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Holy Grail Products
I mentioned before that I always wear makeup if I’m stepping out of the house. I’m sure there is plenty to flesh out there as to why I feel the need to do this but instead of getting introspective it’s much more fun to share my fave products! Putting on a full face is super easy for me because I’ve been able to find key items that take away questioning (i.e what type of mascara should I use today?) and give me the results I like. Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Complex Synchronized Recovery. A mouthful of a name but all I know it is as the…
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Getting That Polished Look: Simple Ways to Increase Executive Presence
We have talked about executive presence before (many times before!) but as a quick reminder, Executive Presence, is a theory that in business/work, people respond to you depending on your executive presence, which is really how you’re perceived based on how you look, speak, and act. There is a whole lot to dissect in that simple statement, especially if you include how race and gender play into all of this. But in the day to day, as you are establishing your own career, executive presence does play a role in your daily work and I wanted to discuss how the first part of EP (how you look) is something that…
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Sidebar: 2020 Vision, lessons for the new year
It’s still early enough in 2020 to share the vision and plan for the new year, right? Just asking because the new cycle moves fast & we’re basically on the brink of god knows what but trying to not live in terror, you know the vibezzz. #hidethepainharold 2019 was such a year of growth for me and I want to share some lessons I learned (some the hard way!) and hopes for the new year. One. Have the courage to change. Easier said than done! But 2019 was when I realized that if I wanted to grow in my career I needed to seek new challenges. It would have been…
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Why Can’t I Shake This? Beating Imposter Syndrome Once and For All
Hi, my name is Nubia and it’s been 0 days since I last felt insecure about my professional capacity. Ok, maybe it’s been more than 0 days, but the reality is that experiencing imposter syndrome is a frequent occurrence and beating it means really working to recognize when it’s happening and then working hard to dismiss it when it occurs. Imposter syndrome is a feeling that you are not capable of doing what you’ve been tasked to do and that at any moment people will discover that you are a fraud. Often we attribute our successes to luck rather than skills and diminish our accomplishments lest others point out just…
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A (1/2) Decade of Latinas Uprising
It’s kind of exciting that we’re entering a new decade right? I think because I’m working on census 2020 stuff all the time at my new job that I’m very aware of this decennial time frame and how much changes in ten years. But this time around, I am a little more relaxed than times past where I had a set timeline of accomplishments and milestones I wanted to work towards. In 2010, my only goal was to graduate law school, pass the bar, and find a full time job as an attorney. I can say that decade really delivered. Not only did I become a lawyer, I laid a…
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The Perfect Nude [Lipstick]
It’s been a while since I’ve shared favorite lippies and thought this would be a good time because I have such a mix of colors that I’ve been reaching for on rotation. As always when we talk about makeup–you do you, it’s most def not a necessary component to look “professional.” But if you enjoy it, then let’s dig in! I continue to prefer nudes and neutrals for work, but have added a little more color, especially for days where I have events in the evening. Que Linda x Vive Cosmetics: It’s a great neutral, lasts forever (like all vive products) super good quality and just nice for an every…
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What Does it Mean to Think Like a Lawyer
We often hear this phrase as a new law student and maybe even covet the praise. You give an answer and the professor mentions that now you’re thinking like a lawyer before moving on to stump another student. But what does it mean? Do lawyers really think a certain way? What if you never feel like you’ll get there? Rest assured, once you get through law school you will surely know how to think like a lawyer. But I’m here to explain right now what that really means. Lawyers think analytically, strategically, and only with emotion if it’s necessary. Omg, does this sound like a robot? Yeah, well we’re kind…
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The Guilt that Comes with Family Financial Contributions
A million years ago I watched the documentary about the Baltimore step team and one of the girls was heading to a top college. But she started to get concerned because the FAFSA form included a line of how much her family was expected to contribute and she felt guilty at asking her parents to give so much. Her parents got her all the way together and told her to not worry about their finances. She was their responsibility and they would make sure she got to school. Not everyone has parents with this type of philosophy or have parents that can (or maybe even want to) provide the…
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Beware of Burnout
When I first started practicing I was so fueled by excitement and hope that I never, ever thought I would get tired of doing my job. And thankfully for me it took a long time before the negative aspects of lawyering started to feel like a drag. I count myself lucky because my work didn’t have a ton of adversarial encounters (my immigration practice was mostly affirmative based). My clients were literally the best people ever, and I was lucky enough to do really novel work in terms of addressing gender-based violence. Oh and did I mention I practiced immigration during a time where immigration law was pretty much steady…
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When You Feel Like You’re Always Failing
I joked on instragram the other day about not letting a trial team’s account follow me because when I was in law school they would never let me on a team. Obviously, it was a joke and I promise I’m not upset by it (anymore!) but it was a good reminder of one of the more draining and frustrating experiences in my law school career. Basically, when I was in school aside from moot court and journals there was an elite trial team and I wanted nothing more to join them. I tried out my 1L and 2L year–and while 1L was a disaster–by 2L year, I had grown a…