Burning the Plaques: Releasing Achievement Identity to Find Your Soul's Purpose

Betting on Yourself: How One Lawyer Curated a Career That Fits

What does it look like to leave a demanding corporate legal role — not out of burnout, but out of recognition that something more aligned is possible? In this episode, I sit down with Maria Flanagan, JD, founder of Flanagan Law PLLC in North Carolina. Maria's story isn't a dramatic escape from law — it's something more nuanced: she found a way to do the work she enjoys while reshaping it to fit her life. We talk about her unconventional path to law school, her decision to leave a senior counsel role after realizing she was doing GC-level work without the title or pay, and what finally gave her the courage to go out on her own. Maria also shares what her life looks like now — kayaking with her rescue dog, visiting her 102-year-old grandmother every other weekend, volunteering at animal shelters, and doing pro bono immigration work she calls the most rewarding thing she's done with her law license. This episode is for anyone who wonders: Is a different way of practicing law actually possible? Can I really have this kind of life? Maria's answer is yes — and she breaks down exactly how she got there. In this episode, we explore: * How Maria put herself through evening law school while working full-time — and what that taught her about doing hard things * The moment she realized she was doing the work of a GC without the title or compensation — and what she did about it * Why the unknown is scarier than the reality, and how one conversation changed everything * What "set it and forget it" actually looks like for a solo practitioner * How she thinks about work-life harmony * The question she asks herself: Is this the hard thing I actually want to do? * Why reputation and fear of "losing face" keeps many lawyers from making the changes they long to make Connect with Maria: * LinkedIn: Maria Flanagan [https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-flanagan-3a368b7/] Connect with Jessie: * LinkedIn: Jessie Brown, JD, PCC [www.linkedin.com/in/returningtosoul] Returning to Soul is a podcast for lawyers and high achievers seeking deeper meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in their work and lives. New episodes explore what it looks like to return to who you actually are — and build a career and life from that place.

Burning the Plaques: Releasing Achievement Identity to Find Your Soul's Purpose

What would it be like to let go of the titles, the awards, and the accolades to make space for who you are becoming, which is who, deep down, you already are? In this rich and deeply moving conversation, Jessie is joined by Michael Tender Heart Denmeade, faculty member at the Purpose Guides Institute, longtime therapist, fire keeper, and vision quest guide. Drawing on 40+ years of participation in indigenous ceremonial traditions, Michael shares wisdom about what it means to live from the soul. In this episode, you'll hear: * Why Michael held a sacred ceremony to burn his professional awards and what that freed in him * How culture conditions high achievers to seek recognition through achievement rather than through being * The necessity of creating space to discover our true purpose * Why purpose isn't something we need to find outside of ourselves, it’s the jewel at the center of our being  * How to begin reconnecting with your deeper self even when you're working long hours with a full family life This episode is for any lawyer or high achiever who senses that what they've built may no longer be what they're meant for and who wonders what it would look like to listen more deeply to the longing of their soul. About Michael Tender Heart Denmeade: Michael serves as faculty at the Purpose Guides Institute and has worked as a therapist for many years. He currently serves as a mentor, fire keeper, and vision quest guide, drawing on indigenous ceremonial wisdom he has received over four decades from elders. To connect with Michael, reach out to Jessie at jessie@jessiebrown.org for his contact information. Resources & Links Mentioned: The ⁠Purpose Guides Institute⁠ [https://www.purposeguides.org/]

Who Are You Beyond Your Title? A Conversation with Peggy O'Neal

What happens when you let go of the identity you've built your career around? In this episode, I sit down with Peggy O'Neal — lawyer, business advisor, strategist — for an intimate conversation about career pivots, identity, and what it means to listen to your own inner knowing. Peggy left a 12-year legal career to pursue work in human potential and coaching. And the external leap turned out to be far easier than the internal one. What she discovered: even when we know a change is right, our being takes time to catch up. The discomfort and the inner voice asking what are you doing? — these aren't signs we've made the wrong choice. They're signs we've been deeply identified with a role. In this episode, we explore: * Why saying "I am a lawyer" is different from "I practice law" — and what that distinction reveals about how we understand ourselves * What Joseph Campbell meant when he said people don't want more meaning — they want more aliveness * How our body, language, and mood shape the possibilities we can perceive * The "breadcrumbs" that point us toward what we truly want, even when we can't articulate it yet * Why so many high achievers reach a ceiling — and why it's often an identity issue in disguise * What it looks like to help a business go from $8.5M to $12.25M in nine months by doing this inner work We also talk about a client of mine who became a lawyer to fulfill her mother's dream — and what her story reveals about how many of us are living someone else's vision of a life well-lived. If you've ever felt stuck between who you are and what you do, this conversation is for you. Connect with Peggy O'Neal: LinkedIn: Peggy O'Neal [https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggy-oneal] Email: peggy@peggy-oneal.com Returning to Soul is a podcast for lawyers and other high achievers seeking deeper meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in their work and lives. If this episode resonated with you, please rate and share the show — and download my free Career Alignment Map [https://stan.store/JessieBrownCoaching/p/the-career-alignment-map] to begin exploring what true motivation looks like in your own life.

Lawyer, Musician, Therapist, Reiki Master: Career Pivots & Purpose with Suellen Fagin-Allen

What do you do when the career you chose is not a fit? In this episode, I sit down with Suellen Fagin-Allen, a Florida-based mental health therapist for women in midlife, attorney, performing musician, nonprofit leader, Reiki master, and amateur photographer. Suellen's story is one of the most honest and inspiring I've heard: she went to law school partly out of boredom, partly out of revenge, and partly because a friend secretly signed her up for the LSAT. What followed were decades of exploration and courage — finding the golden thread that was always there, and weaving it into something that truly fits. We talk about the very human experience of throwing up in the bathroom before trials, the decade-long detour that led to co-founding what became the Orlando Philharmonic, and the moment in midlife when she decided to start over again and became a licensed therapist at 50. In this episode, we explore: * Why Suellen's reasons for going to law school were, in her words, "suspect" — and what that taught her * How she leveraged her legal expertise at every stage of her pivot * The concept of the "golden thread" — the through-line that runs from childhood through your career — and how to find it when it feels buried * Why the first step to discovering your purpose might be learning to not freak out about not knowing your purpose * The somatic and mindfulness practices she uses with clients to help them get out of fight-or-flight and reconnect with what's alive in them * Her journey to becoming a Reiki master — what prompted it, what she experienced, and how she incorporates it into her therapy practice * A simple, two-minute reset practice for stressed-out attorneys (and anyone else running on fumes) A practice to try:Set a random alarm on your phone today. When it goes off, step away, take a breath, and ask yourself: What am I doing right now? What am I noticing? That's it. Suellen calls it a reset — and it's more powerful than it sounds. Connect with Suellen Fagin-Allen:📧 sueellen@simmonscounseling.org [sueellen@simmonscounseling.org]📱 407-929-0142🔗 LinkedIn: Suellen Fagin-Allen [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mindfulcounselor1/] Returning to Soul is a podcast for lawyers and other high achievers seeking deeper meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in their work and lives.

Identity Rest: Reclaiming Who You Are Beyond What You Do

In this episode, Jessie explores the concept of identity rest — a powerful practice for anyone whose sense of worth has become entangled with their productivity, performance, or professional title. Jessie first encountered the concept of "identity rest" from Chandani Patel Thompson, a lawyer and creator of the Rest to Rise Summit (May 19–22, free to attend). When we spend years in environments that reward us for what we produce, we can unconsciously begin to equate our value with our output. The result? An inner voice that never lets us fully rest, a "striver driver" that's taken over the wheel. In this episode, I share: * Why children and elders posses a type of wisdom that many high achievers lose touch with * How the law firm model — built around billable hour quotas — can deepen our identity-performance fusion * The Internal Family Systems (IFS) framework and how to understand the parts of us that push, achieve, and strive * A surprising question to ask your inner striver * The childhood photo exercise to reconnect with your essence before the world told you who to be * Three real examples from my clients: dance class, improv, pottery — and why these aren't hobbies, they're medicine * The AWE walk practice and why I stopped tracking my steps This episode is for you if you've ever felt the exhaustion of living from your résumé instead of your soul. Links & Resources: * Rest to Rise Summit (free, May 19–22): register here [https://rest2rise.clarityprint.co/url/speaker-brown] * Sedona Retreat (October 1–4): reach out to reserve your spot * Download my free Career Alignment Map [https://stan.store/JessieBrownCoaching/p/the-career-alignment-map] Returning to Soul is a podcast for lawyers and other high-achievers seeking deeper meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in their work and lives.