It’s January 2013 in Denver, Colorado. Things are going well. My children have settled easily into the school year in second grade and pre-K. Becker Impact started a challenging and particularly meaningful new project. Then, as part of that project, I interviewed a charismatic young lawyer who mentioned what first year associates now earn at New York City law firms. Plus bonus.
And out of the “I am totally content, my life is exactly as I want it to be” blue, I panicked. Really? First years? Oh my. Quick, random mathematical calculations in my head. That’s what I’d be making if I’d stayed at a big firm? I felt like I might throw up.
Sure, thinking about “if I were a partner at a law firm” at this point is about as useful as considering “if I were an astronaut heading a mission to Mars.” Its been almost fifteen years since I left my position as an associate at a NYC law firm to take a job as PR director of a foundation whose focus inspired me so much that I cried when I first heard about the work. Securities litigation so did not move me in this way that I was willing to take a hefty pay cut so I could “spend my days working on something that made a difference.” And the rest is nonprofit communications and motherhood history. Very good, right for me history.
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