Introduction to Law and Wit - 001

Welcome to Law and Wit: Creative Counsel for Entrepreneurs. I'm your host, Brittany Ratelle, mother of 4, entrepreneur, and naptime attorney. Thanks for joining me. Hello. I just wanted to jump on here and introduce myself real quick. And I know full well that sometimes the first episode of a podcast, the introduction one, is kind of a throwaway. I realize that some of you may not even listen to this and might skip right over, and that's totally fine. I'm not going to take it personally. But for those who are interested in the woman behind the microphone and who it is that's talking to you and why you should listen when there are a lot of other things competing for your time, I wanted to jump on here quick and give you a little rundown. So I'm Brittany, and I am an attorney, a real attorney, at the pink blazer and everything. And I, I'm here to talk about entrepreneurship, specifically creative entrepreneurship. So my background is in marketing, public relations, and then law, obviously. And I've been able to work with clients these past few years in helping them build their businesses, a lot of different kind of fields of creative entrepreneurship— people in the music industry, bloggers, influencers, YouTubers, people who do event planning, photographers, graphic designers, kind of the gamut. Even some people who are kind of doing hustling online, some product-based businesses, some service-based businesses. But the thing that runs in common is that a lot of the people that I help are people who kind of fell into whatever they're doing, whether it's a side hustle or not, that has maybe started something out as a hobby. For a lot of the women that I work with, maybe they were stay-at-home moms. And it started out as a family blog, a lifestyle blog, and now has grown into, you know, a little mini digital media company basically. And, um, just because that they didn't come in from a traditional business perspective in terms of what maybe one can consider, you know, they might not have an MBA or, um, that background and training in business, um, doesn't mean that they're not now a business owner and should own it, uh, you know #bossbabe and all the things that come with it, including investing in themselves and in their business in a way that will allow them to grow and scale the way that they want to and the way that their dreams want— where their dreams want to take them. So I wanted to give you 5 quick facts about me just to kind of personalize so you can understand a little bit about me. So I— the first is that I'm a huge Lord of the Rings nerd, so So this I know will come as no surprise to those who know me well, but those who don't, I, you know, Lord of the Rings movies were coming out when I was in college, which is obviously just a ripe time for you to really get immersed into any kind of pop culture phenomenon. You know, all the conditions are right. You're a single person with, you know, with good disposable income and disposable time, and Lord of the Rings was the perfect vehicle the— to be the recipient of that. So I saw Return of the King 13 times in theaters, um, with my roommates, uh, when I was in college. Um, yeah, some of those were dollar theaters, but still 13 times. I waited in line all day during finals week, um, so that we could be the first for the midnight showing. Um, and yeah, we— means we had like the laptops watching the movies, we had Frodo on a cardboard cutout with us, we had t-shirts saying Frodo Lives We beat out dozens of males behind us. We were a group, a gaggle of girls at the front of the line. I will proudly own that. I am super excited for my kids because they are starting to get close enough to the age where I know that I can indoctrinate them into Lord of the Rings and hopefully won't scare them to death with kind of the more suspenseful parts of the movie. So there you go, Lord of the Rings nerd. Second fun fact is I'm a big fan of sour candy. So I'm, you know, I don't have the sophisticated chocolate taste like a lot of people do. I would be just as happy or happier with a bag full of Sour Patch Kids on my desk. And in fact, there's some hidden somewhere around here. In fact, hidden so well from my kids that I'm not exactly sure where I put them. But I know I have them, and that's what's important, you know, is that they're available at any time I might need them. In fact, what I'm looking for really in a sour candy is something that's right along the threshold of the pain and pleasure line, like right there, like maybe it's hurting your tongue a little bit, like that's what I'm looking for in my sour candy. Next fun fact is that I was a high school paradox, that I was both a cheerleader and on the debate team at the same time in high school, which I know sounds a little funny. Quite line up with the strict Breakfast Club stereotypes per se, but bear with me. What I have come to terms with in terms of reflecting on my own story is that obviously I like to talk and I've got a pretty loud voice. I've never been accused of being too quiet or really having people tell me I need to speak up. So I think that's what was the overarching goal of my high school development. So yes, I love doing both and was known in fact to sometimes have to go straight from a game ride to a debate tournament and change in the bathrooms out of my chair uniform to my, my little business suit and get ready for my debate match. So, but I love debate, and obviously I loved it so much I decided to go to law school later on and, and keep talking and keep arguing and all the great fun things that got to go along with that. So the next fun little fact is that I am a birth junkie. Um, I I love everything having to do with birth and I'm actually a trained doula. I only do it for friends, close friends and family. My mom did natural childbirth and so I was really interested in it and I've had my last 2 babies at home. Which if you find a problem with that, then you can direct your email comments to hello@dontgiveadarn.com. I know that that's like such an incendiary thing to lay out. I like home birth. I mean, pretty much next to telling you, you know, how to get your kids to sleep, it's probably the most— or, you know, breast versus bottles— probably the most inflammatory thing you can say to parents is to ignite that. So, you know, I'm not saying I'm open for debate about that, that it's the right choice for everyone. I'm not, not gonna go on that soapbox. But anyway, it worked for me with my last two babies, and I was lucky enough to be able to have them at home and do water birth. So anyway, I love all things birth and I'm always anxious for a chance to talk about that and really to make people uncomfortable at baby showers. So, um, love that, love that opportunity. And we'll usually take that opportunity and run with it when presented with the chance. So, um, and the last thing is that I am a naptime attorney. So, um, I, I say this in my little intro and I think I'm going to continue to say it. Even though some people are like, that's not super professional. And here's the thing, I get that it's not traditional, but I'd like to know what's unprofessional about being honest about the realities of, you know, work-life balance when you have children, when you're a parent. And the reality is, is that I've got 4 kids under the age of 7. So yeah, I, you know, I work, I parent, you I am still working on myself with those titles and how I describe myself and how I'm going to pitch myself to a group of professionals or a group of mommies at playgroup. And should that be any different? And I don't know. I'm still grappling with all those things because I think those are interesting questions to pose. But I know for sure that my kids are my number one at this stage of life, but that I love doing this work and I love helping people build their dreams and I like legal work and being an attorney and I've been able to be able to do it from home on my own terms for the last few years and I've really enjoyed it. And while my nap times are sometimes sporadic and sometimes they're not as quiet as I would like, yes, I've been interrupted on one of my Facebook Lives by my toddler demanding a snack. That has in fact happened. But that's real. That's honest. I mean, let's talk about #LiveAuthentic. That's the real deal right there. So I am a nap time attorney and I will proudly claim that. So it's on my business card, so I kind of, I pretty much have to own it at this point. So, so those are some fun facts about me. So I, my goal and aim of this podcast is to have a place where I can share tips and tricks about the questions that I get over and over again in people running modern businesses, especially most of them related to doing work and business online, how they're marketing online, influencer marketing and using social media and setting up websites, how to register businesses, you know, a little bit about copyright law, intellectual property, trademarks, and a little bit about employment, about growing your team and independent contractors and employees and all of those things. So those are kind of the main areas that I'm going to tackle, but there'll be a lot of other stuff that will come up too. And my— it's my hope that as I continue to build this platform and build a community with people like you that you'll let me know what questions you have and what concerns you have and what gaps there are in your business, in your development, that I can maybe help you walk through. So I will throw my little disclaimer out that I, while I'm a licensed attorney, I'm not your licensed attorney unless you'd like me to be, in which case please head over to BrittanyRettell.com. —because I, you know, I want to make sure that I'm respecting the code of ethics that go along with my practice, that you realize that everything I talk about here is for informational purposes only. So, it's going to be kind of a broad bird's-eye view, but if you have questions about what you've heard and how it relates to your specific set of circumstances, please talk to someone. Please talk to a licensed attorney or a licensed accountant. Or another professional that can help you walk through that stuff. So, okay, that's probably enough for today, so I'm gonna get off and then we'll lead you to our next episodes. But thanks so much for being here. I really appreciate it. I know that we are all so busy, that there's a lot of information to wade through nowadays, but I love podcasts and I love listening to them and getting inspired by them and hearing other stories of their highs and their lows and their in-betweens. And I hope that this is a place for that as well so that we can kind of take some of those best practices, those stories from other entrepreneurs who have walked these paths and some of the lessons that they've learned and apply them to our own lives and our own businesses. So, because all of us could use a hand in growing bigger and stronger and having more clarity and confidence with our business. And that's what my goal is here too. So, thanks so much and I'll see you on the flip side. If you'd like to hear more, please subscribe to my show in iTunes. And leave a review. That's how I get my content out to more people. Thanks so much.