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

Hi Lerae, can you tell us about a book that has had a meaningful impact on you?
The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. This book was a short and easy read but packed with so much practical and useful information that can be used by anyone regardless of age, socioeconomic status, or overall position in life. It has really helped me to establish a morning routine that I have been able to stick with, which has greatly improved the overall quality of my days. I find myself being more intentional and productive each day because of it. Hal coined this term the SAVERS Method as a morning routine. S is for silence (meditation). A is for affirmation. V is for visualization. E is for exercise. R is for reading. S is for scribing/journaling. At a minimum, I do 10 minutes of each every day in the morning so it only added an extra hour to my morning and makes a tremendous difference to my days. I’ve also enjoyed reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Profit First, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The Power of Now. As you can see I’m all about the personal development and financial literacy books these days. I think they’re vital to your personal and business success.  

What should our readers know about your business?
I run a successful boutique law firm based in Atlanta. Our motto is: “Create the business. Protect the brand. Build the legacy.” We work with small businesses in helping them to form entities, draft, review and negotiate contractual agreements; protect their brand assets with trademark and copyright registration, protection, licensing, and maintenance; and we help our clients draft estate plans that secure their legacies. I am most proud of my ability to build my law practice with baby in tow. My kids are an integral part of my firm’s culture and I have clients who love, respect, and honor that I am a mother first. Entrepreneurship is not easy, but it’s not impossible. It just requires dedication and consistency. It requires me to show up and show out everyday, even more so on the days I find it hardest to. I’m one of those people who like to be challenged, and entrepreneurship provides an opportunity for me to be challenged at least once a day (at a minimum LOL). One thing I’ve learned is as good as I think I am at everything, I am certainly not made to do everything, so delegation is necessary to sustaining my business and my sanity. I think it’s important for people to know that I literally built all of this. Not that there weren’t people who I learned from and received help from along the way, but as far as building the business, laying the foundation, marketing to the clients, building the relationships, and creating the opportunities for growth – I did all of that. I didn’t come from a rich family. I didn’t come from a resourceful background. And there’s nothing particularly special about me. I say that to say, if I can do it, anyone can, and probably better. It can get done. It literally only takes dedication, self-motivation, and discipline. Knowledge of self also helps tremendously as well. That’s something I work on every day.

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?
Since I live in Atlanta, we’d have to hit up all the ATL hot spots – the ferris wheel, Magic City strip club, the aquarium, Lenox mall, the CNN building, Martin Luther King’s house, the Underground, World of Coca Cola, Botanical Garden and Piedmont Park, Little 5 Points, Stone Mountain Park, Uptown Comedy Club, and a few poppin’ nightclubs. We’d spend the rest of the time eating, for sure. Any and everywhere because I love, love, looooooove eating! 

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I feel like there have been so many people that have contributed to my success in varying degrees, all in ways in which they probably have no idea, but I gain a little bit of knowledge, experience, and know how from almost everyone I cross paths with. If I had to limit it to some names, I would like to shout out Kendall Minter (entertainment lawyer extraordinaire (he gave me that title, but it’s absolutely most fitting for him) and mentor), Angelo Pinto (one of my oldest friends and my “transformation coach” – I gave him that title because life coach gives him no justice), Lizzy Jeff (client and my goddess coach), Susan Wardell (mentor and “other mom”), Silva Hall (my mom), Samantha Banks (friend and resource), Oz (my makeup artist and beauty coach), Tiffany Huddleston (my marketing coach), and Munson Steed (CEO of Rolling Out, mentor and friend).

Website: www.funderburglaw.com www.lawyermommylerare.com
Instagram: @lawyermommylerae @funderburglaw
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leraefunderburg/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/LawyerMom
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/b.lerae.funderburg

Image Credits
Makeup by Oz Photo Credit: Gerald Carter