Powerhouse Lawyers

Are you an ambitious attorney who wants to build a life and career that you cannot wait to wake up for? Then you're in the right place. Welcome to Powerhouse Lawyers, a podcast for the Powerhouse in each of us.I am your host, Erin Gerner. A former lawyer, wife, mom, and life coach, and I am on a mission to empower women in the law to define success on their terms, by leveraging their unique superpowers to help them win in both law and life. Join me each week to hear inspiring stories, real talk, and practical tips.You need to redefine the toxic narratives that are keeping women overwhelmed, trying to do it all. You are worthy and capable of building a life and career that you have always wanted, and I'm here to empower you along the way. So if you are ready to practice law differently, let's go.

Powerhouse Lawyers is a business podcast hosted by Erin Gerner, with 121 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Erin Gerner hosts Powerhouse Lawyers, a business show with 121 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #122

  She Runs a Law Firm From the Beach With No Billable Hours

  Oct 1, 202658 min

  Ariella Cohen Coleman was going to work in fashion. She wanted to be a Bloomingdale's buyer. Then her dad was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer when she was thirteen, and he died when she was seventeen, and by the time she got to college her entire world had reoriented around advocacy. She went to law school to fix healthcare. Not to practice law. To fix the system that had her mother spending every day of her father's illness fighting insurance companies just to get covered care covered. Then she got sick herself, got told never to talk about it professionally, and spent years believing she was the only lawyer in the country with a complex health history. Today she's the founder of The Wellness Esquire and host of its podcast, and she runs Ariella Law with no billable hours from beaches around the world. In this episode we cover: Why she went to law school with no intention of ever practicing Watching her mom become her first example of an advocate Getting diagnosed during her first year of law school and what she learned about staying safe Six concussions, and the one that finally made her stop Working through a concussion for a month because stopping felt like weakness How boredom turned into the first real questions she'd ever asked herself Being told never to discuss her health professionally, and what happened when she finally did The law student who messaged her after that first post, and where she is now Why we're too quiet about the options, and how many ways there actually are to be a lawyer Her two pieces of advice for any lawyer who knows something is wrong Building a firm with no billable hours, chosen clients, and a written mistakes policy The Wellness Esquire directory and why community is the missing piece Connect with Ariella Cohen Coleman: Website: thewellnessesquire.com Also: ariellacohencoleman.com LinkedIn: Ariella Cohen Coleman Podcast: The Wellness Esquire, available everywhere and on YouTube Work with Erin Gerner: Erin coaches high-achieving female attorneys who are successful on paper but struggling with burnout, identity, and what's next, helping them redefine success on their own terms. Book a connection call: https://calendly.com/eringerner/connectioncall Stay connected with Erin Gerner: Website: eringerner.com LinkedIn: Erin Gerner Instagram: @eringerner Facebook: Erin Gerner Don't forget to subscribe to Powerhouse Lawyers wherever you listen. ️

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #120

  Lawyer. Reality Star. Public Defender. Sydney Segal Refuses to Pick Just One

  Sep 17, 202643 min

  Sydney Segal is a lot of things. Brooklyn Law grad. Public defender in New York. Survivor 41 competitor. Runner-up on The Challenge: Vets and New Threats. Former Division I track athlete and California state cross-country champion. Five-language speaker. Solo backpacker through 60+ countries. And someone who has figured out how to be all of those things at once — without apologizing for any of them. She didn't stumble into this life. She built it deliberately, starting with two gap years, a very clear sense of what she didn't want, and the willingness to bet on herself before anyone told her she was allowed to. This episode is about what it looks like to refuse the box — and actually pull it off. In this episode we cover: Why she took two gap years before law school — and why she'd tell every young lawyer to do the same How she ended up on Survivor during a COVID semester and never looked back The comp day strategy that made reality TV possible — twice — without leaving her job Why she chose public defense over big law and has never once regretted it What it actually feels like to be on reality TV — and what it exposed about herself she didn't expect How being a D1 athlete shaped how she handles the mental weight of criminal defense work Her rule for the work phone: it stays home, every time, no guilt What she means when she calls it a life resume — not a bucket list "Bet on yourself" — what that actually looked like in practice before she had a safety net Leaving for China solo in ten days to check off her seventh wonder of the world Connect with Sydney HERE Work with Erin Gerner: Erin coaches high-achieving female attorneys who are successful on paper but struggling with burnout, identity, and what's next — helping them redefine success on their own terms. Book a connection call: https://calendly.com/eringerner/connectioncall Stay connected with Erin Gerner: Website: eringerner.com LinkedIn: Erin Gerner Instagram: @eringerner Facebook: Erin Gerner Don't forget to subscribe to Powerhouse Lawyers wherever you listen. ️

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #119

  ICU Nurse. Big Law Attorney. Now Building the Life She Actually Wants

  Jul 23, 20261h 20m

  Tatyana Norman Webler graduated nursing school in May 2020 — straight into the COVID pandemic. She spent three years as an ICU nurse watching the healthcare system fail patients in real time, asking why the left hand never talked to the right hand, and wondering if there was a way to fix it. Then she went to law school. She graduated — in labor — passed the bar with a newborn at home, and landed in big law. Eight months later, she was gone. This is the story of what happened in between. And what the blood work proved. In this episode we talk about the moment Tatyana realized big law wasn't just misaligned with her values — it was bad for her biology. We talk about high functioning depression, the Body Keeps the Score, and what it actually looks like to climb out of survival mode and build a life from scratch that actually fits who you are. In this episode we cover: How a single moment on a hospital ethics committee made Tatyana want to go to law school Graduating law school in active labor — and walking across that stage anyway Passing the bar with a newborn and four hours of study time a day What eight months in big law actually cost her — and how her biomarkers told the whole story The week she didn't nurse her daughter once because of an artificial deadline — and the rage that followed Why she left and what happened to her blood work six months later High functioning depression: what it is, how it's different from burnout, and why so many lawyers are living in it without knowing "You can't outthink your way out of depression" — and what she's doing instead How coaching helped her stop strategizing and start actually doing The portfolio career she's building: Lucid Edge Advising, the Ohio Brain Capital Alliance, and her podcast Lucid Commons Why two things can be true at the same time — and why that's the permission slip most of us need Books mentioned: Becoming You by Suzy Welch High Functioning Depression by Dr. Judith Joseph The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk Connect with Tatyana Norman Webler: LinkedIn: Tatyana Norman Webler Podcast: Lucid Commons (Spotify, Apple, YouTube) Advising: Lucid Edge Advising Nonprofit: Ohio Brain Capital Alliance Work with Erin Gerner: Erin coaches high-achieving female attorneys who are successful on paper but struggling with burnout, identity, and what's next — helping them redefine success on their own terms. Book a connection call: https://calendly.com/eringerner/connectioncall Stay connected with Erin Gerner: Website: eringerner.com LinkedIn: Erin Gerner Instagram: @eringerner Facebook: Erin Gerner Don't forget to subscribe to Powerhouse Lawyers wherever you listen. ️

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #118

  Burnout Will Kill Your Business as Fast as Bankruptcy — with Danielle Hendon

  Jul 9, 202636 min

  You left the firm to build something on your own terms. But somewhere between getting clients, managing a team, and handling everything else that comes with running a business, the freedom you were chasing started to look a lot like another job. Danielle Hendon has seen it a hundred times. As founder of 4 Corners CFO, she works exclusively with female-founded law firms as a fractional CFO — helping them understand what their numbers are actually saying, structure their revenue for real profit, and build firms that support their lives instead of consuming them. This conversation is practical, direct, and exactly what solo and small firm owners need to hear. In this episode we cover How Danielle went from opera singer to accountant to fractional CFO for female law firm owners Why hanging your own shingle often just means trading one boss for many — and what to do about it The rule of thirds: how your P&L should actually be structured for sustainable profit Why time tracking still matters even when you swore you'd never do it again What "closing the closables" means and how it can free up cash immediately The case study: how one estate planning client's first quarter profit equaled her entire prior year — after making one key hire Why the numbers aren't a judgment — they're a story and a roadmap How to know when you're ready to hire (hint: it's 10 billable hours a week) The line of credit conversation every attorney needs to have before they need one Free resource from Danielle: Take the revenue capacity quiz to find out how much money your firm is leaving on the table — no contact info required. 👉 fourcornercfo.com/powerhouselaywers Connect with Danielle Hendon: Website: https://4cornerscfo.com/ LinkedIn: Danielle Hendon Work with Erin Gerner: Erin coaches high-achieving female attorneys who are successful on paper but struggling with burnout, identity, and what's next — helping them redefine success on their own terms. 📅 Book a connection call: https://calendly.com/eringerner/connectioncall Stay connected with Erin Gerner: Website: eringerner.com LinkedIn: Erin Gerner Instagram: @eringerner Facebook: Erin Gerner Don't forget to subscribe to Powerhouse Lawyers wherever you listen. 🎙️

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #117

  From Big Law to In-House to All In on Herself

  Jun 18, 202646 min

  Misty Leon has spent nearly 25 years at the intersection of law, business, and strategy — as a partner at a boutique firm, Senior Counsel at a Fortune 500 company, and now founder of Practical Counsel Advisors, where she helps small to midsize law firms modernize their operations and navigate AI responsibly. In this episode, Misty shares the winding, intentional journey that led her to finally go out on her own — and why the bravest thing she ever did was stop asking "can I do this?" and start asking "do I even want to?" In this episode, we cover: How Misty accidentally stumbled into ERISA law via a newspaper job listing in Charlotte — and why it opened doors in Big Law What five years in-house taught her that she never could have learned at a firm The moment she realized she was heading toward burnout — and how she caught it before it caught her What Practical Counsel Advisors does and why AI readiness is a reputational risk firms can't afford to ignore Why "change management" is more than corporate speak — and why it's the piece most firms skip The mindset shift from powering through to asking whether the path still fits Why women don't need more resilience pep talks — and what we actually need instead The concept of seasons, and why it's one of the most powerful tools for ambitious women juggling everything Her legendary legally blonde moment involving a law school interview and a closet Connect with Misty: LinkedIn: Misty Leon Website: practicalcounseladvisors.com Resources & Links: Book a connection call with Erin: https://calendly.com/eringerner/connectioncall Follow Erin Gerner on Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Powerhouse Lawyers. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.