Building a Brand That Feels Like You

In today’s episode, I sit down with Colleen Joyce, CEO of Lawyer.com and children’s author, to talk about balancing entrepreneurship, motherhood, creativity, and personal identity. Colleen shares how traveling for work inspired her to write a children’s book with her daughter and why the project became something meaningful they could build together. We also discuss the growing importance of personal brand, choosing platforms based on where your audience spends its time, and creating content that fits each space. Colleen also explains why authenticity is especially important for attorneys building a social presence and how staying true to yourself can attract the people who genuinely connect with you. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Welcome to Office Hours. I'm David Meltzer here, live at the Sirius XM Studios at the Wynn in Las Vegas. Our next guest, believe it or not, is not only a mom, but she's running a multimillion dollar company, CEO of Lawyer.com and the author of children's book, Colleen Joyce. Welcome to Office Hours.

• 0:20Speaker 01

  Thanks, guys. Excited to be here.

• 0:22Speaker 00

  So with everything going on, being a mom, running this amazing business, Lawyer.com, you decide to write a children's book. Why?

• 0:32Speaker 01

  So I travel a lot for work and I have a young daughter at home. And when I travel, I try to go away for like two days max because I want to make it home for bedtime. So I'm racing through LAX one day and I was like, I gotta make it home for bedtime. Please, please, please, please. Finally bored and I sit in my little chair and I thought, thank goodness I made it. And then it dawned on me, wouldn't it be really fun to share my experiences with other working parents out there? So I thought, let's write a book. So my best friend, ChatGPT and myself fired up the computer and we started to kind of brainstorm. I don't, I've read children's books, right? I've been to the library, obviously, but I knew nothing.

• 1:14Speaker 01

  So I did deep research and I started to kind of say, okay, I think I could do this. I hired an editor and I started to, which I really love, I took my daughter to the library. And this became something that we got to do together after work or on the weekends, where it was like, what book do you like? Why do you like it? What illustration style do you like? Why do you like it? So I did have final veto power, much to her chagrin. But it was something that we were able to do together and I truly, it's for fun, really. That was why I did it. I felt very passionate that I wanted to share and, and, and leave her something that she could look back and say, oh, wow, this is really cool. This is something my mom and I did together.

• 1:58Speaker 00

  That's wonderful. And I will tell you, 200 trips a year and having four kids myself, nothing longer than a flight home. The flight there always seems way shorter than the flight home.

• 2:08Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 2:09Speaker 00

  And if you go to LAX, the worst thing that can happen is a dad or a mom is you land 45 minutes early and then you wait for the gate and you end up being an hour late. That is the longest hour, 45 minutes of my life. Marie?

• 2:21Speaker 02

  So Colleen, you have really built many platforms, right? From PopStar to Lawyer.com and you have been really showing the ability to build audiences and create engagement content. So as I'm also a content creator, have millions of views also on Feng Shui and energy. So what are the things that you would now really recommend for entrepreneurs to use content creation to become more successful?

• 2:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think now we live in an era where brand is very important. And I think part of brand is getting your voice out there and you do that through content, whether that's writing a book, whether that's hosting a podcast, or I write a weekly newsletter. Whatever that is, I think brand is kind of the front door to getting yourself out there for entrepreneurs. And it's, as we talk about, a non-negotiable.

• 3:23Speaker 02

  Okay. And so what would be then really an advice in today's markets right now? Which platform do you think for entrepreneurs? I know everybody thinks about LinkedIn. As an entrepreneur, I chose Instagram. What would be an advice you would give?

• 3:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think it really depends on who your audience is because that's going to determine where you go. So I work with a lot of lawyers, so I find myself on LinkedIn because that's where a lot of professionals put content. I put professional content on LinkedIn and then my Instagram is fun and colorful and bubbly because that's just where it belongs. So I find that my content matches where I post things. And I think it's really important that you understand your audience and then go to where your audience lives.

• 4:07Speaker 02

  Thank you.

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• 4:38Speaker 04

  Your career speaks volumes for itself. I mean, just an amazing journey that you've already been on and it seems like so much more. I always, you know, as a burnout specialist, someone that's suffered, I always like to bring things back to the identity level. You know, you're a mother, you're running a multimillion dollar business.

• 4:57Speaker 04

  That requires a specific identity and I love how, you know, the description of you as a fearless thought leader in legal who talks about the real stuff, growth challenges. That, those are words near and dear to my heart because authenticity, relatability are so huge. Do you, do you, are you proactively keeping in check with your identity and making sure that you are being the person that you want to be always, especially being pulled in so many different directions at many times?

• 5:22Speaker 01

  I hope so. You know, my best, my best advice to myself is always just be myself. And I live with, you know, I live in a world with a lot of lawyers, right? And I'm not your typical entrepreneur or CEO in the legal space, right? And I think that I may be a little loud or a little fun or do things a little differently. But at the end of the day, that's who I am and that's what got me in the room. So I have confidence knowing that and I, I try to stay true to that. Although, you know, as we all do, there's good days and bad days, but that North Star always brings you back.

• 5:58Speaker 04

  That's exactly right. There are, but your energy seems to exude this, what we, and I would, my advice would be always to, to maintain that. It's beautiful and it's so important to our wellbeing when we're so busy that we, it's important to smile and be joyful and not forget to do those things. So great job with that.

• 6:16Speaker 01

  Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

• 6:18Speaker 04

  Colleen, I'm going to be selfish because I'm an attorney.

• 6:21Speaker 01

  Uh oh.

• 6:22Speaker 04

  I only recently discovered.

• 6:25Speaker 00

  Three lawyers up here.

• 6:27Speaker 01

  Totally outnumbered.

• 6:28Speaker 04

  I, I only recently discovered posting on social media.

• 6:31Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 6:31Speaker 04

  So as, you know, an attorney who's only just started.

• 6:35Speaker 01

  True.

• 6:35Speaker 04

  What do you think that attorneys get wrong about brand? And then what are some mistakes you've seen sort of people in my position make and how would you stop?

• 6:44Speaker 01

  So I think it's actually really difficult for a lawyer to enter into social media because your clients are out there looking at you, judging you, deciding whether they're going to hire you or not right from the onset. For me, it's a little different because I'm not an attorney. I get to be that entrepreneur, that CEO. But it's more difficult for lawyers. And I think the best thing to do is going back to, you need to be authentic. Who you are has to shine through and you have to be okay that some potential clients are going to see that and be like, no, thank you. I do not like him. I'm not going to hire him. But there are going to be the people that like relate to you. And that's why being who you are really works on social.

• 7:26Speaker 00

  Phenomenal.

• 7:27Speaker 01

  So I'm gonna like.

• 7:28Speaker 04

  Just get out there and be authentic.

• 7:29Speaker 01

  Like what's the worst that's going to happen? Someone's going to like troll you and say mean things, whatever. We've all been there.

• 7:35Speaker 04

  We have all been there. And let's be honest. Actually, he's attorneys.

• 7:38Speaker 00

  Let's be honest, if you're a lawyer, you should be used to people saying bad things about you.

• 7:42Speaker 01

  Right. Well, maybe someone will actually say something nice.

• 7:44Speaker 00

  And they do, they do that all the time, especially about Colleen Joyce, CEO of Lawyer.com, children's author and just an amazing soul, teaching people to live out their essence. Once again, your frequency is your neighborhood. She certainly belongs in this neighborhood. And I'm Mr. Rogers of this neighborhood. So Colleen, promise us she'll come back.

• 8:05Speaker 01

  Absolutely. Thank you so much, guys. This was so much fun.

• 8:07Speaker 00

  The incredible Colleen Joyce here on Office Hours.