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Today we’re excited to share a presentation by Alycia Kinchloe from MaxLawCon 2021! Tune in to learn about running two businesses at the same time.

Alycia is the founder of Kinchloe Law.  She earned her law degree from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law. In law school, Alycia was a member of student government and was a member of Temple’s prestigious Trial Advocacy Program.  She also worked as a teaching assistant for the Program.  Alycia later attended St. Joseph’s University Haub School of Business, where she earned an Executive MBA and expanded her knowledge of business. 

1:58 Blazer is my baby

6:20 that’s a skillset

10:00 moving things forward

14:14 a lot of reflection

18:03 they have your time, your full attention

Watch the podcast here. 

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Transcript: How I Run a Law Firm, Hair Salon, and Family at the Same Time with Alycia Kinchloe

Becca Eberhart
In today’s episode, we’re sharing a presentation from Max law con 2021. Keep listening to hear Alicia Kinslow as we share her talk, weaving a life how I run a law firm hair salon and family at the same time. You can also head to the maximum lawyer YouTube channel to watch the full video. Have you grabbed your ticket to this year’s conference? If not head to max law con 2020 two.com to get yours today. Now to the episode,

Speaker 2
run your law firm the right way. This is the maximum lawyer podcast, podcast your hosts, Jim hacking and Tyson metrics. Let’s partner up and maximize your firm. Welcome to the show.

Alycia Kinchloe
All right. Good morning, everyone. And that is not a dubious claim. As long as we’re not in Dallas, there should be no problem saying that. Go Eagles. I want to thank Tyson and Jim for putting on an exceptional program. It’s amazing to see what Max law con has grown into from the very first one. I was there, that one and the second one. And then I’m grateful to be here today. How many of you all are law firm owners? How many of you own an additional business aside from your law practice? Great. Why do you do that? Why are you doing that to yourself? When Tyson and Jim asked me to speak today, I wanted to talk about being a champion for your clients. It’s something that I love to do. And my family law practice, I work a lot with fathers who are trying to get custody of their children. I felt like it was an underserved community, one that had trouble kind of being comfortable coming into the court system. And that’s where I found like I gave the most help to, but they asked me to talk about this other thing that I do, which is run two businesses at the same time. And it’s actually a couple of businesses. So I have the law practice, which I’ve had for seven years now. And I have a hair salon called blazer, hair and beauty. And blazer is my baby. I purchased the salon about two years ago, just about five months before the pandemic started. So that was fun. The way I came into owning blazer, hair and beauty bar was that a friend of mine, who was also a fellow business coach, we were having lunch and she was talking about how the sale of her salon had fallen through. I didn’t know that she was selling the salon. And I said, Well, you know, what are the terms what’s going on? Now I have a master plan. I have an idea book of businesses that I would like to start things that I would like to do things that kind of like light a fire under me. And I’ve owned a daycare in the past. And the hair salon was part of that plan. So this was an opportunity that kind of came out of nowhere. But it was a great opportunity. The Salon was a turnkey business, there was a bulk of business already there. There were six employees already there. She had been running it for about seven or eight years already with two locations, it was almost a no brainer. However, I’m not a hairstylist, so there was definitely a learning curve. But again, it comes back to this, why do you do it? Why are you guys business owners, you can work for someone else, you can work for the government, you can not be a lawyer and may be a lot happier than what you are at times. Why do you choose to do that I choose to run businesses and own businesses because I like the creation that it gives me. I like to be able to help people, it fulfills the idea of my whole self. And that is why I do the things that I do. I’m going to tell you a little bit about some of the pillars that kind of drive me as an individual. One of them is a concept of modulus. If any of you are Catholic or Jesuit, you understand what that means. That idea is a Latin word that translates into more better Fuller, in addition to having a law degree, I also went to business school and I earned an executive MBA. And I did that because at the firm that I worked there previously, I was promoted to managing attorney and I saw that there were gaps in the skill set that I needed to be able to do what I was doing. And so when I went to this executive program, it was an 18 month program, very intense. And the last leg of that was to go to a trip to Asia. And again, being in a Jesuit school. We talked a lot about reflection. We talk a lot about this concept of marches. But one that trip, something happened. And it was something that helped me to understand who I was as a leader, and who I wanted to be as I continue to grow up. We spent the first leg of the trip in China. We were in Beijing, Shanghai shoes, oh, and then we ended in Tokyo. And in Tokyo, we were meeting with an insurance company, we were on the 24th floor of the building. And all of a sudden the earth started moving. And if you guys recall, about 10 years ago, Tokyo had the worst earthquake that it ever had. It was a 9.0 earthquake, and it seemed to go on for forever. And how many of you guys are from California? So you understand earthquakes, so you probably understand what a 9.0 earthquake might feel like? It literally went on for six minutes. And as we’re in the building, the blinds are swaying back and forth. You look out the window, buildings are swaying back and forth. There’s nothing you can do. But pray. That’s what I did. But as I’m looking around, I’m looking at my colleagues, right? These are people who are being groomed by their organizations who’ve paid a lot of money to come on this trip to be a part of this program, who are being groomed to be C suite executives. That’s the goal. And what we’re looking at is a natural disaster. But it’s adversity, right? We’re looking at what types of actions do people take to get them through what’s going on. And I had an opportunity to not only look at how other people reacted, but I looked at how I reacted, there were some of us who received commendations for the work that we did, and helping others get through, there was some people who actually stayed back and helped. Because not only was there earthquake, there was also a tsunami that hit. And I can tell you that that was one of the most trying times in my life, the aftershocks that went on. After that, were registering 7.9 7.7, it went on for ever, it felt like, and it took us days to get out of Tokyo to get back to the US. And what I learned about myself is that I will get through some shit, I will be able to make it all the way over to the end. And I will be able to carry myself with grace with dignity, I will figure shit out when I have to. And that’s a skill set that you have to be able to have when you’re running this business. And I think all of you have probably figured that out, going through COVID, that there are things that you need to learn to understand is not just about pivoting, it’s about getting through and getting your people through and getting your clients through. And learning that about myself back 10 years ago, was something that helps me to get through every day, it helps me to get through running the law practice, it helps me to get through running the hair salon, starting hair salon, and then five months later having to shut down completely. And having to try to be able to support my employees that were there, having to be able to kind of come back and figure it out all over again, was not the easiest thing to do, I could have given up this was something that kind of almost fell in my lap, I didn’t have to continue. But that resolve that I had to be able to kind of focus and get through that was what continues to get me through is that being able to think on your feet, when you’re in the middle of a case of your clients that something stupid, and you keep going is all part of that thing that keeps us moving forward. But that is part of why and how I do it. Now starting a hair salon can seem like is very different from a law practice. But really, we’re talking about professionals, really, a hairstylist is a professional just like a lawyer is a professional. And sometimes we think of hairstylist as creatives. But lawyers can be creative. And if we thought of ourselves more as creatives, I think that we’d be able to give a different type of service to our clients, we’d be able to move our profession forward in a way that we’re not some of you guys are really doing it. I mean, a lot of the presentations I’ve heard this week from people like Joey, and Tyson, just the things that you guys are doing, you’re kind of shaking things up. And it’s interesting, and it’s making the legal practice fun. But also thinking about what is it that I really want to achieve? Every person that I’ve ever interviewed from back when I was managing a law firm from one employee to 140 employees, when they sat down with me when they had a review with me, my goal for them is always that you will have been better as a professional as an individual as a human being, hopefully, for having come into contact with me that I know that you may not stay with me forever. But my goal is for you to develop and to grow for me to learn from you as well. And that’s the perspective that I take when I look at the hair salon, all the professionals that come into the hair salon, I want them to be better stylists, I want them to have financial security, I want them to have strong families, I want our clients and our customers to feel the same way. That’s why with the kitchen law practice, we have a podcast called A house divided. It’s not about me talking about my wins in cases. It’s not about me talking about what the laws are. It’s about let’s bring a therapist in to talk to you about how to talk to your kids about the custody order. It’s how to get back on your feet after if you’ve been a stay at home mom for a number of years. And now you got to put this gap on your resume. How can I support you to be better and move forward? That’s how I look at life. That’s how I look at the work that I’m supposed to do with my community. That’s how I look at how I raised my children. I have three black sons. And that is no small feat in the nation that we are in right now. There’s a lot of responsibility that comes with raising them with raising them outside of a city like Philadelphia with raising them in the suburbs. There’s a lot of responsibility that I have with them seeing me do the work that I do. There’s expectations that they’re putting on themselves right now because they see what I do and what their father does. I take that seriously. And I think that understanding that and understanding that this is what makes me up as a whole person makes it a lot easier to understand why I do the work that I do and how I do the work that I do because it’s all about moving things forward striving towards excellence thinking about that more that Fuller, that better that we’re talking about? We’re talking about with matches. Now, when it comes to the actual how, you know, how do I have time? When do I sleep, I sleep very well, I make sure that I guard my time I usually you I wasn’t out with you guys last night because I couldn’t hang the first night, I was up to two o’clock in the morning, and I crashed, and I was still here at eight o’clock. And then I was like, That hadn’t made up somewhere, there was no way in the world, I would be here today. If I if I had to do that over again, I’m getting too old for that. But I go to sleep at a reasonable amount of time, I wake up really early. And I give that first part of the day to myself and to God. That’s how I start off everything. Because you give, we’re giving so much to so many people that we’re not taking that time for ourselves. And that’s an important thing that you have to do. And then that time is the reflection. The other thing you learn about being in a Jesuit school, right, is you’re supposed to be reflecting on things. And that reflection doesn’t just have to happen in the evening. It doesn’t just have to happen when something’s going wrong. It should happen throughout the day. So in the morning, you should reflect on yesterday, you should think about how are things going to go, you should think about it in the middle of the day, because it’s really easy for the day to get away from us. And you should think about it again at night that reflection is important. I think about my goals the night before, I always look at what my goals are, I look at my five year goals. That’s what reminds me to focus, I literally have a picture that is on my nightstand. It’s taped on on there, when I wake up in the morning, I see what my goals are. And that reminds me to stay focused. And it reminds me throughout the day, that these are the initiatives that I have for this week in the law firm or in the hair salon. And that I need to make sure that I’m moving, I can have a deposition, or I can have a hearing that lasts all day, and not realize that there were two or three other things that I needed to do either for myself or for my family. And kind of always checking back in helps to kind of make sure that that goes the way that it’s supposed to go. I make sure that I delegate, I think I’m kind of awesome. But I know there’s a lot of people who are way more awesome than I am doing a lot of other things. And I think it’s important that we make sure that we find the right people to delegate those things, too. And to make sure that we’re arming them with the right tools to be able to do it and the authority to be able to do it. So delegation is a key part of what I’m doing. But it’s always that last responsibility that things are coming back to me to make sure that they get done.

Speaker 4
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Alycia Kinchloe
I also take the time to sit with my people. Before I left on this trip, I sat down with my hairstylist, I checked in with them, I made sure that they were okay. I made sure that they had the things that they needed. And I did the same thing at the law practice. And I did the same thing with my family. And it’s hard walking away from your kids in the middle of a week, at least for me it is is really hard to walk away from them and say Mommy has to go now do this other thing that’s taking her away from you. But if you talk to them and incorporate the why and so that they understand that a little bit better. So again, a lot of reflection, a lot of checking in a lot of stake. One task is kind of how you put that together. But it’s all about this concept of the whole person. Who are you? What is it that drives you? What is this thing that’s going to move you forward? What is the thing that makes you happy? And it’s not just these little pieces is all integral to who you are. Thank you. And I’ll take questions if you guys have any questions. Yes, it’s your standard schedule. So my standard schedule is that I’m an Army brat. So I’m used my dad was a drill sergeant. So I’m used to being really early things getting done. So I’m usually up by five o’clock in the morning. If I can work out I do kickboxing a lot Out of the times in the morning at like six o’clock in the morning. And so I’m back home to get the kids ready and off to school. I’m very involved with them too. So I’m on the board with some committees at the school. So I have my check ins for that too. But usually is getting up that early, getting my workout done. Like I said, giving that time to myself, always making sure that I’m eating well get the kids out, get to work, checking in us the salon is is interesting, because it’s like halfway between my house and the office. So I get to check in with them too. I try to be back by dinnertime, every single day. There was a time where one of my sons said, Mommy, are you done working it. And I thought I was kind of nailing it. Because I was kind of coming back home and doing the work, you know, while they were doing their work. And they let me know like, that’s not enough, we need more of you. And I had to listen to that. So it’s really about cutting that time off at six o’clock. That’s it. That’s it, if I need to get back to it later on in the night, because there’s something I needed to do fine. But I needed to be present, it wasn’t enough to just be there and be working. I needed to be present for them. So that’s my cut off is that six o’clock is we’re doing dinner, we’re sitting at the table, we’re talking, I have teenagers, so they barely want to talk to me anyway. So whatever time I can try to get in there to get something out of them. I take it, but it really is important for me to be present with them. And then again, going back into that maybe sometimes getting back into work a little bit later and setting the day again, right before. Yes. Any advice? Yeah, everybody else. So I know you personally, I love you. But the mommy girl and Daddy Girl, I don’t think ever really completely goes away. I think the responsibility of raising children is such a big thing, that it never really changes. But I think that you have to give yourself grace. And that’s one thing I didn’t say that I’m always kind of preaching to people is that we need to give ourselves grace, we’re doing a lot of things we’re working for a lot of people, we have a lot of responsibility on us. But we have to give ourselves grace. But like I said, the more that you can do to be present, when you’re with your kids, put the phone down, don’t take the call, you know, talk to your kids, like have real conversations with them, go to their sporting events, and maybe not be on the laptop while you’re there. You know, you have to give them that time, they remember that. And it’s easier to say than to do. But that’s the thing that I think I’ve been practicing a lot of is that wherever I am, whatever I’m doing is to be fully present in that thing that I’m doing. If I’m here listening to your presentations, I’m trying to be fully present at that. Because what I’m doing, if I’m not doing that, I’m taking a little piece here, a little piece here, and I gotta make it up somewhere else on the end, I might as well do it all while I’m doing it, and then not have to make up a little part later. So I think being fully present when you can be present setting those things that are family things. On Sundays, we do cinnamon rolls every Sunday, we’ve been doing this since my son’s were like two, that’s our thing is cinnamon rolls on Sunday mornings. And they know that they have their one meal they call the casual boy special. They know that they know they’re gonna get that on Friday. And that’s what they ask for those things that remind them that they’re part of the family that they have your time your full attention, is I think the way they should get over some of that money. Gil,

Speaker 5
I’m leaning heavily on my wife right now to take care of my kids, she runs a huge job. How do you work that with your husband? Does he help out on your business at all? Do you have separate professional lives and come together with family?

Alycia Kinchloe
Yes, so my husband is a director at a pharmaceutical company. So he’s been very busy. Throughout all the COVID he never stopped working whereas I was in the house and with the kids is oh my god, homeschooling the kids, which was crazy. But it’s a lot of communication. We’ve been married for almost 15 years now. And it’s a learning curve to you know, understanding myself, understanding how I communicate understanding him and what his needs are and how he communicates, which is you know, not a whole lot. But it’s I think it’s just about having those conversations, and taking a step outside of yourself. And understanding that what you might hear is not a reflection of you, but just a reflection of what they’re going through. But you have to have those conversations. And sometimes if it’s just good to take some responsibility, say, okay, these are things that I’m going to do. And without, without her having to ask, it’s going to get you a lot of points. But if you take some of those responsibilities from her and you own them, and you take off some of that mental load, it’s going to help a lot because that mentor that we carry as mothers is one of the hardest things I think about continue to be able to do all the rest of the things that you have to do is remembering every single thing, take the doctor’s appointments, take that off our plate, whatever you can do to help out without her having to ask or having to think about it is going to go really far. What’s next. So what’s next? I can tell you this I there is something there’s a project that I’m working on. It’s very near and dear to my heart. So my family grew up in Philadelphia and a part of Philadelphia that is is gentrifying right now. And my grandfather, you know, was very proud about moving into that neighborhood and through some issues, we lost the family home. And part of that project is really doing a lot of research on that and if I have my way will be coming out with a docu series about that. at particular neighborhoods. So that’s a big project that I’m working on this behind the scenes, if any of you guys have seen that, or Philly cowboys, the movie that takes place in that neighborhood. So that’s my little project that I’m working on right now. Well, in my spare time

Unknown Speaker
seen what happens when you get the call from clients?

Unknown Speaker
Yeah, how do you? So you know, sometimes it happens, right?

Speaker 1
The question is, how do you stay on task, get other things going? I’m just repeating the question. Thank you.

Alycia Kinchloe
Thank you. So you know, first off is understand what is an emergency emergency. So a client may not be an emergency to you. And so that’s the first thing is to check that, you know, I’m a family law attorney, there are some emergencies. I had one recently where there was an Amber Alert that needed to be issued on a case, that was kind of an emergency. But then I had to look at what my involvement is in that. And I think first creating that with your clients, with your staff about what actually is an emergency that needs your time. And dealing with the guilt that might come with that is the first thing that you do. But for me, it’s understanding how I’m working and understanding that it changes, right. There’s some times where working from a task list works for me. And there might be months at a time where that’s not the way that it’s functioning for me, and I need to do something to refresh everything. So it’s understanding what works for you at the time that you’re in and the project that you have going on. So might be a whiteboard this week, that shows me everything that’s going on. It might be my task list, it might be using an app on my phone, but it’s kind of always consistently changing it to the thing that’s actually allowing me to be more effective in the things that I’m doing. But for me, it is the constant checking because it’s easy to get distracted, especially when you have so many things that you want to do, or that you are doing. It’s easy for me to get distracted. So I’m constantly checking in on what was I supposed to do today? Where was I supposed to be? Sometimes my calendar tells me where I’m supposed to be. And just remembering to do that. Wow, what a great talk. Thank you so much for sharing. Thank you so much.