Communicate Clearly and Confidently with Laurie Gilbertson, Founder/CEO of Tribeca Blue Consulting
About this episode:
Owner of Tribeca Blue Consulting, Laurie Gilbertson, joins us on the She Built It™ Experience today. Laurie is a former New York City sex crimes, organized crime, and homicide prosecutor, television legal analyst, educator, and entrepreneur. She shares her thoughts on why communication is a crucial leadership tool, and how elevating your communication can lead to taking advantage of every opportunity that's out there.
Topics Discussed:
Laurie's tips for how to build a career and business that you crave
Why communication is a crucial and often overlooked leadership tool
How she transitioned from being a trial lawyer and started embracing a new version of herself
What she learned from being a prosecutor and why empathetic people make great lawyers
Her knowledge and thoughts on the criminal justice system
Laurie's thoughts on being a digital minimalist and how social media affects us
About Laurie:
Laurie Gilbertson is a former New York City sex crimes, organized crime, and homicide prosecutor, television legal analyst, educator, and entrepreneur. As the owner of Tribeca Blue Consulting, she helps professionals communicate with clarity, confidence, and creativity in their public speaking, presentations, trial work, and media appearances.
In 2019, she became a member of the Board of Directors and helped launch the Legal Entrepreneurs for Justice, an incubator program for attorneys starting solo firms to help provide access to justice to Coloradans. She currently serves as LEJ’s Executive Director.
Resources:
Click here to read a raw, unedited transcript of this episode:
Melanie Barr [00:03:26] Thank you so much for joining us today, Laurie. Please share with us more about who you are. [00:03:33][6.7]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:03:34] Melanie, thank you so much for having me. I am a former sex crimes, homicide and a criminal prosecutor turned television legal analyst turned legal educator turned entrepreneur. I currently and the founder and owner of Tribeca Blue Consulting, named for my favorite neighborhood. When I used to live in New York City and I hope executives, entrepreneurs and trial lawyers communicate clearly and confidently whether they're in the courtroom, in the boardroom or on television. [00:04:13][38.7]
Melanie Barr [00:04:14] you have such an interesting background. She built It empowers you to experience the life and business that you crave, and the question I am often asked is how. Understanding that growing a career in business is a marathon, not a sprint. Give us some tips for how you've built a career and business that you crave and how you've been able to do that. [00:04:34][19.1]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:04:35] Wow. So we're starting with the super easy questions, right? [00:04:38][3.4]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:04:41] You know, I came to entrepreneurship, I think, with a really winding pass. I always thought that I was going to be a career prosecutor. It was my dream job. I wanted to be from my very first day in criminal law class in law school, a criminal prosecutor in New York City. That was my dream job. I got the job after many, many interviews and I did it for ten years. I loved it. I walked on air. I thought this was it. But after those 10 years, I really was burnt out, just burnt out from kind of seeing people at their worst, seeing the terrible things that people do to each other and realizing that I was just such a small part of trying to make their lives better. And I needed a change. And so I wound. Through some different career paths, both in legal education and both in doing some television legal analyst work and eventually when we kind of had a surprise move, my family and I to Denver a few years ago and that launched me on this path to entrepreneurship. It came out of a frustration of not being able to find kind of that perfect job, that dream job that would have the skills. I wanted to use, the experience that I had and also the flexibility that I really needed for my family. I thought, Well, if I can't find it, I'm going to create it for myself. And that's where it started. [00:06:17][95.6]
Melanie Barr [00:06:18] It's so interesting that you knew from the very beginning that you wanted to be a prosecutor. I mean, not everyone knows that. And then I love how you gave yourself permission to make a leap into something new because we don't always do that. Sometimes we think, Oh, I've worked so hard to get here. I have to stay here. But it's great that you gave yourself permission to do something different and to dream a little bit to find what it is that's right for you. [00:06:42][23.8]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:06:43] Yeah. And you know, I think that permission did not come easily, being trained as a lawyer, it's a fairly linear training, you really tutted, think in a certain way. And as a trial lawyer, although it's super creative in so many ways, it can also be somewhat compartmentalized. And there are, it's hard to think of things that are more different than being a lawyer and being an entrepreneur in the ways that you think. So in terms of giving myself permission to start doing that, it was really somewhat organic. I really just kind of decided. I'm just going to try this, I'm just going to get in there, I'm just going to try it. I didn't have a full plan. I knew exactly, though, what skills I had. I knew what I wanted to use. And then it was just a matter of, like you said, giving myself permission to start to craft a way that it would really work for me. And that was, you know, that was kind of the fun part. You know, that was really the fun part in the beginning of starting to think, like, what am I going to call this company and what are my offerings going to be? And then who am I going to talk to and how am I going to do this? And you asked about the how in the hell for me in jumping in was I started with a course called Coast Starters, which is all over the country. And it's for people who want to be entrepreneurs. And you go into this nine week course and you get mentors and you're with other would be entrepreneurs. And it just exposed me to a completely, completely different world. And I started to love it. And that's where it all started. And that's what kind of gave me the impetus to keep going because I saw also that other people were giving themselves permission to do the same thing. Yeah. [00:08:27][103.7]
Melanie Barr [00:08:27] To dream and also to fail. Because sometimes we think, what, if this doesn't work and you put so much into your training and background that I'm sure making that leap was challenging, but good for you for being able to dream and saying, you're going to try this and we'll see if it works and I'm going to keep going until I find what's right. [00:08:45][17.9]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:08:46] well, thank you. That's always nice to hear. I think as an entrepreneur, that cycle and that process of trying, failing, learning and then trying again is one that is just constant. I think that's been one of the hardest things to get used to. It's it's that feeling that it's kind of a constant transition and you just get used to it. There's a video clip. I think it's a commercial and it's of Michael Jordan, and it's for Nike. I think I use it in some presentations and he's talking about how many shots he tried for and failed. And then in the end, he says, I try so hard, I fail so much, and that's why I succeed and I love it. I love basketball. Love him. Love seeing it. I try to keep that in mind when that happens, every time there are those little failures or even big failures that you just got to keep trying. [00:09:46][60.3]
Melanie Barr [00:09:47] It's a great reminder because when we think of an idea, Oh, I want to try this, the first thing that our mind can say sometimes is what if you don't win, if it doesn't work. So that that is a great reminder of continuing to just move forward and make progress? [00:10:01][13.9]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:10:02] Yeah, absolutely. And I think every entrepreneur has to deal with that at one point or another, no matter how successful you get, no matter how, sometimes it can really seem like smooth sailing. I think you're kind of always on guard for what can happen when you start this new things. [00:10:20][17.7]
Melanie Barr [00:10:22] We're all consistently building and creating our teams. Whether you have a five person team or you oversee hundreds of people as leaders, we are still in communication with those closest to us and communicating our business and personal brand to the world. Why do you think communication is a crucial and overlooked leadership tool? [00:10:40][18.2]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:10:41] Communication is a really vulnerable thing. when you are communicating yourself, your brand, your business to the world, that can often be a really scary place to be. You're putting yourself out there. People are watching you, they're listening to you. And ultimately, people have a real fear of being judged and they have a real fear of what their audience is going to think of them. Did do I know what I'm talking about? Do I not know what I'm talking about? What are they going to think of how I look, how I sound? And people tend to make communication about them when really it's about your audience. So that's why I think people often overlook it as being such a powerful tool to show leadership to both internal teams, external teams and in the world in general because it just strikes at I think some really innate fears that most people have about getting up in front of people making kind of laying yourself bare and being judged. [00:11:44][62.9]
Melanie Barr [00:11:45] You're right. And I think people will follow you and want to talk to you if you're showing your real self to the world and that can be really hard to do. [00:11:55][9.8]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:11:56] It can be, I know for me, it took a while when I started stepping out and being a trial lawyer and doing some television work. I wasn't nervous to be on live TV. I had three little kids at home. And so being on live TV where they were doing my hair and makeup like this was like a break. This was like nobody. Nobody can bother me. This is nobody can talk to me. I've looked like I've had sleep. This is awesome. I wasn't nervous about that part. But it took a long time for me to get out of kind of that trial lawyer persona, that advocate. And one of the court TV hosts told me was just to kind of listen up and be myself and just let that shine through. And it's one thing to think about it. It's another to get comfortable with it. And it took me a long time to kind of break free of that, that persona that I was able to put on and start really being myself. [00:12:56][59.5]
Melanie Barr [00:12:56] Yeah, I see how that would be the case, because I would assume you put on a certain kind of armor when you went into court to represent your clients, but also to protect yourself from the stories and everything that you were hearing and experiencing every day. [00:13:09][13.3]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:13:11] Yeah. I was not say that at protecting myself from that. I'm really empathetic and it was very difficult for me to separate kind of the trauma that I was seeing all the time. And compartmentalize it and then just go home and not think about it I tried. And it worked. And eventually it was fine. But there is a part of you that has to really understand it. Put yourself in the perspective of the people who are victims of crimes and the crimes that I was prosecuting. And also in that whole idea of being a prosecutor is about doing justice. It's not just about take your case and winning it and also putting, looking at the perspective of what was going on to from the defense point of view and really figuring out what is the fairest resolution of each case. And so there is a certain armor that goes up there was the professional prosecutor trial lawyer. I think most people have a professional persona, but it's probably emphasized more when you're in court every day. [00:14:21][70.0]
Melanie Barr [00:14:21] And I bet you are empathetic side made you a great lawyer.Putting yourself in the shoes of your client, you know, communicating with the other side. [00:14:35][13.5]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:14:37] I think that empathy. matches, as you were saying, communication can be a real, overlooked leadership tool. Empathy is one as well. And empathy allows you to form connection. You know, it allowed me to form a connection with people who, besides my job, I probably would have never come into contact with or had the opportunity to meet or to be put in the position of trying to help through a difficult time. So that empathy that kind of lowering of the armor a little bit and being empathetic allowed me to make those connections, which when you take it a few steps further, it allows people who have been traumatized to feel comfortable taking the stand and telling a jury about it or people who have gone through a difficult situation it allows them the ability to open up about it and get some help and talk to someone like me who may have been in a position to do that.[00:15:36][59.0]
Melanie Barr [00:15:38] You are a former New York City sex crime, organized crime and homicide prosecutor, I can imagine the experiences and all of the stories that you've heard. Share with us your knowledge and thoughts on the criminal justice system. [00:15:51][12.4]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:15:52] Oh my goodness. Another super easy question. Oh yeah. it has been really interesting to see a lot of the changes that have gone on in the world since I left that field and to watch it in a different way, I got to watch in a different way, commenting on cases. And especially now, I've been able to see it in a different way just through, you know, all of the kind of civil rights movements that are going on recently. there are so many court cases in the news these days. Some of them extremely controversial. And what I think has been wonderful about a lot of that, it is bringing the things that were previously shielded from view. Although trials are public and that's in the constitution, it's bringing it into the public view and it's really allowing for some reform that's necessary in terms of the way judges work, the way prosecutors work, the way juries work and trying to eliminate some bias, some real inherent bias in the system. [00:17:00][68.7]
Melanie Barr [00:17:01] Yeah. And it seems like with the video and social media today, I'm sure that brings in another entire element to it. [00:17:09][7.6]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:17:10] Oh my gosh, it really does. It gives it widespread. just a widespread view to people who may not have ever thought about or been a part of any of these kinds of issues. And The right to a trial it's ingrained in our legal system, it's ingrained in our constitution, but it's not something people really think about until they're faced with something like on social media, like crimes that are videotaped, when people see those injustices right in front of them, get for them to action. And that's just going to be important for the criminal justice system moving forward. [00:17:57][47.3]
Melanie Barr [00:17:58] Absolutely. I have twins who just turned eight, and it was soon to learn that you have twins. Also, I think about the effect of social media and what it has on kids and the effects it has on all of us. What are your thoughts on being a digital minimalist? [00:18:14][16.3]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:18:16] Oh yes I'm looking right now and the even the books I have holding up my computer that we're talking on is my book Digital Minimalism. I have twins also like we're talking about minor 14, a boy and a girl, and then I also have a 16 year old son. something I never thought as kind of a digital minimalist that I would ever want to do is, during the pandemic, my 14 year old daughter wanted an outlet. You know, she was home. She was,doing school at home. She was going a little crazy. And she asked if she could start a YouTube channel. She's a dancer and she's a gymnast, and she loves VIDEO. And she just wanted to do something. And I thought about it and I thought, OK, go ahead. And through that, she learned how to take video, how to edit video, what kinds of things would be interesting on video. She met kids from all over the country and forged relationships that she never would have without that. So it kind of opened my mind And I think for business these days, there's some things you need. You know, you really do have to embrace the wonderful things it can do while being kind of cognizant of how ultimately it can be totally distracting. Mm-Hmm. Right. Like, you get on social media and 20 minutes are gone like that, right? [00:20:50][153.9]
Melanie Barr [00:20:51] Yes, I schedule in certain times to be on social. That way. I'm not getting lost in the scroll.[00:20:58][7.6]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:20:59] That's smart. [00:20:59][0.4]
Melanie Barr [00:24:46] I asked this question at the end of every episode, because I believe it's so important to bring joy that is meaningful to us into our daily lives and our lives over time. Magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy. What is one tip that you can leave with us today about how you find and live your joy [00:25:03][17.5]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:25:05] and love that question. We don't think about joy enough. I think we just get caught up in life and forget about the joy of living. when I started my business and I was feeling all those entrepreneur feelings, exhilaration, excitement about everything, I adopted the Nike model that you see that says, Just do it, just do it. And so that's what I started doing, and I am a lifelong procrastinator. If anyone can think of a reason not to do something and not to get started, I'm a pro at that. So I just told myself that is my motto. Just do it. And I started applying that to business. I had a client who came in and he asked for a different service. He wanted some trial coaching, had never done it before, but I thought, Oh, that sounds OK. We did it. It went great. And I thought, Oh, this would be a great offering. So I'm launching trial coaching as part of my business, and I just thought, I'm just going to do it. And then I try to apply that to life, too. especially during the pandemic, I thought what would bring me actually that joy and that happiness? What are some things I want to do? So I started meditating, something I wanted to try. My daughter made complete fun of me, but I took an adult ballet class because I always wanted to do it. [00:26:36][90.9]
Melanie Barr [00:26:36] I love it. And as a twin mom, I can completely understand meditating and doing something for you. [00:26:41][5.2]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:26:43] people say you do it for you. And ultimately, that makes you better for other people and it's better. Your business, your better mom, better with your family. And that's all well and good. And it's true. But I think doing it, as you said, just for you, to bring that magic and joy to you is so important. I would encourage people listening just do it. Whatever it is, whatever's in your mind, whatever you think is going to spark some bit of joy in you, even if you're not sure. Just do it [00:27:19][36.2]
Melanie Barr [00:27:20] and see what happens.
Melanie Barr [00:28:04] You have built an incredible career Thank you so much for joining us today. tell our listeners how and where they can find you? [00:28:15][10.5]
Laurie Gilbertson [00:28:16] Absolutely. First, thank you so much for having me. I just loved our conversation. If you are really interested in exploring how to elevate your communication so you can, take advantage of every opportunity that's out there for you. You can find some information on my website. It's https://www.tribecablueconsulting.com/ and just sign up for a free consultation. I love to chat with you about what you're looking for and see if I can be of help. I also love to connect with people on LinkedIn. It's so much fun just to meet new people, learn about new businesses feel free to reach out to me there as well. [00:28:56][39.8] [1479.9]