-: I think the thing that I find the most exciting
is being a business partner.
So now, being on the inside, I wear my hat
of being a lawyer 50% of the time,
and then the other 50% is being a trusted business partner.
So you learn the mechanics of the business,
the ins and outs of, I'm in off-price retail,
so the ins and outs of off-price retail, the industry.
What motivates the business.
So with the decisions I help advise on,
or I counsel on, or I partner with, they're often decisions
that can affect the entire enterprise.
So, that feels like a much more weighty responsibility,
as compared to coming in and just litigating a case,
so you might touch a client one time.
Here, I'm in the trenches with my clients
on a day to day basis.
When I was outside counsel, I was used to my voice
being the final voice.
So now, you're in this position where,
legal does not make decisions when you're in-house.
You can give advice, you give options.
You're a problem solver, and so what's often challenging
is your client coming to you with a unique problem,
and having to try to think your way out of it
or get buy-in from your client to understand why
their preferred course of action
wouldn't be the best. (laughs)
So you're trying to really guide them,
and, you know, prevent them from essentially,
you know, shooting themselves in the foot. (laughs)
That is the challenge.
While keeping a good balance of them trusting you
and wanting to come back to you.
So there's an old saying that you don't wanna be
the department of no, right?
So you basically are trying to find creative ways
to get folks to their end goal.