As you think about rezooming your legal career beware of the joy-stealers. Who and what is a joy- stealer? They are the people who, when you speak about your dream or positive events that have unfolded in your favor on this journey to rezoom, pour cold water on your moment. As you reflect on the law you would like to practice they tell you its too competitive or worse, “Well, no one would want to practice in that field so it should be wide open.”

Like the harassment issue many ignored for 40 years, the stigma of leaving a profession to raise a family, start a new business or write a book is often seen by the person who chose to leave the profession as something to be ashamed of, forgotten or ignored. “Me Too.”

For the final column of 2017, highlighting attorneys who rezoomed their career, I thought I would update readers on my journey back into the law. It has been an incredibly enlightening, sometimes frustrating, yet joyful journey. Today, I find myself loving what I do and looking forward to going to work every morning. Doing what I am doing now means more to me than all the ups and downs of the last 6 years. Here’s my story.

Will I or I Will have age-old meaning when looking at future decisions. If you are contemplating rezooming your legal career, read about this month’s spotlighted rezoomer, Susan Fiore. See how her approach to rezooming may have predetermined her success.

When we start the practice of law it is often at full throttle. As our personal lives change, with spouses, children and aging parents, sometimes we are forced to slow down and pull back from full speed as we chip off pieces of our careers to keep the family unit intact. How do you gear up, again?