How a Single Mom with 3 Kids Who Started Law School at 33 Year Old with Elizabeth Hill

I'm here with a new friend, Elizabeth Hill from Lubbock, Texas. I don't have a lot of friends from Lubbock, Texas. Welcome, Elizabeth.

Thank you for having me, Larry. So, yeah, you're expanding your reach of friends down here in Texas, right?

Yeah. And you always need more friends.

Absolutely.

So, Elizabeth, you are quite dynamo. You've done amazing things and a short period of time in your life. And let's just talk about that. I'll let you explain and then I might highlight a couple of things, where you came from and what you were able to do coming up the ladder. And so where did you start?

Well, so, you know, I ended up here where I wear a lot of different hats. So there's been a lot of a journey there. And so I came to Lubbock to go to college at Texas Tech University. And I actually went the social work and counseling route first. And I think that really helped mold me into who I am and give me some good skills that I can use in my role now, which is as an attorney, as an entrepreneur and mom of four. And so I actually went to law school as a non traditional student. I was 33 when I went back and I had three young kids at the time, but I treated it like a job and it worked out okay. And so since then, I was actually a single mom at that time. I met my husband while I was in law school and We've been married 10 years now. He's a wine grape. Thank you. He's a wine grape grower. And a few years back we decided to start making wine. And now we have a winery and restaurant in downtown Lubbock.

Wow.

And talk about challenges. We opened on March 4th of 2020. We closed back down on March 20th.

We will not have you talk on timing.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, but, you know, this has been the year of really putting into practice what has always been my philosophy about resiliency, determination, and not taking no for an answer. Basically, yes.

So what, what was part of your decision to go back to school? Obviously, you know, you were. You decided I got to. I want more out of life than this. I want more control, but I got to get some skills. And so it's a big deal with three kids to arrange to say all that's a. What went into that. That's a huge deal. And you probably didn't fall into place automatically.

It did not. And I had always been interested in potentially going to law school. I had worked at an attorney's office, actually at Texas Tech. I worked for one of the general counsel's offices as a student. And I really enjoyed it. And so it was always something that I had been interested in. But I kind of got to a crossroads in my life and dec that, you know, this has always been something that I felt like fit me and my skill set, my personality. And so I started checking into it and as things happen, the doors just opened up well and it was a wonderful experience. Luckily, I went to a law school that works well with non traditional students. We had my section, as they call them in law school. You kind of your first year, you're in this group of about 50 as we were, and you go to all the same classes. We were the quote, parent section. So they let us start a little bit later so that we never had to worry about getting our kids to school at the crack of dawn. We could get them at a normal time there. And so it was really a good experience. It was a lot of work, but I think it was the right decision for me.

What kinds of jobs did you have in your early life that you things that you tried, things that were you pursued even though you were noticed when you worked if a legal firm that you kind of felt at home, you kind of liked the vibe and the whole industry, that way of earning a living. What other kind of things did you get diverted into doing?

Well, early on I mentioned social work. I actually worked a lot with foster children and I did some counseling with women and teens. And I believe that that really gave me some good empathy for people as well as some communication skills to talk to someone, something that's difficult, and to help us both to communicate with each other. And so I do believe that that has helped me so much in my career now, really having empathy for my clients. You know, every once in a while having an attorney is a good thing, but usually it's not the greatest thing in someone's life. I have a lot of clients that hire me for business disputes and like that. And so, you know, it's given me a lot of good skills to have empathy and communic with them about what's going on and what our strategy should be.

Now you felt, I mean, that had to be very fulfilling and you, you know, you were learning things from it. But did you have the thing inside you where you felt like you wanted more? Is that part of it? What was what, what was the drive of. The drive of the Elizabeth Hill story that got her, that drove her, motivated her to, you know, just apply into these schools?

Sure. Well, you know, I think that sometimes we end up at a place in our life that maybe we didn't expect to be at. And that was where I was. I was a single mom of three children, and, you know, my marriage to their dad didn't work out, but I wanted to really kind of start my life anew and do everything that I could to make them proud. And so this. This is what I decided to do. I had known a couple of attorneys in my life that I looked up to that I thought did a really good job, had wonderful ethics. And so I was inspired and just thought, you know, I'll start checking into it. And once I started checking into it, it became clear to me that this is the right move for me. And I still believe that today that. That I was meant to be an attorney.

Now, you did well. I mean, you did incredibly well in School. Top one, let's see. Was that the top 1% that you graduated? Now, how many. How many lawyers are they. Are they graduating?

My year, I believe there were like 250 or so, maybe, give or take some. Now the classes are actually a little bit smaller because there are more law schools in Texas since then. But at that time, yes, big law.

Class, so finished in the top 1%. That had to. Now, was that by accident? None of these things, success. You don't accidentally turn out number one in your class. Was that a goal of yours or what was. What was your thinking?

Well, I will say I was number three, but I, you know, I was really excited about that, and I haven't really shared that with many people because I don't want it to come across as too boastful. But, yeah, it was a lot of work, and I actually had to kind of work my way up. I got there right at the end of the third year. And so it was a process. It was learning what my strengths were, what my weaknesses were, and making sure that I worked on all of those, capitalized on my strength, and really worked to improve my weaknesses. And so, you know, it involved more reading and studying than I ever comprehended I might have to do. And so law school, I think for most schools, it is very competitive, and I think that to some degree, I flourished in that. It was very stressful, and I had to work on managing that stress. But I did flourish in an environment that was competitive and the competition, you.

Could have probably floated through and nobody would have known. I would. Big pats on the back for just getting the law degree with three kids and starting with a late start. But that wasn't enough for you. You could have made it a lot less stressful. But what do you think that. Where do you think that came from?

You know, I've always been pretty competitive.

Why is that?

You know, I think part of it is innate. I think part of it is my personality in the mix. But I also had a really, really encouraging mom. I believe that was very helpful. You know, I've always had that kind of personality that enjoys a challenge and is not afraid to try something that I've never done before and that I might not do well or I might fail at. And so I've never hesitated in that way. And so I do. I do think it's a bl of nature and nurture.

And when we talk about children, raising children, it's, you know, being ready to compete, Having enough starch inside of you to where you'll compete, you'll fight back in life is not, like, optional. It's absolutely necessary. And the degree to which you have that is going to determine how much life. You're going to allow life to beat you down, you know? And does that resonate with you?

Definitely. Especially this past year. And I'm sure lots of people feel that way. But it was kind of the same way in law school as well. You know, it was very. How do I say this? We had to develop a thick skin pretty quickly, and we had to be willing to accept constructive criticism and the potential of being wrong in front of a lot of people. And so I think that in so many ways, that was so helpful just in life for me. And so I know that a lot of people really didn't like that method, but I think that it helped me and built me to who I am today.

And did. Did you get. Did you do athletics growing up? Did you do sports?

Yeah, I did. I did. I really enjoyed it. Yeah. I was from a small town where you could do pretty much everything.

Yeah, right.

That was fun. Yeah.

Yeah. And the thing is that the lessons, you know, even lions and tigers, they've got to teach the young to hunt, you know, because you think it would come naturally, but it has to be developed. You got to teach them. There's skills involved and you get. And that's a priority. And I think that with a lot of our teaching of our children, we don't teach. I think number one thing that's not taught is values enough and character, because they're going to be out there and they're going to be faced with drug decision and the immorality, and it's going to be very seductive. It's not going to be like, you know, it's going to be the most seductive, attractive people in their school, in the community that are going to be trying to pull them. They're actively out there trying to pull your kids into, you know, get off the track. And so if you don't have. In addition to all the education and facts, we stick in them. One of the things is to teach them values and give them morality and reasons for that, which is why I'm really big on getting kids into the Bible and getting those Bible verses in their head where they take it serious or not early on while they're receptive, but also to teach them to compete. And one of the things is that I've heard, I wonder if, since you've got your mom, I thought that would be interesting to get your take on this. The, you know, letting kids enjoy the privilege of earning their own money as young as possible and get that experience that. The confidence that comes from that. My money, you know, I, you know, I went out there and did something to get this, to get start to get that competitive juices that, you know, reap what you sow type mentality going, you know, activate that part of their brain as early as possible is a key to it. I think it's overlooked a lot of times.

I agree. And that's, you know, one of the bonuses of being an entrepreneur is that you can take your kid to work anytime you want to. And so we've done a lot of that. They see how hard we work, both in my practice, but also in the winery and restaurant. That's very hard work on so many levels. And so that's been really good. And I think it does really mold them into just hard workers, understanding a good work ethic and it. It serves so well throughout life.

Yeah. And the thing is the fact that you have benefited from a lot of that. You know, we don't even know how we're being raised, you know, but we can't help. You know, those of y' all that are listening that do not have any of these advantages of these, this kind of encouragement from a parent or whatever, you still got to live your life, you know, and you still got to get on with it. However, when you get out there and learn how to win and start making winning a way of life and start building a legacy of positive accomplishment, being productive, and you have your kids come along, I mean, that is something you can pass on and make generational. Generational, and that makes a huge difference. So it's a matter of we're not going to be here forever. So maybe that didn't happen to some of y' all listening, but start thinking about your own kids and not just giving them everything because I didn't have anything. So they're going to get all the food, they're going to get all the luxury. Yeah. But give them a foundation to be competitive. Give them values where they can make the right decisions and think long term rather than short term, you know, long term game rather than short term thrill. And they can stay on track and, you know, turn into people that accomplish big things. Now, as you, you get out of law school, you've got this, you know, you've got some notoriety and you've got some sizzle for the law firms out there. Was it. Did you get the position you wanted coming out of school?

I did. You know, part of being a parent and already being established with a family is that I really did not have many options or I chose not to have many options to go outside of Lubbock. And so I was able to get a job with the firm that I wanted to be at. And it was actually a really good match because I became really good friends with one of the partners daughters. And so she told me about the firm, said you should apply and look at it. And that ended up being a great match. It was one of the largest firms in Lubbock and it was a really good experience and I loved it. I was there for about five years before I went out on my own.

So you've been out on your own for a while now and.

Four years.

Four years. And did you. You got, you, you've got honors inside the. Not only did, well, excel at school, but as an attorney, you've got outstanding recognition there. Explain that.

Well, so one thing that was really neat about the firm that I worked for and that I really appreciate is that they let me take on some appellate cases early. That was what I did in law school. Were these. Yes.

For us legal dummies, appellate means.

It means after there's been a trial and there is a judgment, then you can have the option of appealing. And appellate law is so specialized that usually attorneys that do appellate law are specialized. And I just got board certified in appellate law this past year. It's just, it's really different than anything else. And what I got to do in law school was I got to do these mock cases. It was called Moot Court, but these mock cases where we wrote a brief and got to argue. And that was an encouragement, incredible experience. And so I was Able to jump in on that pretty early on in my career. I actually, I argued at the Texas Supreme Court when I had been licensed one year and two months.

That had to be intimidating.

It was. It was kind of crazy because it was my very first appellate argument. And the reason. The reason I got it is because I was willing to work for cheap and, you know, just whatever I could do to get a good experience. And what's really interesting about that is it was one of those cases where I got there and I knew the odds were against me. I did not prevail. I did get a really good dissent from one of the justices, but I actually was able to form a really great professional relationship with the justice who wrote the opinion because he reached out to me later at an event in Lubbock and said, hey, I know I wrote the opinion and against your client, but you did an awesome job and I hope to see you there again. And so it was a really neat experience. And so after that, I was able to do some more appellate work and now I'm board certified. So it's been a fun run so far.

Congratulations. And the honors you've gotten for the State Bar of Texas. Explain that. That's the top 1/3 of 1%. The elite of the elite attorneys in Texas have an association, invitation only association. Is that way I understand it, right?

Yes, yes. So there are several organizations, but I believe. Are you referring to the Texas Bar Foundation? Is that the.

Yes, I think so. A fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.

Yes, yes. So that is invitation only. And I was able to get that invitation about a year ago and a judge invited me, which was really encouraging. And so, yeah, that's been a privilege to be a part of. Sadly, I haven't been able to go to any events because there haven't been any. But the idea is to develop a community that you can go to and rely on. And that's really helpful when you're a solo practitioner like me.

Yeah, that course, every. All the other attorneys in town hate you now, and I don't.

I'm sure some have no idea that. What that is, but.

Well, the thing is, did you know what it was before you got invited? Had you ever.

I had heard of it before. I didn't realize all of the ins and outs of how it worked, but I had. Yeah, I had heard of it. Yes. Yeah.

It's not something. And it's not something you can aspire to it, but you could. It's not the kind of thing you can earn your way in. It's just you have to be invited, right? And so that, see, that's the thing about when you, the UN thought of benefits of winning and being successful and sticking your neck out and actually pulling off some great things, you don't just win that super bowl, you open up all the opportunities that's on the other side of that that you can't even imagine because you've never won a Super bowl, you know, and that is a perfect example of even in a professional feel like law, there are rewards, there are things that most attorneys never hear about because they don't know anybody who's in that. And it's just not never comes up. But there are these hidden jewel type things that can happen to you if you bust your rear, put yourself on the line. And that advantage right there, being in that group has got to be a career changer in terms of your colleagues. Because the way you get better, it's hard to get better when you're in there by yourself other than just mileage, you know, and experience. But when you get in a group of other elite people and you have a reason, a project going on or association or so that's one reason. Elizabeth, I love doing this podcast because it gives me an excuse to associate and have conversations with super successful people like yourself. And we could talk about the ins and outs of winning. We can learn from each other, share our vantage point, you know. And now you've got that in law.

Absolutely. And I do the same thing. I just love listening to podcasts like yours and really learning from other people. And no matter what we accomplish, we can continue to do that from each other.

Well, I appreciate the sharing your start, how you got up to this level of success in your own business at such an early age. And next time we get together, I want to hear about the entrepreneurial side of life and how that's expanding your brain and awareness and possibilities. What that's adding to you going from a professional, not quitting your profession and going entrepreneurial. Because there's a lot of professionals that buy a vineyard or something after they've been the big success. But you're doing both, so that's going to be a lot of fun to talk about. So until next time, thanks so much, Elizabeth.

Thank you, Larry, for having me.