Episode 32, featuring Stephanie Chen Banjo; interview by Jordan Abshire. Stephanie previews her upcoming NALSC Conference breakout session, Navigating Candidate Roadblocks, where she will explore the hidden psychological and practical factors that influence lawyers' career-move decisions. Drawing from her work as an executive and career coach in professional services, Stephanie explains how many attorneys follow a "conveyor belt" career progression until they reach a point where the path forward becomes less defined, forcing them to reconsider what success truly means. She discusses the role confidence plays at every stage of a legal career, the importance of helping candidates articulate what they are optimizing for, and how recruiters can listen more deeply to distinguish between curiosity, hesitation, and genuine readiness for change. We look forward to hearing from Stephanie in New Orleans, where she will offer practical coaching techniques recruiters can use to identify motivation, risk tolerance, and decision ownership, helping them determine when to advance, nurture, or pause candidate conversations

Episode 31, featuring Chris De Santis; interview by Jordan Abshire. Chris previews his upcoming NALSC Conference session, Closing the Generational Communication Gap. Chris explains how generational friction is less about personality and more about deeply embedded differences in upbringing, authority, communication, and expectations, with conflict most often arising between adjacent generations rather than distant ones. He discusses themes from his book, Why I Find You Irritating, including the concept of "lopsidedness"—the idea that everyone is exceptional at something but not everything—and why effective teams and leaders must intentionally leverage complementary strengths. The episode also explores how AI and shifting norms are changing recruiting, elevating the recruiter's role as a trusted advisor and validator in an increasingly skeptical, technology-mediated environment.

Episode 30, featuring Ava Diamond Dreyer and Andrew Blatter; interview by Jordan Abshire. Ava and Andrew preview their upcoming Brain Care Basics session at the NALSC Conference in New Orleans. Take-aways: Recruiting is neurologically demanding because recruiters are always "on" and operate in a high-stakes, low-control environment. Resulting amygdala activation and stress chemistry can distort judgment. Strategies in New Orleans will offer healthy control over internal state for clearer perception and better engagement with clients/firms; pillars include nutritional psychology, neuroscience-based mindset, strategic movement, and restoration.

Podcast Episode 29, featuring David Lat, legal industry observer and founder of Above the Law and Original Jurisdiction; interview by Jordan Abshire. David shares his thoughts on how Above the Law has changed the legal profession. David also discusses the impact of OCI's accelerated timeline on lateral movement, the implications of AI, and marketing / branding advice for recruiters. Lastly, David previews his Keynote Address at our upcoming Annual Conference in New Orleans.

Podcast Episode 28, featuring PJ Dunn, Certified Pro-Dev Coach, Behavioral Strategist; interview by Stuart Tenhoor. Stuart and PJ cover a wide-range of topics relevant to recruiters specifically and professionals generally, including self-limiting beliefs, imposter syndrome, Clifton strength finders, networking tips, untapped potential, and the concept of having a co-pilot, i.e. someone who can see all of the dials / gauges while you fly the plane.

Podcast 27, featuring Patrick Fuller, Chief Strategist, Legal at ALM; interview by Jordan Abshire. A long-term friend of NALSC, Patrick covers a range of topics, including law firm strategy & challenges across segments, how recruiters can use data, and the importance of being unique, memorable, & irreplaceable. Patrick injects his trademark humor along the way and closes with a preview of his current book project, inspired by a virtual NALSC session during the pandemic.

Podcast 26, featuring Well-Being, Stress Resiliency, & Peak Performance Consultant Jarrett Green; interview by Jordan Abshire. Jarrett will be presenting the Keynote at our upcoming Symposium in Denver on "Thriving through the Chaos: Science-Based Tools to Emotionally and Cognitively Thrive and Maximize Your Productivity."

In this episode, Jarrett covers his journey from Skadden associate to lawyer wellness. Key takeaways: 1) Protect the first 5 mins and last 30 mins of your day by putting away cell phone; your brain needs time to warm-up and wind-down. 2) We have to face that limiting beliefs that prevent us from doing the thing that will actually make us perform better and be happier. 3) Wellness programs in law school are effective; paraphrasing Frederick Douglass: "It is easier to build strong lawyers than to repair broken ones."

Podcast 25, featuring Personal Branding and LinkedIn Expert, Kait LeDonne; interview by Jordan Abshire. Kait will be presenting at our upcoming Symposium in Denver on "Building a Magnetic Personal Brand to Elevate Legal Recruiting Success".

In this episode, we cover the importance of narrative and story-telling, even to a skeptical, logic-oriented audience of lawyers; "facts tell and stories sell." Other wisdom includes: 1) authenticity does not equal oversharing. 2) It takes 60 impressions for your story / brand to resonate with a digital audience; when you're getting bored telling it, they are only just tuning in. 3) Branding online is building intimacy at scale. It's creating this perception where people feel like they know you before they know you, and they feel comfortable with you.

Podcast 24, featuring Eva Wisnik; interview by Jordan Abshire. Career and interview expert Eva Wisnik previews her upcoming panel at the Fall Symposium "Best Practices for Interviewing and Acquiring Lateral Talent." Eva shares a number of interviewing gems like: 1) Avoid familiarity and curiosity questions; instead, ask questions that give you the chance to hear their thinking. 2) Don't ask questions in the negative. Instead of asking people what their weakness is, for example, ask them how your firm could help them grow. 3) Make sure each interviewer on your panel knows what their specific objective is.

Podcast 23, featuring Blane Prescott; interview by Jordan Abshire. Law firm management consultant Blane Prescott discusses partner compensation, origination credits, two tiered systems, lateral partner vetting and more. Wisdom dropped includes: the highest paid partner at a firm may well be under-paid; most partners don't demonstrate whether they're going to be successful at business development until their mid-to-late 30s; only 10 to 15% of partners are ever going to be great rainmakers.