I’m a 2022 Leaders in Law Honoree!

I usually keep my work life out of my blog life, but I’m so thrilled to share that I WON AN AWARD! You have to understand, I am not one of those people who brought home trophies when I was a kid. I’m Gen X, so I didn’t get any participation trophies. And I certainly wasn’t good enough at any sport to win one. So, if I ever am lucky enough to win something it’s a pretty huge deal to me.

With that being said, as a grown adult I have been honored a few times over the years.

Back in 2015, I was a Bloggie award winner. The Weblog Awards were the largest blog awards in the world and in 2015 Pocketful of Joules won for the category of Best-Kept Secret Weblog. As it turns out, 2015 was the last year of the Weblog awards (after running fifteen years)… so I guess I also have the honor of being the last winner of that category.

There was no trophy though. Just saying.

In 2016, I was honored again and was absolutely flabbergasted that a piece of my writing was honored at the Voices of the Year awards. My piece of writing that won is really special to me, because it is about some of the simple pleasures of being a mom. You can read it here: I Want You.

The awards were presented at the BlogHer conference in 2016 and I received an actual trophy, which I proudly display in my home office:

Well, consider this my trifecta of awards because last week I was an honoree at the 2022 Daily Record Leaders in Law awards. I won in the category of Law Firm Support Staff for my work as Marketing Director at my law firm. The criteria used in selecting the awards included: demonstrating excellence and achievement in the legal profession, maintaining a leadership role, and demonstrating a commitment to mentoring.

This award is so special to me, because I’ve been working in marketing for over 20 years and I really do love what I do. I enjoy being able to market the firm, work with attorneys to help them better market themselves, and also serve as a mentor to other marketing colleagues. I didn’t have a mentor to work with early in my career, and I try very hard to be that person I needed to others.

There was an award reception last week and I dressed a little extra sassy to attend:

My firm had four winners that evening, including myself, and additional attorneys attended to show their support. They called each winner up to the stage while a 30-second video played talking about how awesome they are. Thankfully I did not trip. They also included profiles of each winner in a special supplemental issue of the Daily Record, which was also handed out at the event.

And check out this bling:

Now THAT is a trophy!

And yes, it feels awkward and braggy for me to share this news because as a woman we are all so trained to minimize our accomplishments. However, I work hard at juggling my work life and my blog, as well as being a mom and a wife and a sister and daughter and friend… And if I were mentoring someone who just won this award, I would tell them to ENJOY it and celebrate. I earned this award, I feel worthy of being honored and I’m so very proud to share it with you all.