Freeman Means Business' Wonder Women in Business Podcast

As a young girl, Christine Clair sold friendship bracelets in the tasting room of Willamette Valley Vineyards. Her life-long connection and passion to fulfill the founder's dream of making world-class Pinot Noir lead her back to the winery where she serves as Winery Director overseeing winemaking, vineyards, sales and marketing, and is training to replace the Founder/CEO upon his retirement.  In 2015, Christine co-founded a new company division, Oregon Estate Vineyards, with Jim Bernau, dedicated to continuing to share the Oregon story through wine by building boutique brands on some of Oregon's most intriguing vineyard sites. In 2018, Christine helped coordinate the Oregon Solidarity collaboration wines as a way to help Southern Oregon winegrowers who had their contracts canceled just days before harvest. Christine was honored with Portland Business Journal's 2017 Forty Under 40 Award.  

Carliz Sotelo Moore co-founded Wigs.com in 1999.  After working hard to create one of the most popular wig websites in in the world from the ground up Carliz and her team turned their focus on education and helping people find their beautiful both inside and out!  She has been a wig wearer and passionate advocate of wearable hair for every woman.  Hailed as one of the top wig experts in the industry, Carliz’s passion and mission is to provide a convenient, supportive, and educational platform for those who are affected by hair loss or looking to feel better about their hair. She has a desire to help women in their journey to wearing and learning about alternative hair.

Julie helps clients negotiate investment-related agreements of virtually every type, including investment management, trust, securities lending and transition management agreements, as well as many different types of trading agreements. She represents employee benefit plan investors in all types of private fund investments, negotiating fund documentation and side letters to address ERISA and other risk management issues. She also counsels financial services and investment management clients on ERISA compliance. 

But wait! That's not all!

For the Fun Part…

Americans began listening to game shows on the radio and were immediately hooked on the excitement and thrill of competition. As television came of age in the 1940s and ’50s, game shows made a natural transition to the new medium. There’s something about watching contestants match wits onscreen: We love to play along, shouting answers at the television.

“We play games at home, we play games at parties, we go to clubs and play games. Americans love games,” says Bob Barker, host of the long-running “The Price Is Right.” Some game shows were edgy, such as “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” or they could be educational, such as “Jeopardy.” 

Having fun with celebrities became a staple for Julie Stapel. She is bright, dynamic, witty, and has a lot of grit. Just as she tells stories of her lifelong love of game shows, I can bet the celebrities tell stories of Julie Stapel. 

Cheryl Aufdemberge is passionate about helping lawyers reach their digital marketing goals. She always wanted to practice law but the opportunity never arose so she chose to become a marketing tech serving the legal community.

Cheryl loves all things tech and social. Her years of experience reside in the realm of websites, blogs, e-marketing, CRM, social media and online research. Cheryl is a member of the Legal Marketing Association (LMA), The Freelance Exchange of Kansas City (FXofKC), International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA), Social Media Club of Kansas City (SMCKC), and International Legal Technology Association (ILTA).

When she isn't working, you can find Cheryl planning/managing events for local nonprofit organizations.

Michelle Tillis Lederman, one of Forbes Top 25 Networking Experts, is the author of four books including the internationally known, The 11 Laws of Likability, and the #1 new release The Connectors Advantage. Michelle is a connection creator and CEO of Executive Essentials, which provides customized communications and leadership programs for fortune 500, non-profit, university and government clients. A former finance executive and NYU Professor, Michelle is a regular in the media appearing on NBC, CBS, Fox, NPR, the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, CNBC, and others. Michelle is known for helping people work better together and advance their individual impact.

Katie started Firesign to help legal industry clients attract, win and retain business. She draws upon more than 10 years of experience at two of the nation’s largest law firms to build brands that connect and business plans that deliver.

As the chief marketing officer at Lathrop & Gage, and then Shook, Hardy & Bacon, Katie led all business development and marketing communications for the national Am Law 200 firms. She started the client feedback program at Lathrop, now in its ninth year, and launched the award-winning agribusiness practice. Her full-scale rebrand of Shook earned “Best Identity” from the Legal Marketing Association’s Midwest chapter. During her Shook tenure, she also created a business development dashboard to show pitches and wins in real time, and most relevant to Firesign clients, her department brought in eight figures of new work.

Katie’s in-house marketing teams won recognition for branding, websites, internal programs and other tactics, but she may be more proud that she outlawed stock photos of gavels, law books and the scales of justice at both organizations.

Her experience extends beyond the discipline of marketing into the business of law; she is adept at marshalling resources, staff and technology. She has advised on leadership transitions, mergers and acquisitions, and office openings and closings.

A former journalist, Katie previously covered legal issues for the Associated Press and three newspapers. As a reporter, she learned to deliver under deadline, simplify complex ideas and wield a ruthless grammar standard.

Pat Gillette is one of the country’s leading experts and most sought-after speakers on gender diversity and equality.  She speaks regularly at law firm retreats, conferences, ABA meetings, State Bar meetings and industry events.

For most of the 40 years over which Ms. Gillette practiced law, she was rated as a top employment litigator and trial lawyer by Chambers and other organizations and was a leader and rainmaker in her firms, At the end of 2015 she resigned as a partner at Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe, LLP to pursue her passion for empowering women through keynote speaking and writing. She was also invited to join JAMS to mediate employment cases and now has a successful mediation practice. 

Ms. Gillette’s newest book, “Rainmakers: Born or Bred” is filled with practical tactics and strategies that can be easily implemented to enhance business development skills and books of business. The book highlights the nationally acclaimed Rainmaker Study and includes helpful tips from rainmakers and clients across the country. This groundbreaking study, coupled with Ms. Gillette’s insights from her own experiences, brings a fresh perspective and approach to business development. 

Ms. Gillette has been widely recognized for her work to advance women in the profession. Most recently, she was chosen as the 2018 recipient of the ABA Margaret Brent Award, the highest honor given to women lawyers for professional achievements and advancing the interests of women in the profession. She has also received the ABA Golden Hammer Award, the California Women Lawyers Association’s Fay Stender Award, the Transformational Leadership Award as one of the Top Women Rainmakers, and the Barristers Association of San Francisco Award of Merit. 

Ms. Gillette is the co-founder of the Opt-In Project, a nationwide initiative focused on changing the structure of law firms to increase the retention and advancement of women. Her team at the 2016 Diversity Lab Hackathon created the Mansfield Rule, requiring that 30% of all candidates for leadership positions be women or minorities. The Mansfield Rule has been adopted by over 60 firms nationwide and is increasing the visibility and pipeline of women and minorities for leadership positions in firms and organizations.

Ms. Gillette has been a Commissioner on the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, a member of ABA’s Gender Equity Task Force, Co-Chair of the BASF No Glass Ceiling Initiative, a member of the National Women Lawyers Association Board and Foundation, and she serves on several non-profit boards dedicated to protecting and promoting women, including Equal Rights Advocates and DirectWomen, 

Ms. Gillette is the proud mother of two successful and enlightened sons and lives in Kensington, California with her husband of 40+ years. She was an elected official in her town and is active in political and community organizations and activities.

Visit Ms. Gillette’s website at www.patriciagillette.com. 

Deborah Farone has had the unique opportunity to play a role in developing the best practices in professional services marketing by working with the most respected and demanding professionals in the world.

Over the past two decades, Ms. Farone has carved out a niche by distinguishing herself as the chief marketing officer of two of the country’s most successful law firms and the founder of both firms' business development and communications departments. But before entering into the legal marketing profession, she sharpened her communications and business development skills by working at a global management consulting firm. When she applied for her first position out of college, she didn’t take no for an answer when applying to the PR firm she had her eye set on for her first job. After receiving numerous letters stating the firm was not hiring, the third letter she submitted to the firm along with a press kit demonstrating her experience did the trick.  She was hired as a coordinator in the firm’s new business department.

Best Practices in Law Firm Business Development and Marketing is a unique resource for law firm leaders, practicing attorneys, legal marketers, consultants, and educators who want to uncover the best marketing practices in the legal profession. Find out how the most successful law firm leaders are creating and developing firm cultures to encourage business development, and how smaller firms and single practitioners are executing on marketing plans to make an impact.

Deborah's new book uncovers the best practices in the wide arena of legal marketing.

Anne Ahola Ward is chief executive officer at Veritoken Global. Dubbed "The Mother of Startups" by CNN, Ward is an entrepreneur, futurist, and published O'Reilly author. As CEO of Veritoken Global, Ward has led the way for updates in blockchain technology, specifically utilizing previously underappreciated technology known as "Non-Fungible Tokens" (NFTs) to help alleviate global suffering for the unbanked.

In a career that spans more than 15 years, Ward has thrived in most areas of technology, having mastered nearly every role in web development including DBA, webmaster and developer. Ward was an early entrant into the field of search engine optimization and in 2009 co-founded digital marketing agency, CircleClick, which has worked with world-renowned companies including Apple and Samsung. Ward was named one of Entrepreneur's "27 Top Masters of Marketing that everyone can learn from" in 2014, and "Top 50 Inspirational Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2017." Ward frequently tours as an IoT Influencer with the elite IBM Futurist Program.

Sheenika S. Gandhi leads the development, oversight and implementation of the firm’s strategic marketing and business development objectives.

She is a strong project manager, creative thinker, and a trusted advisor for the firm’s attorneys and management. Her recent notable projects include: an integrated thought leadership strategy, a business development coaching program, and centralized budget and operational processes.

Prior to joining Payne & Fears LLP, Sheenika led the digital marketing strategy for five years at an AmLaw200 firm.

Sheenika received her J.D. from California Western School of Law and her B.A. in Business Administration and International Relations from University of San Diego. Sheenika is a licensed California attorney.

Sheenika is an active volunteer with the Legal Marketing Association, the leading association for legal marketing. She currently assists with programming, communications and sponsorship in her role as Vice-Chair of the Southern California Local Steering Committee.

Committed to helping cultural non-profit organizations grow in their membership and marketing, she has volunteered as a former Co-Chair for both the Young Jains of America and Young Jain Professionals, and served on committees for the Jain Center of Southern California and the Gujarati Society of Southern California. She enjoys yoga, exploring vegan restaurants and traveling.