The Wellness Esquire Podcast

Perfectionism isn't something lawyers need to recover from. It's something we need to get better at. 🤣 In this solo episode, I get honest about my own perfectionism: the decades I spent beating myself up for tiny mistakes, the podcast (this one) that I kept not launching, and why calling myself a "recovering perfectionist" quietly dulled my sparkle. I spent most of my life as...

You don't hate being a lawyer. You hate the way you're doing it. Erin Gerner spent years believing she had to choose between being a lawyer and being herself, and this conversation is about everything she found on the other side of that lie. Erin excelled at the path everyone told her to want. Top of her class, then big law, then physically sick before work every morning. When the 2008 c...

OK, that was a bit nerve-wracking, but it went way better than I expected! I already have a page of notes for myself for next time, and I'm super excited to do more of these solo episodes. Partly because I have so many ideas about how to bring tons of value to our community, and partly because this is the next thing to do that scares me a little. I used to run from things that scared me, now...

Law clerk harassment is one of the legal profession's best-kept secrets, and Aliza Shatzman lived it. A federal judge harassed her, fired her, and then torpedoed her dream job as a homicide prosecutor with a single negative reference she was never allowed to see. Then she found out she couldn't sue him, because 30,000 people who work for the federal courts have no protection under Title...

You can look like you have it all together, everything tied up in a beautiful little bow, and still feel like a fraud on the inside. David Sazant, a former litigator turned therapist for lawyers, says that gap is one of the most common things his clients are too ashamed to say out loud. We talk about why so much lawyer anxiety, imposter syndrome, even anger is really about self-worth, and why the...

You do not have to choose between being a successful lawyer and a happy one, and you do not have to wait for some future season to be both. Unraveling that false narrative is what Jennifer Gillman does with her clients. She's a lawyer turned recruiter for rainmakers, and she says the craziest thing: taking care of yourself and aligning your work with your values isn't the reward you get...

On this episode of The Wellness Esquire Podcast , host Ariella Cohen Coleman sits down with Emily Long, a former prosecutor turned solo firm founder who knew she was going to be a lawyer at nine years old. Emily got the exact career she pictured: law school at 20, practicing by 23, in court every single day as a prosecutor. What she did not expect was how heavy it would feel, or that she had been...

In this episode, I sit down with executive communication coach and keynote speaker Deborah Grayson Riegel. Lawyers are trained to never make a mistake, which is a brutal setup for a human being. For her book Aim High and Bounce Back, Deb and co-author Fiona Macaulay surveyed 1,100 women across 60 countries to understand why failure lands differently for women. Deb coaches leaders at Wharton, Colum...

Patrick Patino spent over a decade building a bankruptcy practice that looked, from the outside, like a success story. From the inside, it was panic attacks, ER visits, and a driver's license photo he didn't recognize. In this episode, Patrick traces the path from a poetry degree to bankruptcy law, the health crisis that forced him to rebuild his practice around boundaries instead of hus...

Before he was a Bronx Special Victims prosecutor, an IDF combat veteran, or in-house counsel, or a coach to high performers, Jonathan Z. Cohen was a kid who couldn't get through a single page of a book. In this episode, Ariella Cohen Coleman sits down with Jonathan to trace the entire arc - from a childhood "learning disability" label, to the chance encounter that got him into colle...

On this episode of The Wellness Esquire Podcast , Ariella Cohen Coleman sits down with Melanie Lippman — a New York–based style consultant and certified neurocoach who helps high-performing women, especially attorneys, use clothing as a tool for confidence, authority, and connection. For Melanie, clothes are never just clothes: done right, they become a portal to the visibility, authority, and suc...

Jonathan Cullen spent 18 years as General Counsel at Pfizer Canada before walking away to build a full-time coaching and consulting practice for lawyers and law firms. In this episode, he sits down with Ariella Coleman to unpack what it actually takes to lead — and stay yourself — inside a profession built on formality. Jonathan shares the early-career moment he decided authenticity wasn't op...

What happens when a perfectionist lawyer embraces imperfection? In this episode of The Wellness Esquire Podcast, Ariella sits down with legal innovator Colin Levy for an honest conversation about mental health, perfectionism, authenticity, and the evolving role of AI in the legal profession. Colin shares his personal journey with anxiety and depression, the importance of asking for help, and how s...

On this episode of The Wellness Esquire Podcast , Ariella Cohen Coleman chats with Randy Kramer, an international attorney based in Quebec who pivoted from a 20-year career in personal injury litigation to international trade and maritime law. They discuss the navigating his wife’s Stage IV colon cancer diagnosis while simultaneously managing clinical depression and anticipatory grief and building...

What happens when the career you've spent decades building doesn't align with who you are? In this episode of the Wellness Esquire Podcast, Ariella Cohen Coleman sits down with Kara McCarthy Perry, a former Big Law and in-house attorney who transformed her career and life after realizing that success on paper wasn't enough. Kara shares her journey from corporate law to becoming a co...

What does it take to walk away from a multi-million dollar law practice - and build something even better? In this episode, Ariella Coleman sits down with Heather Moulder, a former finance attorney turned lawyer wellbeing coach, to talk about the pivotal moments that forced Heather to reimagine her career, her identity, and her life. Heather shares her journey from a miserable associate at a hiera...

On this episode of The Wellness Esquire Podcast , Ariella Cohen Coleman chats with Bradley Miller, a solo practitioner and M&A attorney who has built a practice focused on freedom and value over the billable hour. They explored Bradley's journey from being a "reluctant solo" fresh out of law school to becoming an intentional "freedompreneur." Bradley shares how he tran...

On this episode of The Wellness Esquire Podcast , Ariella Cohen Coleman chats with Gwen Griggs and Whitney Harper, founders of Advos Legal, for their second appearance on the pod! They explore the wild idea of 'working the way you vacation' by ditching the legal industry's obsession with the misery competition and the billable hour. Gwen and Whitney share their journey of building a...

On this episode of The Wellness Esquire Podcast , Ariella Cohen Coleman chats with Matthew Campobasso, a seasoned litigator and legal executive who reached the pinnacle of his career only to find it felt surprisingly empty. Matt shares what it was like to reach an incredible level or success and receiving all the recognition he could want, and yet wondering, "Is this it?" This realizatio...

On this episode of The Wellness Esquire Podcast , Ariella Cohen Coleman chats with Shaun Bernstein, a former attorney turned professional ghostwriter and founder of The Write Stuff Agency. They explore Shaun’s intense journey through a mental health crisis that ultimately led him to walk away from a legal career. Shaun shares the physical and emotional warning signs he experienced, the power of &a...

On this episode of The Wellness Esquire Podcast , Ariella Cohen Coleman chats with Megan Senese, co-founder of Stage and a legal marketing and business development strategist. They explore the transition from the "robotic" expectations of BigLaw to building a business rooted in authenticity and kindness. Megan shares her strategy for sending 250 connection requests a week to build her pl...

On this episode of The Wellness Esquire Podcast , Ariella Cohen Coleman chats with Gary Miles, a veteran trial attorney turned wellness coach for lawyers. Ariella and Gary dive into Gary's journey through 41 years of legal practice, including more than a decade as a high-functioning alcoholic. They explore why the very traits that make lawyers successful in court - like being "invincible...

On this episode of The Wellness Esquire Podcast , Ariella Cohen Coleman chats with Samah Abukhodeir, the founder and managing partner of The Florida Probate & Family Law Firm. They dive into how Samah built a 50-person firm centered around culture, where employee well-being and clear client boundaries are the foundation for success. Samah shares her journey from being a "food stamp baby&q...

On this episode of The Wellness Esquire Podcast , Ariella Cohen Coleman chats with Mathew Kerbis, the founder of Subscription Attorney LLC and co-founder of Practi. They explored the  shift from the billable hour to the subscription model in the legal profession, and Mathew shared his journey from insurance defense burnout to building a sustainable, tech-forward practice that prioritizes time cont...

I chatted with Lacey Gutierrez, co-founder of a modern law firm, to explore the intersection of adventurous living and effective lawyering. We discussed her journey from a fourth-generation legal legacy to finding her own voice in privacy law and fractional GC work.  Lacey opens up about the "confidence positive feedback loop" she discovered through solo travel and how a dedicated Vedic...