Felicia Garnett

I attribute my success to my parents and their dedication to education. My father had humble beginnings, growing up on a farm, but he worked his way through school to attend college and eventually had very good jobs working with the Navy building missiles. He always showed me the importance of education and how far it could take me. He was the dad who took us to the library every Saturday, and I came home with 10 books that I'd read during the week. I didn't watch television because, as he said, TV can't teach you anything. My mother also played a supportive role - she went back to nursing school in her 40s to become a nurse. Just having those role models, you know, how could I go wrong? I had my mother and father who were very, very loving, and that's what I attribute it to.

Patience. And to always be that person who will do more at any time. I'm not saying that you not understand that there's a balance between work and your personal life, but I do believe to be successful, you have to put in those extra hours. You do have to make sacrifices if you want to be at the top of your game. I always consider myself, like, when I'm working with a general counsel or someone, I want to be the person that they always can rely upon, but we're such a close team that I call us, in many cases, the dynamic duo. That's how I want to present myself to the organization - you can count on me. If I don't know the answer, I'm gonna find it, but my whole thing is, let's achieve the goal that you have set before you. I'm a goal achiever.

One of the biggest challenges is the presence of AI. In some industries, I don't think they understand the true value a paralegal brings to the profession. In some cases, they look at it as more administrative. However, you have many paralegals who are subject matter experts in what they do and are heavily relied upon prior to a junior associate. Basically, it's about showing others what we offer and trying to break that mindset that we are highly skilled legal secretaries. We're not. I never would take a position as a legal secretary because I did not want that title associated with me, because I knew it would limit me and limit how other people view me. On the flip side, there are so many opportunities. As a paralegal, you do not have to stay in one field or one area of law. The ability to learn so many different things is amazing. I started out in a law firm, then went the corporate route, and was able to touch work dealing with railroads, public utilities, healthcare, e-commerce companies, IP companies, and then fanatics with their sports apparel and merchandising. There's so much to learn, and that's always been my goal - let me see how much I can learn and learn it well enough to be considered someone they say, you know what, we do value your opinion, what do you think?

Commitment. Honesty. Perseverance. And determination, but always having an action plan and being committed to that.