10 Powerhouse Lessons From 2023

A year ago, I was in my last session with my coach, saying:

“I can’t do this by myself. How am I gonna do this? I don’t have any freaking clients!”

Deep down, I knew it was time for me to end my time with her, but the imposter syndrome was setting in MAJORLY. 

“Please don’t go,” I was telling her, in tears at 40 years old. 

It was a scene, y’all. 

She looked at me and said, “Erin, you don’t need me. You can do this by yourself. You are capable.”

And this part still makes me laugh: 

“You are also one of the most tenacious people I've ever met in my life. I've never met anyone who refuses to accept ‘no’ more than you do. So if anybody can figure this out, it's gonna be you, girl.” 

So I got off that call, knowing deep down in my soul that expansion was my word for 2023.

Y’all, I cannot even explain what it feels like to look back on this year, because it has been a year of expansion in every single way. 

At the end of 2022, Powerhouse Lawyers didn’t exist as a company. Neither did the Powerhouse Lawyers retreat or podcast. 

Fast forward to today…

We’ve recorded 32 podcast episodes. 

We’ve had thousands of downloads from all over the world. 

We’ve had two sold-out retreats since February. 

This is the product of not quitting, continuing to pivot, and never forgetting my end goal - impact women in the law and leave a legacy for my daughters. 

It’s been a WILD year, and I’m just so grateful for you guys. In this post, I wanted to take a look back at the year and share my top 10 lessons from 2023 with you:

All you need is a mustard seed of faith.

For my legal jargon people out there, all you need is a peppercorn (you’re welcome). All joking aside, that little piece of faith is what you hang onto. That belief, partnered with a strong “why,” is what’s carried me through the times I’ve wanted to quit. 

(I can't even tell you how many times I've quit on myself, then had to get up in the morning and rehire myself.)

But believing that I’m impacting women in the law and building a legacy for my girls is what gets me up every single day. I'm building something that's bigger than myself. 

Small, simple changes over time will build massive momentum. 

The big picture is overwhelming. Just take the next step. Eventually you're gonna look back and see how far you've come. 

Start small so you can build confidence in yourself. Start habit stacking. Keep the promises you’ve made to yourself. All of this builds more confidence and makes it easier to step out of your comfort zone so that you keep growing. 

You don't have to do it the way it's always been done. 

There are a lot of coaches out there. There are a lot of people telling you to talk a certain way, market a certain way, podcast a certain way… you name it. 

Whether it’s running a business or practicing law, you don’t have to do it the way it’s always been done. As soon as I stopped trying to be a certain way and decided to just be Erin, I found success. People were like, “We've been waiting on you, where have you been?”

There are so many different ways to practice law, so do it your way. You don't have to do it the way it's always been done. Trust yourself, keep getting out of your comfort zone, and keep moving forward. 

Entrepreneurship and law are lonely. 

Not a lot of people understand what you’re going through. You have to go out and intentionally seek a community who understands and empowers you. You cannot do this by yourself because it’s lonely. When you’re in community with people, that’s when you get the love and support you need to keep going. That’s when you have people to remind you who you are when things get tough. 

Do not get distracted. 

There's so much noise in the world today. You can't even walk out the door, or turn on the TV without somebody trying to tell you something you should be doing, like, “you should be making seven figures…” 

When you get distracted, stuck, and overwhelmed, it kills your vision. Shut all that noise down. Take social media off your phone, unfollow people, or delete emails. I’ve deleted and unfollowed a lot of people this year because I was getting too caught up on what I hadn’t accomplished - instead of focusing on how much I had. 

Who you surround yourself with matters. 

They say you’re the product of the top five people you surround yourself with, and that is absolutely the truth. You become who you’re around. If you’re surrounding yourself with people who aren’t speaking life into you, praying over you, loving you, and encouraging your dreams, you need to find new people. 

I’ve had a team around me this year that I’ve prayed for. I’m not successful when I’m trying to do all the things. My job is to operate in my superpowers, and then to go out and to find the people who do the jobs that I don't know how to do. I bring them into my sphere of influence, figure out what makes them tick, tell them about my vision, and then let them go and do brilliant work in their zone of genius. 

Growth is not linear.

I wish growth was like a big straight line that goes all the way up, but it looks more like a big squiggly thing. There are a lot of ups and downs. It might look like a drunk person drew on the board sometimes, but that's just how it is. 

It never turns out the way you think it's going to, but don’t be discouraged. It turns out exactly the way it should. Accept the phase of life and business that you’re in. If something doesn’t work out, ask yourself what you can do better next time. Celebrate your small wins, and practice gratitude in everything. 

There's no such thing as failure.

I’m petitioning for us to eliminate that word from our vocabulary. The only way to fail is if you quit, so barring that, anything else is just a pivot. 

The answer is always “no” if you do not ask.

I have a very hard time asking for help. A lot of attorneys like to think we can do all things by ourselves. We're very smart, capable people and if we had enough time, we probably could figure it out. But that doesn't mean we have to. If you're not asking for help in your life and admitting that you can’t do it all, then you’re doing yourself a disservice. 

The answer to every single question is one contact away. 

You’re one person away from every single answer you need right now. Everything you need to figure out is simply one contact away. Someone in your network knows the answer. If they don't know, they know someone who does, but you have to ask. 

This has moved my business over mountains this year. It’s helped me get out of my own way. I will never be able to have all the answers, but what I do have is an amazing community, and someone in that community knows the answer. 

2023 is the first year I've fallen in love with the process. 

It hasn’t been easy, cute, or fun the whole time, but I’ve practiced so much gratitude this year. 

I’ve seen so many incredible things happen in my business that I would’ve never thought possible. I feel richer at the end of 2023 than any other year of my life. 

So your exercise for the day is to go write down your badass list for 2023. What’s all the stuff that you’ve accomplished? What are all the lessons you’ve learned? What are you hoping to see in the new year?

Okay my powerhouse friend, I’m signing off for 2023. Thank you for tuning in every single week. I have so much gratitude towards you, and I’m excited to show up here in January and serve the heck out of you. 

Happy 2023 and let's get ready to kick ass in 2024. 

Erin