For a long time, I believed there was a “right” path to becoming a General Counsel.
Big law → transactions → in-house → GC.
And then I started actually talking to people.
What I learned is that I haven’t met anyone who took the exact same path. Not one.
Some were litigators.
Some were regulatory lawyers.
Some did work that, on paper, had nothing to do with being a GC.
Some were never at a law firm at all.
The common thread isn’t box-checking it’s judgment, curiosity, and the willingness to step into whatever the company needs next.
Huge thanks to Cecilia Ziniti for the thoughtful conversation and for featuring me on the podcast. I really enjoyed having the tables turned on me for this one!
Other topics we dive into:
• What it was really like becoming a Fortune 500 GC at 36
• Being thrown into a company-defining acquisition on day one
• Why you can never say “that’s not my area of expertise” as a GC
• How confidence is built by figuring things out when you’re in over your head
• Why AI has become an essential part of my daily workflow in the last six months