Episodes - Women In Law On the Record

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Today is a really special episode of Women In Law On The Record because I’m sharing an insightful panel discussion regarding how to be successful in business development. The panel featured some familiar faces and voices - like Amy Tu, Chief Legal Officer of Tyson Foods and Catherine MacDonagh, Founder of the Legal Lean Sigma Institute. It also featured Kristin Ng, a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig’s Northern Virginia office. As you will hear, these ladies offer their experiences, advice, and wisdom on all things business development.

You will hear me talk about this at the beginning of our discussion but I wanted to reiterate my thanks to Avocate and Greenberg Traurig for putting this panel together and giving us all the opportunity to have this important discussion. For those that don’t know, Avocate is a women’s legal mentoring network building a community that connects law students with practicing attorneys. I have been a mentor in Avocate for a couple years now and highly recommend it to anyone who is interested. To find out more about how to get involved, go to avocateforwomen.com.

Today I’m talking with Robyn Diaz, Chief Legal Officer of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, which is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. A native New Yorker, Robyn’s path to success in health law began when she moved to Washington D.C. and worked for a non-profit--The Whitman Walker Clinic. While there, she attended Georgetown Law. After law school, Robyn spent a few years at a law firm where she advised health industry clients on compliance and regulatory issues. She made the move in-house when she took a job with MedStar Health. As you will hear her describe, Robyn wasn’t sure she had the experience necessary for the role at the time. But, she was eager to learn and rose to the occasion when the duty to serve her new clients called. Robyn has been with St. Jude for over 10 years now but her practice continues to grow and evolve. Her journey is an admirable one and I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did.

Today I’m talking with Kristin Gomez, Senior Manager at Hyundai Motor America in southern California. Kristin is relatively new to her role, which is focused on advising on business and legal strategies as they relate to the company’s green cars. Day to day, Kristin draws on her pre-law experience in environmental policy as well as her legal expertise. As you will hear, Kristin spent four years before law school working with state regulators in the clean air space. After law school, she joined the Jackson Titus law firm where she gained civil litigation experience. She made the move in-house to Honda a few years ago when the great opportunity presented itself. Now with Hyundai, and as a new mom, Kristin is continuing to do what she loves. Kristin is humble, sharp, and genuine. Please enjoy getting to know her.

Today I’m talking with Amy Tu, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Tyson Foods in Springdale, Arkansas. As you will hear, Amy has great responsibility as she oversees the legal department, ethics and compliance, corporate communications, government investigations, and internal audit. Amy is also the President of Tyson Ventures, a venture capital fund investing in companies developing breakthrough technologies. Amy attended Wellesley College where she studied economics. After graduation, she spent a couple years on Wall Street where she cut her teeth in the corporate world. She moved back to her native Arkansas with the hope that she would work on President Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign. Amy then attended law school at the University of Arkansas.

Towards the end of her law school career, she applied for a torts job at Walmart. But instead of interviewing for that job, she got a call from Walmart’s General Counsel who was intrigued by her Wall Street experience and asked her what she really wanted to do, to which she answered “international law.” Amy spent a few years at Walmart but attributes many of her career and legal lessons to her time at Boeing where she spent 16 years making a name for herself, building up her own practice, and going through experiences that would prepare her for her current role at Tyson. My takeaway from Amy’s story is that you must ask for what you want and do everything you can to make your goals a reality. That’s exactly what Amy did when she moved abroad while working for Boeing but before they had any attorneys outside the United States. Amy was diligent to create a place for herself in their London office. This effort took many months, a lot of relationship development, and unwavering drive. It’s one of Amy’s proudest accomplishments but just one example of what it took to get to where she is.

Today I’m talking with Kate Dugan, Associate General Counsel at Energizer Holdings specializing in commercial law, marketing, and intellectual property. Kate started her legal career at Shook, Hardy & Bacon in Kansas City, Missouri where she learned what it meant to be a litigator and got meaningful pro bono experience. From there, she moved to Chicago where she would spend the next 7 years at Greenberg Traurig. During that time, Kate developed valuable mentor relationships and got the type of experiences that would prepare her for her current role in-house. She’s been with Energizer Holdings for over 6 years now. During our discussion, Kate emphasized the importance of planning in order to become the type of lawyer you really want to be. She shared what she learned about herself is some of the more challenging points in her career and how assured she was that she had been trained and prepared for those moments. Kate was so fun to talk to, I hope you enjoy getting to know her as much as I did.

Today I’m talking with two lady lawyers - U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Texas, Alia Moses, and Nicole Westbrook, her former law clerk and litigation shareholder at Jones & Keller in Denver, Colorado. During our conversation, Judge Moses and Nicole emphasized the importance of preparation, advocacy and hard work - all things both of them fully embrace. Judge Moses was raised in a small Texas town, has been on the bench since 2002, and feels like the law was her calling. She takes great pride in how her courtroom is run and the lawyers that her former clerks have become. Nicole, who spent several years with Judge Moses, attributes many of her skills to the judge’s mentorship and guidance. Warding off the pressure to go with the flashiest firm, Nicole moved to a law firm that was the right fit for her. She knew she wanted good, substantive experience and to hit the ground running with her practice. That’s precisely what she got. I was inspired by both of these women’s dedication to the law, standard for professionalism, and deep appreciation for women in our field. I think you will be too.

Today I’m talking to Megan Belcher, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Scoular in Omaha, Nebraska. Raised in the midwest, Megan began her legal career at Husch Blackwell in Kansas City where she cut her teeth and honed her legal skills. She made the jump to in-house counsel when she joined ConAgra Foods in 2014. She would spend the next 9 years with the company, specializing in employment and compliance and learning to lead her business clients. Megan is now at Scoular, where she has been General Counsel for the last 3 years. What I took away from my discussion with Megan was the importance of career growth--Megan has continued to evolve and is driven to be a better leader and communicator every single day. She also walks the walk when it comes to lifting up other women. As you’ll hear, Megan was generous enough to introduce me, a young but ambitious lawyer, to her community of fellow general counsels. This woman has great thoughts and ideas -- I hope you enjoy listening to them as much as I did.

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