Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
It's Lacy.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: And I'm Lauren. And today we are. I took Lacey's line.
[00:00:11] Speaker A: I know.
Welcome to another episode of the Llamas podcast.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: I got ahead of myself because I was saying what we were going to be discussing today.
Today we're going to be finishing up our millennial series, and we're going to talk about being millennials and, and owning a business and how that plays into, like, life and, like, hustle culture and all those type things.
But we. I guess we'll start with just a question, and I think let's start it off with, like, a business question.
So in this type situation, being a business owner, I get a lot of questions on this, and I kind of want to see, as an attorney, do you have answers? What's your business structure? How did you set up as. Are you an llc? Are you a corporation? Like, what do you think is. And I can answer this from the business perspective, but how did you set up your business starting it out?
[00:01:00] Speaker A: I truly did not know what I was doing, and I bought my firm from another attorney, so he hired me, and then he was retiring, so I purchased the law firm from him.
And I know he told me to register as an S corp, and so that's what I did. And honestly, Lauren, I can't. I couldn't even tell you the difference between an S corp and LLC or anything like that, because I just did what he said I should do, and I've stuck with it. And here I am 10 years later. So I don't know why. But.
[00:01:40] Speaker B: For us, that's one of our questions. Since they do business law. I do estate, but also business law. Then the biggest questions comes in when you're setting up your business, how to set it up. And there's so many different ways to set up a business. There's llc, there's corporations, there's different ways to be taxed, like a sol prop, a partnership, an S corp. And like, we're an llc, taxes in S Corp. And I would just like to say for anybody thinking about starting up a business, yeah, you can go online and register yourself as, like, an LLC and do that type stuff yourself. But I recommend for business owners in the future, make sure you go talk with your attorney and your accountant before you do this, because a lot of times it is hard to get stuff undone with the IRS once you've done it. So if you're making that election to be an S Corp, there are certain time frames you have to make this election in or if you're wanting to Be an LLC with multiple people making sure, like, you get that operating agreement in place so y' all have some structure for how you're running the business.
And just as this is a business owner and how we handle hustle, hustle culture and all of that.
It's been a long week, guys, but I think it's always important to go get somebody to help walk you through this as a new business owner, because that sets the tone, I think, for how your business is going to go and making sure you've got everything covered with the irs.
[00:03:05] Speaker A: Yeah. Solid advice. I should have done that, and hopefully.
[00:03:09] Speaker B: I'm still okay and kind of switching gears. So we want to talk about how being millennials and business owners work and how we make it work as both moms of two and busy schedules in life.
So kind of. Lacey, I guess tell us a little bit about, like, how you run your bit, like just kind of some basic stuff.
[00:03:29] Speaker A: Yeah, Yeah.
I do think that hustle culture is real, but I do think, in my opinion, as millennials, we are a little bit more balanced in it than the prior generation. I know. I think before us, especially women thought, I have to always show up. I have to work 80 hours a week. You know, I can't be with my kids. I can't take time off with my kids. Because you want to build up to make partner.
And I do think now there is a little more balance, and I think there's several reasons for that. I think now we do have more women on the bench that kind of understand those things.
There's more women in the courtroom that understand those things. So I know I was running late one time because one of my kids was having a meltdown for court. When I got there, I asked to approach the bench, and I told the judge, you know, I'm sorry for being late. My kid was having a meltdown. I couldn't get him out of the house. And, you know, she completely understood. It didn't matter, and it was no questions, and it was gone. And I know if ever I have a situation with one of my kids and I have court with that judge, that I don't want to say I get a pass or leeway, but I get empathy and understanding, and I'm okay knowing that I can take care of my kid in this moment, and I can still be a badass attorney when I make it to court. So I do feel like our generation is better with the hustle culture and balancing families, but maybe I'm just blessed and lucky in my firm. Specific, I don't I don't know.
[00:05:11] Speaker B: I think like, I think being a business owner has given me more perspective on that because I do have friends that work in these big law firms. And while I think there may be some changes from like the days I think of like Sex in the City and like Miranda working like 100 hours a week to be treated equally to the men in the firm to get partner and still being disrespected a lot because like when she got pregnant and those type things. So I think big firm energy is different than small farm energy.
A lot of times I think small firms we are sometimes not. And I'm. There could be plenty of big firms. But from what I've noticed just from other people, especially like in the areas of law I practice, I have a lot more flexibility. I do not go to court very often. And in today's time, like on especially the probate and civil side of things, like court scheduled in advance, it's not as like you don't just get. It's not called like be here right away type thing. You've got usually a month's notice. You get some planning. I think the hardest part for me and like this is balance and family when emergencies happen and being a business owner because for me, a lot of my days maybe filled with client meetings, because I'm in client meetings a lot, because I am like meeting them to get ready, draft their papers, all that type stuff. And if my child's sick, then I have to reschedule everything because she can't go to school and I've got to take care of her.
And I think that's been the hardest part for me is like, I do think I have a good balance of when I know things in advance. I'm very much able to put those on my calendar and, and be there for like my kids events and school things. But when your kids sick or even you're sick, I think those are two big things. Like, and you have a book full of clients. I will say like 70 to 80% of the people are understanding in situations. But I also like get these times where people get mad at me, like, well, I've taken off work. Well, I'm sorry, I can't help it that I have 103 degree fever and I'm contagious with COVID And I think that's one of the biggest things in being a business owner is people don't realize when you're sick, we don't have sick days. Like, you know, you don't make money. Those Days, you make clients mad those days.
And I think that's no, like when I had my children, I had to really work hard before then to make sure there was enough money to cover my side of expenses because my paralegals still have to get paid, the utilities still have to get paid. There's no sick days, there's no vacation days. So there is a lot more planning on things. And so I think that's something people don't realize of small business owners is, oh, you work for yourself, it must be so nice. And it is a lot of the time. But it definitely has drawbacks because I know that when I worked, I worked for a non profit for a little while before going into the legal field and I even clerked for a judge and I had sick days. So, like, if something happened and I woke up and had a fever, I just called him, had a sick day. It didn't mean when I didn't come back, I didn't have work to catch up on. But I never my paycheck wasn't going to change. I wasn't going to get fired. Like, nobody was typically mad at me. Most people were like, please don't come into the office if you've been puking all night. We don't want it type of situation.
And I think that's one of the biggest things. And I think millennials, we are doing a better job at setting boundaries with this sometimes because I had Covid and I didn't go to work because I was sick and I didn't need to go to work where I feel like my parents had to go to work a lot of times sick because the same, like my mom may have like strep throat or she had a stomach bug, but she's still going to show up to work because she was forced to. And I think we as millennials overall have tried to take a better balance with our health in these type things.
[00:09:05] Speaker A: And I've tried. I think sometimes I slip. But one thing I've tried to do is stop apologizing for missing something because I have something with my kids.
I'll explain why, you know, XYZ happened. But I'm trying not to apologize and say, I am so sorry we had to continue your court date because my kid was sick. No, I'm not sorry. Like, if my kid's sick and I it's not an emergency situation like you said, and I need to stay at home.
But you know, there are times where with emergency situations, I just have to push through and I have to figure Something out and, you know, maybe somebody has to watch my kid for a couple hours until I can make this, Em.
So, you know, sometimes my kids and family do take the back burner, but I think overall, most of the time, they are the priority and I'm able to, you know, continue matters and, you know, come back and get it rescheduled or, you know, sometimes get somebody to cover it if it's something simple. And I have advance notice, you know, But I know the other week, I can't remember, I was on a field trip. I was out because Luke had a field trip. So Caroline, my associate, was supposed to go to court.
Well, her spouse couldn't walk. Like, could not walk. So she texted. She's like, I have to get my spouse to the doctor.
She can't walk.
I've got an emergency appointment at 10:30 and asked my paralegal to continue all our cases on the docket. And we did have one that was very upset and livid about it. But again, like, what am I supposed to do? Like, hey, I'm on a field trip with my son, so, you know, your spouse is just gonna have to suck it up and take an Uber to the doctor or, oh, yeah, sorry, Luke, I love you so much. Mommy loves you. Have a fun field trip. I have to cancel, and the school's without a chaperone. Like, it's just not a win situation.
And I do think, like, I don't think we heard from anybody else, but, yeah, there was one, you know, about Apple that we made very angry and language, and it sucks. It sucks that we don't always have that understanding from everybody.
[00:11:14] Speaker B: Well, and I think the thing that sucks for you is, like, once you've, like, so for me and, like, estate plan and things, like, I'm not, like, registered, like, on litigation. I obviously am registered with the court. So, like, if I want to get off a litigation case, same with, like, your criminal proceedings, the court has to allow me to get off. So, like, you can't just always fire a client because they piss you off in those situations. Because the judge is gonna be like, we're not letting you off because of that. Especially depending on how far it is in the trial. But luckily, this is probably one of those millennial things. I'm going to tell a story about my dog died. Like, I'm a dog, mom. Like, my dog is my heart and soul. Like, his phone is still hit. My phone still has him on my background. He is my first child, and people tell me, oh, you'll have kids. You Won't love your dog as much. No, no. That dog still was my pride and joy. He passed away. And this was on like a Wednesday afternoon.
I'm a mess. Like, I had a client on Thursday morning that it was just filling out some paperwork and my paralegal could help her with that.
And so I said, don't cancel the appointment. Let my paralegal, because she was completely capable. It was just getting some paperwork. She came in and fussed at my paralegal about me not being there, that my dog dying was no excuse not to be at work. Cussed at my paralegal, said really mean things. The next day when I got back to work, she got a letter and said, you are no longer represented by this firm. Yeah, because I could do. I didn't have to ask the judge's permission. This was not one of those situations where I had to do that. And even if I had to, I think on that I would have been emotion to relieve his counsel. Because yeah, I think that's when the biggest thing is business owners. And I don't think this is just millennials. I think this is all of us. But you can say mean things to us, but if you say mean things to our staff, it's a different story. Oh yeah, for sure.
We're gonna protect them. And the fact that I had a life accident and I couldn't have came to work, I was a mess. I literally cried for a day strai and life happens. And that was not something I anticipated happening that day. Yes, he was 16 and a half, but I didn't think it all happened really quick.
[00:13:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: And no, I did not want to miss your appointment. I would much rather have my dog alive.
[00:13:24] Speaker A: Right.
[00:13:24] Speaker B: And like the same thing happened. My mother in law passed away. I had to cancel to this woman's appointment twice. Once because she went in the hospital, and then the second was because it was her funeral and a lady was so hateful about it. And I'm like, I would much rather be at work than burying my mother in law. And I think that's a lot of things people don't understand with us is like when we're not at work and it's like an emergency. We did. We would much rather be at work. Yeah, a bad day at work is still better than burying somebody.
[00:13:54] Speaker A: Yes. I. I remember when he died because we were supposed to start our podcast that week and you told me. And so I knew, like, and it was coming up and I think Wendy texted in the chat. I was like, lauren's not Going to respond. Let me just tell her. So I told Wendy, our producer, what happened. I said, I know we're not recording this week. She hasn't explicitly told me that, but I'm. I'm telling you that.
And, you know, I just waited until I heard from you and then, you know, figured it out from. From there. But I knew how close you were to that do. That upsets me. I. I honest, I have to say, when Chipper my dog, passed in December, thankfully, I didn't have anything like that. Like, my step. My staff stepped up. I took like two or three days off work, and I had prosecutors calling me when I got back to work, and I would just cry, and they're like, are you okay? I was like, my dog died and I just start crying. I had a prosecutor send me a wind chime with his name on it.
I had a few other people send gifts. Like, I'm not even kidding. I got so many gifts that week from people just showing their compat. My grandma even called me and was like, lacey, I didn't know I was supposed to send you a gift because your dog died. I didn't know that was a thing. I said, I don't know that is a thing either. I just, I. So I'm. I hate that experience for you. But I did just want to say that the people that did that are millennials, though, you know, So I. I do think dogs as family might be another part of this and that understanding of that loss being so deep.
[00:15:30] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think we have expanded, I guess what we think family is. And I'm not. There's definitely doll people in every generation. My mom is one of them. Like, her dog's always been her family. And Wendy, our producer, is the generation above us, but not at our parents level, obviously. And I know she is a dog, cat, everything person. Like, so we know that's not just millennials. But I do think for us, I think because so many of us had children late in life, our parents, we became dog parents. And like, our dogs, our cats have just became, like, part of our family, and we treat them as such.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: Yeah. And I mean, I have friends that don't want, you know, human children.
They have fur children and love them very deeply, you know, So I think that's an aspect, too, that there's a lot more people in our generation choosing not to have children that are humans, and their children are there for babies.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: I think just kind of our generation as a whole has tried to do more to step in for health And I think Covid had also played a part in that with us, too. Because I think before COVID I pushed myself a lot of times to go to work. When I was sick, I went. I wasn't going. I was, like, throwing up or had, like, a really high fever. But, like, if I felt bad, probably like sinus infection or strep throat and hadn't got an antibiotic, I'm still going to push myself to go to work and the doctor after, where I think Covid changed that in a lot of us, but I think, especially in millennials, it pushed us, I think, to recognize our health and recognize our mental health, too. Like, I think we are far more open in the workplace. If, like my paralegal said, I need to go see a therapist, can I have, you know, an hour off work? I'm going to be very, you know, open to that. I think that is a medical need where before, I don't think a lot of people counted that as true medical needs.
[00:17:24] Speaker A: And just to kind of, like, wrap that into my job. I think the way that we approach criminal defense with those lines is so different from before us, too. You know, of course, when we get a case, we're going to look at the statute, the elements of the crime. Do the facts meet the elements.
But we also ask our clients, have you been diagnosed with any mental illnesses? Do you have any disabilities that we should know about?
Tell us about your family life. Because we have realized in a lot of our cases, even if our clients are guilty, they deserve a second chance or they need treatment, they need help. And any client that comes and sits in my chair, always say, I want to help you and not see you again after this. And I truly mean that. Like, I want to help them, yes, because it helps a criminal case, but I also just want to help them in life. And so we have mitigation packets. You know, we talk about mitigation ways to get treatment and get help. We have rehabs that we've worked with to get our clients sober.
And I don't think that was done a lot in generations past. It was more so, well, you're guilty. So this is, you know, I think the best deal we can get. Or, you're not guilty. If they don't dismiss it, we'll take it to trial rather than, okay, you're guilty, but this is why. This is what's going on in your life. What can we do to set you up that it's not going to happen again? And show a prosecutor that this is not defining you you know, this is a bigger picture that we need to, as a society, help you with so you can move forward in life. And I just think that approach to my job is significantly different.
[00:19:12] Speaker B: I think I will say more judges, I think, are being very open on that side of things, too. I clerked for a judge who had been on the bench for a very long time, very experienced judge, and he would send people to rehab or vocational rehab so they could learn skills. And a lot of the people at the time, I mean, I think, I guess you're not seeing the benefit of it, but they would get mad at him for doing that. But I always really respected him for sending them to these things. And, you know, I know, like, as far as, like, rehab and that type stuff goes, you have to want to do it for it to work. But maybe the reason it hadn't worked is they just haven't had anybody to force them or push them. And like, when a judge requires you to do it, maybe it only helped one in five become sober and have a better life, but the fact he forced them to do that, and I always respected that because I think if we can get people help that they need, especially getting them out of the circle of drugs, and some people are never going to get out of it. We know that. But there's a lot of people that may just need some help getting there.
And if we can do that for people, that's always great. That makes everything better.
[00:20:14] Speaker A: And I think we've seen this in our classmates, too.
We've had a couple classmates that suffered with addiction that are clean and sober now. And I remember one of them, when she posted she was going into rehab, all the comments of how proud people were of her and just so supportive and like, the addiction wasn't looked at as, oh, my gosh, what's wrong with you? Like, you don't love your kids enough. Like, why have you put your kids through this? Why would you even touch this drug? Like, those are nasty comments I've heard towards addiction from other people. But it was more embracing. Like, I'm so glad you're getting this help for you and your kids, and I'm so proud of you. And it's just it. And that sobriety is just celebrated and people so open with it. So I definitely think with our generation, we really are trying to embrace what can we do to help somebody and make them better and not. Not just solely judge.
[00:21:14] Speaker B: And I will say, I think being in the legal field, I think we see a lot of attorneys deal with addiction issues. In general. And a lot of attorneys end up. We've seen attorneys die because of addiction issues, whether alcoholism, drugs, those type things. And I will say, I think the bar, South Carolina bar, has been good. And, like, we do get so many free therapy sessions, and I think that's awesome.
And also, we have to go to substance abuse counseling, although I don't really know if that really helps, because it's usually in a CLE and you're dead on the inside. But I do think making sure people have those proper helps for those things. And I think as millennials, I think one thing we have moved away from is alcohol. It's okay. Like, people aren't judged for being sober. You're not, like, right. Oh says if you go out to dinner and you order a mocktail because you want, you know, that fruity, yummy drink, but you don't want the alcohol. I don't feel like we judge anybody. And, like, I went to New York the other week when met one of my friends, Rachel, and she has never been an alcoholic or anything like that, but she doesn't drink anymore. But she ordered a mocktail. And my first thought wasn't why she, you know, not having a drink. It was, oh, that looks good. Maybe I'll get that, too. And I'm not thinking, oh, she's pregnant, like, something like that. We're just accepting of that as a culture. I think more that alcohol doesn't. Not that we're judging people that do drink, but if you don't drink, it's not like a stigma. And I will say, for attorneys, I think everything revolves around alcohol a lot, and we're finally moving away from that.
Also, I think less attorneys are smoking. So I'm really proud of that because in law school, they all smoke like, steam stacks, and it was great.
[00:22:54] Speaker A: I still think some of them still.
[00:22:56] Speaker B: Do, but there's a lot. It is better. Yeah, I think a lot have. I will say, if you're watching this and you plan to go to law school, and you've probably never had a lot of friends that smoked. Except that in law school, your friends are going to smoke cigarettes and they're going to stink.
[00:23:11] Speaker A: Yeah, they did.
We staged drama.
[00:23:16] Speaker B: I have never wanted to smoke a cigarette. I think it's gross. But I felt like Rachel in the episode of Friends, I. Because, like, where she pretends to smoke because all the gossip at her workplace is happening when they're out smoking and, like, she pretends to be a smoker. That's what I felt like. Me and Lacey we didn't ever pretend to smoke. We had to stand out there with the cigarette people and stink. And now I probably have secondhand smoke damage because everybody was there. And that's when you would learn not just gossip, but people start talking about cases and stuff that actually impacted your educational career.
[00:23:48] Speaker A: It really. And. And, like, Bobby, I think, is still one of the smartest attorneys I know.
I gotta call him after this episode because he's helping me with something. But he sat on the front row. I didn't sit on the front row. Like, he paid way more attention than I did. I was on G chat. Like, he was actually taking notes. He was a smoker. So I was like, oh, my God, if. If he's talking about some in class, I need to know what's going on, because I probably missed something and he probably didn't.
[00:24:13] Speaker B: Yes. And it was not like the bad. In law school, it's not your bad kids that smoke. It's not your trashy kids. It' the redneck kids. It is everyone, everybody.
[00:24:24] Speaker A: Yes, yes, yes.
[00:24:27] Speaker B: And I think as we've all gotten older, I think a lot of those people have stopped smoking, and I'm so proud of them.
And I think that's something we're supportive of as a millennial culture, too. Like, if you tell us you want to stop something, we're not going to. Like, we're going to support you and help you, but if you fall off, we're not going to judge you. We're just going to try to help you get back there.
[00:24:48] Speaker A: Right. I agree. I'm proud of us.
I'm proud of our generation. I think, overall, we're doing a lot of good things.
[00:24:56] Speaker B: I mean, we're still sucky at a lot of stuff. Like, because I saw this meme, and this is something I'm definitely guilty of, especially with, like, my older friends who like to talk on the phone.
It was like, how did we sit on the phone for hours, like, in junior high? And now when somebody calls us, I can't answer the phone. And I'm 100% guilty of that, because if you call me, I'm going to say, please text next, please.
[00:25:20] Speaker A: I was like that. But I think I'm changing back to a phone call.
[00:25:25] Speaker B: I only like to talk on the phone when I'm driving in the car and bored. And so I will call you then. And then if you call me back once I'm home, the window's closed.
[00:25:32] Speaker A: Okay? I am that for sure.
I love talking to on. And I call Mindy every single Morning, like every single morning and I'm in the car on my way to court or the office or whatever. But yeah, so I definitely. But yeah, you're right.
[00:25:49] Speaker B: Right.
[00:25:49] Speaker A: Once I get home at the end of the day though, do not, do not call me. Do not call me after 5:30pm don't.
[00:25:56] Speaker B: Call me before, like 7:00 clock in the morning.
[00:25:58] Speaker A: Like those I might not even answer because sometimes I get home, I just don't even have my phone on me.
[00:26:05] Speaker B: And I think that's one thing I kind of think wrapping up that kind of has changed us from the prior generations too is we have access to our work stuff all the time. Like my parents, you know, had the old cell phones in the bag and like, so when they left work, they truly detached from it.
[00:26:21] Speaker A: Right.
[00:26:21] Speaker B: And we don't. Because this has my work email, this has everything on it. And like, I feel like for the longest time I wouldn't detach at home. And I think I'm finally starting to set some boundaries. Like if you email me at 9 o' clock, I'm not, I used to, would email you back because I so wanted to get business. And, and that's the hard thing is being like a new entrepreneur. You have got, you're gonna work really, really hard for a long time, but then you hit a place where you realize I have to find the balance. And like, I could make more money if I probably did work, you know, till 8 and 9 at night. But it's not worth the money and it's not worth, I think that's where I think I've gotten better the older I've gotten too, is this client's not worth the money. And I can tell if they're going to be a problem coming in and detaching because I think for us that was one thing A guy told me when I was starting out. He's like, if you want to answer emails at 9 o' clock, do it, but have them sent out the next day at like 8:30 in the morning. Because he said once you do it one time, you set a precedent to those clients. I think they have unlimited access. And I think that's something that has helped me. I do work at night sometimes because it's less stress. I can do it. But letting the clients think they only have access between 8:30 and 5.
[00:27:39] Speaker A: Yeah, right. We had somebody call and say they wanted the, the best, give us the best. The hardest male attorney in our firm. And Mindy goes, well, sir, we are a firm of all females.
Click.
[00:27:55] Speaker B: That's one of the things my firms have in common. I just thought about it.
[00:27:59] Speaker A: We celebrated and good for. Good for you. If that's what you want, go get it. No hard feelings. But it's nice to be at that point in your career where you can sit back and just laugh at something like that and think it's so humorous because you have such great clients and you're in such a good space and you just love what you're doing. So. And you have that balance where you don't need every single client you don't want.
[00:28:22] Speaker B: Like, and I think if you can learn that, learn it from the start, too. Like, know that, you know, sometimes the money, money, you gotta have enough to pay the bills. But after that, don't put up with crap that you don't have to because it's just gonna cost you more in the long run.
And don't let people take advantage of. Be nice, but don't let people take advantage of you. And I think that is one thing that has been really hard for me because I'm naturally a people pleaser, but setting some boundaries, I'm a people pleaser at work, at home. My husband probably would disagree because I just kind of tell him what to do.
But anyways, I think that wraps today, but let us know. I think we're gonna have a special Father's Day episode coming up, and then we're gonna post our poll again on our Instagram. But right now, Sister Wives, reality TV Mormon Wives is winning. And I'm good with that because I'm happy to dig into it. But if you have other thoughts and. Or send us a DM or give us some answers in the poll.
[00:29:25] Speaker A: All right, I'll see you next week.
[00:29:27] Speaker B: All right. You'll have a good week.
