Melding Law and Wellness
I had the privilege to photograph Janine Pollack, Partner at George Feldman McDonald, PLLC. She shared part of her transformational journey with us.
“I’m embarking on a slightly different path. It’s a watershed moment for me. I’m getting my wellness-coach certification while I am a partner in a law firm. My goal is to meld law and wellness. It is an uplifting, rewarding and exciting path when two things come together.
I want to be effective at both and pay it forward to others while living the words that I’m saying to people. I believe you can be an effective lawyer and also be well at the same time.
I’ve been a lawyer for nearly thirty-five years. I am a plaintiff’s class action lawyer. I represent people who companies have defrauded. I’ve always wanted to help people who need that help. I have a working husband and two adult children. My focus on wellness and nutrition is from my youth, but every year I become more serious about it.
I believe as a woman you can have it all even while raising kids and the responsibilities of embarking on something new. I can make time for all of it, being a mom, a wife, sibling. I have older parents and a huge family. We are constantly going to wonderful family celebrations. There is much joy, thankfulness and motivation to be well.
People say, ‘I don’t have time to eat right or make meals’. I say, ‘Put yourself in a place where you can treat yourself right.’ Be a successful professional, a mom and a significant other-- clean the house, buy groceries, you have a lot of responsibilities in your life. Take care of yourself!
Everybody has genuine stress. I feel like there’s a really good balance to be found in life and children. I believe it is possible to find a sweet spot where all of the components of your life work for you and you are working at it positively.
Encouraging others, with a few ‘Janine-isms’, I would say:
Try to be positive. From your situation look for the positive. Hold onto that. Consider that the things that happened to you may be teaching moments.
Secondly, when something happens to you, don’t get stuck. Move on! It’s like Yoga. The previous pose or situation is over. Move on.
Congratulate yourself for where you are right now. You showed up. That’s a good thing. Instead of putting yourself down for not doing enough, tomorrow do a little more.
To me, life is like exercising, you use your strength to develop. Life is a series of exertions of force. You recover, then do it again. Over time that yields results!
I enjoyed my headshot experience. Alissa is a real pro. She knew exactly what needed to be done to get the right moment and the right look. She is a lot of fun to talk to. I highly recommend her. I had a great time! “