Caren Ulrich Stacy, Legal Talet Guru  

One of the many upsides of conducting these interviews with women in entrepreneurship is that it allows my curiosity to range all over the business landscape and to all corners of my professional network. Case in point: Caren Ulrich Stacy.  I crossed paths with Caren during an attorney training and development function when I was undergoing an earlier career transformation back in 2001-2002, from practicing attorney to the management side of the law firm ledger.

Caren was already an established name in the field back then – a frequent speaker at conferences and a writer on the topics that deeply interest me: lawyer recruitment, development, engagement, advancement, retention, and diversity.  I realized, gratifyingly, that she was a peer in the profession whom I very much wanted to stand alongside, which I ultimately did at an NALP Professional Development conference in 2010.

Caren spent the first two decades of her career inside large law firms, hiring and developing over 3500+ lawyers. For the last five years, she has devoted most of her time to collecting and analyzing data on high (and low) performing lawyers, and using that information to find, develop, and retain the best talent for law firms.  During her free moments (interviewer’s note: Caren is a wife and mother too), she creates initiatives that advance women. Caren’s latest project is the OnRamp Fellowship, a re-entry platform that matches women lawyers returning to the profession after an extended hiatus with law firms, for a one-year, paid position.

To get an idea of her go-ahead personality: maybe it was memories of working as a lawyer, but Caren’s answer to my question “What’s the worst for you?” truly hit home:

“People who complain, but don’t also offer solutions.  I’m all for commiserating and talking through problems for a short while, and it’s therapeutic for some.  But, at some point, we need to talk about solutions — specific actions that will resolve the problem.”

What is your definition of “entrepreneur?”
An individual who designs and develops profitable new products, initiatives, and programs that enhance people’s lives and businesses.

Who are your heroes?
First and foremost, my husband.  He’s the smartest, most self-aware, and supportive person I know.  And, Jim Sandman, the former managing partner at Arnold & Porter when I was the head of lawyer talent at the firm. I learned more about people, business, and listening in the seven years I worked with him than anyone else over the course of my entire career.

What is your current challenge?
Relaxing!  My brain is constantly churning with new ideas that will improve both diversity in the legal profession, and lawyer engagement and retention in law firms.

Your greatest achievement? 
Being happily married to my favorite person in the world and having a child (now six years old) who is happy and healthy, while also being able to maintain a career I love.  It is stressful at times, but well worth it.

What is your motto?
The more we try with the possibility of failure (now), the more we learn with the possibility of success (going forward).

Why are you an entrepreneur?
I am passionate about what I do.  And it’s contagious.  It helps that I have a lot of good ideas that stem from research, data, and decades of experience related to lawyer recruitment, development, and diversity, that it seems law firm leaders have come to value.

What problem are you solving?
Right now, I’m working to increase diversity in the legal profession.  To that end, I created and now run the OnRamp Fellowship, the first “Returnship” ever launched in the legal profession for women lawyers who took a hiatus and want to re-enter the law. Our goal is to increase the number of women lawyers in law firm leadership.

I’m also in the midst of launching: (1) the Judicial Diversity Initiative (So You Want To Be a Judge.com) to find and place more diverse lawyers in the state judgeships; and (2) WomenLawyerExperts.com, to publicly promote women lawyers who are experts in their fields to clients, the media, and conference facilitators.

Biggest regret? 
I wish I spent as much time lying in bed at night patting myself on the back as I spend lying awake worrying about the stuff I did, said, or should have done differently or better!

Best discovery?
Taskrabbit.com and Thumbtack.com – both help you accomplish stuff (e.g., household chores, furniture assembly, moving) that you don’t have time to do yourself.

Which talent would you like to have?
I would love to sound a little more like Bret Michaels or Peter Cetera instead of Kermit the Frog when I sing Rainbow Connection to my son at bedtime!

Your bio in 6 words.
I help law firms find, develop, and promote the best lawyers using data.  (Okay, that is actually 13 words; I don’t follow directions well!)

What’s your hashtag? 
#takealittleaction.  In fact, I created a website — TakeALittleAction.com — to honor and promote individuals who are advancing women in their professions.  These are people who stopped talking about the problems women face in the workforce and, instead, started taking a little action to do something about it.

What conference would you like to keynote?
I’d love to do a TED talk on the traits and behaviors of highly successful women professionals.  My research with high-performing women lawyers has provided insightful and incredibly practical knowledge other women might find useful as they climb the corporate ladder.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
Watching The Good Wife.  (The lead character is returning to the legal profession after a 15-year hiatus, among other issues, so it’s an interesting parallel to my current project — plus it’s just damn fun to watch!)

What makes you LOL?
My dogs when they chase birds (knowing they can’t catch them — but it sure seems fun to them anyways), and The Mindy Project.

Who or what inspires you?
Successful women who offer support and publicly promote other qualified women in their industries. Some examples include attorney Bobbi Liebenberg; Sallie Krawcheck [former president of Global Wealth and Management at Bank of America]; Pat Gillette [San Francisco employment lawyer]; Brande Stellings, [Vice President at Catalyst]; and the ladies at [networking group extraordinaire] The LEVO League.

What’s the most important startup / entrepreneurship lesson you’ve learned?
Perfect your pitch before you pitch anyone. No one wants to hear a rambling dissertation on what you plan to accomplish.  Instead, they want to hear one sentence that quickly states how they will save time, make money, or improve their life as a result of what you’re doing.

What would be the title of your biography?
You Can Have It All: You Just Have To Define ‘All’ — or Work Hard, Have Fun, And Sleep More.

Where can readers of “In Conversation With” connect with you online?
On Linked In.