45. Sara Williams — Breaking Barriers with Authenticity and Vulnerability

The Game Changing Attorney Podcast with Michael Mogill

Michael Mogill

Management, Business, Marketing, Entrepreneurship

5.0 • 540 Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2021

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"You want a 30(b)(6) cross-examined and torn to shreds? I'm your girl." - Sara Williams Why do you need to be authentic to reach your maximum potential? How did Sara Williams go from aspiring sports agent to top dog at Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys? Why does the legal industry still have a long way to go to be truly diverse? How can "being yourself" help you in front of a jury? Attorney and Educator Sara Williams is a Leading Trial Attorney at Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys. After attending Cumberland Law School and quickly falling in love with the work of a trial lawyer, Sara made her way to Shunnarah’s empire in 2013. Sara has built up a name for herself as a truly formidable lawyer, and she litigates on various cases from motor vehicle negligence to wrongful deaths. As well as her work as an attorney, Sara is an educator. Serving as adjunct professor of Trial Advocacy at Cumberland School of Law, Sara helps students "flip the switch" and go from good attorneys to great attorneys. Advocate of Authenticity One of Sara's core strengths is authenticity, and her main goal as an educator and mentor is to help others recognize that you cannot reach your full potential while you're pushing against — or hiding — who you truly are. We discuss what it means to be authentic and the impact it’s had on Sara's journey. We also talk about her ongoing work to help others defeat generations of social conditioning to unleash their true voices, and why having authentic mentors is vital for personal and professional development. Career Growth: Chase Skills, Not Roles The factor that has most influenced Sara's career choices isn't money or titles, but skills. Time and time again, Sara's need for professional growth has made her choose learning opportunities over bigger paychecks — and even abandon the familiarity of one job for the educational value of another. Sara explores why it's important to always be learning and why you should value opportunities to develop your skillset over bigger salaries or fancier offices. We also talk about how this single belief influenced Sara's trajectory and put her on the path to become the lawyer she is today. Key takeaways: Don't worry about your weaknesses. Focus more on your strengths, and be great at a few things rather than average at a lot of things. Find a mentor you can be vulnerable with and who makes you feel comfortable, so you can develop your authentic voice and build confidence. Be confident in your abilities, and don't be afraid to show it. The quickest way to lose a skill is to hide it away. Links and Resources The Game Changing Attorney Podcast Michael Mogill Facebook Michael Mogill Twitter Michael Mogill Instagram Michael Mogill LinkedIn Crisp Video Website Crisp Video Facebook Crisp Video Group Twitter Crisp Video Instagram Crisp Video LinkedIn Sara Williams LinkedIn Sara Williams Website Sara Williams YouTube

Transcript

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0:00.0	I want to be as wealthy as Beyonce, but I can neither sing nor dance.
0:08.2	So, you know, I'm never going to be Beyonce, but Beyonce is never going to be me.
0:14.0	Beyonce could not step into a courtroom and try, you know, a case and get a $12 million
0:19.7	verdict in, you know, Jefferson County, Alabama.
0:22.9	It's not going to happen.
0:24.3	That's Sarah Williams, trial coach, adjunct professor, and renowned trial attorney at
0:29.0	Alexander Shinar trial attorneys.
0:31.2	I am a firm believer in what is for me is for me.
0:36.2	I'm at a point now where I don't even know how to be anyone else.
0:40.6	You know, it's so uncomfortable to have to pretend. And I don't think you perform as well when you
0:47.0	pretend. I'm Michael Mogul, founder and CEO of Crisp Video, the nation's number one law firm growth
0:56.4	company. I've built my business through practice, not theory. Crisp started with just $500
1:00.9	to my name and has grown to over eight figures in revenue over the last few years, earning
1:05.2	a spot on the Inc 500 list of the fastest growing private companies in America. Our approach has been to
1:10.4	take everything we've learned about generating massive growth
1:12.7	within our own organization and help the country's most ambitious and committed
1:16.3	law firm owners do the same for theirs.
1:18.4	In each episode of this podcast, I sit down with innovative market leaders from the legal
1:22.1	industry and beyond to learn from those who thrive in the face of adversity, challenge
1:26.3	the status quo, and define what it means to be a true game changer.
1:30.0	I sat down with Sarah Williams to discuss what separates good trial lawyers from the great ones,
1:34.6	what it takes to overcome obstacles related to race and gender, and how embracing your authentic self can make you a better leader.
	...

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