ABOUT ME

Phylicia Rashad on The Cosby Show inspired me to become an attorney. I've always admired her, and she was like a TV mom to me. So, the law has been something I wanted to pursue since I was young.

I majored in sociology in undergrad. I have always found people interesting. I'm an introvert, but I find groups of people and stories about people fascinating. And, I love to read and ask questions. I knew I wanted to go to law school, so I decided to pick a major that was going to be fun. And sociology is definitely that. And, I think it was excellent preparation for family law.

Once I entered law school, I became interested in family law but never actually took the course. When I decided to open up my firm in 2009, I started talking to some attorneys in town. One prominent African-American family law attorney was Billie Ellerbe, and he became my mentor when I first started practicing. I fell in love with family law from there.

Money comes and goes. Relationships, hopefully, last forever, but sometimes they don't. But your children are your children. They're your blood. And if there's anything worth fighting over, it's the kids. And so that's the catalyst and the drive behind why I do what I do and why it's the most important thing to me.

Regarding my dad specifically, my parents had a rough relationship. They were married for the majority of my childhood and adulthood. However, it was not a good marriage; my dad was not a good husband. He was an incredible father to me, though. My mother, even though she was very frustrated with the husband that my father was, never tried to speak down about my dad to me or the relationship that we had. She always supported it. She knew I was a daddy's girl and didn't envy that. She understood because she had been a daddy's girl herself. It's really monumental, the impact fathers make on their children, especially their daughters. And, if I can be a part of making sure that relationship is protected, I want to be.

It is my clients and their children. I know that those relationships are so vital to my clients and so crucial to those kids. And, I believe that having both parents play significant roles in their children's lives makes for more positive and resilient adults. And that's what I want to see in the world. I want the next generation to do better than we did.