Meet Marie Drake | Law Firm Owner and Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marie Drake and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Starting my own law firm came to me as a strong hunch. It seemed crazy at first, but I don’t remember my intuition ever being wrong. Still, I had no clients and no experience running a business. But I had an overwhelming feeling that if I didn’t start my own law firm in my 40s, I would never get around to it. So I started taking successful law firm owners out to lunch, and then began taking consistent action towards my goal.  I opened the firm in March 2011 and I’m so grateful I did.  I love the team I have now and we’re adding a third attorney and a second paralegal this year.  It’s exciting.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
In addition to running my law firm, I am a wildlife and landscape photographer (@mariedrakephotography on Instagram) and I write stories and memoir at https://memoirsandhalftruths.wordpress.com/. I’m working on a memoir now and I hope others appreciate the story — my parents were a pretty unique couple–Dad was a decorated squadron commander in Vietnam who later worked for the CIA and Mom was a hippie who took us to peace marches and had a very alternative lifestyle. They married and divorced each other twice, all over Crested Butte, Colorado and Southeast Asia. Yet at the end of their lives, they both were brimming with love for one another, because that love never went away, and what an enormously important lesson that was for their three kids. Their tumultuous relationship and enduring love for one another, especially post divorces, informs the way I practice family law. I encourage clients to look at their divorces from 30,000 feet, and to remember to show their children who the adults are in the room.  Back to the book: I’ve been writing since I was about 10 years old and it’s a wonderful way to organize my thoughts and feelings. I hope others find the book as interesting as I do.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them to breakfast at Blue Sky Cafe in Golden.  I also love Abejas Restaurant in Golden. The Eddy is really fun for drinks and appetizers, and has a great atmosphere. I would also take them for a hike in Waterton Canyon, and probably to Red Rocks if they’ve never been to Colorado. After exploring locally, I would take them to my hometown of Crested Butte, Colorado, and hike and/or ski there, depending on the time of year. There are some great restaurants in CB and we’d have breakfasts at McGill’s and Paradise Cafe, dinners at the Ryce, Sherpa Cafe, Bonez, the Secret Stash and others. Cocktails at the Dogwood Cabin and definitely a special dinner at Soupcon. There are always fun times to be had at Kochevar’s Bar and the Wooden Nickel too. And of course I would take them on the special hikes I’ve been going on since I was a little kid there, and I’m sure they’d fall in love with the place like I did when I was 8 years old.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I think a lot of people believed in me over the years but in terms of the explosive growth of the law firm in the last years in particular, I’d have to say my coaches at How to Manage a Small Law Firm (HTM), including my fractional CEOs, my COO and HTM’s founder, RJon Robbins. They all helped me change my mindset around growing my law firm and following my dreams, both professionally and personally.  Good coaching is not to be underestimated for entrepreneurs or really anyone with any kind of dream.

Website: https://thedrakelawfirm.com/

Instagram: @thedrakelawfirm

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-drake-7708848/

Twitter: @MarieDrakeLaw

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100047184202082

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedrakelawfirmpc5303

Image Credits
Marie Drake