Welcome to Season 15, Episode 3 of Notes to My Legal Self, the in-house counsel podcast for lawyers who want to lead. Kemi Ijitimehin, an Atlanta-based advertising and ad tech attorney, joins Olga V. Mack to talk about the power of the pivot, building trust as product counsel, and growing from first-gen lawyer to trusted business partner.
Kemi shares her path from public policy in Washington, D.C., to the federal government during COVID, to in-house work at a tech company. She explains how her family's history shaped her comfort with change, how to turn rejection into redirection, and why authenticity is what turns lawyers into trusted strategic advisors.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- How to know when it's time to pivot your legal career
- How to turn rejection into redirection
- Why product counsel work is one of the most creative roles in law
- The difference between advising a business and helping build one
- What ""learning the business"" really means for in-house lawyers
- How authenticity builds trust and buy-in with stakeholders
- The first step to take after a layoff or career transition
Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
1:03 Becoming an advertising and ad tech lawyer
3:08 Family roots and the power of the pivot
7:16 How to know when it's time to pivot
10:51 Can lawyers trust their gut?
12:03 Turning rejection into redirection
13:55 Creativity in product counsel work
15:43 What surprised her most about going in-house
17:33 Advising a business vs helping build one
20:26 How to build trust and buy-in
22:42 AI and the human side of lawyering
24:19 Thinking like a business leader
26:44 What ""learning the business"" really means
29:17 Becoming a trusted strategic advisor
31:34 First steps after a layoff or career transition
33:06 Final takeaway: be brave
Key takeaways:
- Pivoting starts with a feeling, but your ""why"" decides the right move.
- Relationships and authenticity matter as much as knowing the law.
- Learn the business by sitting in on engineering, product, and marketing meetings.
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