Humans have been making laws for thousands of years. However, the legal language can allocate different meanings to almost every word, phrase, and sentence. This gives rise to many challenges, including outdated confusing regulations, equal access to justice, and consumer frustration and anguish.
Consequently, many entrepreneurs are making an attempt to improve legal processes and improve access. Through their experience and passion, they are blending legal, technological, and business process expertise to re-engineer legal delivery and provide easy, affordable access to the consumers.
Colleen Joyce is a forward-thinking leader who spearheads Lawyer.com, one of the most popular and robust platforms catering to the legal needs of U.S. and Canadian consumers. It is supported by her team of knowledgeable professionals who each week connect thousands of consumers with local lawyers. She says, “Never fear chasing your ideas and be willing to adapt when needed!”
Her passion to drive this initiative for the last decade speaks volumes about her commitment. “Passion gets me out of bed, keeps me growing non-stop, pumps up my creative juices, and spreads like wildfire to team members,” she adds. Colleen truly believes that “all leaders should have passion for what they do.”
THE ENTREPRENEURIAL BUG
In the shadow of uncertainty, many people sit on the fence and let others make the big decisions. It takes a powerful dose of determination and creativity to overcome skepticism and make things happen.
For Colleen, the summer going into 6th Grade was where she stumbled upon the entrepreneurial bug. Her lemonade stand idea became a big time hit, which eventually rolled into many CountryTime Lemonade sales and extensive distribution of marketing posters.
This snowballed into a variety of lemonade flavors, and then candies were added to the sales mix. Little did she know that she was setting the stage for her future career. “The hustle was real,” she recalls “we had to take our earnings from the previous day, walk to the store, and reinvest in ourselves to grow the business.”
MULTI-FACETED LEADERSHIP
One striking feature that helps in a rapidly growing and changing environment is being adaptable. It is also integral because it shows valuable skills like being resourceful, determined, and analytical.
Drawing on the same canvas, Colleen believes that adaptability is an important trait for being a transformational leader. “One should always be willing to change course at any given moment,” she says. “You have to be ahead of the trends, have a pulse of your team’s needs and trust in yourself to make decisions.”
A day in the life of an entrepreneur means wearing many hats, which include sales calls, marketing meetings, press releases, and dozens of other things that are necessary to advance the business. Similarly, Colleen’s day-to-day activities also brim with excitement and possibilities. As the President, she is very focused on using the right kind of communication strategy and relationship with both employees and clients. She also takes a keen interest in helping each of her teams – accounts, sales, product, consumer, and on top of that, managing all of the services that are offered to the lawyers.
Colleen believes that as a leader, it is her responsibility to guide her teams in the direction of success while collecting as much feedback as she can. Meetings with her team fuel daily flashes of inspiration. She credits a big part of her success to her talented team and their passion for finding better ways to grow the business. “Our team is very hands-on and have helped us develop an amazing business platform over the last decade,” she remarks.
TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY
Colleen’s entrepreneurial journey at Lawyer.com began with something totally different. Previously she honed her celebrity networking skills as Director of Marketing & Publicity at PopStar.com, a subsidiary of World Media Group. “Interviewing celebrities, attending red carpet events, and writing breaking news, oddly, all helped me prepare for my career at Lawyer.com,” she recollects.
Lawyer.com was founded to help simplify consumers’ frustration with the legal process. Resolving legal matters can be overwhelmingly challenging and the situations are generally emotionally charged. The Lawyer.com platform operates across all time zones and geographies, helping match customers with motivated experienced local experts. Lawyers fund the free consumer matching services via a comprehensive range of premium marketing services backed by a team of marketing advisors. Together they put Lawyer.com far ahead of many competitors in the legal marketing industry.
Colleen faced multiple setbacks and gathered significant lessons until she discovered her true calling and learned that working with a trusted co-founder makes things easier, especially during tough times. She states that entrepreneurship is not all about making big, strategic moves. There are smaller tasks that drive significant results. This is why she thrives on consistent results and quality feedback that have helped her enhance Lawyer.com’s business and lay a strong foundation for future improvements.
OPPORTUNITIES IN FAILURES
It is said, “The bridge of success is built on the pillars of failures.” Failures provide opportunities to become smarter and charge towards success with more commitment and clarity.
Colleen has had her challenges balancing the highs and lows of a rapidly growing business. “One minute you are breaking records, the next minute…something is badly broken,” she says. But, with her never-give-up attitude, hustling energy and the willingness to adapt, “all the roadblocks seemed more like speed bumps”.
Another common trait of entrepreneurs is a positive attitude when all looks dark. Colleen is a beacon of optimism as she treats difficulties as a temporary storm, while taking permanent lessons from them.
She also believes that the mistakes she’s made paved the way for better ideas for the future. “While I’m sure there are many things I could have done differently, I’m happy that I was able to learn lessons and grow,” she says. Colleen believes her passion to constantly experiment and learn has enabled her to make better decisions about growing the business.
FAILING THE RIGHT WAY
Becoming a seasoned entrepreneur doesn’t happen overnight. Being successful often means learning by making mistakes or sometimes avoiding mistakes by seeking advice from those entrepreneurs who have eventually tasted success. The latter choice offers beginning entrepreneurs the opportunity to benefit from the hard-won knowledge of advisors from many business and life experiences.
Colleen’s advice to aspiring young leaders and entrepreneurs is a simple three-lettered word – try. “There is one thing that will set you apart from others, and that is your willingness to try,” she advises. “The reason success tastes so sweet is because success doesn’t happen very often. The dream goal can only be achieved when you keep trying and work towards it.”
THE POWER-PACKED FUTURE
Colleen believes that her initiatives to help team members be more independent and empowered has prepared them and the company for wonderful opportunities ahead. Additionally, the accelerating launch of new products and services is going to build an even more exciting business while providing consumers and lawyers with unrivaled customer experiences.
Her talented and incredible team is ready to take the platform higher on the road to greater success. Colleen is very proud of her team’s constant innovation and pursuit of quality, and she believes her passion to keep pushing the boundaries and creating new goals for the products – existing and upcoming – is going to make the Lawyer.com business truly stand out in the legal marketing industry.
