Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Hey, everybody, it is December. Happy holidays.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: It's Lacey and I'm Lauren.
[00:00:11] Speaker A: And we're back here for another episode of the Llamas podcast.
[00:00:17] Speaker B: And today we're going to be telling you about how we balance, since it is Christmas time and New Year's and Thanksgiving, and I have only my Christmas special today telling you how do we balance or what we do in our offices as business owners, mamas, lawyers and all of that around this crazy time of year. But first, I think Lacey has a question to start us off.
[00:00:42] Speaker A: Yeah. So something interesting came up. Talking to a friend this week. And so Lauren had a question about power of attorney. So for example, if I were power of attorney over a fem family, family member with dementia, does that mean that I would get to make every decision for them? Financial, medical, everything? Would they have any decision making abilities or is everything in my hands?
[00:01:12] Speaker B: So realistically, we have two separate powers of attorneys we tend to use here in South Carolina, the medical and the financial. So with the financial power of attorney, a lot of times as soon as it is signed, you may act for that person, meaning you can sign their checks, you can do all that, you can deal with all their financial stuff, but that doesn't mean that they've been declared incompetent where they cannot act. So that's a big thing. Is realistically, just because you have the power of attorney over somebody doesn't mean that they have been declared incompetent to where they can't act. A lot of times to have somebody declared incompetent, as for a financial power of attorney, you're going to have to go to the courts and have the person declared incompetent to where they cannot act. So that's a whole court proceeding with doctors involved. It's like a guardianship conservatorship situation.
Now, on the medical side of things, obviously, before we get to that.
[00:02:14] Speaker A: Sorry to interrupt. Does that go through probate or family?
[00:02:18] Speaker B: Probate court is where you declare somebody incompetent here in South Carolina. Okay. So it would go through the probate court and you can have emergency hearings. So like it does. A regular, like conservatorship can take months, but in emergency situations, you can have emergency hearings and you get a limited order. So it doesn't last as long.
But on the medical side of things, obviously if you're sitting in a coma, you know the doctor's gonna ask your power of attorney, your next to kin, and if the doctor knows you're incapacitated and can't make Decisions for yourself. They're gonna ask your family members. But with the financial. A bank's not gonna make that decision. The court is gonna be the one to make the decision of, no, they can't write checks anymore. So it's kind of. It's always good to have that POA because that way it stops you from having to get the conservatorship as long as the person is willing to stop acting. But I've had situations where we've had to go through with the conservatorship because dad was trying to put another mortgage on his house and had no capacity to do so. Dad was in the nursing home, yet the bank was still allowing him to sign documents. So it was pretty crazy.
[00:03:30] Speaker A: And I think that's interesting. I would y'all have heard me say before, I only do criminal. So I would have assumed if I had power of attorney over someone financially, that they could not act. So I found it interesting that there is an additional step, which I think is a good thing. I really do, because we've seen some of the issues with conservatorships, with celebrities and stuff like that. So I do think it's good that there is a process and a procedure to, you know, to really evaluate if somebody can't make those decisions. But I just wouldn't. I don't know. I just didn't think about it when, you know, that arose this week. So thank you, Lauren, for teaching me as well.
[00:04:12] Speaker B: I'm sure in the future, maybe we will dig into the conservatorships and guardianships, like with Britney Spears and all the stuff that went on with Michael Orr and the Blind side. So I think maybe that'll be a future pop culture podcast topic. Maybe. But we can switch gears into our fun topic. I feel like a lot of our topics have been heavy lately, so hopefully this one is a little more fun on how we balance stress with the holidays and owning a business.
[00:04:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:42] Speaker B: So, Lacey, why don't you tell us a little bit about what your firm does with the holidays?
[00:04:47] Speaker A: So I really like what we do. So we. We close for about a week to a week and a half around the holidays with Crowd Christmas. So we celebrate Christmas.
I believe everybody at my firm celebrates Christmas. So if we had somebody that celebrated a different holiday, I'm sure we would reevaluate what time they would get off to make sure they have that time to celebrate the holiday that they celebrate. But our firm, everybody here currently celebrates Christmas on December 25, so we usually close Christmas Eve to almost new Year's, so that's really nice. We operate by appointment only, so we will come in the office if we have somebody that needs to come in. But with criminal law, there's no courts that week. Everything's closed. So there's no pleas or anything like that. The only thing that really arises that would be an emergency during that week would be a bond hearing. And of course, if somebody hires us for a new case and we have to go to bond hearing, we have to go.
So from years past, maybe one day, we do have phones forwarded to our cell phones. So we do have, like a phone schedule. So there will be certain days I'm responsible for phones and answering the phones, any client intakes and stuff like that. But. And I won't be the only one. We'll have, like, an order that they ring in. So, you know, we're. We're still available, we're still operating our business, but for a week, we do close the office. And it really helps me because I do have small kids, and so they're out of school at that time. And my husband's a teacher. So it's just a really nice time that we're not on vacation, we're at home. And we just get to do things at a slower pace, like go to a basketball game. We typically go to a women's Gamecock game, our men's game and basketball, and just enjoy a. A slower pace for a little bit, kind of a little staycation.
So that's one of the things that we do.
[00:06:57] Speaker B: What.
[00:06:58] Speaker A: What do y'all do around the holidays, Lauren?
[00:07:00] Speaker B: So for us in our office, currently, there is. Most of us are Christians and celebrate Christmas, but we have one she is not. And her big holiday, she likes to celebrate growing up. So I've learned a lot from her. She's from Albania. She grew up in communism, and we probably need to have her as a guest on the show sometime because she is awesome. But growing up in the life she did, their big holiday, they weren't allowed to have religion, pretty much in communism, so. But her big holiday growing up was always New Year's Eve, and Santa came to visit them on New Year's Eve, and she had a tree and everything, but it was like a New Year's tree is what she calls it. So. So for her, she also doesn't care about Thanksgiving. I mean, she is a US Citizen now, but she didn't grow up with the tradition of Thanksgiving. Her husband did grow up here and, you know, enjoys it. But. So for her, but New Year's has always been her big thing. So this year what we're doing is we are going to be closed the 24th, 25th, 26th, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. So those are our official, like closed.
Our phones will not be answered during that time. But I will check my emails and I feel like as a business owner we never get 100 vacation. So like we will still check our emails and stuff, but our phones, you're going to go to voicemail during that time because my staff wants to enjoy some time off. And then December 23rd we will be open and the 27th will be open. And for me, this is a big time of year where like I get to see clients like school teachers who have a break from school. So like, I do want to be open for them some, but we also want to enjoy the holidays. And like one of my paralegals is using the whole week of Christmas as vacation. She's using two of her vacation notes because her daughter's coming in to town. And so we are flexible in that sense.
And like for New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, nobody's going to check those phones. We will check our emails, but most of my stuff is not emergencies. Like I don't have like a bond court, you know, and every now and then I do get that call so and so's in the hospital and they want to get their paperwork done.
And sometimes we can make that work. But also if you've just had surgery and you're under anesthesia or even in an accident, I legally can't do your documents because you don't have capacity to sign. So sometimes that waiting till the last minute, it doesn't matter if I can do it or not. Time wise it's, you can't sign those documents. But we really like the flexibility at the holidays to be able to celebrate with our families. I have two little kids, my law partner has two little kids. So we like to have that family time. But I will say I think we all agree as small business owners, you Never truly have 100%. Like you're answering phones. Some days I'll be checking emails. Like, it is hard to find that balance because like, for us, the world, like it's not like working company. Like we don't work, we're not making money, we're not meeting overhead and we don't ever want to lose clients, you know, so it's balancing for both of us on what is important at that time. So making money and serving our clients is always important, but our family is really important too.
But I will say the nice thing.
[00:10:31] Speaker A: Is like, yeah, yeah. And that's why I really like our system. You know, that we are closing. I'm not having to come into the office. I can take that slow morning with my kids and have coffee and watch Spider man or Curious George. But if somebody needs me and I gotta go to the jail at two for a bond hearing, I'm gone for a couple of hours.
So, you know, it's a perfect balance. And I will say for our firm, almost entirely. We all travel. So my paralegal Mindy is from West Virginia, so she's going up next weekend. So she'll be gone for a few days to visit her family for the holidays.
And then I'm from Union, my husband's from Greer, so we'll go up to Greer in a couple weeks on a Sunday to celebrate Christmas with his mom. We always go to my mom's on Christmas Eve, so that's driving to Union. And my law partner and her husband are from the upstate, so their family lives in the upstate and they live in Myrtle Beach. So I'm not really sure when they go up. But, you know, like, it is so nice to have that flexibility since almost everybody in our firm travels. And my paralegal here, she travels for work, so she doesn't live here. She travels to Colombia for work for, you know, she's here for four days. She travels one day on Mondays and goes back on Thursday. So it's really nice for her to get a break and traveling for work where she could just stay at home and be with her family.
So, yeah, a majority of our firm has their families out of town. So that's another thing that's really nice about what we do is because with phones forwarded, if we're in the car, if we're driving, if we're on the road, we can pick it up. We can take an intake call, see if they want to hire us for a new case and still be on the way to wherever we're going for that holiday to spend with our families.
And I will say, I don't think any of us are answering the phones if we're like, with our family. You know, if I'm at my mother in law's house and we just sat down for brunch and I see a work call coming through, I'm not answering it. I'm gonna let that go to voicemail.
[00:12:39] Speaker B: All right. Like Christmas Eve, you're not gonna be answering the phone when you're waiting on.
[00:12:43] Speaker A: Santa Claus to come, but I'll check my email for the voicemail the next day and call back, you know, so I think it's just important to create that flexibility. But even within that flexibility, be flexible. Like, I think we all know that, you know, if you're sitting down with dinner for your family, you know, me and my law partner do not expect our staff to pick up a phone call when you're in the middle of grace. You know, we're not that strickler, you know, and I hope that our clients, potential clients, do understand that that balance too, you know, and not expect that immediate call back on certain days of the year. Do you think they. I don't know. I guess it's a case by case basis.
[00:13:30] Speaker B: There are some people that think, like, you know, just in general, like, we should always be on call to them and people get mad sometimes. But I feel like in my world, those aren't the type clients I want to have. So if you're going to crop an attitude with me because I didn't answer your email on Christmas, I don't want you as a client. Like, that's just kind of where I'm at with my career and my stress levels. And I think, okay, yeah, that could have been a client that paid me a lot for a trust, but is that worth the stress it's going to bring on myself? No. So if I feel like if somebody's elimling me on Christmas day and not giving me like any flexibility, they're not a person. No, no. In your world it may be a little different because I imagine there are a lot of DUIs and like domestic violence through the holidays. So it could be a busier time in your world.
[00:14:25] Speaker A: It's really not. I will say I think they pick up closer to their court dates. So, for example, like, I think most of the year when somebody is arrested for something like that, they are trying to find an attorney, you know, soon thereafter the arrest. Whereas I do feel once we get to the end of the year, once we hit the holidays, people kind of like put it off and get through the holidays. And then as their court dates approach, then they are calling. So I do think there's a little bit of a difference in dynamic around the holidays as to timing of when they call, because they don't want to.
[00:14:58] Speaker B: Think, well, now they don't want to think, let me get the money for this retainer when I just spent thousands of dollars on Christmas kind of thing.
[00:15:08] Speaker A: Right.
[00:15:09] Speaker B: And I will say one thing really Nice about being a business owner is being able to set our own schedules near the holidays. For instance, Kylie has her first little Christmas play at school next week in the morning. And so I move my schedule around so I can go watch her play. And that is very. My husband's not going to get to go see the play because he has to work and he has limited vacation time. So it's nice that, you know, I'm going to get to be there for her. And in a lot of cases, people don't have that flexibility.
[00:15:43] Speaker A: We had the same thing happen a couple weeks ago with Mac. I had court, but I have an associate, so I was able to just, you know, hey, there's no other court that morning. Do you mind covering this so I could go to Max program? She didn't mind at all. So she covered the court appearance that I originally put on my calendar. We just switched it to her calendar. She covered it, and I was able to go to Max Thanksgiving program at his preschool. And just like Wes, your husband. My husband had to miss it as well because it's hard to. He's so limited in time to take off, and we never know when the kids are getting sick. And I also get nervous with Luke because, you know, Luke does have special needs. He has extra appointments and stuff. And if something comes up that I can't get out of at work, I like that Mark's hours are saved for something like that that might come up. So it's. It sucks because I do wish he could come to everything, and I know he does as well. And that's why I really try to make up that time in other ways. So, for examp example, last night, I was so tired. I would have loved to sit on my couch, but my kids love their dad and my husband loves the kids. So we went. Ended up going to his basketball game. We went Monday and Thursday. So it's two days. We got home late. But I just know he can't make it to all those events. And he wants to. It's not him just choosing not to. So it's little moments like that that I try to balance it and make it up for them to have those core memories of things together. If it's not their school function, it's his school function.
[00:17:17] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think it's, like, important, like as part of our lives to balance with our significant others what they can handle and what they can't, too. Because we both have husbands that work for the man, pretty much, when you say it that way, where they don't have the flexibility. And so it's nice to know that we can have that flexibility to be with our kids when they can't always do that because. And my husband's work, if 10 people have taken off vacation, he can't take it off. Somebody's got to run the company kind of thing. So.
And I will say in our time, I think it's a lot easier for us sometimes too, as business owners because of technology. Like, it sucks in a lot of ways. But one thing Lacey said that was really cool was, yeah, in a day's time, the voicemails just can shoot to your emails. So, like, you don't have to wait to come into the office to check the phone, get them right there and you know if it's an emergency or not.
[00:18:09] Speaker A: Yeah. Now I will say one thing I don't have balance on is not the work part, but the family part. Because everybody that needs a gift now we'll let me backtrack for the most part about all the gifts. Now, Chloe's birthday just came up. She did not want me picking it out. She wanted my husband picking out her gift because I don't know sneakers as well as him, apparently. So everything I showed her she didn't like. And I was told to just stay out of it and let my husband pick out the sneakers that she wanted.
So I do know if I ask him and I tell him specifically, hey, this kid wants this for Christmas, that he will help out. But for the most part, I'm in charge of making sure all the gifts are bought for the nieces and the nephews and our moms and anybody else that's on our list. And then he cannot wrap. So all the wrapping is on my plate as well. So, Lauren, do you have any advice or are you in the same boat as me when it comes to making sure the gifts are purchased and wrapped for all of the things we have to go to.
[00:19:15] Speaker B: So me nor west can wrap worth of flip. So I do this thing called gift bags and just throw it all in there. And thankfully, Santa Claus doesn't wrap gifts. Santa just leaves them out to be enjoyed. So at least there are a few things.
I tend to buy most of the gifts, but Wes does help, except the gifts he gives our kids are like doo doo kangaroo.
So things that are a little grosser and like there was this little smiley face that pukes and he's like, oh, Kylie would love this, which she would. So he'll buy them some. But I tend to do more of the shot especially for the women in the family. Now, I will say Wes has picked out some things, so balance. But I'm a control person, so I like buying the gifts, I guess. But I will say during this time where I'm doing all this stuff, he does pick up and help me, like, maybe he does more of the cooking than normal or the, like, stuff that we normally split. Maybe he takes over a little bit more on that side of things.
So. But honestly, a lot of my shopping is done on Amazon or Target in the bed at night, so I don't like to go to the stores too much.
So it's not too bad. And the wrapping is just bags. That's my advice. Just use gift bags.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: Bags. I will say most of my nieces want money because they're getting older for their own shopping. So that's honestly bittersweet because I love getting them a gift that I know they truly want and seeing them open it and seeing the joy and I feel like money or gift card, it loses that a little bit. But I guess that's the age we're getting to because I remember getting that way too. But pro tip for anybody listening, that I've done this year, and so far, everyone has really enjoyed it and loved it. I made an Amazon wishlist for my kids. Everybody's like, oh, what do I get your kids? What do they want? I made an Amazon wish list. So anybody that wants to buy my kids gifts can go on their wish list and purchase anything on the list. And, like, Luke's into Curious George.
I also am trying to limit smaller toys because of sensory things in our house to make our playroom a little bit more safe with Luke, they need new cups and stuff. So character cups. And Max really into Star wars and Spider man. So that was really nice. My mom has enjoyed it, and my sister has put stuff in her cart that she's getting my kids. So I've. Everybody's enjoyed it. I've heard some people when talking about things like this, they find it tacky. But I want to get something that a kid likes and is into and enjoys, and sometimes I'm just not around these kids enough to really know that those things. So, you know, if you're in my boat and you're going to, you know, different Christmases and a few Christmases and, you know, people will be buying your kids gifts. I've really enjoyed that. And so far, like I said, in my family, it's been a really big hit because they're not sitting there trying to, you know, guess at what to get my kids. They know exactly what I think they will enjoy and we could really use at the house.
[00:22:23] Speaker B: I think that's a good, like. Well, so just in general, like, Maddie's birthday's coming up, and like, her classmates, they. All of her class has been invited to her party. And like, obviously the classmates, parents do not know what my child likes because we just know each other, you know, three kids, right. I've been getting a lot of text saying, what does Maddie want for her birthday? And thinking of it, if I had done the Amazon wish list. Now, one dad texted me last night and he said, what does Maddie want? My child said, she wants a baby. And I was like, no babies. No babies. But a baby doll is fine.
[00:23:02] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
[00:23:05] Speaker B: Because then you're not. I mean, not that I mind texting him, but they have an idea of what to get. So when they're shopping, you know, at least knowing, hey, Luke Lake's Curious George. He's not into paw patrol anymore. You know, stuff like that.
[00:23:18] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And I happened to a birthday party. At the bottom was the Amazon Wishlist link. And I loved it because then I was able to go and, you know, find a gift that was in my price point. And that's one thing I also try to do on my Amazon wish list is try to have different price points with gifts. So that way, if anybody does want to buy my kids gifts, they can, you know, find something within their range of spending for the holidays. So that's my little holiday balancing tip to probably wrap this up, because I think we're running out of time.
[00:23:54] Speaker B: I think let's end that with maybe our biggest tip to what we think is the biggest thing for home and for work. So I'll give you mine. I think.
[00:24:03] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:24:03] Speaker B: Work. It's just setting boundaries. Like, I think for me, work, setting boundaries, knowing if you email me on Christmas Day and you're mean to me, like, knowing that that's the client I need to get rid of. And I think for home is making sure that I put my phone aside and don't look at email for a while to be present, be in the moment with my kids because they're only young once and I'll probably cry if I keep talking about it because they're growing too quick. But I need to take that time because work isn't everything. I love my job. My family is my number one priority. And making that for those special holidays.
[00:24:37] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm gonna flip flop because I know what my home thing is. So I'm also A control freak. And so one thing I need to work on is talking to my husband more about things I could need help, I need help with, because I have a habit of just having this mental list in my head and he doesn't know what's on it. So I think I need to do a better job of communicating. Hey, I've got to wrap these gifts tonight because we have your mom's thing on Sunday. So will you get the stuff from the grocery store, you know, make dinner or something like that? Because he always jumps in 100% when I let him know what that mental list is. But I have a bad habit of keeping it in my head and not communicating with it and then just getting very overwhelmed and trying to do all of it by myself. So that is going to be one thing that I need to work on more throughout this holiday season instead of just doing everything myself, communicating what needs to be done with my husband and letting him assist me. Like you were talking about with Wes at home or with. With work and business.
I think the same. Just, yes, we need to check our emails and we do need to answer phone calls, but we should probably, you know, maybe create time limits, like, tell myself on these days I'm not touching my email, you know, or from these times, you know, maybe when my kids go to bed, I'll spend 30 minutes or, like, limiting it. But yes, I have. I check my email religiously every day, multiple times a day. So I, too, think that needs to be my goal is, you know, maybe setting a time limit on when I can check my email. So I am more present because I will cry, too. It's just. It is going by too fast. And we definitely need to soak these years up, Lauren, because, oh, gosh, it's. It's so hard that it goes by so fast.
Yeah. I hope everybody has a good holiday season. Stay safe. And I think we'll have another episode or two drop before the. The holidays, but we will see y'all next week.
[00:26:55] Speaker B: Have a good holiday. Bye.
