Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Kirkwood.
Ashley, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My path has never been traditional. I almost failed out of undergrad and as a result, the first time I applied to law school, I didn’t get into a single law school – not a single one. But being the chick that I am, I didn’t let that stop me. I took a job down the street from the law school that I wanted to go to and went to visit the admissions office on my lunch breaks to use my skills of persuasion on them and it worked! I was eventually accepted and once admitted, I played no games. I received all A’s in my first year of law school and then transferred to one of the top ten law schools in the country, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. I continued to do well and started my legal career at one of the largest law firms in the world, but then things get interesting. See, I’m a pretty fun person if I do say so myself and that meant that I was getting bored, fast, in a traditional legal environment. And also, I was getting tired of not seeing many people that looked like me at work. So, I continued to do well at work – I even won a federal civil rights jury trial within the first two years of practicing – but I also started a YouTube channel, The Ashley Nicole Show, to express myself and begin meeting some really cool people! It was amazing. I interviewed people that left corporate America to follow their dreams of entrepreneurship. I conducted over 25 live, in-person, interviews and I learned a lot. This got me thinking, I too could follow my dreams of having a media career and running my own businesses. So, after leaving my first law firm for a smaller firm that I did not enjoy, I decided to start my own law firm, Mobile General Counsel, focused on providing on-demand legal services at reasonable rates to entrepreneurs and startup companies. Further, because my background is in diversity and gender discrimination, I create diversity training programs for companies that help retain and recruit diverse talent.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not been smooth and it will not be smooth, but you can’t stop. The biggest struggle is being disciplined in the stories that you tell yourself about yourself and your past. You cannot succumb to the desire to talk bad to yourself. Basically, you have to fight for confidence, because your self-confidence is your currency in business. You need to believe in the products and services that you sell. You need to work hard to get the knowledge that you need to provide high-quality services. The best advice that I can give is this: run the race like you have a shot at winning. You need to work like you know your work will not be in vain. Many of us work as though we have not a chance in heck of winning! Don’t let that be you. When you work like you know you have a shot at winning, you will work, work. You will put in the hours and energy that the job requires. Run this race of life, like you could win the gold.
Please tell us about Mobile General Counsel.
I am the secret sauce to the success of my businesses. There are a million lawyers that businesses can choose, but few with my pedigree that also cares. The truth is, what I provide is not unique, but how I provide it is rather unique. Mobile General Counsel provides monthly, flat-rate legal packages to clients that give them access to a certain amount of legal work hours. Now, if they don’t use all of those hours, then the hours simply roll over to the next month – like minutes. We work hard to counsel our clients on both their business and legal needs for the future so that we are providing services with the client’s intentions to scale in mind. Further, we provide diversity and sexual harassment training that is innovative and dare I say it, fun! We also help companies implement programs that are cost-effective, but over time can create real change in the corporate culture. I actually believe in dismantling corporate culture for the corporate community. Culture has a look, but the community has a feel. We help companies develop programs that help employees feel comfortable at work and we track progress.
Everything I do falls under the umbrella of education, but I educate through four main companies: (1) Mobile General Counsel, my firm, which I have mentioned before; (2) The Law School Hustle, my company where I teach law students how to ace both law school and the legal profession; (3) The Ashley Nicole Show, where I interview successful entrepreneurs and help those still seeking to find their passions; and (4) The Kirkwood Foundation, the nonprofit that I run with my husband, where we teach high school students about STEM, legal and medical careers.
Above all else, I am an educator, I just happen to use different companies and methods to teach people what I know.
Who have you been inspired by?
My mom and aunt. My mom is the epitome of climbing the corporate ladder. She started at her company as a secretary, then with a full load, kids, husband, the whole nine, went back to school to get her undergraduate degree. Then, she received a promotion to project manager. After that, she went back to school to get her MBA, because she’s a real boss. After that, she was promoted to senior project manager. She works at one of the largest companies in the healthcare industry, if not the largest. She’s a huge source of inspiration because she works so hard and still finds time to be an awesome wife, grandmother to my nephew, mentor and first lady of our church! She reminds me that although you may never have perfect balance, you can juggle it all and still have peace and prosperity!
Pricing:
- Initial Legal Consultation ($200)
- Diversity/ Sexual Harassment Training Programs (starting at $3,500)
Contact Info:
- Address: 2903 Sunset Ave.
- Website: Firm: mobilegeneralcounsel.com Personal: theashleynicoleshow.com
- Phone: 7734104406
- Email: Firm: info@mobilegeneralcounsel.com Personal: admin@passionpurposeandpaychecks.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/theashleynicoleshow/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashleynicole.williams.10
- Other: theashleynicoleshow.com
Image Credit:
Jasmine Oliver (Headshot and colorful photos), Amber Marie Green (Speaking photos)
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