Tag Archive for: women partners

Wanda Woo: Partner, Capital Markets, Shearman & Sterling LLC (Hong Kong)

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Wanda Woo(Spotlight on Asia) “If you have the right skills and are prepared, don’t be afraid when the opportunity comes to you. No one can tell you it’s not possible,” says Wanda Woo on being both a Shearman & Sterling partner and mother of three children.

Defining Her Own Growth Curve

Woo entered capital markets as a paralegal in 2004 after attaining a double degree in English literature and economics from the University of British Columbia. She planned to go the U.S. for her JD, but her trajectory was redirected after her father’s heart attack compelled a return to Hong Kong. Working as a paralegal with Linklaters in Hong Kong while studying undergraduate law via the University of London was not easy but her mentor at that time taught her to never underestimate herself.

“I made it, and it was painful, but I feel very proud of that process in the end,” says Woo. “I saw early on what I was capable of.”

Woo went onto join Shearman & Sterling for eight years as an associate, during which she had three children, and then after leaving for four years, she decided to rejoin the firm.

“It was destiny to have the opportunity to rejoin Shearman & Sterling as a capital markets partner. The timing couldn’t be better. The firm has really been the only place that has truly been very important for me throughout my career path. It’s like coming back home.”

Being a Mom of Three And a Partner

Woo confesses that she thought of resigning from Big Law after her first child, worried she would not be able to meet the travel and work demands, but instead the partner she worked for at the time encouraged her to instead take flexible arrangements.

“I’ve always found Shearman & Sterling to be very gender-equal, where male partners are working well with female partners, and very supportive. I couldn’t imagine another place that would have supported me so much when I was working in such an intensive field with three children.”

“It can be challenging, but I wouldn’t personally be a better mom if I was around 24/7,” says Woo of the multiple roles she balances.

She adds the importance of loving what you do, especially if you are carving your own possibilities: “If you have the passion for the work, there’s always a way. Pick the right field, pick the right industry, pick the right job that you have passion for.”

Doing The Work that Fulfills


“I always have felt like I belong to this industry,” says Woo. “You are always meeting new people or working on new deals or learning different business models. I really like transaction work because it’s a people business at the same time. That ability to contribute is what keeps me going – the work of helping corporate entities get listed and then being able to continue that relationship onwards.”

Woo feels most fulfilled by the companies she has helped bring to IPO status, to become publicly traded companies, and the amazing colleagues and clients she’s had a chance to work with over the past 17 years.

“For better or worse, I always say I am a bit obsessive-compulsive. I’m very motivated to finish the work, be on top of it, and respond quickly to inquiries or client requests,” says Woo. “Partially, I want to be able to return home to my kids. So, this obsessive quality has also helped me be efficient as a partner while also being a mother.”

Woo is especially good at handling conflict between stakeholders while also advising her clients through transactions legally – a skill of calmness that she picked up from watching partners that inspired her.

With three kids growing up to inherit this world, making a positive impact through ESG is important to her. “How to make an impact, give back to the environment and contribute to society is something I’m learning more about and sharing more about, beyond the notions of making money or having year-on-year growth.”

“In transactional capital markets law, the issuers may not know that ESG is something that will help them in the long run. But when we bring the ESG frame, along with the regulators, to these companies, they start to realize the impact they can make to society through these measures and policies,” notes Woo. “This is something to start earlier rather than later, so it becomes a part of your corporate culture, and is inviting to other stakeholders.”

Networking, Authentically

Since becoming a partner, Woo has moved from being more execution-focused to developing and stewarding client relationships. Having once pushed herself out of her comfort zone to seek partnership has helped her to push herself yet again.

“As a partner, people will ask you questions 24/7 and you have to be responsive. But the bigger growth area is to compel people to come back to you for more work and to assure them that you have them in your mind and heart as a client so you build that long-term relationship.”

“Now that I’ve been a partner for several years, I’ve realized networking is not really about wining and dining,” observes Woo. “It’s really about being authentic, reliable and trustworthy. I’ve always had these qualities I feel, but I had to learn to show people.”

Being Inspired and Inspiring Yourself

Woo has been most inspired by the lawyers before her that demonstrated integrity: “Being a good lawyer is never enough. They showed me what it means to be truly respectable and professional in all acts. They were doing the marketing work and actively engaging in the real work. It was never just about getting deals. The common quality in the figures I’ve aspired to is that they are still immersed and involved.”

Woo urges junior lawyers to not get too caught up on monetary rewards for early career efforts but to frame it as an investment in yourself as a lawyer.

“You’re not just getting paid for the job that you are doing. You are also getting paid for the experience that you’re earning,” says Woo. “The more you earn the better. You’ll be prepared for the next step. When I was a paralegal, I treated myself as an associate. When I was working as an associate, I treated myself as a senior. I went the extra mile, put in two hundred percent, so the partners could see what I could really do, and then they would give me more opportunities. Not everything you’re doing can be measured in monetary value.”

Recently back from a 2.5 month trip to China to check in with the clients and teams in Shanghai and Beijing offices, Woo values time with her parents, her partner and her children, who are now 9, 7 and 6 years old.

Woo prides herself on taking challenging situations and turning them towards her favor – and ranks being both a mother of three and Shearman capital markets partner high among those accomplishments.

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Cassandra Cuellar: Partner, Venture Capital, M&A and Capital Markets, Shearman & Sterling LLP

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Cassandra CuellarAs a partner in the buzzing Emerging Growth practice, Cassandra Cuellar works with entrepreneurial clients who are launching companies and investors who are looking to back a promising venture.

Taking Ownership To Grow

“What gets me out of bed in the morning is the opportunity to work with people that are pouring their personal energy, time and wealth into the companies they’re growing,” says Cuellar. “It’s very rewarding to be a part of their journey as they start those companies, grow them and hopefully realize a successful exit. It’s life-changing for them.”

Cuellar must understand the concerns and interests of both founders and investors in her practice. She emphasizes that a collaboration mentality and solution-orientation is required to effectively advocate for her clients: “Our job is not to identify 20 roadblocks and then say we can’t go further. Our job is to identify the roadblocks, figure out if this is truly something that will be detrimental to our client, and then bring our clients in on that, figuring out the solution together.”

Cuellar enjoys the fast pace of work these days: “You get so many more people that have new ideas and diversity of thought starting companies and taking a chance on themselves. It’s great to see that and be able to be part of that.”

She is also comfortable leaning in and taking a chance on herself. “I have a willingness to take ownership over things without necessarily having to be so dependent on a hierarchical structure,” she says. “Startups run lean, so that’s the way my group approaches the practice and it’s how I’ve developed as an attorney.”

From early in her career, she had to get comfortable communicating with CEOs, CFOs, and key decision makers, but she relates learning through taking ownership to even earlier in life.

“I grew up in a small town as the oldest of four kids, and my parents had their hands full. I had to take ownership of my own professional career – getting into college, getting scholarships and making sure I was set up to move away and do my own thing,” says Cuellar. “Having that ability to do that from a young age translated well into being successful at this practice. I’m not afraid to take ownership over issues and clients and get stuff done.”

The Confidence To Trust Yourself and Others

“Latinx students going into law school don’t necessarily have readily-accessible role models that have gone into BigLaw, so often Latinx students make a choice to opt out of BigLaw, despite being more than qualified,” cautions Cuellar. “But I have found that because Latinx students often have to figure things out on their own without role models, that makes us uniquely qualified for this profession. You are used to navigating unknown waters, so it makes it easier to approach novel legal issues, transactions, and clients. The one thing I’ve learned – through negotiating the law school process, getting a job in a big law firm and now building my career – is that whatever you can throw at me, I’m going to figure it out,” she notes. “I don’t get scared off by challenge. I can rise to it because I have done it before.”

While launching herself into responsibility came naturally, her stretch zone has been releasing control. As a senior associate, she was accustomed to knowing every detail in every transaction and trusted herself to deliver on the high expectations she set. As she’s moved up, she’s had to learn to let go and trust in her team. Cuellar echoes other Latinas we’ve spoken to in expressing that being the one Latina within her practice, or one of few, feeds the drive to validate through performance. It makes letting go harder because more has felt at stake.

“Being a Latina, there’s not that many of us doing what I do, so I do feel a certain responsibility to be able to prove myself here and make sure that anything I work on is done at 100%,” she reflects. “That part of my identity and proving myself is impacted by this other part of me that needs to grow and trust other people to do things, even though I don’t have 100% control.”

Along with that self-awareness, she’s found that empathy is important.

“Letting go of some of that control has been hard, but I’m working on it,” she admits. “I’ve realized that everyone is an individual, and they’re not all like me, and I have to manage to each person versus to what my personal expectations, approaches, or processes would be.”

Encouraging Each Other’s Potential

Inspired by leaders she’s worked with, Cuellar models her practice upon listening and showing understanding to clients and those she is working with. She would love to see more Latinas follow a law path, and attributes her own decision to meeting a Latina lawyer in the Texas legislature, who encouraged her on the path.

At Shearman, Cuellar has felt supported in opening her possibilities by other women mentors: “I’ve always found someone willing to sit down and talk to me about things in a very honest fashion, who would guidepost, for example, that I needed to be thinking about business development, even as a second year, if I ultimately want to make Partner.”

In formal mentoring of law school students, especially Latinas and Latinos, she implores students not to limit themselves based on context or precedents, but instead to take a good look at whether a big law firm could be a match: “You work a lot, but you learn a lot, and have a lot of professional opportunities. I think it’s important that more Latinos and Latinas feel comfortable taking that risk, even if it might not be something your family understands at the time. You’re setting yourself up for your future professionally. You can at least try, and you could even be successful.”

Finding Out What Works For You

Cuellar admits it has taken her years to get comfortable in networking, but she tells students to take networking seriously as a skill to develop, the earlier the better.

But she’s also found her own approach to creating connections. “What I’ve discovered, whether it’s within the firm or with a volunteer opportunity, is my best networking is done when I’m working with someone. I take that approach of trying to get to know people by doing a good job with work they send my way, making sure that they feel valued and working from there (with common interests etc) – versus attending every networking event, because I find it hard to make deep connections in that context.”

Cuellar considers it part of the trial and error of getting to know yourself. Try out different things to see what works for you, and develop your own network style.

Her close-knit family and three year old son Max come first in her life. They enjoy cooking, celebrating birthdays and planning holidays. She enjoys connecting with close friends through the early experiences of motherhood. In this particular moment, it appears her son Max is rebelling against preschool yoga.

By Aimee Hansen

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Sara Coelho: Partner, Financial Restructuring & Insolvency, Shearman & Sterling LLP

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Sara Coelho“I’m open to things going in a lot of different directions and to seeing things in a different way than people expect,” says Sara Coelho. “I really try to foster that approach, because novel solutions bubble up.”

Coelho talks about why her practice is a jack-of-all-trades art, standing her ground as a woman and the creativity of receptivity within law.

The “Liberal Arts Area of Law”

With Shearman & Sterling since 2016, and promoted to partner this past July, Coelho has been in the insolvency practice for fifteen years.

“Any time you have an insolvency situation, by definition people can’t follow the law. When something isn’t working, you get to take a deep dive into why and have to figure out a way to make something of that, and the tools really vary depending on the business,” she says. “Every situation has its own dimensions, so you constantly get to learn something new. If you are a liberal arts major, you would like what I do.”

Coelho continues, “I’m often doing things I have no prior expertise in, for example, negotiating tax debt and tax statutes, because of the underlying needs of the situation,” she further explains. “Sometimes we litigate to get to a resolution of a dispute. Sometimes we create deals. We’ll use any field of law to construct a deal that takes the situation to a better place.”

Her area is so flexible that when students ask her about a typical day, Coelho tells them to give her a year and she’ll say what she was doing in that period of time. Collaboration with other lawyers and financial advisors is critical to her work: often part of the solution is bringing in the expert who knows the tried-and-true approach, and another is confronting an issue alien to anything she’s ever done. Hence, the sophistication of problems, quality of people and intellectual challenges have held her attention in this field.

The Creativity of Receptivity

Coelho feels persistence has served her. She has always been able to put her head down and commit to a project she’s taken on. She’s been called a “lawyer’s lawyer” in that she has an analytical curiosity and loves to go deep into a problem, which means encouraging a spaciousness for unexpected solutions.

“There’s often a real reluctance to bring forward something that is a little off the wall,” she observes, “but you could miss an opportunity that way.”

In law, creativity is often less conceiving of something new and bringing it into existence, but rather an artful receptivity to the hidden key that already exists that you’re not yet seeing.

“So much of law is a very set underlying body of concepts, and people lose track of a big percentage of it. So often there is just something lurking there, that’s pretty direct and obvious, but actually very hard to see if you don’t come at it with an open mindset,” she explains. “It’s a receptivity, an orientation of faith that there’s going to be useful things that emerge. It’s a melding of a creative mindset with the orthodox.”

Staking Her Ground As A Woman

While Coelho admits her field has an inadequate representation of women, especially senior partners, she also often finds there are more women than she realized. She also feels the reputation of being male-dominated deters women from considering a field they might thrive in: “There are women who are thriving in all of the difficult roles and more than you would think.”

At the same time, Coelho acknowledges that she does feels some pressure to be beyond perfect and tends to speak concisely, getting to her point quickly while she has the moment, whereas she witnesses men talk at length without the social pressure to be precise.

“I’m working on trying to take up more time and space, and defending the perimeter to be able to do that,” she notes, “because sometimes you can’t appropriately advocate otherwise.”

Coelho acknowledges that being a woman distinguishes you, but that advantage can backfire if you’re perceived as the woman lawyer and especially if there’s a general assumption of irrelevance.

For example, on a conference call for a major deal where both Coelho and another female counterpart lawyer represented different clients with predictably different perspectives, the opposing side confused their two arguments, because, she suspects, the woman lawyers’ voices were understood as interchangeable. Coelho finds it hard to imagine that same bewildering lack of differentiation occurring for a man.

“Things still go on, but at the same time, you’re just focused on the problem and the work,” says Coelho. She notes that self-validating verbal feedback from highly respected top lawyers has been a touchstone to measure her lawyering and has kept her from falling into an unproductive level of self-questioning, especially when she’s confronted with aggression or doubt.

Clarifying The “Stupid Questions“

In addition to helping associates become familiar with the essential craft of her “renaissance profession,” Coelho seeks to demystify some of the basics that challenged her. When she first began, she felt one of the hardest parts was just figuring out how things got done – down to how you frame an e-mail and how long you wait to chase up on it.

Coelho volunteers information and invites the conversation around questions she found perplexing when starting out, especially if the response she had was reactive or dismissive: “I try to ask, what would have been the most constructive response for me?”

“For example, as a lawyer, to say how much time should I spend on something is a very loaded question because obviously you should do the best job possible for the client. Well, the best job possible might mean thousands of hours or significant expense, and maybe the client doesn’t want that,” she notes. “So there’s always this judgment about how exactly to approach the problem, how much depth to go in and what are the optimal things to focus on. These are complex judgements people have to make, so I like to be transparent about that kind of process.”

Boiling down why inviting questions as a senior lawyer is important, Coelho says: “The stupid question is the most important one to ask because you definitely don’t want to make a stupid mistake.”

For women in particular, Coelho also emphasizes the importance of really stepping back to ask what you personally want, rather than letting the ongoing demands of your external environment, including simply keeping up with the work, dictate where you end up.

An Unforgettable Mentor

Coelho considers her grandmother the most mindful person she has ever met. As a child, Coelho would join her in hanging laundry, picking fruit or doing some other form of tending to ordinary things.

The most unforgettable moment that affected her was listening to her grandmother talk about one single lemon with such elaborate understanding and appreciation that it underlined a whole wisdom of her Grandmother’s way of living in the world: “Listening to her talk about this lemon and what it was, exactly why it had a different flavor than others and how you would use it, in such depth, crystallized for me her way of being and how wonderful that is. And how much better life is, if you can bring that sort of appreciation and experience to whatever it is you’re doing.”

Coelho adores her three and a half year old son, Caleb, and, in addition to being a prolific reader of social sciences “light” and economics, loves to garden – and as her grandmother, tend attentively to the small and sacred matters of the home.

By Aimee Hansen

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Katherine Stoller: Partner, Litigation, Shearman & Sterling

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Katherine Stoller“You have to be able to step back and think about not only the problem in front of you right now, but what are the next several months of this case going to look like?” reflects Katherine Stoller. “Where are the risks that we’re not focused on today, but we need to be able to see coming at us from other directions?”

Stoller speaks to how listening matters, the importance of presence and anticipation, and bringing the hard-to-navigate topics into the office chat.

Growing Through High Intensity

Working in the litigation practice, Stoller represents clients in criminal and regulatory investigations – representing people and companies involved in government investigations that can involve allegations of money laundering, sanctions violations, securities fraud, insider trading and market manipulation. She also represents clients in civil litigation, advises financial institutions on their ongoing relationships with regulators and conducts internal investigations.

“By the time clients bring in an enforcement lawyer, they’re frequently in high-stakes situations with a potential crisis on the horizon, so you come in as the steady hand and repeat player. You have to be a good listener,” says Stoller. “The first job is always to understand the facts and figure out the strategy , and then be ready to adjust the strategy as you go. It’s fascinating working with clients through these high intensity stretches.”

Not only is Stoller energized by the caliber of clients she works with on both the legal and business side, but she finds the cross-border aspect of her practice means that she is constantly learning – be it political, legal or cultural differences among the various international jurisdictions.

“Every case involves a different geography and a different business. You have to get steeped in the facts and the relationships among the clients and the regulators or enforcement agencies,” says Stoller. “You learn so much about how other countries operate, and I love that.”

Holding Grace Under Fire

Stoller finds good listening is a prerequisite of being an effective lawyer.

“I think a lot of lawyers come in and think it’s their job to start speaking right away. But there’s so much listening you need to do to understand the business, what the authorities are looking at and what matters to each of the stakeholders,” she says. “Taking all that information and building it into a strategy, and making sure you’re not missing out on what’s important to each of the stakeholders, is a really important skill.”

Stoller feels that understanding “the importance of narrative” is also very important, the ability to shape the story in a way that people can not only understand it, but follow the facts that are crucial to your argument.

As the daughter of an M&A partner at Skadden, she remembers hearing her father on the phone and even as a girl, she picked up that he modeled being a trusted advisor: “He was always calm and precise. You could count on his judgment. There’s a presence to being the calmest person in the room when things become challenging and intense. I hope I picked some of that up from listening to him.”

Moving More Towards Vision and Anticipation

Stoller joined Shearman & Sterling in January 2020, recognizing the opportunity to thrive with the firm, and made partner on July 1st of this year.

As a junior lawyer in the investigations space, doing well was about being meticulous, understanding the record well and not losing track of the details. But as she’s grown more senior as a lawyer, Stoller notes the remit has moved much more to big picture strategy and anticipation.

“The more senior you get, the more you are responsible for steering and being able to see around the corner and anticipating the different challenges that you’ll face along the way,” she observes. “You get more experienced at identifying the problems you may be seeing tomorrow.”

Stoller also values being able to effectively mediate conversations through difficult or stuck places so they can move forward, and without having to be a “bang-on-the-table sort of lawyer”.

Learning from Witnessing, Including Yourself

Having joined Shearman just a few weeks before the lockdowns, with few days in the office, Stoller looks forward to again experiencing in-office time with colleagues.

She notes that for her, much of her most valuable mentorship has happened through witnessing other lawyers in action when it counts: “I’ve learned a lot from sitting in people’s offices on the days when things are going wrong, when you get bad news and you respond to it, and one call leads to another. The chance to watch how excellent senior lawyers practice is important for more junior lawyers.”

Stoller emphasizes to those whom she mentors that it’s up to them to think about where they want to go, what they are good at and what they still need to learn.

“I think young lawyers need to feel empowered to ask for the kind of work they want and to speak up in meetings. There’s a strong tendency to stay quiet, which is the flip side of how important it is to learn from listening,” notes Stoller. “I encourage my junior associates to jump in, tell me if I missed something, ask a question, make the point someone else didn’t make, and start getting used to the sound of your own voice and advice. Of course, you also need to back that up by being diligent and having command of the facts and details.”

Bridging the Conversations

Stoller believes certain conversations should happen more often around law offices, so she will often bring up the topics that more junior lawyers may be reticent about.

“There are conversations that are hard to have and times where you don’t know if it’s okay to ask for something,” says Stoller. “I try to open the door to conversations I wanted to have when I was starting out. It can be a matter of just saying to someone, how are you doing? What kind of support do you need?”

Taking care of very little ones while managing a career that values long hours and lots of face time is one topic example, and a challenge she navigated some years back: “It’s hard to talk about the reality of your career during those few years when you need to leave the office at a certain point, or you don’t know when you’re going to be able to get the baby to sleep.” She feels it needs to be spoken to more explicitly, so parents can be open about what’s going on.

With a son of nine and a daughter of six and a passion for reading herself, Stoller makes sure to read to her kids every night and is currently in middle of a Laura Ingalls Wilder book, quite the throwback to her own childhood.

By: Aimee Hansen

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Anna Salek: Partner, Private Client Team Leader, Shearman & Sterling LLC

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Anna Salek“Junior level women lawyers sometimes ask me for career advice, and I find the reoccurring theme is that they do not have a good understanding of their professional value,” says Anna Salek. “Very often, women grossly underestimate their value.”

Salek talks about her genuine appreciation for cutting-edge legal work, the growth in a lateral move, the two-way street of value and daring to do what scares you.

The Gratification of Top-Tier Work

“I get immense satisfaction from solving complex problems,” says Salek, who enjoys tackling legal issues that perhaps no other firm has been able to solve sufficiently or that have never before even been considered.

As the private client team leader at Shearman & Sterling with over 20 years of direct experience, Salek works with high-net-worth individuals and families to meet their wide range of legal needs and specializes the areas of trust and estates, tax planning and not-for-profit law.

“I am lucky to work at a top-tier firm like Shearman where the clients are interesting and the legal work is challenging,” she says. “I love the cutting-edge work where often there’s no precedent and the client is relying on my judgment and experience.”

Salek joined Shearman in early 2019 to lead their private client team and was drawn there by the firm’s rich history, impressive client base and dynamic women.

Be Willing to Move To Expand

“I think women, more than men, are more prone to say, ‘they’ve been so good to me here’ and view moving on to another firm as being disloyal or ungrateful. Well, that’s fine that they’ve been good to you – they should be good to you,” says Salek. “But you should also be good to yourself and not be shy about exploring other opportunities.”

While the practice of trusts and estates is generally gender diverse, it is more often men who head up the practice, so replacing C. Jones Perry at Shearman when he retired as team leader was a strong leap ahead for women in leadership in law.

“I was very dedicated and happy at another top-tier-firm where I grew up as a lawyer, and I stayed there for a long time. But moving to another firm made me a better lawyer as it allowed me to grow in different directions than I otherwise would have,” says Salek. “Making a lateral move can help you grow professionally, but equally as important, you are bringing value to your new firm by contributing your own unique skills, experience and perspective.”

“I’m not suggesting women should job hop or even leave their job, but I do think everyone should consider it from time to time – even if only to confirm how good you have it. Men change firms more frequently than women, and it’s not a bad thing. With each move you’re not only likely to increase your compensation, but it’s also a huge personal and professional growth opportunity.”

Know Your Self-Worth

On a similar thread, the guidance that Salek consistently emphasizes to junior level women lawyers is to value themselves as professionals.

“You are valuable to your firm. It’s not just a one-way street. I find that women sometimes almost can’t hear that,” iterates Salek. “They’re reluctant to ask for anything—equity, more compensation. a flexible work schedule, for example – or give themselves credit. Reminding women of their professional contributions to their firm is what I end up doing in almost every single one of those conversations.”

The Relationship Side of Private Client Work

On top of being challenged by the academic intricacies of her practice area, Salek loves the client interaction and deep relationships involved in her area of law. She enjoys working with individuals and families, many of whom have been long-term generational clients of the firm.

“The clients I work with tend to be extremely interesting people,” says Salek, for whom “field trips” to clients’ homes and offices are as much a part of her job as being behind her desk.

“When people invite you into the world of their personal finances, they inevitably invite you into their family and personal lives,” says Salek who feels that women especially thrive in cultivating relationships and trust.

“Not only do you have to be a proficient lawyer, you need to be personable and trustworthy. There’s just an element of being trusted that’s not something you can learn and that quality has helped me a lot, second certainly to really knowing what I’m doing,” she says. “I have clients who are women who have said they picked me because they prefer to work with a woman, and I have had male clients who say the same thing.”

Do What Scares You

“My advice to junior lawyers would be: don’t shy away from things that intimidate you. In fact, seek them out. Do something that scares you every day,” Salek says. “I’m not talking about skydiving. I’m talking about challenging yourself. Don’t like public speaking? Do a webinar, go sit on a panel. Don’t think you know enough about something? Help a client with that particular issue or publish an article about it. Shy? Invite someone you would like to get to know or learn from for lunch or coffee.”

Salek credits her own integration of this advice for having made her into a more confident lawyer today.

”I feel women especially don’t like to be outside of their comfort zone, but that’s the only place where you can grow,” she says. “It’s really important to push your own boundaries.”

Practicing Work-Life Integration

A rewarding aspect of her work has been the pro bono cases where Salek has been able to champion people and organizations in critical financial wins, where she sometimes gets as involved in interpersonal dynamics as with her private clients.

Salek finds that for her, work enters home life and home life enters work, so she embraces the work-life integration approach of keeping both in even keel, rather than “the two-iPhone approach” of work-life balance, which she feels is a false separation of parts of life that live inside of the same universe.

She is married with two teenagers, a daughter of 16 and a son of 14, and notes one silver lining of the pandemic is that people who were technology-resistant have been forced to embrace technology, opening up more remote working possibilities.

Salek is an avid, hands-in-the-dirt gardener. Her favorite season is spring, and she finds that “observing the earth awakening is so good for the soul.”

By Aimee Hansen

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