a little more about her. By the time they reached her office, the woman had come up with a project for Mary to work on for her. She became Mary’s mentor, and thanks to that relationship, Mary took on many assignments in project finance. One act of kindness led Mary to become the leading project finance partner in her firm.
Accept Help
Celia1 is the policy director at a non-profit that advocates for women’s rights and women’s health. When she was a young attorney, Celia attended an event that brought together a wide variety of women who shared her strong belief in a woman’s right to choose. Over the course of the evening, she met a number of women and made a point of giving her card to each of them. She mentioned to a few of them that she was only a few years into her law practice and that she was still looking for ways to fulfill her passion for fighting for women’s rights while still working at a well-paying and prestigious law firm. The next day, she received an e-mail from a woman who was about ten years ahead Celia in her career. This woman said that she had been pleased to meet Celia and that she wanted to share some of her own experiences with her to help her find her way. Although Celia barely remembered having met this woman, she did not hesitate for a moment to accept the invitation to spend some time getting to know her. A few weeks later, the two met for lunch, and in the space of that hour, Celia became filled with both inspiration to commit herself to working toward her passion and ideas of how to get started. At her new friend’s urging, Celia joined boards for three different organizations whose work aligned with her own interests. As she had been advised, she made sure to find organizations that would attract the same people as those who work in women’s rights, but that were not exclusively focused on pro-choice activism so that she would meet diverse groups of people. Her work on these boards gave her credibility and notoriety among the other board members, and it was through those people that she was recommended for the job she has now. Because Celia was not afraid to accept a stranger’s advice, she was able to create a path to the career that she had always hoped to find.
Go with Your Gut
Chantelle1 is a professor in a Chicago-area law school clinic, and her work focuses on restorative justice as a tool for criminal conflict resolution and as an alternative to juvenile detention. She began her career as a public defender, and she points to the very first decision she made in her very first case in that role as a defining point for her career. On receiving her first assignment, Chantelle read the case file and figured that her first step should be to meet her client, 12 year old Tyrone2 who had been arrested for destruction of property. At this point, she had no idea that this was not a common practice for a public defender; she was just doing what she thought was right. Because she followed her instinct to take the time to hear Tyrone’s entire story, she found out that he had been struggling with bullies in school because he was falling behind in his classes. The true story of Tyrone’s arrest was that the bullies at his school had been chasing him and throwing rocks at him during recess. Once his tormenters cornered him against a fence, Tyrone took found his own rock and threw it at a nearby car in hopes of setting off an alarm that would alert people to the situation he was in. Chantelle was troubled by this situation and was determined to fight for Tyrone in court. As part of the defense she was building, she had Tyrone psychologically examined. The results showed that this 12-year-old had the intellect of a child half his age; his premature birth had resulted in Tyrone’s delayed mental and physical development. In addition to winning a consent decree for Tyrone in court, Chantelle’s research was used to have Tyrone assigned to a special education classroom that would more successfully treat his needs and to provide Tyrone’s mother with the support and education that she needed to raise Tyrone successfully. This experience drove Chantelle to study the school-to-prison pipeline that is the cause of mass incarceration of juveniles in Chicago, and it led her to a career in restorative justice that aims to break it down. She worked directly with Chicago Public Schools to train its students in conflict resolution skills and non-violent communication and worked with school personnel to incorporate these theories into the day-to-day operations in CPS. Ultimately, she was instrumental in developing the United States’ largest peer jury program, and she continues to work to keep kids in school and out of prison through restorative justice. By following her instinct to meet her client and learn his full story, Chantelle not only had a huge impact on Tyrone’s life, but she also opened her own eyes to a problem that she has now devoted her career to solving.
Keep Your Eyes Open
After law school, Chandra1 worked in Zambia and India for a year and a half as a legal advocate at the international non-profit whose work inspired her to go to law school. Unfortunately, she returned back to the United States looking for a new job just as the economy turned in 2008. She found that few public interest employers were hiring, and she became frustrated. Chandra’s interest had always been in international human rights advocacy for women, but a friend who saw that she was struggling put her in touch with a volunteer who worked with women in the sex industry in Chicago. Although she had always imagined an international career, this volunteer inspired Chandra with her work, and as they spoke, she gave Chandra a pile of brochures about organizations doing human rights work for women in Chicago. A few days later, she plucked a random brochure from the pile, called the number listed on it, and reached the organization’s founder, who explained their mission of advocating for women who were victims of domestic violence, sex trafficking, rape, and other violence against women. Within days, she was volunteering with this organization, fighting against sexual exploitation in Chicago. Six months later, she was asked to serve on the board. Four years later, when Chandra happened to be on the hunt for a new job again, the organization was looking for a new legal director, and she was their first choice. All it took was one brochure to open Chandra’s eyes to the domestic issues of violence against women that she now so passionately dedicates her career to fighting.
Each of these stories demonstrates how simple decisions, even those decisions that people do not even realize they are making, can lead down paths that will define who they are and what they do with their lives. The women who shared their stories here found that by taking long shots, being friendly, accepting help, and following their instincts, they were able to forge their ways into careers that are fulfilling and challenging. Each of these women went just the slightest bit out of their ways to do something that wound up changing their lives.
1Names of attorneys have been changed to protect their privacy.
2 Names of clients have been changed to respect attorney-client confidentiality.
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