#150: Heather Stevenson - General Counsel, Former Litigator, and Ex-Juice Bar Owner

Welcome back to another episode of the How I Lawyer Podcast, where Professor Jonah Perlin interviews lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well.

Today's guest is Heather Stevenson, the General Counsel at RedCell (a venture firm and incubator that starts and invests in companies across national security, cyber, and healthcare). Before her current role, Heather worked as a litigator at Sullivan Cromwell, served as Deputy General Counsel at the Boston Globe, and notably owned a successful juice bar business for several years. Heather and Jonah met as founding board members of the Legal Mentor Network, a nonprofit dedicated to providing free mentorship to junior lawyers. Heather graduated from Columbia University and Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fisk Stone Scholar.

In this episode, Heather shares valuable insights about the legal profession including:

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦⚖️ How having two lawyer parents influenced her career path, though she still had much to learn about the modern legal profession despite this advantage [2:26]

🏢📝 How her early career plan to become a big law partner changed when she realized the full lives of senior lawyers didn't align with what she wanted for herself [5:25]

🥤💼 How she and her husband transitioned from big law to entrepreneurship by opening a juice bar business, which became a hands-on MBA experience [8:33]

📊🧠 How her business experience proved invaluable when returning to legal practice, particularly for in-house roles where understanding business operations is essential [16:07]

📰⚖️ How she secured her position at the Boston Globe despite lacking traditional media experience by emphasizing her transferable skills and business knowledge [17:01]

🔄🚀 How her varied background—big law training, in-house experience, and entrepreneurship—uniquely qualified her for her current role at RedCell [24:40]

🙋‍♀️💡 How women should apply for jobs even when they don't meet all listed requirements, as studies show men typically apply with fewer qualifications [27:18]

👥🤝 How building genuine relationships and community (rather than traditional networking) is crucial for career advancement [29:26]

🧠👨‍🏫 How mentoring others has been a fulfilling way to give back, starting with helping those just one step behind her career-wise [30:58]

📝🔍 How mentees can get the most from mentorship by coming prepared with specific questions and following up regularly [35:22]

⏱️🧘‍♀️ How embracing "seasons of life" helps balance parenting and career demands, recognizing that different periods require different priorities [37:46]

📚🔄 How new lawyers should prioritize learning opportunities over billable hours, as investing in growth is essential for long-term career development [41:19]

This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.

For more from Heather, follow her on LinkedIn or subscribe to her newsletter "In House Outside the Box" for in-house lawyers interested in building careers on their own terms.