{"id":3955,"date":"2022-06-02T05:44:51","date_gmt":"2022-06-02T05:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/annalozynski.com\/?p=3955"},"modified":"2023-01-04T05:43:23","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T05:43:23","slug":"12-months-reflections-from-side-hustle-to-full-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/annalozynski.com\/12-months-reflections-from-side-hustle-to-full-time\/","title":{"rendered":"12+ months reflections – from side hustle to full time."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Anna Lozynski Advisory<\/a><\/strong> turned ONE recently.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s hard to believe that over a year ago, I donned my entrepreneurial shoes (well, let\u2019s be honest – designer slippers and sneakers) \u2013 on a mission to help law & business adapt to the digital age.<\/p>\n

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And what an incredible and enriching entree into business it has been.<\/p>\n

Woohoo! I haven\u2019t had to give up just yet.<\/p>\n

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In the spirit of \u201cliving my legal life out loud\u201d, and further to my initial reflections<\/a>, here is an update about the journey thus far.<\/p>\n

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1 – Fun Facts <\/strong><\/p>\n

In no particular order:<\/p>\n

Being on social media far more consistently has led to a doubling of my online communities on both Instagram and LinkedIn, culminating in over two (2) million views.\u00a0I\u2019ve loved experimenting with content creation, and increasing my online presence.<\/p>\n

In the last year, I’ve been fortunate to work with some of the biggest brands in legal tech around the globe in various capacities, including as a paid influencer: generating hundreds (100s) of leads, and several hundreds of thousands of views.<\/p>\n

My courage for cold DM\u2019ing has yielded incredible connections as well as collaboration opportunities.<\/p>\n

Another highlight has been making my way onto an influencer database for NFT projects. Being any early adopter of the Metaverse and sharing my experiences online led to this.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve become much better at backing my self-worth and lived experience when potential clients attempt to heavily negotiate rates and engagement terms. There’s a tension between saying yes to the income but not compromising on one’s value – I’ve been fortunate to able to say no politely.<\/p>\n

A good half of my tech client base is located overseas, predominantly the USA, where the appetite for collaboration in new age ways seems to be more advanced. I’m confident other jurisdictions will catch up as more legal tech players enter the market, and the appetite for gaining more market share and higher valuations increases.<\/p>\n

Whereas my corporate legal department clients are more local. Together, we have achieved transformation strategy clarity, made smart tech choices, created communication and transformation plans, and delivered adoption and efficiency rates to be proud of.<\/p>\n

With few exceptions, my observation is that law firms are more reluctant to collaborate with external tech and legal operations experts in fear of balking their traditional model, preferring the work and the person be in-sourced from day one, to avoid any ill-confusion from clients. In time, I predict this mindset may have to change.<\/p>\n

My internal struggle and programming about “being productive” every single minute of every day has eased, after some conscious and progressive rewiring. The problems I\u2019m solving are more creative and strategic, which means needing more space to think and ideate.<\/p>\n

In the spirit of never saying never, I\u2019ve been headhunted for a few interesting roles at exciting companies. Either they haven\u2019t worked out, or I\u2019ve chosen to graciously bow out of the process. It\u2019s been an affirmation that I\u2019m not ready to return to the corporate world just yet, and to keep pursuing ALA<\/a>. The longer I’m out, the more I appreciate the freedom and flexibility that comes with entrepreneurialism – it’s more liberating than I imagined to not have annual leave constraints.<\/p>\n

Outside of formal coaching sessions, many General Counsel and senior lawyers have reached out to me to discuss how they could go out on their own too\u2026 #haloeffect.<\/p>\n

My networking game is stronger than ever – each week I get to travel around the world, all via Zoom. And that gives me so much energy and a global view.<\/p>\n

2 – Anti Niche\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a graduate lawyer, I felt an immense pressure to settle down into a practice group and choose a technical specialisation as fast as possible.<\/p>\n

In-house lawyers, while generalists, can get pigeon-holed to varying extents. In-house counsel getting involved in quasi-legal or even non-legal matters can still raise eyebrows depending on the culture of the organisation, and a C-Suite’s open mindedness.<\/p>\n

Experienced business owners advise new entrepreneurs to \u201cfind a niche\u201d.<\/p>\n

Instead, and on brand for me in a way, I\u2019ve chosen a differing path: the less niche one.<\/p>\n

In taking this career leap, it was important to me to have my fingers in many pies – to be cross disciplinary – knowing that’s what I loved about being an in-house lawyer and then executive General Counsel.<\/p>\n

This approach has allowed me to work with many legal tech companies and corporate departments on a variety of matters – from the strategic to the tactical.<\/p>\n

ICYMI, here are my core offerings:<\/p>\n