This firm closed for a week and nobody panicked

Walk me through the moment you decided to close for a full week, not just take a day or two. What was the tipping point?

In addition to the roller coaster ride that’s been the U.S. immigration system, my team and I have individually dealt with some personal challenges this year. I had a family vacation planned for the last week of June, so I decided to just close the firm down so that my whole team could also take a break.

 
Did you have any kind of "in case of true emergency" protocol, or was it genuinely zero contact?

It was zero contact, and I truly did not believe any emergencies would pop up. Very rarely do the things we fear actually occur, and in my case, nothing happened while we were away. 

Immigration clients are often in genuinely high-stakes, time-sensitive situations. How did they respond to your decision to take a week off?

They were fine with it and wished us a good vacay. One of my law firm values is transparency with my clients. 

I sent my clients an email about a month in advance, and two more reminder emails the closer we got to closing. I let them know that we would be prioritizing cases with deadlines in June and would resume work on anything else when we returned on July 6th. 

Also, my law firm procedures include keeping my clients informed about what is happening in their cases, so my clients already knew the status of their cases before we closed the firm.

Is a full week off realistic for other solo or small firms, or does it only work because of how Brazen Legal is structured?

Both. Over the years, I’ve worked hard to put systems and processes in place to make my law firm need me less—primarily because I wanted to be a mom. I’d read too many stories about women working up until the point of pushing a baby out, and I refused to follow suit. And when I had my son last summer, my firm was able to function without me, maybe even better without me. When I returned to work in March 2026, I joked that I think my clients liked our other attorney more than me.

But even if you have no desire to be a parent, you should build a business that can function without you, or, alternatively, can give you flexibility. My virtual business model has allowed me to work how and when I want to so I can be there for the things that matter most, like my daily trips to the NICU where my son spent the first 4 months of his life, or traveling across the country to represent my clients in immigration proceedings and going on vacation without worrying about what I’m coming back to.

I suspect your success in building a firm that doesn’t “need you” all the time is part of the reason you now have a coaching business.

Absolutely, and this issue has come up with almost every one of my coaching clients. Eldest daughters of immigrants were raised to be extremely ambitious and successful because we’ve gotta repay our parents for all of the sacrifices they made to give us the opportunities they didn’t have for themselves. We were given a great deal of responsibility at a young age, and many of us internalized that our value came from being needed, so much so that many are afraid to rest for fear of not being needed or feel like they can only rest once they’ve earned it by working to the point of burnout.

But they get to a point where they start to question what it was all for (especially those who don’t feel like they got the success that was promised), and whose ambition they’re really following—one they were given by their family at a young age, or one they’ve chosen for themselves. And when you’ve spent your whole life feeling like your worth comes from being of service to others, whether that’s your family or your clients, even the thought of stepping back can feel jarring. That’s where the work I do comes in.

What's the one thing you'd say to an attorney reading this who's convinced they can't possibly close for a week? 

In 2022, I got my law firm to where I wanted it to be. I had the revenue I wanted, and a full team that took a LOT off of my plate. I’d hit my goals, but kept moving the goalpost. I kept working on the next goal, and the next bigger goal, and so on. I was working so hard that I ended up spending 4 days in the ER in January 2023. Hitting your goals doesn’t matter if your health suffers as a result of it.

My advice to any lawyer, but especially young women, is to prioritize yourself. Nobody is going to tell you to stop working so hard. I promise you the work isn’t going anywhere. Please rest.

What good are you to anyone if you drop dead from working too much? Be honest with yourself: what are you afraid will happen if you take some time away from your work? I’m willing to bet that whatever you’re thinking likely won’t happen. 

If the thought of a week off sounds scary, start with a day a week per month until you work your way up to your desired time off. That’s what I did to get ready to take months off of work when I had my baby. 

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