The Free Lawyer Are You Paying a "Soul Toll" in Your Legal Career? #376
In this episode of "The Free Lawyer" podcast, host Gary interviews Anusia Gillespie, a lawyer-turned-novelist and yoga instructor. Anusia shares her journey from high-pressure legal roles to writing her debut novel "Soul Toll," which explores the personal costs of professional success. The conversation delves into legal innovation, leadership, and the importance of integrating joy, purpose, and authenticity into legal careers. Anusia offers practical advice on self-awareness, values alignment, and using coaching or mindfulness to create a more fulfilling path, encouraging lawyers to redefine success on their own terms.
Anusia Gillespie is a lawyer-turned-novelist and RYT-200 certified yoga instructor whose debut contemporary fantasy, Soul Toll, blends corporate ambition with personal awakening. Her writing is shaped by a career at global law firms, legal tech companies, and Harvard Law School Executive Education—offering a sharp, insider perspective on high-performance culture and the personal cost of chasing success.
Well known in the legal industry for her insight on leadership and transformation, Anusia now channels those themes into fiction that invites readers to question the lives they’ve been told to want. In Soul Toll, a high-achieving attorney’s search for clarity pulls her into a hidden world, and a battle for something far more meaningful than success.
Anusia holds a JD and MBA from Boston College and a BS in Management from Tulane University. She lives north of Boston with her husband, young son, and old dog.
Defining Moment for Writing "Soul Toll" (00:01:20)
Meaning of "Soul Toll" (00:02:35)
Anusia’s Personal Soul Toll Experience (00:04:25)
Transitioning Careers and Lessons Learned (00:06:18)
High Achievers and the Cost of Success (00:08:16)
Common Tolls Lawyers Pay (00:08:32)
Skepticism Toward Meaning and Fulfillment (00:10:04)
Anusia’s Approach to Legal Transformation (00:11:36)
Integrating Joy and Seriousness in Law (00:12:46)
Importance of Coaching for Lawyers (00:15:02)
How Coaching Shifts Lawyers’ Focus (00:16:55)
Recent and Future Changes in Legal Profession (00:18:26)
Technology, Boundaries, and Lawyer Well-being (00:20:35)
Patterns of Lawyers Who Build Soul (00:23:38)
Message and Purpose of "Soul Toll" (00:25:08)
Finding Personal Fulfillment in Law (00:27:23)
Advice for Miserable but Successful Lawyers (00:29:08)
Advice to Her Younger Self (00:31:30)
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