What problem are you really solving, and for whom?
Before you know your BRAND, you need a PROBLEM to solve.
When I started my firm in 2010, I filed for my C Corp with the LA SOS. The decision of what to name my firm was simple: Sheila M. Wilkinson, PLC. My name. Professional Law Corporation. DONE. ✅ It was simple because I had made a name for myself. PEOPLE KNEW ME. People knew what to expect from me. They were Googling me when Google was just a wee babe on the block of AOL. I didn’t need the name recognition … what I needed was to stake my claim in the problem I solved for my clients.
Most regulated professionals start their own practices without first knowing the problem they want to solve.
But when you have clarity about the right kinds of people, projects, and pay that you want, then you won’t wonder if you need a brand name for your practice. You won’t be wondering what you need to do to get more name recognition. And you certainly won’t be worried about how to attract those people, projects, and pay.
When smart, driven, high-functioning professionals hang their own shingle, they often do what they think they’re supposed to do: hit the ground running and take anything and everything that walks through the door. And frankly, I think that’s the wrong way to go about launching a business.
This leaves talented people behind in the market, struggling to make a name for themselves (lawyers, therapists, engineers, etc.)
I get it, though. A lot of people who want to transition into being their own boss feel nervous. They’re worried about all the risk and the uncertainty, trying to find the “right” name to show themselves to the world. But here’s the good news: each of us already have a name! It’s not about what you name your business; it’s about what you do with it.
And when you try to launch your business without knowing the problem you’re actually designed to solve for your future clients, you’ll get stuck in the smallest of decisions. Things like:
– What should I name my business?
– Should I use my name or a brand name?
– Should I hire a designer to make a logo before I launch?
… and the list goes on.
I see my overthinkers struggle with this – always worried about what the “right” answer is, instead of paying attention to what’s right for THEM. When they do this, it’s because they’re trying to balance risk with reward, but the truth is: there is no reward without risk. And your business name? That’s not worth the energy it’s taking. We call that “picking the company pen” – it doesn’t matter what pen it is (blue in ink, obviously). What matters is that you have it.
Stop trying to fill out all the details of the structure before you even know the problem you’re solving with it.
Instead of spending all your time and energy trying to decide what to name your new private practice, redirect that energy into identifying who you actually want to help and why.
In order to have name recognition, you have to take a stand. You have to be clear about what you’re offering and who you’re actually serving.
For example, in law, just like in social work and education and engineering and other licensed and regulated professions, we tend to define our work by the category/topic of the work we do.
If you’re open to everything (and you just want to “help people”), you’ll rarely get the name recognition you want and deserve. When that happens, you’ll eventually have to rely on paid advertising to be known.
This is where Human Design can really help to make sure you’re on the right path. Instead of saying, “I’ll take anything and everything that comes through the door for right now as I get started,” it’s actually a smarter business decision to say, “this is what I want, who I help, and why – and if you don’t fit this bill, that’s okay … there’s someone else to help you.”
That’s scary, though, to say no to something when you’re already on the edge of uncertainty, right? But I’d rather you say no to people or projects that aren’t right for you than to take on what’s not good for you. That is a risk that’s not worth the reward. That’s how you get stuck, and that’s why people wind up hiring me two years, five years, ten years into their practices: to undo the damage and to pull them back from the brink of burnout.
To have name recognition, you need to know who you are, what you stand for, and why. When those things are clear, you avoid confusing yourself and others, and you avoid wasting money on marketing.
If you don’t want to feel chaotic, like you’re all over the place all the time, then you need to redefine how you define yourself.
At the end of the day, most every regulated professional I know wants to stay top of mind.
They want someone to refer their next client and it be the right kind of topic. They want to be known as a person of integrity, with an ethical and moral compass pointing in the right direction. And they absolutely 100% do NOT want to have to say no to to someone. Because saying no sucks.
I didn’t say no a lot when I was first starting out. Because I am an attorney and a social worker and a lifelong-educator, I got all kinds of people sending me cases: contentious family law matters, contested and complex successions, father-forward custody battles, and all kinds of strange in-between PI stuff. But what I really wanted to be doing was business law – partnership work, coaching and consulting my fellow lawyers and social workers on THEIR issues inside of their practices. I didn’t realize that I needed to say that … honestly, I didn’t! (I later went to Brussels to get my LL.M. in International and European Business Law to seal that deal, but I digress)
Because I had name recognition, I was known as the person who could “get it done” … the person who can get everyone to a table and could eventually work it out. I was like a pseudo-mediator-arbitrator-advocate-mom for really weird cases. I loved the variety, but I did not love how it left me emotionally and mentally drained, like I did a 12,000 piece puzzle in a day. Disputes went on for too long because I was dealing with matters that I *could* do, but which didn’t energize me. Five years in, I started to think about what a brand name might look like for me. For a while, I was all up in my head about what I was doing and how to present it, and how to re-teach people how to refer cases and clients to me. It took some doing, but I created my own framework around building mission, vision, and values, and while I never truly “rebranded,” I did start carving out some pieces that needed that brand – both in my offers and in my pro bono/community work.
I use a tool called Human Design in a lot of my work – it’s a blend of astronomy, astrology, psychology, energy management, and quantum mechanics. One of the things I realized when I started down that rabbit hole was that 15 years ago when I started my firm, I was not meant to be working these hugely emotionally cases that left me high and dry, deeply exhausted and spent – nor to keep doing it day after day after day. I learned I needed way more sleep than I was getting (8 hours was not enough), and I needed to wait for people to come to me with a problem … not to say yes in the moment, not to run at things I could fix without being asked, and to build systems that let me VET the people BEFORE I had to speak with them.
I knew I was doing great work, but I was burned TF out because I was doing what I thought I was supposed to be doing.
I was more worried about the titles I was showing up with than the things that actually made me happy in my work. It wasn’t until I shifted how I talked about the kinds of people and projects and pay I wanted, that things actually improved.
Chances are, you know someone who has a story like this one. Maybe the things people were telling you to do to fix it are not meant for you. That’s what we get to the bottom of when we’re working together – the decisions you’ve made (or not) that have gotten you to this point, and not only WHY those decisions ended up that way, but HOW to move forward in the most aligned way.
Most of the lawyers I work with are worried about who they are and what name and brand to use (and honestly, most of the other licensed professionals I work with struggle with this, too!). But really, being worried about the titles we use means having an excuse to avoid doing the real work it takes to start, run, and grow a business that protects and feeds and supports YOU.
Writing all this reminds me of this lawyer-client I worked with back in 2021…
She was working at a law firm here in town, but was thinking about going out on her own. She saw that I was living on two continents, splitting my time between New Orleans and Brussels. She wanted to know how I got on that journey and how she could do that, too. She was feeling underwhelmed about her work obligations and wanted to explore options and creative ways of approaching work and life as a lawyer.
At the end of the day, what she really wanted to build was strong interpersonal connections both in legal work and in life. She wanted more opportunities to express joy and creativity at work, and wanted to feel like the work she did provided a benefit to the world and the people around her (instead of lining the pockets of defense firms and insurance companies … which I totally get, no shame and no shade to my friends who are doing that work ethically).
Our work was focused on what kind of impact she actually wanted to make as a lawyer. She had some pretty amazing ideas about how she wanted to transform the estate planning process and how that interacted with the business world. It was exciting – for her and for me!
Less than a year after our work together, she shifted into a smaller firm and is now up for Equity Partner in less than three years’ time.
Not because she brought a book of business with her, but because she saw the potential of a brand new world that law could bring her when she took action. She just needed to start helping who she wanted to help and how, but she needed a place to do that. She thought she needed to go out on her own and was worried about the BRAND of a new business, when in reality, all she needed at that moment was a place to BE HERSELF and help the people she wanted to help. Now that she has it, the need to go out on her own has passed, but who she is and her name recognition is stronger than ever.
I’m so so so proud of her, and I know she’s proud of herself, too. 💌
We live in a society that wants us to push fast and hard, worrying about the damage and the harm later.
We see it in all the old adages: “Shoot first, ask questions later.” Or, “Better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” Society wants all of us to be in a hurry to get to the next thing – on our to-do lists, on our plate, on our growth and scaling.
So why then, before you pick a business name or register your LLC, should you ask yourself what problem you’re really solving and for whom?
Because when you own or lead a business, no matter the industry, you have more than your own pockets to worry about. The impact your company makes will have lasting effects. For generations long after you and I are gone, the people who come into our world now will share those same lessons with those who come after us.
If we’re tired of living in a chaotic den of go-go-go, it behooves all of us to act with intention and with clarity when we’re starting up and leading a business, even if we’re solos.
Following trends and generic branding and messaging are a recipe for disaster.
The world needs your gifts. The world needs YOU. And you need YOU.
So many lawyers pretend that pushing through and accepting anything that walks through the door is the best course of action, but I’d argue that this is actually INACTION. It hurts our profession, and it hurts our reputations.
If you’re feeling like something’s off, or like the kinds of people or work aren’t coming your way, chances are it’s because you flew out of the gate, just trying to prove yourself. And if that’s the case, it’s time to slow down and decide what you stand for.
That’s what I’m here for: helping you clarify your purpose and positioning before you dig a hole so deep you can’t get out of it and have to start from scratch.
Schedule a Roadmap to Freedom strategy session today, and let’s recalibrate what makes you, YOU.
👋🏽 Hi, I’m🌞 Sheila! I’ve spent 25+ years building and running law firms. I’ve mentored hundreds of lawyers, spoken to thousands more up on CLE stages, and I know what it really takes to run a successful, ethical, regulated business without burning out. I help lawyers and other licensed professionals make smarter decisions, set boundaries that stick, and build practices that actually work for them (not the other way around). 🔗Let’s create a practice and a life you actually want.
#JoyfulAndThrivingLawyer #DoItYourWay ⚖️