Episode 193: Hillary Johns "It's an Honor and a Privilege to be a Lawyer"
"I consider our country as a whole" is how Hillary Johns explains her appreciation and love for the variety of experiences our country offers. As a bi-coastal attorney, Hillary explores everything from entertainment law, civil litigation, business law, torts, employment law, to outdoors activities like hiking and camping, and even volunteers to work with animals.
Stories from a Multi-Faceted Attorney
*This episode was recorded while Hillary was in-transit, sound quality is limited.*
Hillary Johns quote and image for podcast cover art
"I consider our country as a whole" is how Hillary Johns explains her appreciation and love for the variety of experiences our country offers. As a bi-coastal attorney, Hillary explores everything from entertainment law, civil litigation, business law, torts, employment law, to outdoors activities like hiking and camping, and even volunteers to work with animals.
We spoke of the need for people who work hard in one aspect of their lives to take breaks and have hobbies complete outside of that particular work environment.
Hillary Johns image and quote for podcast cover art
It can be surprising to hear what people choose in that way, from fostering older shelter animals, to beadworking and fly fishing.
Hillary's career has taken some interesting twists and turns that I'm sure listeners will find inspiring and fascinating.
About Hillary Johns
Hillary Johns is a member of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund. She works with the American Bar Association to provide legal services to military personnel. Ms. Johns has also served as a pro bono attorney and volunteer for local, statewide and national domestic violence organizations. She is a past alumni committee chair and current student mentor with Occidental College. She is a member of the Beverly Hills Bar Association and the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce.
Outside of her legal career, Ms. Johns was a competitive ranked soccer player and professional athlete. She is a licensed competitive youth soccer coach, and coaches youth soccer. Her interests include European and American history, competitive sports, fitness for people of all ages, and animal rights.
Episode 91: When You Find Your Purpose, Your Story Shifts
Stories About a Purpose-Driven Life
Central Park, September 22, 2019
Marcia Polas came into my life when we were both in extremely uncomfortable situations. I was in a job with a difficult boss with lots of opportunities for growth, and she was navigating a relationship gone wrong while deciding where she wanted to go from her home in Denver, Colorado to explore the next iteration of her business. She ended up in New York City, and I shifted to a job that was a much better fit, but not before we spent many hours in deep, sad, enlightening conversations - with plenty of tears.
In one of those conversations, Marcia shared a valuable tool for difficult conversations, one that I have used and shared at least 100 times since then. I was about to walk into a meeting with my boss and her boss, and I was expecting the worst. I knew it would be ugly, and as I walked and talked to Marcia a few minutes before the meeting, she said:
Pretend there’s a camera recording the entire conversation. Think about watching the video in a few years, and consider how you would want to see yourself at that time.
I sat in the meeting and considered my facial expressions, my body language, and every response to her verbal attacks to be sure I could describe myself later as having handled the situation with grace, dignity, and compassion. It completely shifted the meeting in my favor, and I walked away satisfied and relieved.
Visiting NYC this month, I had an opportunity to sit with Marcia in the courtyard of the fabulous Lincoln Center and chat.
We talked about how we met, the beautiful friendship we developed at a distance, and the power of living with purpose.
Marcia has incredible instinct when it comes to body mechanics. She started as a Pilates practitioner and has grown her knowledge and practice into all aspects of body work. Her mantra is “It shouldn’t hurt to do your job,” and she works in high burnout industries like bartending, theatre & dance. Marcia can see immediately where your body is out of alignment, and what is likely causing pain.
She is rewarded in her work when her clients realize they don’t have to live with pain, that they have some responsibility to make adjustments to remove pain from their daily lives, and that they can be happier and more satisfied without having to leave a job they love.
What a beautiful world we can create when we serve with purpose!
Connect with Marcia on LinkedIn and learn more by visiting her website.
From her website:
I discovered Pilates in Denver, Colorado, in 1999. I was hooked from my first class. Eight months and a serious car accident later, my physical therapist used Pilates to rehabilitate my back and neck. I was better but still had chronic pain. Two marketing jobs and two cities later, I walked into Pendleton Pilates in Cincinnati, Ohio. After six months of serious Pilates, I no longer had back pain and began Pendleton’s intense four-month teacher training program. My goal was simple, to become a better Pilates student. The result was finding my calling in life.
I taught at Pendleton for the next year as a “hobby” — and in 2004, left my 14-year marketing and communications career, to pursue my passion and teach Pilates full-time. After building a successful Pilates program within a country club, I opened the first incarnation of polaspilates in Columbus, Ohio. With the help of a loyal and dedicated group of clients, the studio succeeded and I learned much about running a small business, Pilates and myself.
Help Appears When You Least Expect It
He was driving a new, fancy car, living in a beautiful apartment, wearing expensive clothes, and living a life he considered pretty luxurious. So why was he sinking?
Stories of Friendship and Angels in Disguise
When he was struggling in a job that a was a terrible fit, Robert Downs suddenly developed a craving for a burrito - in a city more than 8 hours drive away. He arrived in the city where he had lived before, connected with a couple of friends, ate a burrito, and then drove back.
It took time for him to process the why behind his spontaneous craving, and a few other examples of that kind of behavior, for him to realize he was sinking. He was driving a new, fancy car, living in a beautiful apartment, wearing expensive clothes, and living a life he considered pretty luxurious. So why was he sinking?
Many of us have a skewed version of what we consider success in our lives, especially early in our careers. We seek out happiness based on that skewed version of what success looks like, and when it falls short of making us happy, we think something is wrong with us.
When he finally decided to truly follow his heart - and his familial roots in creativity and art, help appeared. Is it always easy? No, of course not. But when you know you’re doing what you were meant to do, the right people fall into your path to keep you company. And when you have the opportunity to give back into that system of support and encouragement, you take it.
I know you want to learn more about Robert Downs and his life as a photographer. My favorite way of keeping up with this guy and his adventures is his always-insightful blog posts.
You can also follow him on Instagram, and visit his website.
From his website:
ROBERT DOWNS
For many an artist, creativity is in the genes. For photographer Robert Downs that creativity springs from both sides of parental well. His mother was a graphic artist and father was a photojournalist for more than forty years with the Atlanta Journal and Constitutionwhich is where they met.
“I used to beg my father to take me to work with him on the weekends,” Robert remembers. “My job would be to carry all the staff photographer’s cameras to the football field and pick up film at half-time. My reward was I got to use a camera and dump my film in with the rest of the guys. Whether it was or cruel joke, or just fate, my shots started showing up in the paper. I was 13 when I scored the front page of the sports section. It was then I knew that I wanted to be a photographer.”
Over the past 10 years, Robert Downs has sustained that dreammaking a living combining art and commerce with clients ranging from the Los Angeles Times and Sony Pictures to Kaman Music, SKB, Audix Microphones and Gibson Guitars. His work has been featured extensively on covers and editorial spreads for for Drum! and Traps magazines, plus a host of the world’s top drum companies such as Pearl, Gretsch, Tama, Bosphorus and Zildjian. He’s also photographed some of the top musicians and bands on the charts including Incubus, Stone Temple Pilots, Deftones, Tommy Lee, Public Enemy, Hatebreed, Cult, Linkin Park, and many more.