Let Go of Perfect & Build What’s Yours With Aleks Anderson
Guest: Aleks Anderson, JD
When Aleks Anderson launched her own law firm, she had no money, no clients, and no formal business training. What she did have? A fierce sense of self-trust, the humility to learn as she went, and a deep desire to build a business that worked for her life as a mother and founder.
In this episode, Aleks joins Kristy to share how she transitioned from corporate litigator to business owner—and why that leap, sparked by the birth of her first child, became the most powerful move of her career. She shares the honest ups and downs of starting without a roadmap, hiring before she felt ready, and learning to delegate without letting perfectionism take the wheel.
Whether you're navigating your own leap or stuck in the “overwhelm zone,” Aleks’s story will inspire you to trust your voice, build your community, and take the next right step—even if it’s not perfect.
Takeaways:
Aleks's journey from corporate law to entrepreneurship was inspired by motherhood.
Experimentation is key in the early stages of business.
Community support is essential for business success.
Redefining success includes feeling safe and supported.
Delegation is crucial for growth and sustainability.
Legal foundations are vital to avoid future disputes.
Taking small steps can lead to significant progress.
Writing down tasks helps manage overwhelm.
A business coach provides valuable guidance and support.
Pivoting your business is a powerful move towards success.
Perfectionism can be a delay tactic—done is often better than perfect.
Community is essential—for referrals, venting, and gut checks.
Delegating isn’t a luxury—it’s a leadership skill.
Legal protections early on can save thousands later.
Success isn't about fame—it's about feeling stable, supported, and aligned.
Your business should work for your life, not the other way around.
Starting scrappy doesn’t mean starting small on vision.
Parenting can clarify priorities in powerful ways.
Bite-sized progress fuels sustainable growth.
A coach can help you see your blind spots and reduce the loneliness of entrepreneurship.
Memorable Quotes:
Aleks:
"Trusting yourself even when others doubt you."
"Trial and error is part of starting a business."
"Sometimes done is better than perfect."
"Community is the foundation of my business."
"Success means feeling safe and supported."
"You can't skip the legal foundation of your business."
"Take things in small steps."
"Writing it down makes it more manageable."
"A business coach can be a reliable source."
“Sometimes done is better than perfect—because perfect may never happen.”
“You’re not the only one struggling to pick the right software or payment terms.”
“The biggest lesson? Trust the people you hire to do what you hired them for.”
“My definition of success now is feeling safe, supported, and stable.”
“Community is the foundation of my business—it's where I give and where I grow.”
“Being an immigrant taught me I can do hard things. That stuck with me.”
“Hiring felt risky—but it actually freed me to earn more.”
“You don’t need to do everything from day one. You need to start.”
“You won't understand the value of legal protections until you don’t have them.”
“It’s okay not to have it all figured out—you’re building as you go.”
Kristy:
"Your choice to pivot is a power move."
“How empowering was it to finally let go of perfect?”
“The path to burnout-proof success doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s.”
“Your business is your baby, and delegation can feel like handing it off to someone else.”
“You found your voice, even as an introvert, in a way that works for you.”
“Sometimes the right next move is simply the smallest, most impactful step forward.”
“Bringing on your first hire doesn’t need to wait for a magic revenue number.”
“There's no shame in learning leadership as you go—that’s part of the pivot.”
“So often, what we should do legally is what gets skipped until it’s too late.”
“You can be scared and confident at the same time.”
“The business doesn’t have to be perfect—it just has to be yours.”
Chapters:
00:00 The Journey to Entrepreneurship
02:53 Embracing Experimentation in Business
05:21 The Importance of Community
07:58 Redefining Success as a Mother
10:24 The Power of Delegation
12:46 Navigating Legal Foundations for Business
15:23 How Motherhood Changes Definition of “Success”
18:05 Overcoming Overwhelm in Business Growth
26:50 Journey Full of Leaps of Faith
28:29 Lessons from a Unique Background
31:53 Navigating Legal Foundations for Business
36:05 About Anderson Legal
36:47 Takeaways as an Entrepreneur
40:01 The Importance of Having a Business Coach
41:42 Closing
Connect with Aleks Anderson:
🔗 Website: www.andersonlegalnc.com
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleksandra-anderson-717a4854/
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndersonLegalNC
🎧 Tune in now and start your pivot with confidence!
👉 Schedule a free, no pressure call with Kristy HERE to see how you can achieve burnout-proof success.
Resources & Links:
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Disclaimer:
A friendly reminder: the information presented in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any medical condition, nor is it intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with your doctor or a qualified healthcare professional before making any decisions related to your health and well-being or starting any new wellness practice, including mindfulness and meditation.
Transcript:
Kristy Cook (00:00)
Welcome to Pivotista, where we help women founders turn their overwhelm into burnout proof success. I'm Christy Cook, your guide to shifting your business out of survival mode and into success that fuels your ambition and your wellbeing. Today's guest knows a thing or two about making bold moves, especially the kind that require trusting yourself even when others doubt your path. Alex Anderson is a lawyer and owner of Anderson Legal in North Carolina and mother of two young children whose pivot from corporate law to founding her own law firm was inspired by two powerful forces, the birth of her first child and a lifelong desire to do things her way. In this episode, Alex shares what it took to step away from stability, tune out to outside opinions and build something on her own terms.
If you've ever felt the pull to start something new but feared what others might think, this conversation will speak directly to you. Let's dive in.
Aleks Anderson (01:13)
Hey, Kristy!
Kristy Cook (01:14)
Alex, I'm so glad to have you here. You and I have known each other for several years and I know your story is one so many of our listeners will relate to. That tug of war between following a more traditional expected career path and the feeling of that deep desire to do something more aligned and self-directed and more flexible.
Aleks Anderson (01:18)
Thanks for having me.
Kristy Cook (01:38)
Especially for women founders juggling personal and professional roles, that leap into business ownership can feel both exhilarating and terrifying. So I would like to start our conversation today by rewinding a bit. Can you take us back to that moment when the idea of starting your own law firm shifted from a maybe someday into something you knew you had to do?
Aleks Anderson (02:03)
Sure. So in law school, I always told myself that eventually when I felt comfortable and the time was right, I want to start my own law firm. And so to me at that time, when the time was right meant that I really had reached a high level of proficiency in my profession and was very financially stable and had a lot of savings and had a lot of connections. And so in many ways, I set that bar for when I will start my own law firm pretty high, in some sense, kind of to protect my own ego and I suppose to give myself wiggle room.
And really the driving force behind wanting to start my own firm was because it was kind of like an experiment to see if my own theories will work, my own theories on running a business, my own theories of how I want to practice law, my own theories on getting clients. And obviously with time I've changed and pivoted how I do that. But it was just it was sort of an intellectual curiosity I had as to, you know, how do we run a small business?
Kristy Cook (03:25)
Wow. Well, and I love that you also brought up the idea of the experimentation that goes into running a business. I think there is a big misconception occasionally that day one, we have to be perfect at these businesses that we're starting and successful right away. Otherwise we've failed. And what doesn't get touched on enough in my opinion is how much trial and error goes into starting a business.
Aleks Anderson (03:55)
Exactly, yes.
Kristy Cook (03:56)
Can you talk to me a little bit about how you've run into the need to kind of try things out and experiment with new things and what that journey was like? Because you're how many years now into your law firm?
Aleks Anderson (04:09)
So we are almost a six year old law firm. So, it has certainly been a trial and error experience. And, I think that initially I went into it having read many, how to run a law firm books, how to run your own business books, listening to many entrepreneurs, podcasts.
And I had this idea of, you know, well, I didn't have many connections, so let's try online marketing. Let's have that be the how I get my clients. And that didn't really work because my budget was too small. So I had to pivot how I do business and get out there and make those connections and at that time, I really had very little networking experience. I'm an introvert and networking never sounded like something that I wanted to do and just always steered clear of it. And so there was that realization of, well girl, if you're gonna do it, you are going to have to hit the road and go into these meetings. So that was one big change.
And also kind of starting out I want to have all my processes in place. I wanted to have all my SOPs written ⁓ and everything kind of preset for the next decades to come. And I quickly realized that I spent a lot of time writing these and setting up these processes that really became obsolete not too long after having been done, because reality was very different than my theoretical law firm. And so I realized that in some sense, you kind of have to figure things out as you go. And that's okay. So long as you're being responsible, making sure your clients are being taken care of, doing things right by your clients, it's okay to change things up. It's okay not to have them right from the start.
Kristy Cook (06:13)
Yeah, I'm wondering too, you you start off by talking about that you'd read all these books on how to start a law firm, how to grow a law firm, how to grow a business. You came into it with your own ideas. And, you know, I think a lot of us female attorneys tend to be a little type A, so it makes perfect sense that, of course, you wanted to have all of these SOPs and procedures, everything in place, nice and tight. It's also the lawyer in you as well. Something to grow from. But how empowering was it to let go? Because I think sometimes when we set all of that up in our mind of how things have to be, it's also a way for us to our perfectionism as a delaying tactic because know we're intimidated there might be a little bit of fear. So I'm wondering one if you experienced that and then two how freeing was it? I'm assuming it was freeing to just kind of fight against those natural tendencies and just say oh I'm gonna figure it out as I go.
Aleks Anderson (06:58)
Absolutely.
Initially was very difficult that first week was very very difficult because I was always you know of the mindset well if it's not perfect you haven't reviewed it a hundred times and and if you're not following the procedure then why do it Sometimes done is better than perfect because if you aim for perfect, you might not get there. And that was a lesson that really took me a very long time to achieve. I think I went back and forth as far as that being acceptable for the better part of three years, the first three years. And I really spent a lot of additional time ironing things out to make them perfect. And it wasn't until I got a business coach where he really walked me through that idea you know, it does not have to be perfect. The 80/20 rule, you know, that extra bit is not going to make a difference really. And so that was a major, major learning curve for me that at first I understood it intellectually but you also kind of have to absorb it and let that become a belief of yours and that took me a very long time.
Kristy Cook (08:40)
Yeah, yeah, and it's so opposite of what we're trained to do as lawyers. So doing that for ourselves, I know can feel frustrating and ⁓ it allows you then to redirect that energy to the areas where you do want to get as close to perfect as possible, in this case, the legal work that you're doing for your clients. And so you've mentioned the importance of
Aleks Anderson (09:01)
Absolutely, yep.
Kristy Cook (09:05)
you know, summoning up the bravery to get out and network to grow your business locally. So, know, if law firms in particular, tend to network locally because you're licensed in a particular area. But then you also spoke about bringing in a business coach. And so it sounds like you were building this beautiful little community around you. And so I'm curious, how does community then and now shape your business success.
Aleks Anderson (09:35)
So, in many ways that's kind of the big picture answer to my business success in that not only is that how I get my clients and therefore can practice law and bring in the funds and pay my people, but also I go back to the community when I need a vendor.
When I need a bookkeeper, when I need a CPA for my business. And I go back community when I need an expert for one of my cases. And so it's the foundation of my business, it's the operations of my business, and in many ways, it's how I provide my services. And I was lucky enough to really get myself pretty well positioned in a large group of business owners, local business owners in the area from the start. And so they have really helped me build a foundation of where I am today.
Kristy Cook (10:40)
Yeah, and I'm wondering too if it's also helpful for those moments where, you know, you're stuck on something, you're overwhelmed by whatever the stressor is of the moment. Sometimes it's hard to push through those moments and kind of focus and come up with a solution that might help. I'm wondering too if that community has really been helpful to you get through any struggles that you might be encountering as well.
Aleks Anderson (11:10)
Certainly. community also involves other lawyers. So a something that was, one of the scariest things when I went out on my own was previously to having gone out on my own. I always had coworkers to run my ideas by to work on projects together. And so I didn't have to trust myself fully on my legal analysis. There was a group of other well-qualified professionals that I worked with. when I went out on my own, there was many things that caused me anxiety and fear, but not kind of having somebody to double-check my work or to run a gut check by, that was something that was a big concern. And so I made a lot of connections with other attorneys that were able to kind of stand in that place where I, you know, something comes up and I have a good idea of, of how to resolve it, of what the answer is. But I just need, need to reassure myself. And there's usually somebody I can call up and get that feedback.
So that's how I transitioned kind of from working in a group to being on my own for quite some time. And of course right now the firm has grown and we hire a number of people and so we can internally do this. But when you first start out, I was the attorney, the paralegal, the assistant and the receptionist and the intake person. And so really needed some outside support. And also I think, you know, it was great to be around other just business owners, not just attorneys, because that entrepreneur's process, especially in the very beginning is a really tough one. And so it's nice to have somebody to listen to you and to understand that you're not the only one dealing with these problems and you're not the only one having a hard time picking the right software, and you're not the only one having a hard time figuring out the best payment terms for your clients. And it really, ultimately, you know, we're not alone and we need to use those resources.
Kristy Cook (13:39)
So it sounds like you really found your voice in all of this. You know, you're still an introvert. You're always going to be an introvert, but you really found your voice in a way that works for you, but still gets you out there to help build your community and build your client base. then also have people to bounce ideas off of and problem solve with and just vent to.
Aleks Anderson (14:03)
Absolutely.
Kristy Cook (14:05)
Yeah, it's so important for business survival as a founder to have those outlets, even as you've grown your business.
Aleks Anderson (14:11)
Definitely. And Kristy, I think it's important to keep in mind that in your community, it is a two-way street in that sometimes I'm the one venting and I'm the one who needs the support, but you also need to keep in mind that you have to give back. And so you have to be somebody else's shoulder to cry on, because that's how a community forms its bonds.
Kristy Cook (14:23)
Yes.
Aleks Anderson (14:38)
And so I try to keep that in mind that, you know, I've gotten myself to a certain place. And when I do come across somebody who's maybe not been in business for as long or has some struggles that I've overcome, I certainly try to give back to them as a pay it forward sort of tactic.
Kristy Cook (14:57)
Yes, yes, so important that's with the support, that's with referrals, you're just building trusted people around you. pays dividends, not only in your business, but just personally. It's so helpful to have people to support you and then how empowering to know that you're now in a position where you can support others.
Aleks Anderson (15:11)
Absolutely.
Yeah, and you know, I enjoy it.
Kristy Cook (15:23)
Yeah, yeah. Well, you had mentioned that becoming a mother was one of those initial sparks that pushed you towards being willing to take the leap into starting your own law firm. I'm just wondering, you for all the other moms out there that are listening, how has motherhood shaped your definition of success when it comes to running your business?
Aleks Anderson (15:47)
That's an excellent question. And I have to say, I think my definition of success is ever shifting. but I think that right now I stand in a position where to me success means I feel safe and I feel supported and stable. And those are three simple words, but there's so much more to each of them.
You know, so many people take success to mean making a lot of money. And the truth of the matter is, yes, that's part of it. You you need to make enough money to feel stable in where you are. But that's not it. You know, you need to have the time that you can devote to your children. Pick them up from school, go to their events at the school, make sure that you have enough time to that free time together and make sure that they have enough time to talk to you. But also I think that I used to think of success not only monetarily but in a way where you know, my name was known in the state say, right? Or somehow being famous in my own realm. And that's not necessarily what I see as success right now. I think that I see success as simply being comfortable with being myself. And I don't necessarily need all that much notoriety or recognition, but it's stability and knowing that I can devote time to my business, that I can devote time to my children. And a big part of that has been a very supportive spouse who makes sure that we split up our responsibilities as equally as possible. That if I do have something important going on at work, that he takes the time to step in and vice versa. And so we kind of, we have a joint calendar hanging on the refrigerator. And if there's anything that will require some changes to our daily routine, we make sure to put that down there and make sure that if one has something, the other one does not, so everything is covered at the house.
Kristy Cook (18:09)
So it really helps with all the juggling because you have two little ones.
Aleks Anderson (18:13)
Yes, I have a six-year-old and an almost two-year-old.
Kristy Cook (18:18)
So shared calendar and supportive spouse, and then what other tips can you share about other ways that you can help keep what's truly your definition of success in mind and set up those boundaries around that for yourself while you're running the business?
Aleks Anderson (18:37)
So I think in my particular case, it took a while to get to this point, but really being able to hire my staff and to outsource certain items to professionals has gone a long way because, like I said, initially you wear all the hats and that's not sustainable. And if you choose to grow, those hats become bigger, and they become too heavy. And so I had to learn to delegate and figure out, you know, what makes sense to outsource to a vendor? What can I trust my team with? And being okay to give my obligations to somebody else and trust that they will get it right. And so when I hired my first associate, he was turning stuff in and I was redoing it all and spending probably three times as much time as I would have writing it in the first place. And after seven months, it was like, we're going nowhere. What's going on? And so I really had to learn that, know, A, I have to require some independence of my And also, I need to make sure that I'm trusting them to do what I hired them for. So really, so much of my success has been the ability to delegate and trust that process.
Kristy Cook (20:07)
And that's really hard because our business is our baby. And then you add in this sort of second layer of fiduciary duty as an attorney to your clients, plus reputational harm. And we're trained as lawyers to always think of worst possible outcomes. So our brains are constantly working that way. did you finally summon up the courage to truly delegate? Was it because you burned yourself out doing all that extra work or what allowed you to finally let go a little.
Aleks Anderson (20:39)
I think I finally came to the conclusion of what did I hire this person for? That was one thing. And there was an important lesson that I learned early on. And this was actually before I hired the first associate. I hired an assistant who I worked with previously at my previous law firm. And she had retired.
She was working retail. She said she never wanted to go back to doing law again. And I called her up one day saying, hey, I need some help right now. Would you be willing to work for me part time? And we did get started pretty soon thereafter. When she came on, I knew how she worked and we kind of agreed on how we were going to be doing things.
So I realized that I could bill three times as much with her on board than without her. And one of my fears when I brought her on was that I was not going to be able to afford her.
That it's going to suck up all my resources and she was a very valuable employee because she was very knowledgeable. So I wanted to make sure that she was compensated properly. And I told her, you know, don't quit your retail job because I don't know if this is going to last. I don't know if I can afford you.
And so soon thereafter, I realized that actually I made more money with her because I was free to now do the billable client work as opposed to stand by the printer and make copies of things that were going out. I didn't have to do all the admin work. I didn't have to do all the paralegal work. And so that freed me up.
And we really made a lot more profit in that first quarter that she was hired than we did in the first three quarters that we previously had been in existence. And so that was a really good lesson for me to learn. It's the kind of thing that you always read about and it's hard to trust. And so I think I was very lucky that it was so, it became so obvious to me early on.
So at that point, once I hired her and I was doing all the legal work, she was doing the assistant's work. It came time to hire an associate and other attorney. And so now I would have to hand off some of the work that I was the only one doing. So that's where that became difficult. And like I said, you know, I was, redoing his work as opposed to teaching him how to do it. And through some research and going back to my community and talking to my community as to how did you all on board your first employees, you know, I kind of came to the conclusion of I have to put more on him. I have to let him do his job. And if he didn't correctly, he would either have to redo it multiple times or he would have to watch me do it correctly.
And I think that was a great way for both me and him. He learned very quickly how to do things the way I wanted them to be done. As soon as I kind of made that decision, he progressed. And I was able to more comfortably let go of doing everything on the legal side. So that was much harder for me than when I brought on the assistant because I had never really had that before where I brought on another attorney to take over part of my work. And I didn't know how to treat an attorney, but I think through trial and error again, we kind of made a work.
Kristy Cook (24:33)
I know just from our conversations, one thing that you're just so wonderful at is open communication with your staff so that you're making it clear. You're the first associate I've had. We're going to learn this together. And it really does sound like, in fact, you were learning together. He was he was learning these new legal skills since I believe he was a newer associate. And you were learning how to supervise and let go, which is a life lesson and an entrepreneurial lesson that I'm sure is continuing to reap dividends.
Aleks Anderson (25:04)
Very much so.
Yeah, you know, that's not to say that he was not a good attorney. He was fresh out of school. And so we went into this with the understanding that he will need some training and that I will need to learn how to train somebody like that. So this was not a reflection on him by any sense of the imagination.
Kristy Cook (25:29)
And so it also goes to show too that when we're bringing on our first employees that, you know, we may have to make some concessions too. You weren't at a place where you could hire a 10-year attorney, but you were willing to bring on someone brand new to the profession and educate them. And in turn, you know, that helps loyalty as well.
But there is always some sort of trade off when you're bringing in someone who has a decade of experience. You also may be bringing on, you know, skills and habits that you don't necessarily love. And there's some course correction there as well. Yeah, yeah. But but really, you know, looking at the budget and then looking at what your goals are and making it work. I know that we get advice all over the place when we're considering the scary step of hiring our first employees, where it's like, you you can't hire anyone until you have three months of salary on board ready for them, which is great. But also to get to those numbers, sometimes you would have to be working 20 hour days to make that happen. And so it's just a lot of balancing. And what I'm hearing from your story is that there's a little, a decent level of risk taking from starting the business all the way now to the growth that you've had in bringing on new attorneys and learning as you've gone since you never supervised before.
Aleks Anderson (26:48)
Absolutely.
Yes, it really has been a journey of many leaps of faith. You know, I started, like I said, I almost set myself up for failure with this goal to start the law firm in that my bar for the requirements I had to start the law firm was pretty high. And so when my first child was born, I very quickly came to the realization that I can't be on somebody else's clock because I can't fulfill their requirements for my presence in the office. You know, sometimes I will have to make up my work at 9 p.m. and that's not something that could have been done at the office that I was working at. But I will need to take 12 till 2 that was not something I could do. So...
I basically was kind of left in a place where I had no choice and I felt like I had to make that leap of faith. And it was quite scary because my requirements I had set for myself, really the only one I had accomplished was that I was a very good attorney. I knew how to do my job very well. And other than that, I had no money. I didn't know how to run a business. I had no network really, and I had to build all that up. And I think that I really was shaking in my own shoes going into this and just had to trust it. Cause it felt like I had no option at the time.
Kristy Cook (28:21)
Yeah, you had faith in yourself. You're scared, but that doesn't mean you don't also have faith in yourself that you can figure it out. ⁓
Aleks Anderson (28:28)
Absolutely.
Kristy Cook (28:30)
Well, I also want to talk about this super fascinating background that you have. You emigrated here as a young child from Poland, and then you also majored in neuroscience and focused some of your studies, I believe, on the mind and decision making. And I'm so curious how that background has shaped you as a attorney and then also as a business owner.
Aleks Anderson (28:59)
Yeah, so I left Poland when I was about five years old and my family went to Sweden and then over the next the course of the next two years we slowly tried to transition to the United States and at that time I did not speak English. I only spoke Polish and so I went into my first grade classroom and did not understand a word of what was going on. And really all I could think of is I want to run away from here. I don't want to be here. I don't know how to interact with these people. The teacher wasn't necessarily all that understanding of my situation. She thought I was misbehaving when I just did not understand the instructions that were being given.
And it was a very stressful time looking back on it. I think as a child, I didn't know how to name it. I thought that I just hated school, but really it was a very stressful time. Luckily I came into that class about two months before school ending for the summer and made neighborhood friends, and really spent most of that first summer playing outside with other kids and picked up English very quickly. So when it was time to start the second grade, I was very good at communicating at that point. And that was something that honestly, I looked back on a lot in the first few years of running this business.
And still now and that look, this is what you got through as a child. You can do what you set your mind to. And I, you know, I want to be careful with that mentality a little bit in that you don't want to give up everything, you know, you don't want to give up your health and your sanity for the sake of meeting a goal, but it is reassuring to look back on a success you had and
Kristy Cook (30:50)
Excellent point.
Aleks Anderson (30:59)
say, you know, I can do this. And in my case, I had to look back several decades for this experience to say, hey, this is who I am. I can do difficult things.
Kristy Cook (31:13)
Yeah, yeah, there's this through line throughout your life where you have taken on challenges and risks and have succeeded. You may have had a few setbacks along the way, but you kept going. You have this true growth mindset. What I'm hearing is that that has really served you well in the challenge that is entrepreneurship.
Aleks Anderson (31:34)
Absolutely.
Kristy Cook (31:35)
And you also have this unique perspective. I didn't think we touched on it, but I haven't quite said you are a business litigator, which I just, I just love because I know you to be an introvert. But, you know, take you to the courtroom and away you go. It's so fantastic. And so it would behoove me while I have you on this podcast. You know, you've seen
Aleks Anderson (31:43)
Correct, yeah.
Kristy Cook (31:59)
very interesting challenges emerge with your business clients, with the various legal work that you do, and certainly not to divulge any confidential information, but what can you recommend as a way for people starting their businesses to really protect themselves if problems were to arise? Because we may not be able to avoid litigation. People can sue, you know, it's just the nature of America. But how do we protect ourselves as business owners when we're starting and growing our business?
Aleks Anderson (32:33)
Absolutely. So I think really the best thing that you can do from a business risk management standpoint. So that's not necessarily risk management with respect to the industry that you're in, but risk management with respect to your business partners and the operations of your business. And that's go into it with an operating agreement, with your trademarks, with the documentation that you need to have an agreement between yourself, your partners, and the rest of the world as to how this business will function. Very rarely do we see clients who are in deep legal trouble who have a well-written client contract, who have a well-written operating agreement, who have their registrations well set up.
Who have strong subcontracts because those good contracts provide kind of the rules of the road. They tell you what happens when an issue arises. And so it becomes easier to get all that resolved. Oftentimes the clients that end up having to litigate are because the issue is not resolved according to the that the contract does not provide guidance and what happens in this situation. And now we have to piecemeal certain elements of the contract to see if that can apply to this situation. We have to look to the law. We have to get very creative. And so a lot of business owners, you know, they focus on business development, on their on their finances and all that is very, very important. But your legal foundation can't skip that part. I think that until you see a situation transpire where you don't have a strong client contract and your client or customer is upset with you, you won't understand the value of having that. And so all too often business owners say, well, I'll just save that money for later. Once I'm bigger, you know, that'll be the time to get all that done. I don't need it right now. And you do because you don't know what you're up against.
Kristy Cook (35:02)
Yeah, and so often, yes, there's sticker shock often on legal fees, any professional fees when you start hiring that out or looking to hire that out for your business. But I think we've both seen in our experience that when you don't take those steps to shore up your business through these various ways to protect yourself, contracts, insurance, registrations, et cetera, and fallout occurs on the back end it is so much more expensive to try and fix what you should have done from the beginning. And then, the other thing too is that when you have those documents in place and those protections in place and they're done by experts that have helped you, then when you do take risks, like some of the ones we've talked about in today's episode, you can have a little bit more relief, like, hey, I know I'm protected.
Aleks Anderson (35:52)
Absolutely.
Kristy Cook (35:54)
So I can be a little bit riskier because I've done the work to shore up my business and now I can take these plunges into something that I'm a little nervous about.
Aleks Anderson (36:04)
Yes, definitely.
Kristy Cook (36:06)
So speaking of your legal practice, please tell us a little bit about Anderson Legal and if there's anything you'd like to promote today.
Aleks Anderson (36:15)
Sure, so we are a North Carolina law firm. We practice exclusively in North Carolina and we really mostly are a litigation law firm. We mostly handle disputes, our most frequent clients are local small businesses, and then homeowners who need some help with construction defects. So right now we are four attorneys and assistants, and we keep on growing that number.
Kristy Cook (36:47)
Which is amazing. Looking back when you started your firm and you and I kind of started our firm around the same time. I've obviously since walked away from practicing to pursue business coaching. But when you think back to when you first started your business to where you are now, I assume you planned to grow your law firm over time. But what is your big takeaway for the the trajectory from that day one until now when you think back on it.
Aleks Anderson (37:16)
I think that the big takeaway is to take things in small steps, in small Look at what is the shortest route to improving where you are right now. So, you know, what's kind of your biggest concern right now. And figure out how you can improve that situation. Maybe you can't resolve it all the way, but perhaps you can improve that situation. And so I always have long-term goals, but on a day-to-day, on a week-to-week, I really try to focus on those smaller bite-size goals. And that has been a very effective way of getting to the next milestone in my revenue, really focusing on the means to achieving my goal.
Kristy Cook (38:08)
And it sounds like a great way focusing on the small bite-sized pieces to also not overwhelm yourself with the entire vision of what you're hoping to become. so for those those business owners that are just starting out or maybe, you know, I tend to work with people who are one to five years into their business are at some inflection point, they're feeling overwhelmed, they're looking to bring their
Aleks Anderson (38:16)
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Kristy Cook (38:35)
their first staff on, they're looking to add a product or service, whatever it might be, but they're just feeling stuck and overwhelmed by it. I know that you've been in that same place as well. Any other tips to share on combating that inflection point that is maybe bringing on some overwhelm?
Aleks Anderson (38:42)
Mm-hmm.
I think that this is happening to me less and less, but certainly in at least the first three years, I would have these days where it just felt like, you I have so many things I need to improve in my business right now. And how do I handle all this? And it really helps to write it down. Just write, just sit down and write it all down.
And then once you've written it all out, number it, you know, what's the number one thing that will make the biggest difference for your business right now, or what's the number one thing that getting it resolved will be your biggest relief and sort of getting that out on paper and taking it out of your brain, makes it seem more manageable because if you have it all in your mind, it's bigger than it really is because you're not necessarily understanding all that you have to do. So writing it down, you know, taking those small steps like we talked about to getting that solution. And honestly, I think one of the best decisions I made was getting a business coach. It felt like a major expense, like a huge expense. It felt like it was superfluous at first. Like it was the, you know, the cool thing to do, but do I really need to do this? And it paid off in so many ways. I really think that getting a business coach- and I'm not just saying this because I'm doing a podcast with a business coach- but it has been one of my best decisions when it comes to running my business because they see this many times a day, the same thing that you're dealing with. And they have the experience and the know-how of how to resolve this. They've done it before with other people.
And they can also provide you feedback of how big of a deal is this? You know, And a lot of times as an entrepreneur, you feel kind of lonely, right? And I think that a business coach is a very reliable source to kind of help you along.
Kristy Cook (41:12)
Yeah, yeah, it's so true. So writing it down, getting it out of your head so it stops circulating, small bite-sized pieces out of the puzzle instead of focusing on the whole big picture, and then having a business coach as a sounding board to help you think through all of it, help you stay focused, be honest without judgment, helping you grow your business.
Such wonderful takeaways. Thank you so much for sharing that. I have absolutely loved this conversation with you today. And I hope it reminded our listeners that the path to burnout-proof success doesn't have to look like anyone else's. Whether you're navigating motherhood, entrepreneurship, or the weight of other people's expectations, Alex's story is proof that clarity, courage, and community make all the difference.
Her reminder to build your community, build your own tribe is one that we can all carry forward. And if you're ready to pivot your business out of overwhelm and into a version of success that fuels your ambition and your wellbeing, I would love to support you. Visit pivotista.com, which you can find in the show notes along with Alex's information as well to connect with either of us.
And if you connect with me, we can explore how the two of us can build your burnout-proof success together. Until next time, remember, your choice to pivot your business out of overwhelm isn't a sign of defeat. It's a power move.
