The Wellness Esquire Podcast: Happy, Healthy, Successful Lawyers

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 crash ended her firm job and a premature baby 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 (apparently) I run (or crawl) toward the...

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 VII.

I have my own (much less dramatic...

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 self-worth we build on other...

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 once you make it. It's how you get to be succ...

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 carrying a lifelong anxiety she had ...

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, Columbia, and Duke on communicating with...

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 hustle, and how The Newfangled Lawyer became less...

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 college, to five years of public service, to coaching h...

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 success her clients had bee...

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 optional, even when it landed w...

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 showing up authentically has transform...

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 a new legal practice. Randy sh...

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 consultant, educator, mindfulness advocate, and a lau...

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 hierarchical Texas law firm, to building ...

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 transitioned from hourly billing to value-based flat fees, the imp...

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 firm grounded in human-centric processes, learning ...

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 realization sparked a journey of intense self-reflection...

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 'betting on yourself,' and how he...