Meet Delvecchio Parks: Legal Business Consultant

We had the good fortune of connecting with Delvecchio Parks and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Delvecchio, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I have never been a great employee because of my mindset and I can admit it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always done excellent work at all my jobs, but my heart was never in working for others. Over the course of time, there have been three truths I have come to which made me start my own business. First, from my very first jobs back at McDonald’s and the GAP, I was aware of my disdain for working for others. When I was younger it was more about taking directions from others and lack of desire to adhere to the hierarchy of the corporate world. After finishing college and obtaining my Master’s degree, I worked at a low-wage paying job which I ultimately was fired from based on the economic recession of 2008. I think while I understood it was based on the financial restraints faced by the employer, the experience was more eye-opening because I lost the job based on made-up violations right after receiving stellar marks on my evaluation. I was expendable because I was leaving soon to go to law school, but was in desperate need of the paychecks to fund my move. Losing a job, under those circumstances, sparked a new construct of how I looked at employment. The second truth I came to was that there was no such thing as job security, especially when an employer needed to cut costs. The third truth I discussed came when I was working as a Labor Representative in California. Through my employment, I was able to set my schedule and control my time. It was amazing to almost be my own boss in some respects and I loved it. I discovered I needed to control my own time in the pursuit of making a living for myself.

While I have maintained employment over the years, I have been on the active search to work for myself. The truth of the matter, I have come to a place where I understand to truly control my life and have the abundance and joy I truly desire, it will never come from punching the clock. Since 2014, I attempted to start numerous businesses while in California, Africa, and back here in Atlanta because I wanted total freedom. Those businesses never panned out. When I returned home to Atlanta, I told myself I was going to build a business for my family. I started a home remodeling company to help my father use his skill set and to get out of the rat race. That business was severely impacted by a lack of capital, a lack of staff, and then the pandemic. I switched my focus to a business more in my wheelhouse and started a law firm focusing on small and midsize businesses after I passed the Bar here in Georgia.

The primary inspiration for my law firm came from watching business owners struggle mightily with the legal operations of their business. From attempting to run my own businesses, I understood the lack of capital to pay for services. I heard from and observed these business owners skipping legal services because the services were just too expensive for their budgets. They felt that attorneys and the services they offered were dispensable! So these owners would either not get any of their legal affairs in order or were attempting to do trademarks, incorporation, and/or contracts themselves. The affordability of legal services was an issue and I aimed to provide a solution to this problem for business owners. My business was launched with the goal of educating business owners through affordable products where they can learn the legal skills if they desire and avoid the expensive legal fees associated with acquiring business legal services. A solid legal foundation is vital for any business that hopes to have success and grow. So by starting my own virtual law firm, I was thinking I can eventually own my own 24 hours, I can combine my passion for business and law by sharing my business law knowledge and create useful products for entrepreneurs and business owners like myself, and I would stop depending on an employer to pay for my life.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I have been practicing law for approximately nine years now. I started my legal career in the criminal courts of Cook County in Chicago. I quickly understood that while the work of a defense attorney is needed, the work is taxing. Additionally, there are plenty of times where the work that is done is in vain. It’s a heavy burden to carry when your work can determine life or death. I switched my legal focus when I moved to California to labor and employment. I gained an extensive knowledge base in contracts, negotiations, and intellectual properties through my work with the California government. It was during this time, I was offering services to help friends, family, and referrals incorporate their businesses, register trademarks, draft contracts, and deal with estate planning. While I never relied on these for my primary income, I was always learning more about these areas of law. But it wasn’t until I tried my hand at building a few businesses of my own that realized the reason why business owners people do not have proper business operations often time due to lack of funding and capital something. As I stated, it took my surrounding myself with a bunch of business owners here in Atlanta to realize that there was a lack of budgeting for certain business necessities like legal services. I learned it was because of a lack of understanding by some business owners of what legal services they even needed to operate legally. While on the other hand, it was an affordability issue for others.

I recently started my law firm in November 2020. I started out simply seeking to provide more education on the topics of trademarks, proper incorporation, and adherence to the legal formalities of business operation, contracts. Additionally, I wanted to provide cheaper legal services than what I saw on the market. I learned the hard way, most business owners who care about their business growth are not necessarily looking for cheap services. They are willing to pay the cost to have legal protections in place for their business. What I came to understand was a lot of business owners do not want to pay for legal services at all! There is a growing population of business owners who feel they can do themselves what attorneys do. So they go about registering their own business, filing their own intellectual property registrations, or drafting their own contract from online templates. Over the past few months, I have received numerous calls from individuals who took the do-it-yourself approach and ultimately skipped important steps, excluded vital information, completely messed up their filing, or ended up in a bad business circumstance. They needed help correcting their missteps and this caused them more money than it would have just to consult an attorney first. I decided what would set me apart from other attorneys is that I do not want to perform services for business owners, I want to teach them how to do it correctly themselves. I believe in teaching a man to fish from themselves and not depending on someone else to do what they can do with proper education. Most attorneys are looking to line their pockets by charging exorbitant fees and they need you to keep coming back. That’s not the type of attorney I aim to be. I truly want people to learn to do it the correct way if they are going to attempt to do it.

Getting my message to the masses has not been the easiest process. In the midst of the pandemic, face-to-face networking is limited. I thrive better in live interactions. Social media, while I know the impact it has on driving business, I have yet to understand how to provide informative content for a legal professional, without all the lavish lifestyle posts and/or over-the-top videos to follow the trends. None of what makes social media a great avenue to promote one’s business fits my personality type. So I have found it difficult to generate a following to get my message that high attorney fees are not necessary to have a legally sound business. I think my brand can provide a ton of value to business owners seeking to understand the legal portion of their business more completely. I think the legal coaching and education products I am putting together will be beneficial to business professionals.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Atlanta is the tourism capital of the south. There is so much to do. For a friend coming to visit me, we are going to be doing things off the beaten path and eat a little different because I am a vegetarian.

We would definitely go to the Trap Museum to soak up some true Atlanta culture. We will visit Switchyards ping pong. We would do some water rafting on the Chattahoochee River. We would go sightseeing along the beltline as any place on the beltline is a great time to be had. We would visit Pin and Proper or the Painted Pin for some bowling. Of course, if there are any sports being played, catching a game at either the State Farm Arena, Mercedez Benz Stadium, or Suntrust Park.

Eating would include Slutty Vegan of course, Faux Burger, Tassili’s, food from the Atlanta food truck park on Howell mill road, Life Bistro, True Food Kitchen, Chi-chi tacos and too many others to name. I love to eat!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I know a lot of people worthy of being highlighted. I was recommended by Patricia Murray (Owner of “Caked By Pat”) whom I think deserves so much credit for her support in my efforts to start my law firm. Plus she has a wonderful business herself and she is growing every day. I dedicate this shoutout interview to her because not only she an awesome business owner, she is an amazing partner and we push each other to get better each and every day. She inspires me!

As far as someone who deserves the recognition of their story, I would say Ebony Ruffin. She is a life insurance specialist. She is educating people on the importance of life insurance, the various types of insurance available, and how to acquire insurance in a way that meets your needs, but aligns with your family’s budget. Ebony can be reached at eruffin@ruffinconsultingservices.com.

Website: www.parkscri.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fivestaresquire/

Image Credits
Rhonda Mann, TeawithLemon, LLC