Some people believe hardship should be the rite of passage. “I suffered, so you should too.” Today’s guest, Wendy Meadows, chose the opposite: learn, evolve, and then make the path easier for the next woman.

Wendy spent years as a family law litigator before realizing the role no longer aligned with who she is. She turned off the litigation spigot, built a solo practice, and shifted to family law mediation—where curiosity, calm leadership, and practical systems do what conflict rarely can: create durable solutions.

• Pain doesn’t have to be a template.

• Real leadership looks like shortening the learning curve for others.

• Wendy’s lens: use your story to open doors, not gatekeep them.

• Mediation lets families design outcomes privately and humanely.

• It fits Wendy’s strengths: listening, clarity, and future-focused agreements.

• Key shift: from “win/lose” to interest-based problem solving.

• Reputation and relationships beat aggressive advertising.

• “Top of mind” marketing: consistent presence on LinkedIn and Facebook, clear messaging about mediation services.

• Make the ask: tell colleagues you now mediate; referrals follow clarity.

Wendy now coaches burned-out lawyer moms and attorneys who want to go solo. Her coaching centers on:

• Defining the work you actually want to do

• Simplifying operations (intake, billing, client experience)

• Saying no to misaligned matters and yes to sustainable revenue

SEO cues: burnout for lawyers, coaching for attorneys, leave big law, attorney work–life balance

Wendy’s Pause Time Playbook is a simple daily practice:

1. Set your compass each morning (who you’ll be, what matters).

2. Rehearse high-stakes moments before they happen.

3. Reflect at day’s end to lock in learning and confidence.

Pen-to-paper intention turns reaction into leadership.

• Get honest about alignment. If the role no longer fits, explore alternatives like mediation or a limited-scope practice.

• Tell people what you do now. Clear, repeated messaging builds referral paths.

• Systemize once, benefit daily. Intake, payment, templates, and checklists save hours.

• Journal with purpose. Decide who you’ll be before the hard moment arrives.

Hear the full conversation with Wendy Meadows on The Seed to learn how she left litigation, built a values-aligned practice, and helps other attorneys do the same.

Keep Going—with Support

If this resonated, join me inside The Patch—the Dandelion-Inc membership where community, accountability, and honest momentum meet. Explore what’s inside: dandelion-inc.com

Sponsored by Imperium — a unified network helping nonprofit and human service organizations reduce costs, increase efficiency, and scale impact while staying true to their mission. Learn more at imperium.org

Every December, we choose a word for the year ahead. A word that feels hopeful. Inspired. Safe. This year, I chose a word I wasn’t ready for: Push.

I thought pushing meant doing more.
Instead, it meant becoming more.

Push asked me to stretch emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and professionally in ways I could not have planned for. It forced me to step into rooms that made me question if I belonged there. It demanded courage I wasn’t sure I had.

And it changed me.

I said yes to public speaking when every cell in my body wanted to run. I stood on a stage at the university I graduated from — a full-circle moment of stepping back into a place that shaped me, now as a woman rewriting her story in real time.

I flew to Poland alone to teach leadership and civic engagement. Airports, foreign languages, navigating unfamiliar places. Old me would have declined. This year, I went anyway. And I returned with proof that I can do hard things — because I just did.

I always dreamed of creating space for women that was deeper than networking — a space where collaboration, connection, and genuine support scale lives and businesses.

That is what The Patch became. A movement. A place where women rise together.

And I wrote the book I’ve talked about writing for years. Not in theory. Not with pretty Instagram quotes. I wrote it. For real.

Push knocked down the doors I needed to walk through.

2026 isn’t my year to hustle harder.

It’s my year to focus.

Focus means:
• No more scattering my energy
• No more saying yes to everything
• No more urgency driving decisions
• No more sprinting without direction

Focus means:
• Clarity
• Precision
• Depth
• Sustainable growth

Push built the foundation.
Focus builds the future.

The Patch Community is where focused women build.
Where accountability becomes standard.
Where collaboration accelerates growth.
Where momentum doesn’t stall halfway through the year.

And in 2026, we gather again:

The Women Rising Summit — September 25, 2026
This isn’t an event to attend.
It’s an experience to feel.
A catalyst. A shift. A spark.

Get in the room with us.

Listen to the full episode here: [Insert link]
Join The Patch: dandelion-inc.com/patch

If something is stirring in you while reading this — pay attention.
You didn’t build everything you’ve built to stay small.

Let’s grow with focus, depth, and intention.

Together.

Keep Going—with Support

If this resonated, join me inside The Patch—the Dandelion-Inc membership where community, accountability, and honest momentum meet. Explore what’s inside: dandelion-inc.com

Sponsored by Imperium — a unified network helping nonprofit and human service organizations reduce costs, increase efficiency, and scale impact while staying true to their mission. Learn more at imperium.org

Some lessons you learn from books. Others you learn sitting in front of your laptop after a launch belly-flops, wondering what just happened. This year handed me a handful of those lessons—the kind that sting first and serve later.

Here are the five shifts that changed everything for me in 2025. Use what serves you. Leave what doesn’t. But whatever you do, don’t quit. Treat it as data.

1) Clarity Is Leadership (Not a Task You Outsource)

It’s tempting to think a coach, designer, VA, or tool can fix fuzzy strategy. They can help—but they can’t own your vision. If you can’t explain your offer in one sentence and why it matters in one breath, go back to the drawing board and get closer to your customer. Have real conversations. Validate needs. Then build.

Quick prompt:
Who do I serve, what outcome do I create, and why does it matter now

2) Consistency Compounds (Even When It’s Quiet)

I ran a 60-day daily content challenge. It didn’t go viral. But my messaging sharpened, recall increased, and more people said, “I see you everywhere.” Consistency isn’t flashy; it’s trust over time.

Try this:
Pick one channel and one format. Ship three times a week for eight weeks. Measure clarity and conversion, not likes.

3) Community Is a Strategy, Not a Side Effect

Business doesn’t grow in isolation. When I built The Patch, everything improved—retention, results, and the energy to keep going. We learn from experts, yes, but we also learn from each other.

Design it in:
Create recurring touchpoints (office hours, hot seats, co-working) so connection is part of your model, not a bonus.

4) Systems Save Your Sanity (And Your Schedule)

We systemized launches, content, onboarding, client ops, and podcast production. Every hour invested in a workflow returned ten. Freedom isn’t just time—it’s repeatability.

Start small:
Document one repeat task this week: steps, owner, assets, timeline. Run it twice. Improve it. Name it.

5) Rest Is Strategy

Exhaustion is not a badge of honor. My best ideas rarely arrive on Zoom; they show up on runs, in the kitchen, or when I finally stop. Rest restores judgment, creativity, and staying power.

Protect it:
Block recovery time on your calendar like a client meeting. Honor it. Your future self will thank you.

A Simple Reflection to Close the Year

Reverse-engineer your biggest 2025 lesson:

• What was your hardest moment this year
• What did it force you to confront
• What lesson will you carry into 2026 so you don’t repeat it
• Turn failure into data. Turn data into wisdom.

Keep Going—with Support

If this resonated, join me inside The Patch—the Dandelion-Inc membership where community, accountability, and honest momentum meet. Explore what’s inside: dandelion-inc.com

Sponsored by Imperium — a unified network helping nonprofit and human service organizations reduce costs, increase efficiency, and scale impact while staying true to their mission. Learn more at imperium.org