After making partner in Big Law, Laurice Rutledge Lambert found herself asking, “Is this it?” Laurice joins me for a conversation about leaving behind external markers of success to build a life, and a law firm, Aligned Health Law, grounded in people-first values.

They explore the dark night of the soul that followed her decision to walk away, the spiritual practices that anchored her through fear, and the kind of leader she’s becoming now: one who protects her team, fires clients who cross the line and puts integrity above ego. Along the way, they talk about motherhood, coaching lacrosse, spiritual surrender, and the difference between chasing success and defining it for yourself.

Key Themes:

* Leaving Big Law and reclaiming autonomy

* Building a values-driven business from scratch

* Coaching, motherhood, and leadership as spiritual practice

* Moving from scarcity mindset to abundance

* The quiet power of journaling, surrender, and getting still

Resources Mentioned:

* Wishes Fulfilled by Wayne Dyer

* Dying to Be Me by Anita Moorjani

* Jessica Joines (spiritual executive coach)

Timestamps

0:00 - Laurice's "Is This It?" Moment After Making Partner

0:39 - Introduction to Practically On Purpose and Allie Canton

0:50 - Introducing Laurice Rutledge Lambert

1:19 - Laurice's Journey from Big Law to Aligned Health Law

3:10 - Redefining Leadership Beyond Traditional Big Law

4:09 - Laurice Describes Her Approach to Leadership and Mentorship

4:57 - Inspiring Others to "Bet on Themselves"

5:44 - The Contrast Between Aligned Health Law and Big Law Culture

6:44 - A Full Circle Moment: From Painful Exit to Supportive Connection

9:55 - The Genesis of Aligned Health Law: Identifying a Market Need

13:30 - Overcoming Fear and Taking the Leap into Entrepreneurship

14:48 - The "Dark Night of the Soul" in Entrepreneurship

16:10 - Transformational Practices: Limiting Beliefs and Reconnecting with a Higher Power

18:47 - Shifting from Scarcity to Abundance Mindset

20:00 - Recognizing and Navigating Fear Spirals

21:05 - Embracing Periods of Calm and Presence

22:38 - Stepping into a New Identity as a Leader and Inspirer

25:09 - Practicing Law with Principle: Humility and Gratitude in Action

25:59 - A Real-World Example of Valuing the Team Over Personal Gain

29:59 - Terminating Client Relationships Based on Values

33:57 - Finding Flow and Happiness Beyond Work: Coaching and Family

37:17 - Rapid Reflection: Books, Teachers, and Ideas That Changed Laurice's World

38:18 - What Laurice Used to Think Mattered But Doesn't Anymore

39:09 - Laurice's Guiding Mantra: "I Am Enough"

39:41 - Overcoming Workaholism and Embracing Exhale

40:48 - Advice for Those Questioning Their Path

A few years ago, I skipped a family funeral to attend a client pitch.

I was a third-year associate at a BigLaw firm. Someone said my background was “indispensable” to the meeting. No one blinked when I said I couldn’t go. I told myself it was the right thing—important, even.

But deep down, I knew it wasn’t.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about that version of me. And about a new friend who casually mentioned she was going to “phone it in” at work until it was time to make a big leap.

At first, I laughed. Then I realized: her “phoning it in” still looks like doing her job. Well.

In a world that teaches us to overachieve as proof we belong, simply meeting expectations can feel like rebellion.

My latest piece is about ambition, boundaries, and the esteem-shaped holes we try to fill with gold stars.

In this episode, Nneya Richards joins me to talk about what it means to walk away from the “default path” and build a life that may not be “legible” (h/t Paul Millerd) but is deeply aligned, creatively, personally, and spiritually.

Nneya is a writer, speaker, travel expert, and true multi-hyphenate who’s been ahead of the curve for years. From early bylines at Teen Vogue to building a life across New York, London, and now Italy, she shares how she’s crafted a career that doesn’t fit into a neat box—and why that’s her biggest strength. We talk about the unspoken pressures of elite schools, the privilege baked into creative industries, and the courage it takes to live outside the lines. Nneya opens up about motherhood, identity, rest, and the surprising magic of discomfort. This one’s for anyone questioning the script they were handed and wondering what else might be possible.

Thanks to Mutual Benefit for the outro music!

She did everything right. Harvard trained lawyer, federal prosecutor. But inside, Amanda was unraveling. Raised in a tight-knit Arab American immigrant community, she was taught that success meant stability. A job, a title, a marriage. But the path that promised security left her burnt out, disconnected, and questioning everything.

In this deeply personal conversation, Amanda shares how trauma, identity, faith, and cultural expectations shaped her life and how breaking away from it all led her to meditation, spiritual healing, and a return to her roots in Islam. This is a story for anyone who has ever looked around at a “successful” life and thought: Why do I still feel so lost?

In this episode, Allie reads her recent essay "Reclaiming the Golden Rule" about why the Golden Rule isn't child's play but instead is an urgent message for our time.

She also leads a 10 minute guided meditation practice based on the essay to help us cultivate an open heart.

Many thanks to Mutual Benefit for the rad intro/outro music.

What if letting go of the five-year plan is the first step toward actually feeling like yourself?

In this soul-forward conversation, I sit down with Catherine Pao, a former tech exec turned holistic leadership coach who helps high-functioning humans make friends with their intuition.

She’s also the incredible human who supported me last year through some of the most challenging parts of stepping into my next chapter (working title “former lawyer & spiritual weirdo overshares on the internet”).

Together, we wandered through:

* the moment she walked away from startup life and into a fog of uncertainty (and possibility)

* how structure, when it’s not weaponized by your inner overachiever, can actually support your creativity

* why “wintering” isn’t laziness, it’s preparation

* the unexpected creative project that quietly re-lit her business (and her spirit)

This episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating a transition or craving a life that feels more like them.

Chapters

00:00 Nature's Influence and Personal Reflection

01:58 Career Transitions and Self-Discovery

04:01 Navigating Uncertainty and Trusting the Process

06:52 The Journey of Self-Discovery and Intuition

11:00 Balancing Intuition and Structure

18:51 Embracing Seasons of Life and Transition

28:13 Trusting Yourself in Times of Change

Guest Info:

Catherine Pao is a holistic leadership coach and creativity mentor who helps people integrate their intuitive, creative intelligence with their strategic, intellectual power. She works with ambitious creative spirits, executives, and leaders who desire living life from deeper alignment with their unique soul blueprint.

Her work supports clients in reconnecting with their inner wisdom, unlocking creative flow, feeling a deep sense of thriving and trust in life, and experiencing life as effortlessly abundant—both in their work and within themselves.

Catherine has coached founders, leaders, and teams at Google, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Nextdoor, GitHub, Rippling, and numerous startups through executive coaching, group programs, and leadership development trainings.

Formerly, Catherine led digital marketing and growth product teams at Blue Apron, DigitalOcean, Fab.com, and Microsoft. She holds a degree in Computer Science Engineering and Marketing from the University of Pennsylvania, is a certified Co-Active Coach (CPCC), and a 300-hour registered yoga teacher (RYT-300).

Her current creative delights include: crafting collage mandalas, curating immersive Spotify playlists, dancing 5Rhythms, and exploring the ASTAR creative process.

Learn more at www.catherinepao.com or follow her on Instagram @catherinepao.

Music thanks to Mutual Benefit!

An essay on learning to honor intuition.

Episode Summary

What happens when a top strategist at some of the world’s largest tech companies walks away from the known? In this reflective episode, Glenn DeVore joins Allie to talk about the slow unraveling of his corporate identity, the radical power of not knowing, and the healing that emerged from silence.

From strategy decks to Vipassana retreats, Glenn shares the moments that cracked him open and the writing practice that helped him reassemble with greater presence and purpose. Along the way, they explore the tension between agency and acceptance, the healing power of inner child work, and the life-changing practice of learning how to pause.

Key Themes:

* Leaving a high-level corporate role to pursue a life of greater meaning

* Vipassana meditation, inner child work, and identity reformation

* Writing as a spiritual and psychological practice

* Moving from external validation to inner fulfillment

* Embracing uncertainty without collapsing into fear

Books & Thinkers Mentioned:

* Transitions by William Bridges

* Comfortable with Uncertainty by Pema Chödrön

* Constellations by David Whyte

* Determined by Robert Sapolsky & Free Agents by Kevin Mitchell

* Teachings by Joseph Goldstein and Kamala Masters

* The concept of cetana (Pāli for volition/intention)

Where to Find Glenn:Newsletter: Falling Into Place

Book project: Light: A 5-Day Memoir Into Stillness (coming soon)

Bio

For over 25 years, Glenn DeVore shaped strategy at some of the world’s largest tech companies – work that unfolded alongside a growing inquiry into self, consciousness, and agency. A lifelong student of philosophy, systems thinking, quantum physics, psychology, and theology, his most recent inquiries have turned inward, toward the patterns and perceptions that shape how we make meaning of our lives. Today, Glenn is a writer and poet whose work explores transition, identity, and the emotional architecture of becoming. Drawing from Eastern mindfulness practices, Western philosophy, and both cognitive and physical sciences, his writing invites readers to slow down and attend more fully to what arises. He writes regularly at Falling Into Place, and is currently serializing his first book, Light: A 5-Day Memoir Into Stillness, along with other forthcoming books. Glenn believes that attention, when paired with awareness, discernment, and presence, becomes our most sacred form of agency. It is how we shape experience, choose meaning, and meet the world with intention. We may not always choose what arises, but we do choose how we attend to it – and the story we make of what remains.

Music thanks to Mutual Benefit!

In this grounding meditation, Allie leads you through a gentle body scan and breath-focused practice designed to soothe your nervous system and reconnect you to the present moment. Whether you’re feeling scattered, tense, or simply want to re-center, this practice invites you to drop into the body, release what you’re holding, and remember the simple rhythm of breath in and breath out.

Using simple tools like counting, and compassionate awareness, Allie helps you soften areas of tension and return to a state of calm clarity.

No experience necessary. Just bring your breath and your willingness to be here, now.

Try This Meditation When You…

* Need a reset during your day

* Feel tension in your body and want to unwind

* Want a soothing introduction to mindfulness

* Are short on time but crave presence

Music thanks to Mutual Benefit!

What if the key to lasting wellness wasn’t about overhauling your entire life, but returning to simple truths? In this episode, Allie is joined by Rachel Johnson—lawyer, founder of J&O Law and Ah.mi Health, and mom of three—for an honest conversation about ambition, burnout, wellness, and building a life that feels as good as it looks.

Rachel shares how she transitioned from Big Law to entrepreneurship, how a group text about postpartum health blossomed into a community of 2,000+ women, and what she’s learned about honoring your true self even in high-pressure careers. Together, they explore postpartum depression, the joy of doing things just for you, and how to stop chasing someone else’s version of success.

Key Themes:

* Entrepreneurship and life after Big Law

* From burnout to sustainable wellness

* Postpartum depression and recovery

* Letting go of narrow identities and embracing multiplicity

* Starting small and building community without overwhelm

Mantras and Tools:

* Greens. Water. Move. Repeat. (And sleep!)

* Start with the basics, not biohacks

* It’s okay to do something just because you love it

Resources Mentioned:

* Sam Harris’s Waking Up app

* ah.mi health on Substack

* Instagram: @ahmi.health

Bio

Rachel Johnson is a mom of three and the founder of two companies: J&O Law, a boutique firm for high-growth startups and VC funds, and ah.mi health, a wellness community giving modern women tools and content that inspire healthy habits without the overwhelm. What began as a group text has grown into a 2,000+ member community with bi-weekly newsletters, expert-led small groups, and simple wellness mantras.

Music thanks to Mutual Benefit!