IAM849- Divorce Lawyer Represents a Wide Array of Clients

Michelle C. Thomas, Esquire is a seasoned divorce lawyer and the founder of M.C. Thomas & Associates, PC, a premier divorce and family law firm serving Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, and Maryland. Michelle and her team represent a wide array of clients ranging from business owners and corporate executives to physicians, law firm partners, politicians, professional athletes, and more. Her passion is helping people protect their assets and their future, and ultimately transform their lives for the better. Michelle Thomas has been repeatedly recognized as a Top Rated Family Lawyer in Washington D.C. by SuperLawyers, and recently named a Top Attorney by Bethesda Magazine.

Michelle is a sought after speaker and media contributor in local and national media on issues such as effective co-parenting, parenting through the pandemic, divorce-proofing your marriage, and law firm management. She has been seen and heard on the Michael Baisden Show, Fox 5 news, News One Now with Roland Martin Radio, ESSENCE magazine, the Washington Times, The Daily Drum Show on WHUR/SiriusXM 141, and Law Talk with Ethel Mitchell on Radio One and more. Welcome, Michelle C. Thomas.

• CEO Hack: Rising early, planning the day and my morning routine
• CEO Nugget: (1) Don't be too hard on yourself (2) Mistakes are opportunities for growth (3) Be bold about what you want (4) Enjoy the ride
• CEO Defined: Freedom and responsibility

Website: http://www.thomaslawdc.com/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/michellecthomasesq
www.instagram.com/dcdivorcelawfirm

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DCDivorce

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellethomasesq/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/divorcelawfirm
www.twitter.com/michellecthomas

Transcription

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00:02 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

00:30 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Michelle C. Thomas of MC Thomas & Associates. Michelle, it's awesome to have you on the show.

00:39 – Michelle C. Thomas

Thanks so much for having me. Glad to be here.

00:41 – Gresham Harkless

No problem. Super excited to have you on as well too. And before we jump in, I want to read a little bit more about Michelle so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Michelle C. Thomas Esquire is a seasoned divorce lawyer and the founder of MC Thomas and Associates PC, a premier divorce and family law serving Washington DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland. Michelle and her team represent a wide range of clients, ranging from business owners and corporate executives to physicians, law firm partners, politicians, professional athletes, and many more. Her passion is helping people protect their assets and their future and ultimately transform their lives for the better.

Michelle Thomas has been repeatedly recognized as a top-rated family lawyer in Washington DC by super lawyers and recently named a top attorney by Bethesda magazine, congratulations. Michelle is a sought-after speaker and a media contributor in local and national media on issues such as effective co-parenting, parenting through the pandemic, divorce proofing your marriage, and law firm management. She has been seen and heard on the Michael Baseman show, Fox 5 News, News One Now with Roland Martin Radio, Essence Magazine, The Washington Times, The Daily Drum Show on WHUR Series 141, and Law Talk with Ethel Mitchell on Radio One and many, many more. Michelle, great to have you on, Michelle. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:59 – Michelle C. Thomas

I'm ready. Let's go.

02:00 – Gresham Harkless:

Let's do it. So to kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more about how you guys started. Could you take us through what I call your CEO story and we'll let you get started with all the awesome things you're working on?

02:09 – Michelle C. Thomas

Sure, sure. So, Gresh, I have to tell you, I've always sort of been entrepreneurial and business-minded since I was a kid. I mean, I had my first business when I was 8 years old selling candy on the bus and I actually had a good thing going. I was taking inventory of my little pink notebook. I mean, it was great until of course, the authorities found me out, which were, you know, the school principal. Apparently, when they say not for resale on the candy bags that means something. So I learned that but you know at the time I didn't know and thankfully the statute of limitations has passed.

02:40 – Gresham Harkless

There you go.

02:41 – Michelle C. Thomas

But that's always been part of me. The concept of being independent appealed to me even from a really young age. Don't get me wrong, I did have wonderful parents who provided me with a nice loving home. But there was something about just, I had just an internal drive and desire to be sort of a self-made woman. So anyway, I developed an interest in the law and sort of fighting for people. And I ended up going to, well, in college, I ended up working for a family lawyer in Chapel Hill. And in addition to getting to observe the lawyer and her impact on her clients, I distinctly remember thinking, so this is how you run a firm. This is how you organize it. This is how you save resources. She used to reuse folders and files and everything.

And those were some of the other tips that I was taking away. I was taking mental notes because I believed that one day that would be me. So I continued on to law school, attended the George Washington University Law School, and started working at a pretty high-end divorce and family law firm in Virginia. Great experience there. And one day one of the partners said to me, I think it was in my second year, and he said, you know, the, your client generation is, is unprecedented for a second-year associate. You know, You should think about starting your firm one day. Now I'm sure he thought one day would be way down the road, but that wasn't the plan. So that was sort of the first whisper about stepping out on faith.

I then, before I started my firm, I then went to another firm, not as great of an experience, if I can be candid in terms of the environment. I found myself feeling unhappy and just believing that there was more, I was sort of working these big firms long hours by getting small firm pay, just that typical scenario of being overworked, underpaid, and knowing that I brought value. I was still generating clients and actually, I brought some of the clients from the Virginia firm there and then I continued on that path. So at some point, I said, okay, you know, this is it. This is sort of the second whisper where you know that there's something bigger and you know, there's a way that you can do this.

So I then stepped out on faith. Now I will say I didn't just jump. I planned, I prepared. I planned by, actually writing out a business plan. I found some business planning software and wrote that out. I was working on a website in the middle of the night because I was working still very long hours. So I was working on building the infrastructure and then it was the day to launch. And so I did, I gave plenty of notice, but I did, you know, launch. And all but I think one client came with me, which was further affirmation that this is the right path. And just from what I had seen, I knew that I wanted to do it a different way. I wanted to help people in a manner that was just in alignment with my core values.

And so that's what I did. And the MC Thomas and Associates PC was birthed. And I have to tell you Gresham, I have never looked back. It's really been it's been a tremendous blessing from that point forward. And even when I launched, you know, I was intentional about where I was going. So people would try to just send me, to be helpful, they would send clients from all kinds of cases and I would say, oh no, no, no, I'm handling high-end divorce, this is what I'm doing. And I was laser-focused on carving out a niche for myself pretty early from day one. And that is certainly, you know, that's what we do today. So it was just a faith walk and I've never looked back.

06:26 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I absolutely love that. And I love how you kind of talked about those whispers. And I think so many times we hear whispers and we'll kind of shush them away or we'll turn up the volume on the music so we don't hear them. But in reality, they keep coming and keep going. So I love that you of course heard that. And then you started to take those steps towards that but it wasn't overnight, as you mentioned being able to kind of do those things gradually but with intentionality led you to all the awesome work you're doing now.

06:51 – Michelle C. Thomas

Absolutely, absolutely. So I always say be intentional about your business, be intentional about your future, take it into you be proactive, and take it into your own hands because you know too many times we people almost kill themselves to build somebody else's dream. And they they die with, you know, their dreams die inside of them. And I just said, Oh, no, this is just not what we're doing over here. So I was able to, to launch and it's been, you know, that's that's been it. So

07:19 – Gresham Harkless

yeah, absolutely love that. And then some say that the wealthiest place in the world is not a bank or certain countries, it's the graveyard because there are so many people that you said that have those dreams, that have those goals, that really never saw them come to fruition. So I think that's so powerful.

07:34 – Michelle C. Thomas:

Absolutely.

07:35 -Gresham Harkless:

Yeah. Awesome. So I know I touched on it a little bit when I read your bio you did as well too. Could you take us through a little bit more on how you serve your clients and what you feel kind of sets you apart and is your secret sauce and you feel makes you unique?

07:46 – Michelle C. Thomas:

Sure. So we help families in transition. We help families through one of life's most difficult transitions which are generally divorced, sometimes very highly contested custody cases. But we help to then bring them from usually one of their worst moments in life, through to the other side, where they can see brightness again and sunlight. So we really sell hope, if you will, hope that there's a better future, a better life lies ahead and awaits them once they can get through this hurdle that they're in. We believe that there's life after divorce, so we don't just sort of drop our clients and get them divorced and move on. But we want them to be relieved, to know that they don't have to worry about the future, that what they fought hard for has been protected through the work that we do.

So we serve our clients, again, guided by the firm's core values, which are integrity, consistency, and excellence. And the reason why those values are on our firm website is because that is critically important. It's important to me. And I tell people whether you're looking to hire me or work for me, if you don't really sort of share in those values, in other words, if you want us to just, you know, go after your spouse and just to ruin them, you know, we may not be the best fit because we want to help you get the best end result, not just seek revenge. And the same thing with my team and staff. It's a matter of whether we want to serve the integrity.

We've all been in those businesses where someone told you to, you know, lie or just tell them I'm not here and that sort of thing. And that's not what we're doing over here. So, you know, it's on the front page that I wrote it myself. It's because it's what I believe and it drives the way that we serve our clients. And we've been, like I said, from the beginning, I sort of had a goal of the niche that I wanted to serve And while we do a lot of great work in the community as well, we do have a lot of clients that are, you know, professionals, doctors, lawyers, athletes, that sort of thing as well. But we certainly just, our primary focus is to serve with integrity, consistency, and excellence.

09:45 – Gresham Harkless

So now I would ask you for what I call a CEO nugget and this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice It might be something you would tell a client or if you happen to be a time machine you might tell your younger business self

09:55 – Michelle C. Thomas

Oh my goodness. What would I tell my younger self? I Would tell my younger self, don't be so harboring yourself. That's number one. Mistakes are nothing more than growth opportunities. And to fulfill, you know, it's my opinion that to fulfill your greatest potential, you have to live life fearlessly, right? You have to be bold about what you want and again, be intentional about what you want. And so being bold or fearless means that you may make some mistakes along the way, but that is okay.

And that is how you grow. And it's not where you start, it's where you finish. And I would also tell myself to remember to enjoy the ride. You know, people become so fixated on the end goal that they neglect what matters most, whether it's their families, you know, relationships, children, happiness is really important, their own wellness, People neglect their physical and emotional health, just to heredity achieve these goals, these end goals. And they're just working too hard, working all the time sometimes.

But so, how you're experiencing your rise to success matters, and who you are in the process matters. So if racing to the end, to this end goal is either turning you into someone who you're normally not, or it's causing you to compromise or neglect yourself and your well-being, it's time to hit pause and say, well, wait a minute now, what really matters and to reevaluate that. So I would just say, you'll get there, keep pushing forward, but enjoy the ride as you go along.

11:31 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that's so powerful. And it's so important not to lose yourself and your values as we kind of talked about, you know, as well too and who you are as you're going to get to whatever that goal is and wherever that destination might be. And I think you hit the nail on the head when so many times, especially if you're driven, you wanna get there at all costs, so to speak. But in reality, we always have to remember why we're doing what we're doing because the loved ones that we have are our values, our integrity, all those different things that we hold true and hold as really important to us. We don't wanna lose those by getting to our destination because truly will it be why we were trying to strive and do all the things we were hoping to do?

12:08 – Michelle C. Thomas

Correct, I mean, all the money in the world and no one to share with, right? I mean, what's that? So yeah, it's really important to stay focused on what your intention is, why you're doing it, and you know, know that you'll get there. There are no shortcuts. So, you know, there's no, you can't shortcut hard work. That's what it takes. But as long as you, you know, plan, prepare, and then go forward, you'll end in prosperity. That's my belief.

12:32 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. Believe the same thing cannot cheat the process as a whole. So now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Michelle, what does being a CEO mean to you?

12:46 – Michelle C. Thomas

Freedom is to lead, to influence, and to serve others on your terms and in alignment with who you are and your core values. You know, that's if something doesn't fall, you know, in line with your core values, then what do you have? But being a CEO allows you to take what works for you, to not take it, and also to focus on how you are impacting those around you, the community, and also to be able to amplify your influence to the community around you. You know, I wanted to cultivate a space where we could do and influence and do family law the way that I thought that it should be done and help people the way that I thought.

It also enables me to influence even, you know, people on my team, people that work for me, mentees, as well as those who are watching you from afar, because you know people are always watching. So it gives you that audience, that freedom to really be able to express and to do the work that you've been called to do on your terms and the way you want to do it. I would say Gresham that it also means responsibility. I believe that to whom much is given, much is required, and it's not something I take lightly. And as we were mentioning, really at the top of the program, the goal is that when you leave, we're all gonna leave here at some point. And when we do, you wanna leave empty. You wanna know that you've maximized and used your gifts and talents to the best of your ability. And it's heavy, being CEO is a lot of responsibility, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

14:23 – Gresham Harkless:

Nice, I absolutely love that freedom and responsibility. And it gave me a visual. I was just thinking about, talking about entrepreneurship and business like lemons, making lemons into lemonade. We ourselves wanna be those lemons that have the screeds every single part and aspect of the juice out by the time we're done. And I think that when you're able to execute, you're able to amplify and show tremendous influence, as you said, so well in so many different ways. That's truly when we have been able to do that. So Michelle, truly appreciate that definition. I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best they can get ahold of you and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.

15:03 – Michelle C. Thomas

Sure. It's about the vision. Plan your vision, write it down, be intentional about your vision, and believe that it will come to fruition. Build your team before you need it before you need your team. Build your network before you need it. I always say that your network equals your net worth. So be intentional about what you're even spending and surrounding yourself with and you know, watch, you know, speak affirmations and then watch it come to fruition. You know, your dreams, it's possible.

And I'm living proof of that. So I'm it's there's been no looking back. Being a CEO has been great and people can reach me on we're pretty much everywhere. Our website is thomaslawdc.com or on social media, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook at DC Divorce. So you can find me, my personal pages are Michelle C. Thomas or Michelle C. Thomas, ESQ. So we're pretty much everywhere. We try to provide inspirational quotes and some motivation to our community. And So that's what we're here to do we're here to serve.

16:04 – Gresham Harkless:

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, we'll definitely have the links and information in the show notes as well. But I appreciate you for serving us and providing us with so much knowledge and information and wisdom as well too, as much as you give to the people that you work with and be able to serve the people that you have as clients. And I truly appreciate you again and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:22 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.