S02E85 Fresh Start Registry & Family Law Attorneys with the Dreizen Sisters

When life falls apart, where do you turn for practical support? Sisters Olivia Dreizen-Howell and Jenny Dreizen discovered a critical gap in our support systems when they both experienced major life transitions, Olivia through divorce and Jenny through a broken engagement. Their revelation? While we celebrate beginnings with weddings and baby registries, we lack formal support structures for endings and transitions.

Fresh Starts Registry emerged from this need, a pioneering platform that allows people navigating divorce, coming out, job changes, grief, and other significant life shifts to create registries for essential items they need to rebuild. More than just a registry service, they’ve created a comprehensive support ecosystem that includes access to vetted experts across multiple disciplines.

What makes their approach unique is their business model. Rather than monetizing vulnerable people in transition, they’ve created a membership community for experts, divorce attorneys, financial analysts, therapists, realtors, and numerous specialized coaches, who pay modest monthly fees to join their network. These experts gain marketing support, podcast opportunities, co-working sessions, and media exposure while registry users receive vetted resources they can trust during challenging times.

The sisters have expanded their mission through the Fresh Starts Podcast Network, with shows consistently ranking in the top percentiles. Through podcasts like “A Fresh Story,” “Divorce Happens,” and “Jenny Says So,” they’re making divorce education and transition support accessible to everyone, regardless of circumstances.

For family law attorneys and divorce professionals, Fresh Starts Registry offers a valuable resource to share with clients and an exceptional opportunity to expand visibility through their expert network. Their commitment to accessibility, offering free consultations and downloadable guides without requiring personal information, reflects their core belief that everyone deserves support during life transitions.

Reach the Dreizen sisters here:
https://freshstartsregistry.com/
https://www.instagram.com/freshstartsregistry/

Law Firm Marketing Fix

Fix Your Law Firm’s Marketing in 10 Simple Steps

Download Your Free Checklist -> https://fix.lawmarketingzone.com/

Join our private community, Law Firm Growth Guild, Your Shortcut to Marketing Mastery and More Clients at
https://checkout.lawmarketingzone.com

Ready to level up your law firm marketing? Book a FREE Discovery Call with Marilyn Here: https://lawmarketingzone.com/bookacall

Leadership In Law Podcast with host, Marilyn Jenkins
Powered by Law Marketing Zone®
https://lawmarketingzone.com
A full-service Digital Marketing Agency helping clients increase Leads, Cases, and Profit by getting their digital marketing right.

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S02E84 Building a Happy & Profitable Solo Practice with Lauren Lester

When Lauren passed the bar exam, she faced a reality many new attorneys encounter – law school hadn’t equipped her to run a business. Rather than following the traditional path of working as an associate for years, Lauren took a bold approach by starting her practice immediately. What she discovered challenged everything about the conventional law firm model.

The prevailing wisdom from established attorneys – high hourly rates, opaque pricing, and aggressive litigation – didn’t align with Lauren’s client-centered values. She realized she wouldn’t be able to afford her service, which sparked a fundamental question: What if there’s a better way to practice law? This lead her to pioneer flat fee models and transparent pricing that made quality legal help accessible to her community.

Lauren’s marketing strategy leverages her web development background and embraces modern platforms like TikTok and YouTube. By creating bite-sized educational videos answering common legal questions, she builds trust with potential clients before they even contact her. Her content creation process is refreshingly simple: researching common questions, preparing key points without scripting, and batch-recording videos that continue to generate clients years later.

What began as an informal coffee chats with curious colleagues has evolved into “A Different Practice” – a community helping attorneys escape burnout and rediscover the joy of lawyering. Through her newsletter and Substack, Lauren shares practical systems that allows lawyers to build practices supporting their desired lifestyles rather than sacrificing everything for work.

Reach Lauren here:
www.adifferenpractice.com

Law Firm Marketing Fix

Fix Your Law Firm’s Marketing in 10 Simple Steps

Download Your Free Checklist -> https://fix.lawmarketingzone.com/

Join our private community, Law Firm Growth Guild, Your Shortcut to Marketing Mastery and More Clients at
https://checkout.lawmarketingzone.com

Ready to level up your law firm marketing? Book a FREE Discovery Call with Marilyn Here: https://lawmarketingzone.com/bookacall

Leadership In Law Podcast with host, Marilyn Jenkins
Powered by Law Marketing Zone®
https://lawmarketingzone.com
A full-service Digital Marketing Agency helping clients increase Leads, Cases, and Profit by getting their digital marketing right.

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S02E83 Turning Founders Into Multi-Millionaires with Gabriela Smith

When your goal is growing a business to a successful exit, having the right legal strategy can mean the difference between leaving millions on the table or walking away with maximum value. Meet Gabriela Smith, founder of GNS Law and creator of the Company X-Ray program, who has mastered the art of turning founders into multimillionaires.

Gabriela’s fascinating journey from Argentina to building a successful Texas-based law practice offers a masterclass in leveraging cultural differences as business advantages. Having experienced life in emerging markets before moving to the United States, she uniquely understands both sides of international business transactions, making her invaluable to American companies expanding globally and foreign businesses entering the U.S. market.

What sets Gabriela apart is her revolutionary approach to business exits. Rather than waiting until an offer arrives, she advocates for proactive legal planning years before a sale. “The more you invest in your legal and finance operations before the sale, the smoother your deal will be and the more money you’ll take,” she explains. Through her Company X-Ray program, she conducts comprehensive legal audits at strategic intervals (5, 3, and 1 year before exit), identifying and eliminating what she colorfully calls the “rats” in your business before potential buyers discover them.

This approach yields dramatic results. Clients who follow her methodology experience smoother transactions, better terms, and significantly higher valuations. By contrast, businesses that wait until receiving an LOI often face reduced offers, tougher earnout structures, and deals that sometimes fall apart entirely when due diligence uncovers unexpected issues.

Reach Gabriela here: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriela-n-smith/
https://gnslawpllc.com
Exit-Ed podcast:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6sjzr2bRsxiPOJLnLBZ2nx
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exit-ed/id1813911047
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Exit-Ed

Law Firm Marketing Fix

Fix Your Law Firm’s Marketing in 10 Simple Steps

Download Your Free Checklist -> https://fix.lawmarketingzone.com/

Join our private community, Law Firm Growth Guild, Your Shortcut to Marketing Mastery and More Clients at
https://checkout.lawmarketingzone.com

Ready to level up your law firm marketing? Book a FREE Discovery Call with Marilyn Here: https://lawmarketingzone.com/bookacall

Leadership In Law Podcast with host, Marilyn Jenkins
Powered by Law Marketing Zone®
https://lawmarketingzone.com
A full-service Digital Marketing Agency helping clients increase Leads, Cases, and Profit by getting their digital marketing right.

Subscribe on your favorite Podcast listening platform!

Like, Share, and Review us!

S02E82 Expert Witness Strategy for Winning Cases with Dr. Jordan Romano 

Navigating the complex intersection of medicine and law demands specialized expertise. Dr. Jordan Romano brings exactly that to this enlightening conversation about the strategic role medical experts play in legal proceedings.

With two decades of clinical experience at prestigious institutions like Massachusetts General Hospital and now Tufts Medical Center, Dr. Romano shares how his journey into medical expert witness work evolved from occasional case reviews to comprehensive consulting for law firms nationwide. His passion for elevating the entire system shines through as he explains his dual mission: mentoring physicians to become more effective expert witnesses while helping attorneys make better strategic decisions about their cases.

What sets Dr. Romano’s approach apart is his focus on moving “upstream” in the litigation process. Rather than simply testifying on established cases, he helps attorneys assess case merit before significant resources are invested. This service proves particularly valuable for smaller firms without extensive internal resources or partners to bounce ideas off. As Dr. Romano explains, “A lot of people use time and money or chase things that really waste everybody’s time and are inefficient for the system.” His consultative approach helps attorneys avoid pursuing frivolous cases while identifying those with legitimate merit.

Through his platform MedicalExpertWitness.com, Dr. Romano has created a sophisticated system for matching attorneys with appropriate medical experts while simultaneously providing education and mentorship to physicians entering the expert witness field. This dual focus ultimately serves to raise the caliber of expert testimony across the board. For attorneys handling medical malpractice cases, Dr. Romano offers this advice: establish relationships with qualified medical consultants before urgent needs arise so you’ll have trusted expertise ready when critical cases emerge.

Reach Dr. Jordan here:

https://medicalexpertwitness.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-jordan-romano-5598144/

S02E81 Developing Your Leadership Skills with Doug Thorpe

Servant leadership transforms organizations by flipping traditional hierarchy upside down. Doug Thorpe, an executive coach with military and banking leadership experience, reveals how this approach creates sustainable success by putting team members first.

Doug’s leadership journey started in elementary school when he aspired to be captain of the crossing guards. This early experience established a pattern that would follow him through military service, a 20-year banking career, and into his role as coach to hundreds of business leaders. What stands out in his story is how consistently he found himself in leadership positions—not from ego, but from a genuine desire to serve.

The concept of leaders eating last, literally practiced in military settings, provides a powerful metaphor for servant leadership in business. By prioritizing team needs and wellbeing, leaders demonstrate value while ensuring resources flow to where they’re most needed. This principle extends naturally into organizational leadership, where putting others first creates a foundation for growth.

Doug’s coaching process helps clients develop personalized leadership frameworks that define their leadership identity and determine their legacy. Rather than adopting someone else’s model, he encourages leaders to identify attributes and principles that authentically represent their values. This framework becomes a roadmap for intentional development, guiding how leaders show up in every moment.

Understanding your “why” proves equally transformative. With insights from the Why Institute, Doug helps leaders identify their core motivations. The combination of why (core purpose), how (method), and what (contribution) creates a unique leadership fingerprint that drives authenticity and impact.

Reach Doug here:
https://dougthorpe.com
https://podcasts.dougthorpe.com
https://www.headwayexec.com/

S02E80 Benefits of In Home Notary Services with Phillip Hogan

Phillip Hogan’s entrepreneurial journey is a captivating story of opportunity recognition and strategic growth. After a chance encounter with a mobile notary service during an out-of-state car purchase, Hogan spotted an unmet need in the market that would transform his life path. Drawing from childhood experiences working in his family’s retail business and leveraging his military discipline from four years of Navy service, he built Signing Services of America into a powerhouse with 65,000 CFPB-compliant notaries nationwide.

What makes Hogan’s approach unique is his unwavering commitment to understanding clients’ needs. Rather than simply connecting notaries with clients, his company provides comprehensive training to ensure every transaction proceeds smoothly. This attention to detail has made Signing Services of America particularly valuable to mass tort law firms and estate planning attorneys who require reliable document execution. As one estate planning attorney confided to Hogan, before partnering with his service, many trustees never completed their notarization requirements, creating expensive legal complications for families after death.

This conversation shows how strong leadership starts with solving real problems. By streamlining document delivery and notarization with trained notaries and responsive service, Hogan built a business that delivers real value. He believes notaries represent the company and clients, highlighting the importance of trust. For law firm owners, this episode shares useful insights on building effective partnerships and improving the client experience through specialized support.

Reach Phillip here:
www.signingservicesofamerica.com

S02E79 Setting Boundaries for Empowerment & Growth with Barb Nangle

Boundaries might be the missing ingredient in your quest for a successful and fulfilling law practice. In this powerful conversation with boundary coach Barb Nangle, we explore how setting healthy boundaries can transform not only your personal life but also revolutionize your professional relationships and leadership approach.

Barb shares her remarkable story of transformation that began at age 52, proving it’s never too late to change ingrained patterns. After decades of therapy that barely scratched the surface of her issues, she discovered through 12-step recovery programs that her core wound was codependence, manifesting as people-pleasing, burnout, and an inability to identify her own needs and preferences. The moment she began establishing clear boundaries, everything changed.

Law firm owners will find particular wisdom in Barb’s workplace insights. Working at Yale for 19 years with a chronically unreliable boss, she discovered that complaining and hoping others would change only deepened her resentment. When she shifted to implementing structures she could control, regular meetings, clear communication protocols, and letting her boss experience the natural consequences of her actions, team morale and productivity soared. This principle applies perfectly to law practice management.

The most transformative concept Barb shares is moving beyond a victim mentality. She challenges the common attorney’s belief of “I don’t have a choice” when faced with demanding deadlines or difficult clients. Recognizing your agency in every situation, whether choosing to complete weekend work because it aligns with partnership goals or choosing to set limits that protect your wellbeing, creates empowerment and prevents burnout. The sustainable law practice requires filling your cup first through non-negotiable commitments to rest and personal connections.

Reach Barb here:
https://higherpowercc.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbnangle/
https://www.instagram.com/higherpowercoaching/
https://www.youtube.com/@higherpowercoaching/
https://www.facebook.com/HigherPowerCoaching/

S02E78 Financials That Achieve Your Goals with Leah Miller

Financial management is often the most intimidating aspect of running a law firm, yet it’s crucial for sustainable growth and success. In this illuminating conversation with fractional CFO Leah Miller, we explore how intentional financial planning can transform your law practice from surviving to thriving.

Leah shares her journey from paralegal to firm administrator, and then to founding her own financial services company, which helps law firms nationwide. Her approach begins not with spreadsheets but with understanding your personal and professional goals: “How much do you need to be bringing home to live the life you want to live?” By starting with this foundation, she creates financial strategies that support both business growth and the lifestyle you desire.

We dive deep into the challenging transition phase from $500,000 to $1 million in annual revenue, that uncomfortable period when “all you’re doing is spending money” on marketing, talent, and infrastructure without seeing immediate returns. Leah provides practical guidance on navigating this growth stage with confidence, including how to set appropriate KPIs, maintain essential compensation for yourself, and communicate financial goals transparently with your team.

The conversation covers critical foundations every firm should establish, from proper accounting software setup to the distinction between “bookkeeping for tax purposes” and “bookkeeping for financial growth.” Leah explains how categorizing expenses strategically can reveal operational inefficiencies and help you make smarter hiring decisions. You’ll learn why your financial team should include bookkeepers, CPAs, and strategic advisors, each playing distinct roles in your firm’s financial health.

Reach Leah here:
www.linkedin.com/in/leahlnmfinancial
https://www.instagram.com/leah_lnm_financial/
www.firmlyprofits.com

S02E77 Winning SEO In a Saturated Market with Lindsey Busfield

Lindsey Busfield, VP of Optimize My Firm, shares her journey from managing Amish chicken farms to becoming an SEO strategist for some of the nation’s most powerful law firm websites. With refreshing candor, she explains why most traditional SEO tactics fail modern attorneys and reveals the strategies that work in 2023.

For small and mid-sized firms competing against giants like Morgan & Morgan, Lindsey offers hope through strategic positioning. Rather than trying to outspend the competition, she advocates for community-based approaches that leverage your authentic connections and interests. “If you’re a motorcycle rider, get involved in that community, make yourself an advocate,” Lindsey advises, noting how these grassroots efforts can distinguish you from “settlement mills” with deeper pockets.

The conversation dives deep into practical content strategies, with Lindsey revealing why generic “What to do after a car accident” blog posts make her “skin crawl.” Instead, she outlines a sophisticated content hierarchy approach that helps attorneys dominate search results through parent pages and geographically relevant subcategories. You’ll learn why Google’s recent verification crackdowns are suspending many law firm listings and exactly what to do if it happens to you.

Perhaps most valuable is Lindsey’s insight on client acquisition: “If they haven’t said yes or no yet, they haven’t given you an answer. So it is still a maybe, and there is money in the maybes.” She shares examples of firms closing 5-10 cases weekly through persistent follow-up and smart referral strategies.

Reach Lindsey here:

Podcast Link: https://optimizemyfirm.com/podcasts/
Website: www.optimizemyfirm.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsey-busfield/

S02E76 Building a Profitable Firm in a Crowded Market with Nick Spetsas & Charles Buist

What does it take to build a thriving law firm from scratch in one of America’s most competitive legal markets? For Nick Spetsas and Charles Buist, the journey began with a friendship in law school that evolved into a powerful business partnership built on shared values and complementary strengths.

Starting with just a $40,000 line of credit in Orlando’s saturated personal injury market, they faced what seemed like insurmountable odds. But their strategic approach to digital marketing and unwavering commitment to client service quickly set them apart from established competitors.

Charles and his partners share honest insights on what works in legal marketing today. Instead of broad branding, they focus on direct response, utilizing SEO, videos, and streaming TV to target niche areas such as negligent security and dental malpractice with their “bowling pin” strategy. 

What sets them apart is their real focus on client relationships. Nick shares that his defense experience revealed a lack of personal service in plaintiff firms. While others employed assembly-line practices, Spetsas Buist built its reputation on being accessible and providing clients with personal attention. 

Their journey hasn’t been without challenges, particularly in managing cash flow with contingency cases. Yet their strategic focus and commitment to understanding every aspect of their business, from operations to accounting to marketing, have enabled them to thrive where many others struggle.

Reach Nick and Charles here:

https://spetsasbuist.com/