From Mom to Legal Mogul: Vanessa Vasquez’s Journey

Welcome to “The Lawyer Millionaire Podcast,” where we uncover the secrets behind thriving law practices and the attorneys helming them. In Episode 49, host Darren Wurz sits down with Vanessa Vasquez, a family law powerhouse who transformed her firm into a beacon of success while juggling the demands of motherhood and entrepreneurship. Join us as we delve into Vanessa’s remarkable journey, her astute business strategies, and the heartwarming mission driving her forward.

In this episode, law firm owners will garner knowledge on:

1. The critical transition from reactive financial decisions based on bank balances to proactive cash flow and budget-driven management.

2. Techniques to maintain cash reserves, control employment costs, and judiciously use credit facilities as a defense against unpredictability.

3. Best practices in personnel management, from strategic hiring to delegating tasks, to boost your firm’s efficiency and revenue.

4. The importance of fostering a supportive company culture and the role of non-material benefits in attracting and retaining top legal talent.

5. Methods for leveraging international talent to expand your firm’s expertise and services in the wake of a global, pandemic-induced talent pool shift.

Transitioning From Full-Time Mom to Family Law Mogul

Vanessa Vasquez’s narrative is one that resonates with many: taking a career hiatus to raise a family, then re-entering the workforce with a passion that is unstoppable. After dedicating three years exclusively to her children, Vanessa found her stride, transitioning from a part-time attorney working within school hours, to proudly helming a 25-person family law firm. Her story stands as testament to the fact that career aspirations and family commitments can coexist harmoniously with the right mindset and support system.

Revolutionizing Law Firm Financials

One key takeaway from Vanessa’s discussion with Darren is the evolution of firm financials—from a model focused solely on bank balance to one driven by diligent cash flow management and budgeting. Vanessa stresses the importance of maintaining liquidity and controlling labor costs, a lesson she learned through navigating unexpected events—a priceless tip for any law firm owner refining their financial strategies.

Human-Centric Business and a Happy Work Culture

Beyond the numbers, Vanessa reveals her commitment to creating an employee-friendly workplace, understanding that a content team is a productive team. From the exceptional step of providing in-office nannies and nurseries, Vanessa’s approach humanizes the sometimes-stern world of law, ensuring her associates strike a perfect work-life balance. Darren and Vanessa engage in a critical dialogue about nurturing non-financial elements that keep employees motivated and satisfied.

Managing Business Financials and Scaling Strategies

As a law firm develops, the focus on financial management intensifies. Vanessa doesn’t shy away from addressing this progression, discussing her firm’s leverage of coaching and C-suite services to optimize financial operations. This pivotal conversation reflects on the importance of evolving the perception of money as one’s business matures, providing listeners with valuable perspectives on scaling and fiscal responsibility.

Connecting with Vanessa for Unparalleled Family Law Guidance

Listeners drawn to Vanessa’s expertise and warmth can connect with her for personalized advice and family law protection. Vanessa’s contact details underscore her accessibility, and she is an avid participant in social media dialogue across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Her outreach extends to her firm’s website, which offers resources such as informational videos, FAQs, team insights, and free case evaluations.

Conclusion:

In Episode 49, “From Mom to Legal Mogul: Vanessa Vasquez’s Journey” listeners are invited to explore the multidimensional aspects of running a thriving law firm with humanity at its core. Whether you’re a new attorney or a seasoned practitioner, there are untold lessons and inspiration to be drawn from Vanessa’s multifaceted experience.

To engage more deeply with “The Lawyer Millionaire Podcast” community and ensure you never miss an episode packed with wisdom like Vanessa’s, subscribe, leave a review, and spread the word about this indispensable resource for lawyers and entrepreneurs alike. Remember, success in law and life is a journey best navigated together.

Resources:

Wurz Financial Services

Connect with Darren Wurz:

Connect with Vanessa Vasquez:

Twitter: Vanessa Vasquez
Facebook: Vanessa Vasquez
Instagram: Vanessa Vasquez
Linkedin: Vanessa Vasquez
Website: Family Law Protection

About our guest:

Vanessa Vasquez de Lara, Esq. is one of the most sought after family law attorneys in Miami. As the founder and owner of the Vasquez de Lara Law Group, she has dedicated her life to helping families navigate the intricacies of the law by ensuring their rights are honored and upheld in family court.

During one of the most stressful times in a family’s life, Mrs. Vasquez de Lara is there to provide strength, understanding and unwavering support for her clients.

Mrs. Vasquez de Lara graduated cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 2002. Shortly after starting her own law practice, she was named to the Super Lawyers’ Rising Stars in 2015.

Through hard work and determination, Mrs. Vasquez de Lara has been recognized as one of the elite family law attorneys in Miami being named to the “Super Lawyers List” starting in 2016 every year through present. This not only shows her level of commitment and consistency to the legal profession but also shows the esteem she is held in by her fellow attorneys in Florida.

Mrs. Vasquez de Lara is accomplished in the legal community as well as the business community.

As the current President of the Coral Gables Bar Association, she is able to help facilitate networking within the association and connect like-minded attorneys to one another. As a change agent and leader in the community, she has a knack for bringing people together to make a positive impact on the community.

As an elected member of the Board of the Miami Dade County Bar Association, she supports key initiatives to promote and highlight all the great work the association does in the community as well as assist attorneys with programming and continuing education.

Her extensive networking and prominence in the legal field allows connections to other attorneys and legal professionals which enhance the firm’s ability to operate more than effectively when helping clients move their cases forward.

As an entrepreneur and businesswoman, Mrs. Vasquez de Lara is committed to helping other businesses in her local community. As a former board member of the Pinecrest Business Association, she has helped sponsor charitable events through the organization, has volunteered her time and has participated in community events to bring recognition and goodwill to the businesses in the community.

Mrs. Vasquez de Lara is also involved in charity work in her community. She started a non-profit organization called the Supreme Scholars Foundation in honor of her younger brother Ricardo “Ricky Supreme” de Lara, who was tragically lost to gun violence in 2020. The foundation regularly offers scholarships to deserving and hard-working high school or college students who are moving on in their studies into college, graduate school or vocational school.

The foundation has also partnered with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters organizations of Miami to award high school seniors full 2-year scholarships to a Florida school with a Two-year Florida Prepaid College Plan.

Mrs. Vasquez de Lara has been featured multiple times on Univision’s Despierta America, the No. 1 national morning show on Spanish language television that’s been running for more than two decades. Mrs. Vasquez de Lara has demonstrated her legal expertise on the show numerous times, and her passion for family law shines through in every appearance. Her ability to break down complex legal concepts in a way that is both simple to understand and accessible makes her the perfect “guest” family law expert on the show.

And despite the growth of the Vasquez de Lara Law Group and the many accolades that Mrs. Vasquez de Lara continues to receive, she has been able to maintain a family atmosphere in her law practice that one would be hard-pressed to find at any other law firm.

This is due to the fact that she personally reviews every case that her law firm handles, and credits her incredible staff, who are as friendly and down to earth as they are knowledgeable and professional.

Transcript:

Darren Wurz [00:05:42]:
Hello, and welcome to another installment of the lawyer millionaire. I’m your host, Darren Wurz. How do you seamlessly step from the world of full time parenting into entrepreneurship and building a successful law firm from the ground up? It sounds like a daring journey, doesn’t it? Well, today we have the privilege of embarking on that journey today as we delve into the remarkable story of a law firm owner and entrepreneur who has shattered boundaries and transitioned from mom to mogul. I am thrilled to welcome Vanessa Vasquez to our show. Vanessa stands as a testament to dynamic women who juggle being a mom and an entrepreneur while molding a legal powerhouse. Vanessa, welcome to the show.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:06:36]:
Thank you so much, Darren, thank you for having me.

Darren Wurz [00:06:39]:
Yes, it’s wonderful to have you here today. As we were talking in the intro, I have seen the stuff you do, your website. I’ve looked into your firm. You’ve built a great business, a great practice, and I want to hear all about it. I know, our audience wants to hear all about it. So let’s start at the beginning and tell us about your journey from mom to mogul.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:07:04]:
Thank you so much, Darren. So I’ve now been practicing for about 20 years. I got barred in three, so it’s been a minute now. And when I actually got married, Thanksgiving before I graduated in December of ’02’. So family was always something that was sort of integral to me and integral to what I knew my future career was going to look like. It wasn’t something where I sort of started and then realized like, oh, wait, no, I don’t want to do it this way. It was sort of an intentional journey where I knew that my husband and my future family were going to need to seamlessly connect together with my desire to lawyers. So my first few jobs were great.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:07:55]:
They were with smaller firms, that there was a lot of flexibility and a lot of that kind of ability to juggle work and life. But as I had my second son, and the boys are now 18 and 15, as I had my second one, I really realized that I wanted to devote myself full time to that. And although I thought it was going to be a very short sort of journey, just kind of like first few months, maybe six months, to kind of really give it my all, that sort of transitioned into, well, here comes a year and then another year and then a third year, and I ended up staying home with them until they started K three and K five. So about give or take three years.

Darren Wurz [00:08:47]:
Okay.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:08:48]:
So that was a really fun, stressful, overwhelming time, but it was wonderful, and I really appreciate that our family was able to do that for the kids. And once I’d been out for that long, I kind of didn’t really feel like starting over and starting again with another firm. So I just kind of said, you know what? Let’s see what we can do and let’s see what we can make happen. So I started going just one day a week to an office between the hours the boys were in school part time. So they got in one at eight, one at 830, and then they got out one at twelve, one at 1230. So basically, I was working between nine and 1130. But it was a great transition year, and it kind of helped me to gain that confidence that, yes, I can actually open a brand new family law firm and I can definitely make this happen. So here we are.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:09:57]:
It’s going on twelve years already, and we’ve built something with 25 people, and it’s really been an amazing journey.

Darren Wurz [00:10:08]:
Yeah, that’s so incredible. So you just went out on your own. I’m going to work part time. And from that to now, tell us about your firm now, and what were some of the initial steps that you took to really start building that?

Vanessa Vasquez [00:10:26]:
Sure. So our firm now has six associates. I’m still sort of the managing partner, so I’m still in making sure that I am assisting all of our attorneys with their strategy and all that, since I am the most experienced attorney. And we’ve got a great team of support, from scheduling assistant, to filing assistant, to receptionists that are making sure that our clients are being sort of handled and managed the right way, to a great intake team, to a marketing team. We really have run the gamut. And two years ago, we were able to transition to bring in my husband, who’s not an attorney. He’s actually an engineer, and we were able to transition him out of corporate world and bring him in as our COO. So he sort of manages anything that’s not related to legal.

Darren Wurz [00:11:33]:
Wow. Okay, listen up audience, COO in legal. I love this, and I love that you’re bringing in non legal professionals to assist in some of those non legal areas. I think that’s really fantastic. So you’ve done a lot here. Where did this business acumen come from? Because a lot of law firm owners struggle with this. They wear all the hats and they’re doing all the things.

Darren Wurz [00:12:01]:
Was this innate for you, or did you learn this from somewhere?

Vanessa Vasquez [00:12:06]:
It was definitely not innate. A lot of it is trial and error. You try something, and if it doesn’t work, you try something else. For being an attorney, I am not a perfectionist who feels that I must know 100% exactly how this will work before I will try it, I’m very much open to let’s see how it goes. And if it works, it works. And if it doesn’t, then we’ll try something else. I find that a lot of attorneys, unfortunately, kind of have that. Only I can do it.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:12:37]:
Only I can do it as well as it needs to be done. Only I can do it perfect. And I thankfully, don’t suffer from that. I’ve been willing to delegate. I’ve been willing to try things. I’ve been willing to really sort of put myself out there in a way that a lot of attorneys don’t. Otherwise, my background in college was in business, so a little bit of that has been useful, but a lot of it has been asking questions and good coaching.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:13:08]:
I’ve been involved with how to manage a small law firm, which is a national coaching and c suite company for going on eight years already. And I love them. It’s been able to teach me what I try to tell my clients, which is you don’t know what you don’t know. And they’ve been able to show me what I don’t know so that I can then work on getting up to speed on the knowledge that I want to have. So kind of that constant figuring out, talking to people who are doing it better and sharing also what we’ve been able to do. I love talking to new firm owners, especially new family law firm owners and younger women firm owners, that I didn’t have that network. I had a lot of professional friends that did what I did. But it’s hard to ask those deep questions like, well, how are you marketing yourself? How are you getting out there? How are you doing these things? So I love to be a support and have that, provide that networking for other firm owners, because the reality is that it’s a close knit community, the legal community, no matter how many attorneys we have, and being able to contribute to that community, I feel is really important.

Darren Wurz [00:14:29]:
Yes, very cool. So you’ve mentioned some great things here, and I’m curious how you have grown as a business owners, like, in terms of your perspective, in terms of how you think about things. What are some big lessons that you’ve learned along the way as you’ve scaled and grown your practice?

Vanessa Vasquez [00:14:51]:
I find that the most important thing that I’ve discovered along this journey, really, is how important good people are and how important it is to pour into your team. Sort of the driving factor that we try to remember all the time in our firm is that we are building a culture where people want to go to work, where people want to be here. And I find that’s really important, not only for law firms in general, since we hear so many bad things about lawyers and law firms, but if you’re a happy lawyer, you’re just going to be a better lawyer. And if the firm that you’re at is meeting your needs is filling your cup, then you can, in turn, turn around and do that as well for your clients, especially family law clients. This is such an emotional time. It’s rare where we have a client that’s sort of like, yeah, I got to get this done. Can you fill out some paperwork for me? It’s not a dispassionate contract negotiation. I birthed your baby and you’re leaving me kind of thing.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:16:06]:
So it really can be very emotional. And family lawyers also tend to be a big breed of lawyers that gets burnt out because when you’re carrying that emotional load for your clients, that becomes really tough. So we’ve worked really hard to try to make sure that we are creating a place where people want to be virtually and non. About half our team is virtual. We are constantly trying to find those things that will make our staff happy. And sometimes it’s little things. Our front desk receptionists will walk downstairs to Starbucks and pick up everybody’s orders. And other times it’s big things.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:16:52]:
Like, we actually hired a nanny to come into our office and she is a nanny for two associate babies. Because I find, and I know as an attorney for over 20 years, that when people have kids, that is a big time to step off the career. Especially women that feel that they don’t want to leave a three month old with somebody else or in a daycare. So I wanted to facilitate that for our associates. So we brought in an nanny, we converted an office into a nursery. And now they don’t have to worry about their babies being in a daycare, being at home with a stranger. They’re in the office, and when they take a break during the day, they go, they get to snuggle with their babies, then they get to go back to work, and it’s a lot less stressful, it’s a lot less difficult for them. And as an added bonus, I get to snuggle babies.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:17:49]:
I mean, it’s a win win. Those kind of things are, it’s spending money, but it’s not a particularly expensive endeavor. And it’s making our associates better, more comfortable, happier. And that, in turn, means that they’re able to serve our clients better. So my biggest, biggest lesson is your people. You’re only as good as your people.

Darren Wurz [00:18:19]:
Yeah. That is so cool. I love that idea. You’re right. It’s so often the non financial things that employees really are looking for and are the difference makers. People will sometimes take a pay cut to go somewhere else if they’re not happy. I mean, they will. So, yeah, that is really a great idea.

Darren Wurz [00:18:42]:
I love it. Very cool. You’ve had great success. I’m sure that, however, the journey has had its bumps along the road. I’m curious, as you look back on this journey, what’s been maybe the most difficult moment for you in the growth of your practice?

Vanessa Vasquez [00:19:04]:
So I would say that probably I’m very much a glass half full kind of person, which is interesting because my husband, who now runs all the things, is a glass half empty kind of person. So they really balance each other out. I tend to sort of have a very optimistic view on everything, but I would say that probably the biggest struggle just comes back to people. When you end up losing good people, whether because they don’t want to do family law anymore or for any other personal reasons, that’s always a struggle, especially for smaller firms. At this point, the reality is that if I lose an associate, you know what, there’s five more to be able to help pick up the slack. But when you only have one associate or two and you lose one, that means that your workload just went up by 50%. And I think that’s also helped to be the catalyst for trying to make sure that we are being better employers and better business owners, to make sure that we don’t sort of feel that pinch of, oh, my goodness, we have team members leaving, and now we have to kind of figure out how to ramp up. So I would probably say that those tend to be the bigger challenges.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:20:38]:
Keeping good people and making sure that you kind of are able to bounce back. When you lose good people, sometimes it takes a while to find that right fit, and you always want to make sure that you’re attracting the right fit, repelling the wrong fit. I think that people, again, is at the heart of everything we do, the good and the bad.

Darren Wurz [00:21:04]:
Well, your business is your people, and very much it’s a collection of people that are working together for a common goal. I mean, that’s the definition of a company, 100%. You’re very correct there. I’m curious, in the growth of your practice. A lot of law firm owners that I work with struggle with trying to get to a certain point, and it’s like, if I could just grow a little bit more, I want to get to this point. But then the problem is that goalpost keeps moving a little bit further out and further out. Was there a moment in your career where you’re like, okay, I’ve made it, I’ve arrived here, or how has that been for you?

Vanessa Vasquez [00:21:55]:
So I would probably say that I’m kind of there now. And the only reason for that is because since January 1, I’ve been telling everybody in conversations that I’m out of production. I’m out of production, and I’m not 100% out. But as I repeat it, I’m definitely not on any more trial calendars. I’m not on any more extensive hearing calendars, and I am continuing to train my associates to make sure that they feel confident and comfortable stepping into that role. But that kind of feels a little bit more revolutionary, I think, to no longer. And the thing is that I was in court on a trial December 22, which, if you’ll recall, was a Friday right after having eye surgery. And I remember thinking that Friday, like, no, this is not a seven figure firm owners job.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:23:04]:
No. Ultimately, I’m really working hard on trial, training my attorneys. We even had an all day in house training a few weeks ago where I’m basically just sort of trying to pour out that knowledge and a lot of things. It’s just how long I’ve been practicing or how long I’ve been an adult. Not even things that are specifically legal knowledge. Like this is how you question, and this is how you, that kind of training you can buy. You can sign up for trial advocacies and all that. But a lot of the smaller things that can help our attorneys sort of think, like people who’ve had kids even though they don’t have kids, or that help them to think about corporate issues, even though they’ve never worked corporate or all those little things.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:23:59]:
And that’s something that we are continuing to plan to do those kind of trainings to make sure that I’m helping them to be as good as I am. Yeah, I would say that’s probably now.

Darren Wurz [00:24:14]:
Yeah. Great. You have kind of a new challenge here that’s different in how do you kind of replace yourself in your practice and move into more of that leadership position? Yeah. Is that kind of where you’re aiming to go and what does the future look like for you as it relates to your practice and other things that you want to do?

Vanessa Vasquez [00:24:38]:
Yeah. One of my favorite things about being a business owners is the networking. I am a people person. I do find my happiness in events and networking and lunches and coffees. So that’s something that I’ve definitely been growing. I’m the president of one of our local bar associations, the Cole Gables Bar association. And so once I took on that role last summer, I’ve been also trying to make sure that I’m connecting with our members and asking them, what can the colgables bar do for you? So that’s something that it sort of has been helping to create that transition where I could see myself out of production, and I can see myself just as, like you mentioned, providing leadership to my team, but also sort of becoming a more connected and a more connecting leader in our community as well.

Darren Wurz [00:25:38]:
Yeah, very cool getting out there and meeting people and promoting your firm and your business. Absolutely. On this show, we deal with money. We’re the lawyer millionaire, you mentioned having a COO. I’m curious, do you have a CFO as well? And do you have certain systems in place for managing the business financials that have been successful for you?

Vanessa Vasquez [00:26:06]:
So like I mentioned earlier, with how to manage, they have coaching and they have C suite services. So we’ve been using their C suite services for a long time. Different positions as the needs of the firm changed, including previously a COO, previously a CEO, previously a CFO as well. So we definitely have that. They’ve helped us to develop our money management. We currently use a bookkeeping company that is an offshoot of how to manage called bookkeeping. That doesn’t suck. And the great thing about that company is that you get a 40 page financial report on all of the financial of the business, including most bookkeepers, kind of give you maybe like a profit and loss and a balance sheet and sort of like a very small overview of what you kind of need to know and what you think to ask them.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:27:10]:
But the reports that we actually got from bookkeeping are great because they’re showing us comparisons to month to month. They’re showing us comparisons year to date. They’re showing us comparisons to this month last year. We also had previously worked with our CFO on our budget, and so now we were able to complete our budget for this year. Bookkeeping loads our budget, so we get a budget variance report every month. So we’re really able to stay on top of those important numbers, like, what are we spending on labor? What are we spending on marketing? What are we spending on everything. And at the end, what’s the profit? Because nobody wants to work a business with no profit.

Darren Wurz [00:27:53]:
Right? These are questions I’m sure you were not necessarily thinking about too much in the very beginning, but, yeah, as things evolve, these are definitely larger things that need to be thought of.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:28:08]:
Yeah, in the beginning I was looking at, so when I first 1st started, it was like, is there some money in the bank? Can I take some of that money out? I think so. Then I like to say that once I started working with the CPA and all that, the standard recommendation is put yourself on payroll. So then it was like, okay, well, I’m going to sign up for payroll. And then it was like the thought of a very weird kind of thing that I really like, or on the other hand, dislike is biweekly paychecks. I don’t know who invented that, but your bills don’t come biweekly. Your mortgages do at a certain time, and something else is doing it. Nothing comes biweekly no. So my firm pays bimonthly.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:28:58]:
We pay on the first and on the 15th, because that way you can divide your stuff the first half of the month, the second half of the month. In the beginning, it was kind of like, pay what was on Friday. How do I make some money? I got to make some calls. I got to issue some bills. So we went from managing the business by simply looking at the bank balance to managing the business in other ways and making sure that we’re looking at what’s our cash flow. Our labor cost is substantial, so got to make sure that there’s money in the bank to pay all of our team. So it’s definitely changed a lot the way that we run the company, by making sure that we’re looking at those finances, looking at that budget, looking at what are we able to do, how did we hit our numbers, how do we not budgeting, saving for a rainy day, making sure that we’ve got access to credit. We actually have two lines of credit which are currently empty.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:30:02]:
We haven’t needed them. But you’re always told, the wise have always told us, make sure that you get the credit when you don’t need it, because you need it you can’t get it. So we’ve made sure to take those steps to maintain liquidity and sort of be prepared for any rainy days.

Darren Wurz [00:30:22]:
Absolutely. Oh, this is great, because these are all things I talk about so much with lots of law firm owners and struggle points, often, liquidity being a big part of that. So many people I talk with are just running razor thin margins, don’t have anything stashed away and paying yourself so critical. One of the big struggles I see among some law firm owners I speak with is that there’s the difficulty separating the personal and the business, and as a result, there’s money flowing back and forth. Right. I’m taking money out of the firm because I have a big expense I need to pay personally. And then I’m putting money back into the firm because, oops, the firm’s coffers. Are running a little bit too low.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:31:04]:
Darren, as a family attorney, I’ve seen people put child support on their taxes as a business expense.

Darren Wurz [00:31:11]:
Oh, my goodness.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:31:13]:
Not a lawyers, but I have seen all manner of what you speak of.

Darren Wurz [00:31:20]:
Wow. They tried it. They tried it.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:31:23]:
Hope they never get out of it. I can tell you that the judge that started that trial was not too happy with that company. And my poor client is like, I’m just a minority shareholder. I have no control over what anybody else does. But thankfully, we were able to kind of bring that case back from the dead after the judge was super upset about that.

Darren Wurz [00:31:46]:
Wow.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:31:47]:
Yeah. So we definitely see it. And it’s so important to make sure that you have yourself on a regular cadence. Nobody wants to live thinking, am I going to have enough money to pay my bills this month? And then we’ve used it as a catalyst to help us to think bigger. To think, what do we want to be? What is the house we want to live in? What’s the car we want to drive? What’s the school we want our kids to go to? What’s the college we want to be able to pay for our kids? My husband and I are both kids of immigrants. We both moved here in elementary, middle school age. And so knowing and kind of like helping to create some of those bigger goals of what you always try to do better than your parents. So that’s also kind of helped to keep that momentum going of what’s our next thing? What’s our next.

Darren Wurz [00:32:44]:
Very cool, very cool. Good stuff. Well, Vanessa, as we think about others, you mentioned you have a passion for helping and talking to younger lawyers. Quickly, would you share with us maybe some advice that you might pass on to younger law firm owners that are getting started and wanting to grow?

Vanessa Vasquez [00:33:03]:
Absolutely. The biggest piece of advice I can give any attorney, new or not new, is don’t do it. All you need to figure out what you are best at, whether that’s networking, whether that’s production, whether know, whatever that might be. And then you need to hire, even if you think you can’t afford. Know. I did a talk many years ago when Avo used to do their lawyer nomics, and I did a talk where I talked about how every time I hired somebody, our income doubled. Small numbers, it’s easy to double. But the lesson really carried, because something that how to manage also helped me to see is if you are answering your phone, you’re working for $15 an hour.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:33:56]:
If you are the firm’s paralegal, you’re working for $25 an hour. If you are the firm’s bookkeeper, you’re working for $20 an hour. And all of those roles can be outsourced, even on very part time basis. And it will allow you to do what you do best, which is be aware and charge three, four, $500 an hour rainmake and bring in cases that are worth 510, $20,000. So you shouldn’t spend your time doing the smaller tasks. And it’s crazy to me how often I hear, oh, no, but I can’t trust me. In a pinch. If you were in the hospital and you needed to step out for two weeks, you’d figure it out.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:31:10]:
You’d find somebody, you’d do it. You’d get it done. And how much better is it to do it onboard somebody, find the right person, bring them on. And we now have a global talent available at our fingertips that we didn’t envision before COVID. COVID was terrible. But there have been, especially for the legal field. I feel so many amazing things that have come out of there, from being able to do five minute hearings from your office and not spending an hour and a half in Miami traffic to get to court, to doing mediations where clients are in other states by Zoom, to recruiting and finding and using amazing global bilingual talent that is able to help our firm really move forward. And I have to give a shout out to get staffed up.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:35:37]:
Who is the company owned by my good friend Brett Trembly, who helped us to see that future of global talent and being able to bring in team members that we now have people from Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and El Salvador working at our firm and helping our.

Darren Wurz [00:36:02]:
Well, you know, Vanessa, it’s all about the money, but it’s not all about the money. There is a bigger purpose behind all the things that we do. So I’m curious about you and your bigger purpose. What is your millionaire mission.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:35:59]:
So connected to our firm, we are looking to help 20,000 families in the next. That’s kind of our 20 year goal, but who knows? If we grow big enough, that might end up sort of moving sooner. On a personal note, I am looking to help my kids fly the nest. I’ve got a sophomore and a senior, so they’re close to starting when I moved out from home that first year of college. And so I’m trying to make sure that I’m helping them to have that foundation that I know that they’ll need to be successful going forward. I’m a Christian, and I am constantly looking for ways to build God’s kingdom, whether in our local church or internationally. We’ve contributed to quite a few different ministries all over the world to see the gospel shared. And lastly, I lost my little brother a few years ago, and we started a foundation called the Supreme Scholars foundation to honor his memory and give scholarships to deserving kids.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:37:36]:
You know, that’s something that also helps to push us.

Darren Wurz [00:37:41]:
Yeah, very, very nice things. Great, inspiring goals. I love that you shared all those things, and I’m sure your kids will do fantastically well. They have a wonderful role model to learn. Great. Well, Vanessa, we’ve come to the end of our time here. Would you please share with our audience where they can go to learn more about you or to get in touch with you if they’d like to?

Vanessa Vasquez [00:37:34]:
Absolutely. If anybody wants to connect with me personally, my email address is vanessa@familylawprotection.com our website is familylawprotection.com and there you can see videos, FAQs, all of our team, and schedule a free case evaluation if you need help with a local south Florida family law case. And you can always check us out on all the social media channels. I love educating our potential and not potential clients about things that are going on in family law, and you can see those videos on our Facebook where I live because I’m a Facebook girl, as well as Instagram TikTok LinkedIn, where you found so.

Darren Wurz [00:38:57]:
Well, that brings us to the end of another enriching episode of the Lawyer Millionaire. Vanessa, thank you so much for being with us today and sharing your journey and your insights with us.

Vanessa Vasquez [00:39:08]:
Thanks for having me, Darren.

Darren Wurz [00:39:09]:
Yeah, and to our listeners, I’m sure Vanessa’s story has left you with countless takeaways, fresh perspectives, and a renewed sense of possibilities that await you in both your professional and personal journeys. If you’re ready to embrace your financial potential as a law firm owner, remember, I’m here to help. Whether it’s dissecting complex financial concepts or crafting your own personalized financial roadmap. I’m just a call away, so book a call with me, your host, Darren Wurz. The link is in the show notes, and together let’s bring clarity to your finances and help you navigate your path from profitable practice to personal wealth. If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe to the lawyer millionaire. Also, if you could take a moment and leave us a review, it would make a world of difference and help us spread the word to reach more individuals who could benefit from these discussions. Once again, thank you for tuning in, and I hope to see you next time again on the lawyer millionaire.