Kelly Shapiro is an attorney and advisor. She founded The Law Offices of Kelly D. Shapiro, a solo-practitioner law firm in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia. Thanks to Franke Santos and Megan Sette for the recommendation!
In this episode, we discuss…
- How growing up Black + Jewish in Hermosa Beach, which is not very diverse.
- Why she went blond/platinum and how people respond to her.
- Why she chose to begin her law career in Philadelphia instead of New York city.
- How to approach networking, including where to make new connections and how to follow-up.
- The importance of therapy.
Find Kelly online
Career advice to her younger self
Reach out more and ask for help and don't be afraid of looking stupid.
Never let fear hold you back on anything.
Mentioned in the Episode
- Bronx Tale (movie): mentioned the very “Bronx-Tale-y” way her parents met.
- Thurgood Marshall: Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice (first African-American to hold the position), Judge, Civil Rights Activist, and Kelly's initial inspiration to becoming a lawyer.
- Harvard Law School
- Civil Rights | Human Rights Law
- University of Southern California (USC)
- Amanda Guzmán: Kelly referenced her episode twice during our conversation.
- Apps or services Kelly can't live without…
- Kelly's book recommendations…
- The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz*
- You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero*
- The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle*
- Anything by Malcolm Gladwell (Yolanda recommends Outliers*)
- The Naked Mind by Annie Grace*. She learned about the book through Arlan Hamilton, who was listed as one of Miki Reynold‘s Possibility Model in her episode
- Regroup: The How-To of Never Giving Up by Jaunique Sealey*
- Jamaicans for Justice | Rights of the Child – Kelly was a Human Rights Fellow there during the summer between her first and second year of law school.
- Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (percussionist in The Roots, currently the house band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon)
- DJ Jazzy Jeff
- Fun Instagram post of Kelly, BB (before blond) and AB (after blond)
- Thesis Couture (startup she advises; creator of the world's first comfortable stiletto) | Dolly Singh (Founder and CEO)
- Meetup: great place to find groups and meet new people/network
- Black and Brown Founders: Kelly attended their Black and Brown Founders Project in 2017 in Philadelphia.
- Kelly's Possibility Models
- Deesha Dyer: took an internship at age 31 and served as the White House Social Secretary for U.S. President Barack Obama.
- Bozoma Saint John: now the Chief Branding Officer at Uber. Bozoma is herself no matter the setting. Two of Yolanda's favorite 2017 interviews with Bozoma include Monocycle & School of Greatness.
- Michelle Obama
- Jaunique Sealey
- Cyndi Whitehead: Forbes article – “How The Creator Of The “Female Viagra” Sold Her Business For $1 Billion, Then Got It Back For Free.” Cyndi is also the founder of The Pinkubator.
- Maxine Waters: watch her “Reclaim [her] Time“
*An asterisk means the item is an affiliate link. Click here to learn what that means.
Music Credit: Lipp Gloss by Podington Bear