Featured Entrepreneur
Brooke Hardie
The Law Offices of Brooke Hardie
www.brookehardie.com
What does your business do?
The Law Offices of Brooke Hardie is an estate planning and business law boutique. We take legal matters off of the plates of two primary groups so that they can focus on other things: (1) individuals, partners and families who need to want to ensure that there families are taken care of, assets protected and wishes carried out upon their death or incapacity; and (2) small business owners who don’t have the time or the background in putting together partnership agreements, corporate documents and various other contracts which are important in making sure that everyone is protected.
What do you like best about being an entrepreneur?
The license to be creative. I think that’s what I was really lacking when I worked for a law firm. I love the actual legal work that I’m called upon to do for my clients but I also really love the ability (and obligation) to define what my business is going to stand for, what my firm’s brand is going to be, who I am going to work with and what types of people are going to work with me to help build my brand. Granted, sometimes your clients take you in a slightly different direction that you thought you were headed but that’s part of the excitement.
What was your biggest fear in starting a business?
That I would fail to make it work financially and be forced to go back to a law firm job as a litigator at which point I would shrivel up and die an early death. To me, that “plan B” that was not acceptable. I had to succeed because I didn’t have a safety net - I didn’t know what else I would do if I couldn’t make it work and I didn’t have the “6 months of operating and living expenses” saved up. I don’t necessarily recommend it but I think not having that safety net is what helped me to succeed. One tends to rise to the occasion to do whatever it takes to make it work when you got bills to pay!
What has been your proudest moment in starting your business?
When I closed on my house about 2 years after starting my business. I mean, I was living the American dream! I had started a business that I was enjoying…it was operating in the black after a short time…and the business enabled me to buy my first home. I remember relishing in the simplicity (note that I did not say “ease”) of it all: do good work for good people at a reasonable price and you may just be able to create a very nice life for yourself on your own terms.
What is different about being a woman entrepreneur?
Hmmm…..I don’t really know because I’ve never been a male entrepreneur. But I think one of the positive things about being a woman entrepreneur is one of the things that makes AWE so great: women are more forthcoming about their fears of failure and challenges and as a result we get to learn so much from each other. We open the proverbial kimono much faster and with much more frequency than men and that’s when the magic happens. Shared ideas, shared solutions and a sense that you’re not in it alone. Starting your own business can be an incredibly daunting and isolating thing…so to me the support among your female (and male) friends and colleagues can mean the difference between success and failure.
What is different about you since becoming an entrepreneur?
I have healthy confidence now. I don’t think I ever really had a “confidence problem” but since I’ve started my business I have come to realize that no matter what, if I keep doing good work for good people at a reasonable price and work very hard at it I will be good. No matter what. And there’s an incredible amount of comfort that comes with that.
What message would you give to other women entrepreneurs?
Develop your own personal board of advisors early on – individuals you respect, trust, like and think you can learn lots from no matter what their industry or stage in life. When you start your own business you lose that silver-haired boss down the hall from whom you can seek advice so you need to have peopel you can call when you need a gut check on something or an idea of how you might overcome some tough issue you’ve got in front of you. If you’ve chosen the right advisors they’ll be happy to give you a little of their time which can mean all the difference to you. Then pay it forward to someone on whose board of advisors you may have just landed.
Which female entrepreneur has inspired you most?
I’m inspired by lots of women but the first that comes to mind is a woman named Barbara Miller – she lives here in Austin and is a communications coach for associates and partners at law firms. She started her business as a single mom and has since built a very successful consulting business. She’s on my personal board of advisors and she’s always got the time to sit down over a cup of coffee and talk about whatever it is I’ve got on my mind.
What is the biggest obstacle to growth in your business?
When people hire “Law Offices of Brooke Hardie” I think that understandably most of them expect me to be very intimately involved in each step of their legal work, which I very much enjoy. I love working closely with my clients. But at the same time, I can’t really be involved in every single step of everyone’s legal work and still expect to grow my business. So…reassuring people that I am very much involved with what’s going on and yet freeing myself up for the bigger picture strategy for growth (working “on” the business not so much “in” the business) is an age-old challenge and one that I still face on a regular basis. But I think I’m starting to figure it out…due largely in part to great feedback and ideas I’ve gotten from my AWE colleagues.
What do you like best about Austin Women Entrepreneurs?
AWE provides this really “safe place” to bounce ideas around and to ask for help and say “I have this ongoing challenge and I don’t really know yet how to address it. Has anyone else gone through this?” And BAM! You’ll have ten incredibly smart and savvy women chime with invaluable thoughts and follow-up questions. I have never seen a more supportive group in my life! The senses of humor of these women is also a huge reason I like being there. We laugh through the tears some times! While we talk about the very real and very large challenges that we as women entrepreneurs face, there’s always this positive undercurrent that these women covey of “Yes, it’s tough. There’s no question about that. But everything is going to be okay. Actually…things are going to be great.”
