Hi, Brooke! Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business:
Hi, I'm Brooke, I'm a New York business and tech attorney who started my law firm, Achua Law, to help entrepreneurs, founders, creatives, and early-stage companies launch and grow their ideas. I specialize in a variety of business needs including business formation, contracts, trademarks, data privacy, and more. After working in large law firms for 6+ years catering to large, bureaucratic, and impersonal F500 companies, I found myself uninspired. I wanted to fill a gap in the market for transparent, accessible, affordable, and practical legal help for young companies and hustlers.
What excites you about being an Entreprenista League member?
As cheesy as it sounds, the sisterhood. So rarely do I find myself talking business with other women. We see men talking business with other men, and women talking business with men. But never women speaking to each other. I’m inspired by the promise of the collective wisdom of women and the inherent collaboration that happens when we lean on each other.
We're so happy you've found your inspiration! Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?
No, though I had some inkling it may suit me because I’ve always felt I didn’t fit into the corporate mold (especially of large law firms that tend to discourage overly innovative or unconventional thinking). Becoming an entrepreneur was not something I carefully planned; I just did it one step at a time and thankfully clients were on board with my vision.
Take us back to when you first launched your business, what was your marketing strategy to get the word out and did it go as planned?
I didn’t announce anything or market. To this day, I’ve never officially announced the launch of my law firm. I had friends in my DMs asking about an Instagram page for my firm that I had made only to reserve the name. I think I was scared that if I failed, it’d be all the more noticeable if I made an official launch. I’ve always joked that I will announce after a year if I’m still in business, eventually, over time. I’ve become more comfortable putting informational advertising material on my firm social media pages, but beyond that, I haven’t done a strategic marketing campaign and all of my clients come from word of mouth and personal connections. At this point, I’m finally ready (and very much in need of) to officially announce and advertise.
What is the biggest challenge you have encountered along the way and what did you learn from it?
Entrepreneurship has high highs and low lows. The imposter syndrome hits harder when you’re an entrepreneur, but during those rare moments when you feel like you know what you’re doing like you saw the vision all along and stuck with it, those moments are incredibly gratifying. For me, the challenge has been trying to find stability in those mixed emotions.
What is the accomplishment you are the most proud of to date?
I helped a client secure just shy of $1M in their seed round fundraising efforts and made sure they didn’t get screwed out of their ownership interests in the process.
Do you believe in work/life balance? What are some of your best tips?
It exists way less when you’re an entrepreneur versus when you’re an employee. My only saving grace is my yoga practice, which keeps me sane and normal and gives me gratitude, and reminds me we’re all just humans and most of the stuff we worry about isn’t real.
Gratitude is such an important practice. What's a piece of advice you can share that you wish you'd known when you first started your Entreprenista journey?
Put your pride aside and ask for help, ask for mentorship, and lean on others. I’m a very solitary person and used to doing things myself (hello oldest daughter syndrome!), but I’m realizing now how much beauty I miss out on by being too afraid to be vulnerable and open up about my challenges. That adage, “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,” has never rang truer.
What have you achieved recently that you'd like to celebrate with our community?
One year in business, baby! 🎉
Congrats, Brooke! What's next for your business? What can we expect to see over the next few years?
I plan to bring on my first hire. I’d love to double my revenue from last year and continue growing my client list. Another big goal for me, personally, is to begin doing speaking engagements.
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