Why is being a lawyer so hard — and does it have to be this way?

In this powerful episode of The Wellness Esquire Podcast, Ariella sits down with a former BigLaw attorney who made a bold decision: he walked away from an abusive, old-school law firm culture defined by yelling, public criticism, burnout, and fear-based management.

They talk openly about the mental health toll of practicing law, toxic law firm environments, and the unspoken expectation that lawyers should simply “toughen up.” He shares what finally pushed him to leave — and how he built his own law firm grounded in respect, emotional intelligence, mentorship, and sustainable success.

If you’re a lawyer navigating burnout, firm politics, leadership challenges, or questioning whether legal culture can evolve, this conversation is for you.

This episode explores:
• Lawyer burnout and mental health in the legal profession
• Toxic law firm culture and abusive leadership styles
• Leaving BigLaw to start your own firm
• Building a healthy, high-performing legal workplace
• Redefining strength, success, and leadership in law

The legal industry doesn’t have to run on fear to be profitable. And success doesn’t have to cost you your well-being.

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Connect with Ariella Cohen Coleman and Ryan McKeen on Linkedin, and check out Ryan's website and podcast.

https://bestera.com

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-way-with-best-era/id1760546831

About The Wellness Esquire
The Wellness Esquire is a podcast, Substack, and concept by Ariella Cohen Coleman exploring well-being, identity, and sustainability in the legal profession. Through honest conversations with lawyers and other professionals, the show examines how we work, why we burn out, and what it looks like to build careers that are both meaningful and humane.

Listen & Read More
Subscribe to the Substack for articles, reflections, and episode companions:
👉 https://thewellnessesquire.substack.com

Check out The Wellness Esquire website for more information as well!

Follow the Conversation
Follow The Wellness Esquire on Instagram for episode clips and behind-the-scenes moments, and connect with Ariella Coleman on LinkedIn for writing, updates, and ongoing conversations about well-being in law.

If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show with friends and colleagues! It helps these conversations reach more people who need them.

What if the legal industry stopped treating burnout like a rite of passage?

In the second half of this episode of The Wellness Esquire Podcast, Ariella Coleman and Rich Bracken imagine what law could look like if emotional intelligence were taken as seriously as technical skill. They talk about building firms that are psychologically safe, performance-driven in healthy ways, and grounded in self-awareness rather than silent stress.

Rich shares how he connects with audiences through storytelling (and yes — music plays a starring role), and why EQ, empathy, and authentic leadership outperform rigid hierarchy every time. For him, success isn’t measured in titles or hours billed, but in impact, alignment, and the ability to show up fully human.

Ariella reflects on how she approaches self-care — mentally and physically — not as indulgence, but as sustainable performance strategy. They unpack boundaries, burnout prevention, resilience-building, and how small mindset shifts can recalibrate an entire career.

And they laugh. A lot. Because sometimes the best medicine isn’t another productivity hack — it’s connection, perspective, and two friends committed to reshaping the culture from the inside out.

If you’re interested in practicing law with strength, clarity, and emotional intelligence — without losing yourself in the process — this conversation is for you.

Visit Rich's website, connect with Ariella and Rich on LinkedIn, and do something for yourself today.

About The Wellness Esquire
The Wellness Esquire is a podcast, Substack, and concept by Ariella Cohen Coleman exploring well-being, identity, and sustainability in the legal profession. Through honest conversations with lawyers and other professionals, the show examines how we work, why we burn out, and what it looks like to build careers that are both meaningful and humane.

Listen & Read More
Subscribe to the Substack for articles, reflections, and episode companions:
👉 https://thewellnessesquire.substack.com

Check out The Wellness Esquire website for more information as well!

Follow the Conversation
Follow The Wellness Esquire on Instagram for episode clips and behind-the-scenes moments, and connect with Ariella Coleman on LinkedIn for writing, updates, and ongoing conversations about well-being in law.

If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show with friends and colleagues! It helps these conversations reach more people who need them.

Vulnerability isn’t weakness in law. It’s survival.

In this powerful first half of the episode, The Wellness Esquire explores emotional intelligence, mental health, and what happens when the legal profession stays silent for too long.

Ariella is joined by Rich Bracken, a brand ambassador for SmartChoiceEQ and someone who works closely with lawyers every day—though he isn’t one himself.

Rich shares deeply personal experiences from his work and life, including the loss of a lawyer he considered “low-risk” to suicide, and his own terrifying anxiety attack that he believed was a heart attack. These moments underscore a harsh reality: mental health struggles in law are often invisible—until they aren’t.

Alongside this, Ariella reflects on navigating serious and complex health challenges of her own, including continuing to work while hospitalized—an experience many lawyers will recognize and quietly relate to.

Together, they confront the truth the profession avoids: when mental health deteriorates, work product follows. Silence, stigma, and “pushing through” don’t protect lawyers—they isolate them. Real support requires openness, leadership, and a willingness from law firms to rethink how they care for their people.

Vulnerability, they argue, isn’t a liability in law.
It’s a superpower.

And fun and humanity shouldn’t be optional—they should be demanded.

This episode is the first half of an essential conversation about resilience, emotional intelligence, and building a sustainable legal career.

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Please visit Rich Bracken on LinkedIn as well as his website.

About The Wellness Esquire
The Wellness Esquire is a podcast, Substack, and concept by Ariella Cohen Coleman exploring well-being, identity, and sustainability in the legal profession. Through honest conversations with lawyers and other professionals, the show examines how we work, why we burn out, and what it looks like to build careers that are both meaningful and humane.

Listen & Read More
Subscribe to the Substack for articles, reflections, and episode companions:
👉 https://thewellnessesquire.substack.com

Check out The Wellness Esquire website for more information as well!

Follow the Conversation
Follow The Wellness Esquire on Instagram for episode clips and behind-the-scenes moments, and connect with Ariella Coleman on LinkedIn for writing, updates, and ongoing conversations about well-being in law.

If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show with friends and colleagues! It helps these conversations reach more people who need them.

What if becoming a good lawyer has less to do with perfection — and more to do with being human?

In this candid and deeply grounded conversation, Ariella Coleman sits down with Damon Hudson to unpack what it really means to become — and be — a lawyer while navigating real personal challenges alongside professional demands.

Damon shares his journey through law school and into legal practice while facing health issues and self-doubt. Together, Ariella and Damon explore how those experiences didn’t weaken his work as a lawyer, but instead directed him, and shaped a more empathetic, grounded, and human-centered approach to serving clients.

They discuss the often unspoken toll of law school culture, the pressure to perform and appear put-together, despite disabilities, and how neglecting wellness can quietly erode both confidence and purpose. Damon reflects on lessons learned the hard way, the myths of success he had to unlearn, and why he now prioritizes authentic human connection over rigid formality in his legal practice.

At its core, this episode is about redefining success in the legal profession — moving away from perfectionism and status symbols, and toward sustainability, honesty, care, and health. Ariella and Damon also talk about the power of sharing personal stories -and why they are so important-, why vulnerability can actually strengthen client trust, and how self-care is not a luxury, but a professional responsibility.

This episode will resonate with law students, early-career attorneys, seasoned lawyers, and anyone wondering whether it’s possible to practice law without losing yourself — because it is.

Visit Damon Hudson's law firm website: https://www.hudsoninjurylaw.com/

About The Wellness Esquire
The Wellness Esquire is a podcast, Substack, and concept by Ariella Cohen Coleman exploring well-being, identity, and sustainability in the legal profession. Through honest conversations with lawyers and other professionals, the show examines how we work, why we burn out, and what it looks like to build careers that are both meaningful and humane.

Listen & Read More
Subscribe to the Substack for articles, reflections, and episode companions:
👉 https://thewellnessesquire.substack.com

Check out The Wellness Esquire website for more information as well!

Follow the Conversation
Follow The Wellness Esquire on Instagram for episode clips and behind-the-scenes moments, and connect with Ariella Coleman on LinkedIn for writing, updates, and ongoing conversations about well-being in law.

If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show with friends and colleagues! It helps these conversations reach more people who need them.

In this episode of The Wellness Esquire podcast, Ariella Coleman is joined by guest Emily Logan Stedman for an honest conversation about what it’s really like to practice law in high-pressure environments—and how mental health and well-being fit into that reality.

Emily shares her journey from law school to her current role in BigLaw, reflecting on the expectations lawyers internalize early on and how they can quietly shape identity, performance, and self-worth. Together, Ariella and Emily explore the role of vulnerability in a profession that often rewards perfection, as well as the importance of supportive relationships and honest conversations in sustaining a long-term legal career.

The discussion also addresses common challenges many lawyers face, including perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and chronic stress. Emily offers practical tools and reflections on managing pressure, recognizing early signs of burnout, and creating space for well-being without stepping away from ambition or excellence.

This episode invites listeners to reconsider outdated narratives about success in law and to imagine a version of legal practice where authenticity, mental health, and professional achievement can coexist.

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Check out Emily on LinkedIn and check out her podcast, The Grace Period.

Additional Resources:

Headspace (the meditation app)

The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control (book)

About The Wellness Esquire
The Wellness Esquire is a podcast, Substack, and concept by Ariella Cohen Coleman exploring well-being, identity, and sustainability in the legal profession. Through honest conversations with lawyers and other professionals, the show examines how we work, why we burn out, and what it looks like to build careers that are both meaningful and humane.

Listen & Read More
Subscribe to the Substack for articles, reflections, and episode companions:
👉 https://thewellnessesquire.substack.com

Check out The Wellness Esquire website for more information as well!

Follow the Conversation
Follow The Wellness Esquire on Instagram for episode clips and behind-the-scenes moments, and connect with Ariella Coleman on LinkedIn for writing, updates, and ongoing conversations about well-being in law.

If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show with friends and colleagues! It helps these conversations reach more people who need them.

In this episode of The Wellness Esquire, Ariella Coleman is joined by Jennifer Marino Thibodaux for an honest conversation about what it really means to live and work with authenticity in the legal profession.

Rather than framing well-being as a question of “balance,” Ariella and Jennifer explore the idea of integration — how professional identity, health, values, and lived experience inevitably inform one another, whether we acknowledge it or not. Jennifer shares reflections from her journey through law school and legal practice, including how a chronic health condition reshaped her understanding of success, productivity, and self-worth.

Together, they talk openly about vulnerability in professional spaces, and why sharing personal stories is not a liability but a source of strength. The conversation examines how law school and legal culture often reward perfectionism and performance, while leaving little room for honesty about struggle, limits, or growth — and what it takes to push back against that model.

Throughout the episode, Ariella and Jennifer return to the idea that authenticity is not a branding exercise or a buzzword, but an ongoing practice. One that involves difficult choices, self-trust, and allowing your professional life to reflect who you actually are. They also discuss the importance of connection and community among lawyers, and how naming shared experiences can create understanding and reduce isolation.

This episode is an invitation to rethink how authenticity shows up in day-to-day professional life — not as an ideal, but as a lived, evolving commitment.

* * *

Exciting news for Jennifer! She is now OFFICIALLY the host of a digital talk show, Leading with Authenticity, on the This Is It Network. The show will premiere in the next month or two. Look for it and enjoy!

Also, check Jennifer Marino Thibodaux out on Instagram, on LinkedIn, or on her fascinating website.

About The Wellness Esquire
The Wellness Esquire is a podcast, Substack, and concept by Ariella Cohen Coleman exploring well-being, identity, and sustainability in the legal profession. Through honest conversations with lawyers and other professionals, the show examines how we work, why we burn out, and what it looks like to build careers that are both meaningful and humane.

Listen & Read More
Subscribe to the Substack for articles, reflections, and episode companions:
👉 https://thewellnessesquire.substack.com

Check out The Wellness Esquire website for more information as well!

Follow the Conversation
Follow The Wellness Esquire on Instagram for episode clips and behind-the-scenes moments, and connect with Ariella Coleman on LinkedIn for writing, updates, and ongoing conversations about well-being in law.

If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show with friends and colleagues! It helps these conversations reach more people who need them.

In this episode of The Wellness Esquire, host Ariella Coleman speaks with Cody Hand about rethinking how lawyers practice—and how they value themselves in the process. The conversation explores the growing disconnect between traditional legal structures and what lawyers actually need to build sustainable, fulfilling careers.

Ariella and Cody take a close look at the limits of the billable hour and why many lawyers feel constrained by it. They discuss the shift toward value-based pricing, not simply as a business strategy, but as a reflection of self-worth, autonomy, and trust—both in client relationships and in oneself. Cody shares his personal journey as a lawyer, including the lessons learned through trial and error, recalibration, and the realization that law school does not truly prepare lawyers for the realities of practice.

The episode also explores the idea of starting from yes instead of reflexive no—how fear, defensiveness, and scarcity thinking are baked into legal training, and how redefining value can change the way lawyers show up for their work and their clients. Cody reflects on decision-making, storytelling, and why embracing imperfection is an essential part of professional growth and leadership.

This conversation invites listeners to reconsider what success in law actually looks like, how lawyers can move beyond inherited models that no longer serve them, and why aligning values with practice is critical for long-term sustainability and well-being.

Check Cody Hand out on LinkedIn or connect with him through his websites (as a coach and as a lawyer).

About The Wellness Esquire
The Wellness Esquire is a podcast, Substack, and concept by Ariella Cohen Coleman exploring well-being, identity, and sustainability in the legal profession. Through honest conversations with lawyers and other professionals, the show examines how we work, why we burn out, and what it looks like to build careers that are both meaningful and humane.

Listen & Read More
Subscribe to the Substack for articles, reflections, and episode companions:
👉 https://thewellnessesquire.substack.com

Check out The Wellness Esquire website for more information as well!

Follow the Conversation
Follow The Wellness Esquire on Instagram for episode clips and behind-the-scenes moments, and connect with Ariella Coleman on LinkedIn for writing, updates, and ongoing conversations about well-being in law.

If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show with friends and colleagues! It helps these conversations reach more people who need them.

In this episode, host Ariella Coleman sits down with Jordana for an honest conversation about navigating life and work in the legal world.

Jordana Confino is a lawyer, writer, and speaker who focuses on well-being and sustainability in the legal profession. Through her work, she explores perfectionism, burnout, and the pressure to perform, advocating for self-compassion, boundaries, and healthier professional cultures—especially for women and working parents.

Ariella and Jordana talk about their personal journeys, the pressure of perfectionism, and how it quietly impacts mental health. Together, they explore why well-being matters in the legal profession, how positive psychology shows up in everyday choices, and what it really means to set boundaries—especially while balancing a demanding career and motherhood.

The conversation invites more self-compassion and calls for a more supportive, human culture within the legal field.

Check out the Report from the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being

Follow Jordana's blog, Chronicles of a Recovering Type A+ Perfectionist

Find Jordana on LinkedIn

About The Wellness Esquire
The Wellness Esquire is a podcast, Substack, and concept by Ariella Cohen Coleman exploring well-being, identity, and sustainability in the legal profession. Through honest conversations with lawyers and other professionals, the show examines how we work, why we burn out, and what it looks like to build careers that are both meaningful and humane.

Listen & Read More
Subscribe to the Substack for articles, reflections, and episode companions:
👉 https://thewellnessesquire.substack.com

Check out The Wellness Esquire website for more information as well!

Follow the Conversation
Follow The Wellness Esquire on Instagram for episode clips and behind-the-scenes moments, and connect with Ariella Coleman on LinkedIn for writing, updates, and ongoing conversations about well-being in law.

If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show with friends and colleagues! It helps these conversations reach more people who need them.