an associate at Milbank, Tweed Hadley & McCloy in New York. In 2016 she lateraled to Baker Botts LLP. Okeoma recently made a move to In-house. She now serves as the Legal Director for an international helicopter company based in Texas.

In her spare time, she creates free podcasts, provides one-on-one coaching to law school students and young Big Law associates. She leads lifestyle crafting workshops for lawyers who want more happiness in their lives but don’t believe that they have the time energy or ability to go out and find it. That’s very ambitious Okeoma, thank you so much for being here.

Okeoma: Thank you, Pamela, for having me, I’m excited to be on.

Pamela: I’d like to ask you first of all, what made you decide to become a lawyer?

Okeoma: I first got the idea when I took a class in college, and I really enjoyed the class. I didn’t know any lawyers growing up, so it was nothing that I had considered as a child.

To be honest with you, I would say that the decision to be a lawyer is a daily decision; it’s an ongoing process. With every milestone, I’m deciding and really reflecting on whether I’m becoming the professional that I want to be. And, at every stage, I’m looking back and deciding, do I want to be this person in my career. So, I decided once; then I’m deciding over and over again.

Pamela: So, it’s a daily decision for you; that’s great. I love that. I think everybody has to do that. Now, tell us about your biggest wins and your biggest challenges.

Okeoma: I would say that my biggest win is that I have always had the opportunity to work with people that I truly respect and do work that I find intellectually challenging. I’ve been able to do all of this while growing an amazing family.

I don’t know that this matters to everybody, but that was a priority for me. It’s been really important. As a result, my biggest challenge has been finding that community of mentors and peers who don’t hold a belief that it’s necessary to sacrifice your personal life in order to get career success. Finding people that I can look up to, who don’t feel like they’ve had to sacrifice and who could show me the way they make the necessary decisions to get real balance in their careers and lifestyle.

Pamela: Have you been able to find role models?

Okeoma: I have, I think that slowly but surely the doors have opened and you find people in unexpected places. Finding people who have been able to prioritize their family and do what they want both in their personal and professional lives, success often looks different for those people than what you’d expect.

Pamela: That brings me to our next question. What unexpected doors have your practice opened for you?

Okeoma: While I was in Big Law, I found that I really enjoyed working with lawyers; not like the
side lawyers but actually working with lawyers and mentoring and training young lawyers to help them figure out this balance question.

This work of supporting lawyers has become a passion of mine so much that I launched the podcast and I honestly believe that the skills I learned and the relationships I built as a young lawyer, set me up to be able to do the podcast and have the quality guests that I’m able to have.

Pamela: That’s wonderful, and it’s really good to hear that you’re taking that experience and helping others because some lawyers are, like you, looking for mentors or support. What legacy do you want to leave in your law practice?

Okeoma: I’m quickly learning that my legacy will in part be created by living my example. So, by setting an example as a woman of color, practicing law with a family and in alignment with my values and integrity, with my principles, by doing that and showing up every day and saying it can be done and it can be done differently, that is a legacy.

I did not intend to create this legacy, but I see the ripple effects of it, and it’s so meaningful to me. I think that through the podcast, I’m also hoping to create a legacy of service to the profession.

I devoted quite a bit of time to supporting lawyers, and I think like a lot of service providers, we as lawyers take on the stress and anxiety of our client’s problems, and we don’t always get the support and guidance we need to thrive in that environment. So, I’m hoping to be able to continue to support young lawyers in their own practice and their journey, so they can continue to do this work.

Pamela: What is the name of your podcast?

Okeoma: It’s called the Happy Lawyer Project. It was a personal project that I started when I was on my own search for happiness, and now it’s become an inspirational podcast for young lawyers, and I suppose young at heart lawyers as well, who are on whatever stage they may be of finding happiness in their profession.

Pamela: Would you say that a lot of your audience are millennials?

Okeoma: Yes, I would say that a lot of them are but not all of them. I’ve certainly gotten feedback from lots of listeners who aren’t millennials but who found value in just hearing stories of other people who’ve struggled but managed to stick it out and really find their own growth in the profession.

Pamela: I have one last question for you, what is the one thing you like to do to manage your stress levels?

Okeoma: To be honest, I just ask for help. For me, I think it all starts with a belief that unmanageable amounts of stress is not the cost of doing business. If my stress levels get too high, for me, that’s a signal that things are out of alignment in my life, business and career. I’ve really put systems in place in my life that empower me to set boundaries and allow me to focus my energy productively and not get to that point where I feel like the stress is unmanageable.

Pamela: Okeoma, thank you so much for being our lawyer of the week. For anyone, we hope that you will check out her podcast which is called the Happy Layer Project.

Okeoma: Yes, I’d love to have you guys, and if you know if you like the show, please feel free to reach out because I love to hear from listeners.

Pamela: Welcome again and thank you so much for being our lawyer of the week.

Okeoma: Thank you, Pamela.

Links:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-lawyer-project-inspiration-advice-lifestyle-strategies/id1170841837?mt=2D

Dallascityhall.com

Thank you for joining Lawyer of the Week!

 

Pamela DeNeuve

Lawyer & Law Firm Strategist

pamela@pameladleneuve.com

We Hope to See You Next Week!

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Quotes from our Lawyer of the Week

  • I am here to protect the human rights and I will do the best in my capacity to do so.
    Diana Constantinidou
  • I love this work. I really do. To me, especially now more than ever, we need a strong news media. It’s not just a business. It’s part of our democracy.
    Edward Birk
  • You don’t have to be large and on the world stage to seize these opportunities and to apprehend these threats. It really is a function of the vision and the insight of the leaders. When they get it, then there’s an opportunity for them to persuade and help their partners get the message and act to remake themselves.
    George Beaton
  • I did not intend to create this legacy, but I see the ripple effects of it, and it’s so meaningful to me. I think that through the podcast, I’m also hoping to create a legacy of service to the profession.
    Okeoma Moronu
  • That’s one of the things that I find very satisfying; building bridges between people from different countries, working closely with them and seeking those deeply satisfying relationships that are created in cross-border trade and investment facilitation.
    John Grimley
  • I’m very lucky to have a family and a wife that absolutely just creates a life that’s there and that one can go to. I think about the stress that we experience in our work, that is the best we can offer. So I really live for that. It’s something to be grateful for.
    Nic Swart
  • The legacy that I want to leave in the work that I’m doing is having made a difference and having hopefully spearheaded some type of meaningful change in the culture of the legal profession, as it relates to addiction and mental health specifically.
    Patrick Krill
  • It’s not so much my practice that I want to make a difference in, but I want to know that I left the legal professional a little bit better than I found it.
    Courtney Wylie
  • the real reality is some of the lawyers, some of the law firms, are going to be left behind because they’re not moving into the current reality where they can’t just rely on referrals.
    Montina Portis
  • When you take a lawyer out of the system, you take the voice and the ability of the people to protect themselves from overreaching government and overreaching organizations out the equation.
    Ian Connor Bifferato
  • I think a lot of attorneys are very, obviously, economically driven, which is fine, because we all need to make a living. But, at the end of the day, I also think that we are in this profession to give back and I would like to see that happen to a greater degree.
    Dr. Jeanne-Mari Reteif
  • "I would like my clients to think of me as of being a valuable resource to them and a knowledgeable resource that helped them protect their business and the most valuable assets of their business, which is their inventions, their ideas, their brand and that they remember me as somebody they could go to at any time to help them protect their intellectual property assets.
    Crystal T. Broughan
  • The person I’m looking for is the one who is going to come along and say ok; we can’t just tweak what we do with law; we have to radically re-invent it.
    Ken Grady
  • So you have to be that person who is challenged again and again so that you will grow as an expert.
    Dr. Peter MacMillan
  • I always tell my clients and my friends and colleagues, it’s a two-way road. You know- you give, and you receive, you give back, and it keeps going that way. It’s wonderful.
    Fernanda Alem-Freitas
  • In terms of successes, I will tell you, having done this, I’ve gone much further and made more connections and more friends and more inroads into the industry much earlier in my career than I ever could have possibly imagined.
    Gene Quinn
  • my thinking was that I really need to understand what clients really wanted. So in order to really do a good job, I needed to find out what moves them, what kept them up at night.
    Silvia Hodges Silverstein
  • So when we talk about a legacy, it’s a legacy that people to this day tell me — oh, I remember working with your Grandfather and he was such an upright man. Wow, let’s hope they say that about me.
    Jordan W. Charness
  • this answer made me to become a lawyer instead of a mathematician.
    Anandavasagan K.
  • What I want to try to do is create the beacon, or the light toward, developing law firm culture, as in the legal profession culture in general...where they do find a sense of meaning, purpose, connection, joy and want to stay in the profession.
    Anne Brafford
  • it is my goal to try to increase diversity within our profession, and even for as long as I’m here, I will advocate for the inclusion of different perspectives, different peoples, and different ideas that can make this world a better place.
    Robert Johnson
  • I have learned a lot of things the hard way and if I can help others sort of avoid the mistakes I’ve made and have the vision I lacked, then that’s how I want to help
    Frank Ramos
  • "I’m sort of traditional with an edge. I have respect for tradition. I have respect for history, but I’m also very inquisitive. I like to, you know, sort of architect things.
    Mark A. Cohen
  • I am all or nothing. I believe that the world has enough mediocre people. I had a mentor tell me that once and I give 110% to everything I do.
    LaKeisha Randall
  • You’ll never know how high that peak can be unless you find recovery, and with recovery, anything is possible
    Brian Cuban
  • Being able to live and work anywhere in the world. And we do live, you know- we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, in County Cork, Ireland now.
    Walt Hampton
  • You know, the best thing that anyone could possibly do is think about what’s important to them and get back to that really basic thing. Personally, professionally, financially. You know, where would you like to be? Because you can be there if you take a couple steps, you know? And it just- it can be incremental
    Bridget Venus Grimes
  • The people I represent have their own families and their own spouses and I see that vividly through my own experiences and trying to help them. I often try to, although perhaps not the easiest thing to do, but try to put myself into their shoes and approach a case with that regard.
    Mark A. Torres
  • My legacy really is to try to enhance the wellness of the members of our profession and to open up this dialog.
    Heidi K. Brown
  • At the end of my days, I want people to look back and say, "Yes, he really did make the world a better place and here are some concrete examples of places where he's influenced people, or influenced organizations, or cultures." So, if I can do that and leave that to the world, then I think I've done a pretty good job.
    Maurice L. Rabb
  • Pamela helped brought us a $12MM deal and was a key player to help finalize the negotiations. She was a valuable investment for our firm with a magnificent return on our investment.
    Bill L., Chairman of Litigation
  • I was on the verge of losing it. I felt confused and had no idea why I was practicing law in the first place. Pamela helped me to regain my enthusiasm and grow my practice enjoy my life again.
    Lewis M., Partner
  • I have worked as an in-house attorney for 20+ years with major corporations. I hired Pamela during a transition in my career. When I began working with Pamela, I needed clarity and direction as I forged a new path. Through Pamela's unique coaching techniques, I learned a tremendous amount about myself and what I wanted out of life. She helped me put plans in place, encouraged me and held me accountable for taking necessary actions. Coaching is clearly not just a business for Pamela. She truly cared about me and repeatedly went above and beyond to help me achieve the goals I set for myself. Pamela is highly knowledgeable and accomplished and I trust her judgment and coaching. I would highly recommend her to anyone who is looking to make a job or career change.
    Renee Cogdell Lewis
  • Why should only sports figures get coaches? I represent whistleblowers in highly complicated litigation cases. The work is stressful and I can't afford to be distracted or unfocused. Maybe some lawyer out there finds that easy, but if any lawyer/mom/wife does, I'd like to meet her. I needed to be at my peak ALL the time so I hired Pamela DeNeuve as my coach and -- wow! Hiring Pamela is like having someone right there with me in my practice as coach, mentor, confidant, and troubleshooter. I am on my A+ game thanks to Pamela.
    Lee Wallace
  • Pamela DeNeuve works with powerful men and women who look to the world like they have it all together. So that includes everyone who is successful because we all have skeletons in our closet. We all have an area of life that is painful or frustrating. While I looked like I had it all, a beautiful wife, a son who I have a great relationship and a long-time financial career, a growing business as a motivational speaker, something was missing. Something was off and I couldn't put my finger on it. Working with Pamela DeNeuve is one of the best things I have ever done. Her insight, her showing me the blind spots that I tried to ignore or avoid was an awakening. I have regained my enthusiasm again. I wake up with the wonder and excitement I had lost as the years wore on. I highly recommend Pamela DeNeuve's 8-hour intensive session. You will make quantum leaps in your career, increase your income and your wife will become the love of your life again.
    Tom Heitz
  • Any lawyer or law firm who want to expand their practice, increase client base, or re-ignite your love of the law will be wise to work with Pamela DeNeuve as your business/marketing coach. She has more than 25 years of experience working with AM100 law firms, small firms, and individual lawyers across the United States, in Asia, and South Africa. Pamela understands all aspects of the legal profession. She understands the challenges that we attorneys face. I retained Pamela to help with business development and some special projects in my First Amendment/Communications law practice. Almost immediately, I started to once again see opportunities in the challenges rather than the other way 'round. Practicing law is more enjoyable because of this work with Pamela. Asking for help is sometimes the hardest ask of all. After working with Pamela for her help, I'm glad I asked. I highly recommend her to any attorney or firm.
    Edward Birk