Raising a Glass to Progress: Updates and Celebrations with Giselle Urbina

Although often overlooked, there is huge value in practicing the skill of celebration. That’s why Melissa requires all of her clients to celebrate the hard work they put into their businesses and the fruit that comes from their efforts. And to lead by example, this week, you’re hearing a milestone episode all about the celebrations going on inside Velocity Work.

Welcome to a special episode as Melissa celebrates five years of The Law Firm Owner Podcast! There are a handful of other things Melissa is celebrating right alongside the fifth anniversary of the podcast, and she’s using this opportunity to introduce you to Velocity Work’s COO, Giselle Urbina, and highlight everything that’s been going on behind the scenes.

Join Melissa and Giselle on this episode as they dig into the work Giselle has been doing inside the company as COO and facilitator, and how she came into this role. They’re also exploring some of the major client wins that have been happening in Melissa’s groups, the role Giselle has played in ensuring client success, and the updates and improvements you can expect to see soon.

If you’re a law firm owner, Mastery Group is the way for you to work with Melissa. This program consists of quarterly strategic planning facilitated with guidance and community every step of the way. Enrollment opens August 7th, 2024, so click here to join the waitlist right now to grab one of the limited spots!

If you’re wondering if Velocity Work is the right fit for you and want to chat with Melissa, text CONSULT to 201-534-8753.

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What You’ll Discover:

- Giselle’s journey to becoming COO at Velocity Work.
- The development Velocity Work has experienced since having Giselle in the company.
- How Giselle’s work with Melissa as her client gave her direction and purpose.
- What Giselle’s role in Velocity Work entails.
- Examples of client results Giselle has witnessed.
- What Giselle enjoys most about Mastery Group and Syndicate.
- The game-changing updates you can expect from Velocity Work.

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Featured on the Show:

• Create space, mindset, and concrete plans for growth. Start here: Velocity Work Monday Map.
• Join Mastery Group.
• Join the waitlist for our next Monday Map Accelerator, a 5-day virtual deep-dive event.
• Schedule a consult call with us here.
• #150: Finding Ease in Your Leadership Journey with Giselle Urbina.
• #256: What IS Mastery Group?! With Client Services Manager Mika Beccone.

Enjoy the Show?

Leave me a review in Apple Podcasts or anywhere else you listen!

I’m Melissa Shanahan, and this is The Law Firm Owner Podcast Episode #267.

Welcome to The Law Firm Owner Podcast, powered by Velocity Work, for owners who want to grow a firm that gives them the life they want. Get crystal clear on where you're going, take planning seriously, and honor your plan like a pro. This is the work that creates Velocity.

Welcome to this week's episode, everyone. Thank you for tuning in.

This is a special episode because we are celebrating our fifth year as a podcast. That blows my mind. I cannot believe we're at year five. I can't believe I've been doing this once a week for five years straight. It’s been no small feat, let me just say.

But it has been such a joy to do this every week and bring you guys content and try to share the best of what we are learning and knowing inside of Velocity Work. It's a moment to pause and celebrate. So, five years. Which, actually, I think the exact date will be August 6th, which is right around the corner.

But there are a few things to celebrate right alongside this five-year anniversary of the podcast. And so, we're going to use this opportunity to share those celebrations. Some of it, for you guys as listeners, it's important for us to share, because it's all good stuff that you all should know about that is happening behind the scenes here. So, without further ado, I'm going to get straight into it.

The first celebration, of course, is the five-year anniversary of the podcast. And the second one is the fact that we have a COO at Velocity Work, and she is also a facilitator for our company. We are so lucky to have her. She has been here for over a year, but this is really our first introduction publicly with her to the world.

Melissa Shanahan: Giselle, welcome to the podcast.

Giselle Urbina: Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here.

Melissa: I am so thrilled that you're here as well, for so many reasons we'll get into in a moment. But I thought, what an opportunity for us to present Giselle to you, and to the world, by having a little bit of a conversation and having Giselle as a part of this celebratory podcast on some things that are going on. So, yeah, just really stoked to have you here.

Giselle: Thank you. And I'm so happy to spend this time with you and informing everyone about all the things we're celebrating today.

Melissa: Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so Giselle Urbina has been with our company since May of 2023, and things have evolved over time and there's been so much development since you've been here. It's been a really exciting year, a shape-shifting year, having you inside of the company.

And so, I would love to share more about you, about the work that you're doing, and give people an understanding of what is going on here behind the scenes. Because I am sort of face-first and face-out into the world for this company, but we have such an awesome team right now, and we have for the last year, and you have been a huge part of that.

I definitely will give you a chance to say more about how we got here. The history of how Giselle and I met, Giselle and I met about four years ago and she was the COO… Which, actually, there's an evolution to that, your role at that firm… but she was a very key player at the firm and was really doing all the COO things but didn't really have that title.

And through the growth with her and through the firm and the development that we did, she really stepped into that role and owned it. And when I say owned it, owned it like no one I have witnessed before in terms of private clients. The way that you owned it was so impressive, and really stuck with me long before you and I had a conversation about anything to do with you working at Velocity Work.

So, I don't know if you have anything you want to share about four years ago or...?

Giselle: Yes, definitely. I've told you this before, honestly, it was thanks to you. You pushed me in the right way to be able to own that seat. It was very scary to do it. I had a lot of doubt, self-doubt, and confidence issues regarding that. Even though I was actually doing all the work that I needed to be doing to be in that seat.

I just didn't believe it, and Velocity Work worked with me to get there. And I'm so thankful because that really changed so much and I'm very happy about that.

Melissa: Oh my gosh. Well, listen, it was awesome to work with you. And over the years… I mean, you know what's funny? You're saying that and people can listen to... There was an episode, and you were on the podcast back then. And really, after you came to embrace the title of COO and the role and making small shifts, you had all of the skill sets.

It was all there, to such a degree that was so powerful for the seat you were in and for the firm and for the team and development. It was everything. The only thing that was missing was the fact that it was like you almost needed permission to be COO. You hadn't been a COO before, but you had had all of the things that you were supposed to be doing as a COO.

You had been practicing that for years and years and years at Coca-Cola, the company, first, and then at the law firm. So, what a cool journey to see. Like I said, I think the main takeaway there is, you said that we really helped you come into your own with that role. And maybe a bit from the skill set perspective, but not really. It was more the confidence and ability to own it.

Giselle: Yes, and that's super important. Because, I mean, I've seen it in our own clients, how they fear owning certain things in their own firms. It is just not easy. It's not something you're taught. It's something that I guess with time and coaching, or facilitation and self-improvement comes, right? But there's no timeline to do that. So, to me, it took me a while.

And yeah, if you hear back that episode, you see the struggle that I was going through; you can hear it. I recently heard that episode, and I was like everything I said I felt, and it was 100% accurate; the feelings I had. And how I feel now is so much different, and I'm grateful for it.

Melissa: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. For anyone who wants to listen to the episode, we'll make sure that that's in the show notes so you can go back and listen to that. But I will say there was a point, and it was 2022 and then certainly when we crossed over into 2023, you were very drawn to the idea of teaching everything that you had implemented and everything that goes with being COO.

You had a passion and a draw to teach that to other people. You were starting to solidify the idea more and more, because it was really a business idea. It was going to be different, totally separate from the firm. I knew that that was a passion of yours. I could see how great you would be at it.

And there was a point where you asked for some help from me with thinking through setting up that business and the structure of it, how it would be laid out, the order that you would tackle things, how to package it up. We got in a room for a day and hashed a bunch of stuff out.

I basically just tried to pull out of your brain all the things that felt like you wanted to teach and get it into something really coherent that you could start to work with. And I knew when I was facilitating that, I was like, gosh, this is something I'm never going to develop for our company. This is not my forte.

I mostly, at that point, was working with VW was working with owners and their leadership teams about clarity and direction and execution at that high level. I was not involved with the teams at all, not one iota, except for the leadership team themselves.

The work you were doing really was focused on the rest of the team and getting everybody rowing in the same direction, and making your team work cohesively to reach the goals and the vision that the owners and the leadership team had set. And so, to me, it was like, man, that would be so awesome.

And I don't know, life is busy. You kept working on that. I kept working in the business. And then, it was until three or four months later that the dots in my mind had connected enough to basically get on one knee and proposed to you to come and stop doing what you were doing; don't build that company.

Come here. Just come over here. And I really had to sell that, because I wasn't sure exactly what you were looking for, but I knew how much I enjoyed working with you. I knew the value that you bring to humans and to law firms and could bring to law firms. And I could not think of anyone else that I'd ever met, and I mean this, that I wanted to work alongside.

I sat with this for a long time before I presented it to you. I talked to my husband about it. And really it was like, ask, just go for it. Put yourself out there and go for it. To my delight, you were stoked.

Giselle: I said yes.

Melissa: You said yes. Yeah, exactly. I do want to make it clear so that everybody understands. You were doing this. What was happening for you, with the firm, and this new business you wanted to develop, I didn't poach you from the firm. I want to make that super clear. I have zero interest in doing

I’m Melissa Shanahan, and this is The Law Firm Owner Podcast Episode #267.

Welcome to The Law Firm Owner Podcast, powered by Velocity Work, for owners who want to grow a firm that gives them the life they want. Get crystal clear on where you're going, take planning seriously, and honor your plan like a pro. This is the work that creates Velocity.

Welcome to this week's episode, everyone. Thank you for tuning in.

This is a special episode because we are celebrating our fifth year as a podcast. That blows my mind. I cannot believe we're at year five. I can't believe I've been doing this once a week for five years straight. It’s been no small feat, let me just say.

But it has been such a joy to do this every week and bring you guys content and try to share the best of what we are learning and knowing inside of Velocity Work. It's a moment to pause and celebrate. So, five years. Which, actually, I think the exact date will be August 6th, which is right around the corner.

But there are a few things to celebrate right alongside this five-year anniversary of the podcast. And so, we're going to use this opportunity to share those celebrations. Some of it, for you guys as listeners, it's important for us to share, because it's all good stuff that you all should know about that is happening behind the scenes here. So, without further ado, I'm going to get straight into it.

The first celebration, of course, is the five-year anniversary of the podcast. And the second one is the fact that we have a COO at Velocity Work, and she is also a facilitator for our company. We are so lucky to have her. She has been here for over a year, but this is really our first introduction publicly with her to the world.

Melissa Shanahan: Giselle, welcome to the podcast.

Giselle Urbina: Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here.

Melissa: I am so thrilled that you're here as well, for so many reasons we'll get into in a moment. But I thought, what an opportunity for us to present Giselle to you, and to the world, by having a little bit of a conversation and having Giselle as a part of this celebratory podcast on some things that are going on. So, yeah, just really stoked to have you here.

Giselle: Thank you. And I'm so happy to spend this time with you and informing everyone about all the things we're celebrating today.

Melissa: Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so Giselle Urbina has been with our company since May of 2023, and things have evolved over time and there's been so much development since you've been here. It's been a really exciting year, a shape-shifting year, having you inside of the company.

And so, I would love to share more about you, about the work that you're doing, and give people an understanding of what is going on here behind the scenes. Because I am sort of face-first and face-out into the world for this company, but we have such an awesome team right now, and we have for the last year, and you have been a huge part of that.

I definitely will give you a chance to say more about how we got here. The history of how Giselle and I met, Giselle and I met about four years ago and she was the COO… Which, actually, there's an evolution to that, your role at that firm… but she was a very key player at the firm and was really doing all the COO things but didn't really have that title.

And through the growth with her and through the firm and the development that we did, she really stepped into that role and owned it. And when I say owned it, owned it like no one I have witnessed before in terms of private clients. The way that you owned it was so impressive, and really stuck with me long before you and I had a conversation about anything to do with you working at Velocity Work.

So, I don't know if you have anything you want to share about four years ago or...?

Giselle: Yes, definitely. I've told you this before, honestly, it was thanks to you. You pushed me in the right way to be able to own that seat. It was very scary to do it. I had a lot of doubt, self-doubt, and confidence issues regarding that. Even though I was actually doing all the work that I needed to be doing to be in that seat.

I just didn't believe it, and Velocity Work worked with me to get there. And I'm so thankful because that really changed so much and I'm very happy about that.

Melissa: Oh my gosh. Well, listen, it was awesome to work with you. And over the years… I mean, you know what's funny? You're saying that and people can listen to... There was an episode, and you were on the podcast back then. And really, after you came to embrace the title of COO and the role and making small shifts, you had all of the skill sets.

It was all there, to such a degree that was so powerful for the seat you were in and for the firm and for the team and development. It was everything. The only thing that was missing was the fact that it was like you almost needed permission to be COO. You hadn't been a COO before, but you had had all of the things that you were supposed to be doing as a COO.

You had been practicing that for years and years and years at Coca-Cola, the company, first, and then at the law firm. So, what a cool journey to see. Like I said, I think the main takeaway there is, you said that we really helped you come into your own with that role. And maybe a bit from the skill set perspective, but not really. It was more the confidence and ability to own it.

Giselle: Yes, and that's super important. Because, I mean, I've seen it in our own clients, how they fear owning certain things in their own firms. It is just not easy. It's not something you're taught. It's something that I guess with time and coaching, or facilitation and self-improvement comes, right? But there's no timeline to do that. So, to me, it took me a while.

And yeah, if you hear back that episode, you see the struggle that I was going through; you can hear it. I recently heard that episode, and I was like everything I said I felt, and it was 100% accurate; the feelings I had. And how I feel now is so much different, and I'm grateful for it.

Melissa: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. For anyone who wants to listen to the episode, we'll make sure that that's in the show notes so you can go back and listen to that. But I will say there was a point, and it was 2022 and then certainly when we crossed over into 2023, you were very drawn to the idea of teaching everything that you had implemented and everything that goes with being COO.

You had a passion and a draw to teach that to other people. You were starting to solidify the idea more and more, because it was really a business idea. It was going to be different, totally separate from the firm. I knew that that was a passion of yours. I could see how great you would be at it.

And there was a point where you asked for some help from me with thinking through setting up that business and the structure of it, how it would be laid out, the order that you would tackle things, how to package it up. We got in a room for a day and hashed a bunch of stuff out.

I basically just tried to pull out of your brain all the things that felt like you wanted to teach and get it into something really coherent that you could start to work with. And I knew when I was facilitating that, I was like, gosh, this is something I'm never going to develop for our company. This is not my forte.

I mostly, at that point, was working with VW was working with owners and their leadership teams about clarity and direction and execution at that high level. I was not involved with the teams at all, not one iota, except for the leadership team themselves.

The work you were doing really was focused on the rest of the team and getting everybody rowing in the same direction, and making your team work cohesively to reach the goals and the vision that the owners and the leadership team had set. And so, to me, it was like, man, that would be so awesome.

And I don't know, life is busy. You kept working on that. I kept working in the business. And then, it was until three or four months later that the dots in my mind had connected enough to basically get on one knee and proposed to you to come and stop doing what you were doing; don't build that company.

Come here. Just come over here. And I really had to sell that, because I wasn't sure exactly what you were looking for, but I knew how much I enjoyed working with you. I knew the value that you bring to humans and to law firms and could bring to law firms. And I could not think of anyone else that I'd ever met, and I mean this, that I wanted to work alongside.

I sat with this for a long time before I presented it to you. I talked to my husband about it. And really it was like, ask, just go for it. Put yourself out there and go for it. To my delight, you were stoked.

Giselle: I said yes.

Melissa: You said yes. Yeah, exactly. I do want to make it clear so that everybody understands. You were doing this. What was happening for you, with the firm, and this new business you wanted to develop, I didn't poach you from the firm. I want to make that super clear. I have zero interest in doing

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