March 12, 2025 • 15 mins
With a passion for educating and empowering others, Robin M. Mermans is a champion of change in the way the world views divorce and co-parenting. As a Collaborative Family Law attorney, certified mediator, co-parenting coach, and trusted guide, Robin is committed to helping families resolve conflict. She is the founder and principal attorney of ROAD to RESOLUTION, where she uses her life experience to guide others in the co-creation of healthy pathways for navigating life-changing journeys.
Licensed in North Carolina and South Carolina, Robin is a trained Collaborative Attorney and a Dispute Resolution Commission Certified Mediator. Robin uses her legal expertise as a volunteer attorney for the Council for Children’s Rights, the 26th Judicial District SelfServe Center, and the Neighborhood Advocacy Center. She has been named a 2024 North Carolina Leader in the Law by North Carolina Lawyers Weekly and is a member of the North Carolina Pro Bono Honor Society.
Robin is a board member for the North Carolina Collaborative Attorney Network as well as a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and Charlotte Collaborative Divorce Professionals. She also serves as a director for The Merancas Foundation, a director for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, and an impact investor in the Carolina Ascent Football Club. Robin lives in Charlotte with her husband, Andy, and their five children. In her free time, Robin enjoys volunteering, exercising, adventure traveling, and supporting local businesses.
Licensed in North Carolina and South Carolina, Robin is a trained Collaborative Attorney and a Dispute Resolution Commission Certified Mediator. Robin uses her legal expertise as a volunteer attorney for the Council for Children’s Rights, the 26th Judicial District SelfServe Center, and the Neighborhood Advocacy Center. She has been named a 2024 North Carolina Leader in the Law by North Carolina Lawyers Weekly and is a member of the North Carolina Pro Bono Honor Society.
Robin is a board member for the North Carolina Collaborative Attorney Network as well as a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and Charlotte Collaborative Divorce Professionals. She also serves as a director for The Merancas Foundation, a director for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, and an impact investor in the Carolina Ascent Football Club. Robin lives in Charlotte with her husband, Andy, and their five children. In her free time, Robin enjoys volunteering, exercising, adventure traveling, and supporting local businesses.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the iHeartMedia Charlotte Women of Impact, celebrating women
in our community, presented by the Carolina Ascent and New
Hope Treatment Centers.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Sarah Lee here and I have the honor to be
in front of this Robin Mermons with Road to Resolution.
This is divorce mediation and collaborative family law. Now, tell
me a little bit about your background.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Well. Currently, by day I'm the founder and owner of
Road to Resolution, divorce mediation and collaborative family Law. By night,
I'm a philanthropist and I serve on boards of Planned Parenthood,
South Atlantic, North Carolina Collaborative Attorney Network, and the Morncus Foundation,
which is a local foundation. So this is actually career
three dot oh. For me, Career two dot oh, I
(00:45):
was a stay at home mom and I did some
commercial real estate appraising on the side just to keep
my head in the game. And then career one dot oh,
freshly out of undergrad I worked at an ad agency
in New York City.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
And look at you now what an incredible and firing woman.
I cannot wait to learn more. What is Road to Resolution?
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Well, Roads Resolution is a divorce mediation and collaborative law firm.
We specialize in helping families untangle in a more holistic
way without intervention of the court.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So if you're going through a divorce, you're a mediator like, hey,
let's work things out on good term so it doesn't.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Have to go that far correct, and a collaborative law attorney,
which is a little bit different than a mediator. I
serve as both roles, but yes, they are both alternate
dispute resolution options available to people who do not want
to do the traditional litigation. Each go in a corner
and then duke it out in a courtroom.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Now what made you go into that field?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
So I went through a divorce of my own about
twenty years ago, and I had a six and a
nine year old, and we did what most people do.
We each hired attorneys, and six months later and several
thousand dollars later, we had nothing to show for it.
And at the time I worked for a Fortune one
hundred company in the legal department in compliance. I was
(02:06):
not an attorney, and I learned enough through working with
my attorney that we ended up in the garage with
a pad of paper and a calculator and settled our agreement.
We gave the terms to the attorney. She drafted it
up or my attorney, and she drafted an agreement, and
(02:27):
shortly thereafter I left my corporate job and I went
and got my mediation certification and started mediating divorces for
families because I knew there was a better way.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I love that because when you've experienced it, you know
what they're going through and how hard of a time
it is, and you're able to hold their hand and say,
there is a better way, and you don't have to
spend all this money. Let's try to fix this exactly,
thinking of empowering the next generation of women. What character
traits do you think have been the most instrument to
(03:00):
your success.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Two character traits I would attribute to what I believe
is my success perseverance and intellectual curiosity. Perseverance, if you're
knocked down, dust yourself off and get back up on
the horse again. We all get knocked down. I view
setbacks as opportunities to learn, so don't be discouraged when
(03:25):
you experience the setback. Intellectual curiosity. Anyone who knows me
knows I ask a lot of questions when someone tells
me they're the VP of infrastructure for renewable energy and
I have no idea what that means. I ask what
does that mean? What do you do on a day
to day basis? It's amazing what you can learn and
(03:46):
what you can find out about different careers if you
just ask the question. A title generally doesn't tell you
what someone actually.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Does exactly, and don't be afraid to ask the question.
I think a lot of people are scared to ask
questions because they want to feel like they know everything right,
all right. So a lot of times when you're young,
you feel the pressures of what career path do you
want to take? What are your thoughts on trying to
figure it out in the beginning, like what advice would
you give?
Speaker 3 (04:13):
So I have five children, two that are recently out
of college, three that are in college, So this question
really resonates with me because they are all experiencing this
right now. There's a very small percentage of people who
know exactly what they want to do when they graduate.
Most of us do not. Myself included my career one DOTTO,
(04:35):
which was with an ad agency, was a result of
me answering an ad pre internet that tells you how
old I am, because it striked my interest and I
answered the ad and I ended up with a job
in Manhattan working for an ad agency and I loved it.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
That's incredible. And so you go from ad agency and
then what was two point zero?
Speaker 3 (04:57):
I was a stay at home mom.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
That is hardest job.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
It is the hardest job. And while I was a
stay at home mom, I did a side hustle of
commercial real estate of praising just to keep myself intellectually active.
But yeah, it is the hardest job. I called myself
a domestic engineer at the time, and it's the only
job that you can't walk away from. And it's twenty
(05:23):
four to seven.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
I tried to explain to my husband I was a
stay at home mom as well for a moment, and
I'm like, you're a chef, you're a housekeeper, and you
almost forget what it's like to have an adult conversation
because you're talking to a child all day long. And
so I love that even though you were a stay
at home mom, you continued working with the outside world.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I did. So when people are feeling the pressure of
trying to figure things out, I would say, explore what
you're drawn to. It may not make sense at the time,
but if you're drawn to it. There's a reason explore that,
don't ignore that. Be open to change. Life is not
linear what you think you want to do. Don't block
(06:04):
out or miss other opportunities because you're so one tracked
minded that you're going unless that works for you. Sometimes
it doesn't. And embrace failure. As I said earlier, I
view failure as a form of growth, So don't be
afraid of it.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Now, based on the lessons that you've learned from your experience,
if you could talk to your twenty year old self,
what advice would you give.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Take school more seriously, appreciate the education, enjoy it, don't
look at it as a piece of paper or a
stepping stone. Also, the other thing I would say is act,
don't react, allow yourself time and space to process situations
and emotions. I am an Italian half Italian, and I
(06:49):
tend to react and not act, and I've really had
to train myself over the years to act.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I think that's great advice. Not to speak for all women,
but a lot of women are emotion based and I'm
very passionate and so I am an instant reactor too.
And then if you just take that extra five minutes
and think it through, you realize it's not as crazy
as it seems in your mind at that moment. And
there are times that I have gone zero to explosion
(07:17):
and then you have to backtrack and eat the words
that you let out of your mouth with the I'm
so sorry I overreacted. So I love that advice, especially
if you could go back to your twenty year old
self and say that correct.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
And then the thing that I would do differently in
terms of a career path, I would not change my
career path, even though again it was not linear. I
feel like every experience enhanced the next, and so I wouldn't.
There's not much I would change in that category.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Now, you're a mom of five children, so you're a
superhero in itself. How do you balance work life and
home life.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
I do something called chunk calendaring, and what I do
is I always have on my calendar my priorities. So
physical well being is really important to me. So I
have a an hour every day that is blocked off
(08:11):
on my calendar for me to exercise, meditate, whatever it
is that I need to do that day for self care.
And I prioritize based on my values and my goals.
For the day, what it is I need to get done,
and then that allows me to make sure there's a balance.
So I have a color code work and then and
(08:34):
then life. And so if it's all work all week,
I realize.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I've got to do something different and make sure that
you're present with your kids and that you have fun
because you work to be able to have the life
that you want. But if all you do is work,
then why do it? Like it's great that you can
provide for your family and you have a house and
a nice car, but if you can't enjoy life, you're
wasting your life away. Life is social su Again.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
I think people minimize self care. I think of it
as like a luxury, and I would argue it's not
a luxury, it's a necessity. And in order for you
to be able to show up for other people in
a manner that you want to show up, self care
should be top of your list.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Amen's sister, say a lot it for the people in
the back, and make sure every man hears that it
is not a luxury. It really isn't. It is definitely
a necessity. Now, have you experienced barriers in your career?
And if you have, how have you broken them down.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
The biggest barrier for me is time. There's just not
enough time in the day to get everything done that
I want to get done. So I've had to scale
back and focus on what aligns with my values, which
family for me is always a first priority. Friends and
community and a lot of my friends I put in
the family category positivity. I approach life from a lens
(09:54):
of gratitude. I embrace laughter, playfulness, I As I said earlier,
self care is important to me, mental and physical. And
also making sure I create time for creative outlets because
that is therapeutic for me. So making sure that your
(10:17):
day is not filled with just stuff. You need to
fill your day with stuff that matters and is aligned
with what your goals are and what your values are.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
That's making an impact. And I know that you're very
involved with Carolina Assent and we love those ladies. And
there's a lot of young women in Charlotte that listen
to the station. What advice would you give them as
they set out on their career paths.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
There's three nuggets I would share. Don't compare yourself to others.
It's the Instagram generation. Identify your values and long short
term goals that align with those values. Look inward not outward.
Find mentors. If there's if someone you admire and you
want to emulate, ask to meet them for coffee or
for lunch. And when you're there, ask them if it's
(11:06):
okay if you can reach out to them, like as
you are traveling down this career path, and I guarantee
you everyone would say yes. And then keep in touch.
Make an effort to keep in touch, schedule a quarterly
coffee or lunch, build that relationship, and then finally, network, network, network, Right,
(11:29):
it's not who you know, but who knows you, which
is a quote that my daughter, who's recently in the
working world told me.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
And I was like, you are so right, and have
your tribe, your girl tribe. I love that about you
because everything that you say, there's a tribe of people,
and you can tell they mean so much to you.
You said your friends are your family, You're better as
a team.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I couldn't agree with you more.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Well, so when you decided to change your career path,
did your family where they like what is going on?
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Well? I went to law school as an adult, right,
so this all happened obviously, I went through my divorce.
I was an adult, I had two small children, and
I was so passionate about it. Was it, I don't
want to say the smartest thing to do, but it
was a leap of faith. It really was for me,
(12:20):
and I'm so grateful that I did it. Fortunately, while
I had started on this journey, I had met my
now husband and his three boys, and so now we're
a family of five. So we're a blended family of five.
And I started as a mediator for mediating family financial cases,
(12:42):
and a year into that, I was like, I'm going
to get slapped with unlawful practice of law, so I
need to go to law school. And I did. And
I had five at that time, young children in elementary
and middle school, and an incredibly supportive husband who encouraged
it because I really felt like that that was my calling.
Once this happened, my dwors happened to me, I knew
(13:05):
I wanted to find a better path for people. The
court system's not made for families. All it does is
create conflict, emotional turmoil, financial turmoil, and frankly, lawyers don't
have any incentive to bring people to closure. And I
think the system is not appropriate for families trying to untangle.
(13:29):
It has its purpose for families that need it, need
the court intervention, and that's usually reserved for mental illness, addiction,
things like that. But ninety five percent of families don't
need court intervention. They need guides to help them consciously uncouple.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Do you have that first moment when you started in
this career path? But is there a moment where you're like, man,
God put me in this position for this moment, and
I know I made an impact and it just completely
changed your life.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Yes, And it's happened a few times where I represented
in a collaborative divorce case at this For this particular instance,
I was representing wife and we went to mediation and
at the end of mediation, the husband and wife hugged
(14:22):
Wow and walked out together and went and got coffee
to celebrate, like we just we just crossed over and
were starting this new chapter. When they came to us,
they were not did not have that mindset, and they
had three young children. And I knew right then and
(14:42):
there that the work that we did as a team,
a collaborative divorce team absolutely had an impact on that
family for the positive and particularly those children.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
For the rest of their lives, for the rest of
their lives, because had they gone to normal route and
gone through the court system and they'll long drawn out process,
the parents probably would have hated each other. There would
be no great relationships. So you changed the path for
three children and those two parents and that's incredible. Yeah,
but look at you now, and look at you helping
all these families, and what a blessing you are to
(15:16):
the community. And I can't thank you enough. I love
surrounding myself with strong women in this community that you
don't just do your job and go home. You serve
on a lot of boards and you donate your time
to other people and uplift other people. And that's amazing.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
iHeartMedia. Charlotte Women of Impact celebrating Women in our Community,
presented by the Carolina Ascent and New Hope Treatment Centers,
This is the iHeartMedia Charlotte Women of Impact, celebrating women
in our community, presented by the Carolina Ascent and New
Hope Treatment Centers.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Sarah Lee here and I have the honor to be
in front of this Robin Mermons with Road to Resolution.
This is divorce mediation and collaborative family law. Now, tell
me a little bit about your background.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Well. Currently, by day I'm the founder and owner of
Road to Resolution, divorce mediation and collaborative family Law. By night,
I'm a philanthropist and I serve on boards of Planned Parenthood,
South Atlantic, North Carolina Collaborative Attorney Network, and the Morncus Foundation,
which is a local foundation. So this is actually career
three dot oh. For me, Career two dot oh, I
(00:45):
was a stay at home mom and I did some
commercial real estate appraising on the side just to keep
my head in the game. And then career one dot oh,
freshly out of undergrad I worked at an ad agency
in New York City.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
And look at you now what an incredible and firing woman.
I cannot wait to learn more. What is Road to Resolution?
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Well, Roads Resolution is a divorce mediation and collaborative law firm.
We specialize in helping families untangle in a more holistic
way without intervention of the court.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So if you're going through a divorce, you're a mediator like, hey,
let's work things out on good term so it doesn't.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Have to go that far correct, and a collaborative law attorney,
which is a little bit different than a mediator. I
serve as both roles, but yes, they are both alternate
dispute resolution options available to people who do not want
to do the traditional litigation. Each go in a corner
and then duke it out in a courtroom.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Now what made you go into that field?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
So I went through a divorce of my own about
twenty years ago, and I had a six and a
nine year old, and we did what most people do.
We each hired attorneys, and six months later and several
thousand dollars later, we had nothing to show for it.
And at the time I worked for a Fortune one
hundred company in the legal department in compliance. I was
(02:06):
not an attorney, and I learned enough through working with
my attorney that we ended up in the garage with
a pad of paper and a calculator and settled our agreement.
We gave the terms to the attorney. She drafted it
up or my attorney, and she drafted an agreement, and
(02:27):
shortly thereafter I left my corporate job and I went
and got my mediation certification and started mediating divorces for
families because I knew there was a better way.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I love that because when you've experienced it, you know
what they're going through and how hard of a time
it is, and you're able to hold their hand and say,
there is a better way, and you don't have to
spend all this money. Let's try to fix this exactly,
thinking of empowering the next generation of women. What character
traits do you think have been the most instrument to
(03:00):
your success.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Two character traits I would attribute to what I believe
is my success perseverance and intellectual curiosity. Perseverance, if you're
knocked down, dust yourself off and get back up on
the horse again. We all get knocked down. I view
setbacks as opportunities to learn, so don't be discouraged when
(03:25):
you experience the setback. Intellectual curiosity. Anyone who knows me
knows I ask a lot of questions when someone tells
me they're the VP of infrastructure for renewable energy and
I have no idea what that means. I ask what
does that mean? What do you do on a day
to day basis? It's amazing what you can learn and
(03:46):
what you can find out about different careers if you
just ask the question. A title generally doesn't tell you
what someone actually.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Does exactly, and don't be afraid to ask the question.
I think a lot of people are scared to ask
questions because they want to feel like they know everything right,
all right. So a lot of times when you're young,
you feel the pressures of what career path do you
want to take? What are your thoughts on trying to
figure it out in the beginning, like what advice would
you give?
Speaker 3 (04:13):
So I have five children, two that are recently out
of college, three that are in college, So this question
really resonates with me because they are all experiencing this
right now. There's a very small percentage of people who
know exactly what they want to do when they graduate.
Most of us do not. Myself included my career one DOTTO,
(04:35):
which was with an ad agency, was a result of
me answering an ad pre internet that tells you how
old I am, because it striked my interest and I
answered the ad and I ended up with a job
in Manhattan working for an ad agency and I loved it.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
That's incredible. And so you go from ad agency and
then what was two point zero?
Speaker 3 (04:57):
I was a stay at home mom.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
That is hardest job.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
It is the hardest job. And while I was a
stay at home mom, I did a side hustle of
commercial real estate of praising just to keep myself intellectually active.
But yeah, it is the hardest job. I called myself
a domestic engineer at the time, and it's the only
job that you can't walk away from. And it's twenty
(05:23):
four to seven.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
I tried to explain to my husband I was a
stay at home mom as well for a moment, and
I'm like, you're a chef, you're a housekeeper, and you
almost forget what it's like to have an adult conversation
because you're talking to a child all day long. And
so I love that even though you were a stay
at home mom, you continued working with the outside world.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I did. So when people are feeling the pressure of
trying to figure things out, I would say, explore what
you're drawn to. It may not make sense at the time,
but if you're drawn to it. There's a reason explore that,
don't ignore that. Be open to change. Life is not
linear what you think you want to do. Don't block
(06:04):
out or miss other opportunities because you're so one tracked
minded that you're going unless that works for you. Sometimes
it doesn't. And embrace failure. As I said earlier, I
view failure as a form of growth, So don't be
afraid of it.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Now, based on the lessons that you've learned from your experience,
if you could talk to your twenty year old self,
what advice would you give.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Take school more seriously, appreciate the education, enjoy it, don't
look at it as a piece of paper or a
stepping stone. Also, the other thing I would say is act,
don't react, allow yourself time and space to process situations
and emotions. I am an Italian half Italian, and I
(06:49):
tend to react and not act, and I've really had
to train myself over the years to act.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I think that's great advice. Not to speak for all women,
but a lot of women are emotion based and I'm
very passionate and so I am an instant reactor too.
And then if you just take that extra five minutes
and think it through, you realize it's not as crazy
as it seems in your mind at that moment. And
there are times that I have gone zero to explosion
(07:17):
and then you have to backtrack and eat the words
that you let out of your mouth with the I'm
so sorry I overreacted. So I love that advice, especially
if you could go back to your twenty year old
self and say that correct.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
And then the thing that I would do differently in
terms of a career path, I would not change my
career path, even though again it was not linear. I
feel like every experience enhanced the next, and so I wouldn't.
There's not much I would change in that category.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Now, you're a mom of five children, so you're a
superhero in itself. How do you balance work life and
home life.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
I do something called chunk calendaring, and what I do
is I always have on my calendar my priorities. So
physical well being is really important to me. So I
have a an hour every day that is blocked off
(08:11):
on my calendar for me to exercise, meditate, whatever it
is that I need to do that day for self care.
And I prioritize based on my values and my goals.
For the day, what it is I need to get done,
and then that allows me to make sure there's a balance.
So I have a color code work and then and
(08:34):
then life. And so if it's all work all week,
I realize.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I've got to do something different and make sure that
you're present with your kids and that you have fun
because you work to be able to have the life
that you want. But if all you do is work,
then why do it? Like it's great that you can
provide for your family and you have a house and
a nice car, but if you can't enjoy life, you're
wasting your life away. Life is social su Again.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
I think people minimize self care. I think of it
as like a luxury, and I would argue it's not
a luxury, it's a necessity. And in order for you
to be able to show up for other people in
a manner that you want to show up, self care
should be top of your list.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Amen's sister, say a lot it for the people in
the back, and make sure every man hears that it
is not a luxury. It really isn't. It is definitely
a necessity. Now, have you experienced barriers in your career?
And if you have, how have you broken them down.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
The biggest barrier for me is time. There's just not
enough time in the day to get everything done that
I want to get done. So I've had to scale
back and focus on what aligns with my values, which
family for me is always a first priority. Friends and
community and a lot of my friends I put in
the family category positivity. I approach life from a lens
(09:54):
of gratitude. I embrace laughter, playfulness, I As I said earlier,
self care is important to me, mental and physical. And
also making sure I create time for creative outlets because
that is therapeutic for me. So making sure that your
(10:17):
day is not filled with just stuff. You need to
fill your day with stuff that matters and is aligned
with what your goals are and what your values are.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
That's making an impact. And I know that you're very
involved with Carolina Assent and we love those ladies. And
there's a lot of young women in Charlotte that listen
to the station. What advice would you give them as
they set out on their career paths.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
There's three nuggets I would share. Don't compare yourself to others.
It's the Instagram generation. Identify your values and long short
term goals that align with those values. Look inward not outward.
Find mentors. If there's if someone you admire and you
want to emulate, ask to meet them for coffee or
for lunch. And when you're there, ask them if it's
(11:06):
okay if you can reach out to them, like as
you are traveling down this career path, and I guarantee
you everyone would say yes. And then keep in touch.
Make an effort to keep in touch, schedule a quarterly
coffee or lunch, build that relationship, and then finally, network, network, network, Right,
(11:29):
it's not who you know, but who knows you, which
is a quote that my daughter, who's recently in the
working world told me.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
And I was like, you are so right, and have
your tribe, your girl tribe. I love that about you
because everything that you say, there's a tribe of people,
and you can tell they mean so much to you.
You said your friends are your family, You're better as
a team.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I couldn't agree with you more.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Well, so when you decided to change your career path,
did your family where they like what is going on?
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Well? I went to law school as an adult, right,
so this all happened obviously, I went through my divorce.
I was an adult, I had two small children, and
I was so passionate about it. Was it, I don't
want to say the smartest thing to do, but it
was a leap of faith. It really was for me,
(12:20):
and I'm so grateful that I did it. Fortunately, while
I had started on this journey, I had met my
now husband and his three boys, and so now we're
a family of five. So we're a blended family of five.
And I started as a mediator for mediating family financial cases,
(12:42):
and a year into that, I was like, I'm going
to get slapped with unlawful practice of law, so I
need to go to law school. And I did. And
I had five at that time, young children in elementary
and middle school, and an incredibly supportive husband who encouraged
it because I really felt like that that was my calling.
Once this happened, my dwors happened to me, I knew
(13:05):
I wanted to find a better path for people. The
court system's not made for families. All it does is
create conflict, emotional turmoil, financial turmoil, and frankly, lawyers don't
have any incentive to bring people to closure. And I
think the system is not appropriate for families trying to untangle.
(13:29):
It has its purpose for families that need it, need
the court intervention, and that's usually reserved for mental illness, addiction,
things like that. But ninety five percent of families don't
need court intervention. They need guides to help them consciously uncouple.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Do you have that first moment when you started in
this career path? But is there a moment where you're like, man,
God put me in this position for this moment, and
I know I made an impact and it just completely
changed your life.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Yes, And it's happened a few times where I represented
in a collaborative divorce case at this For this particular instance,
I was representing wife and we went to mediation and
at the end of mediation, the husband and wife hugged
(14:22):
Wow and walked out together and went and got coffee
to celebrate, like we just we just crossed over and
were starting this new chapter. When they came to us,
they were not did not have that mindset, and they
had three young children. And I knew right then and
(14:42):
there that the work that we did as a team,
a collaborative divorce team absolutely had an impact on that
family for the positive and particularly those children.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
For the rest of their lives, for the rest of
their lives, because had they gone to normal route and
gone through the court system and they'll long drawn out process,
the parents probably would have hated each other. There would
be no great relationships. So you changed the path for
three children and those two parents and that's incredible. Yeah,
but look at you now, and look at you helping
all these families, and what a blessing you are to
(15:16):
the community. And I can't thank you enough. I love
surrounding myself with strong women in this community that you
don't just do your job and go home. You serve
on a lot of boards and you donate your time
to other people and uplift other people. And that's amazing.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
iHeartMedia. Charlotte Women of Impact celebrating Women in our Community,
presented by the Carolina Ascent and New Hope Treatment Centers,
Popular Podcasts
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.