Here at Mytus, I love to dig into founder stories and find patterns and commonalities. I’ve been noticing several “lawyerpreneurs” (lawyers who launched their own consumer brands) in our mix. Here are three, with their stories:
Rooted Woman
Chicago-based Rooted Woman is a line of ethical nail polish made and poured by hand in small batches. Founded by a lawyer who found herself in desperate need of self-care, her brand is focused on encouraging women to care for and love themselves. Each bottle of polish is $15
Rooted Woman founder India Williams spent 2015 focusing on her own personal wellness, and in doing so she started a blog called “Rooted” where she wrote about supporting professional women of faith in their own self-care journeys. That project morphed into the brand she now runs, Rooted Woman, which continues to have a strong focus on self-care for professional women. According to Williams’ bio, she’s also an “attorney at an international law firm” making Rooted Woman an impressive side hustle!
Read the full Rooted Woman story on Mytus.
Le Mondeur
Le Mondeur is a shoe brand, and each of its collections spotlights a textile from an artisan group around the world. Founded by a former human rights lawyer who loves to travel and discover artisans of the world. Sandals and shoes from $125-$285.
Le Mondeur founder Jessica Singer is a former lawyer who grew up near Lake Tahoe, California. She is introduced on the brand’s website: “Jessica received a degree in International Relations from Brown University and a law degree from UCLA. For over a decade, she has worked on human rights issues both abroad and at home, focusing primarily on issues of gender-based violence.” A spotlight in the Brown Alumni Magazine from 2019 includes that she was the first person in her family to go to college.
She founded Le Mondeur as “an extension of her love of adventure and connecting with people across cultures through travel” according to the brand’s site.
Read the full Le Mondeur story on Mytus.
Mohinders
Mohinders is a San Francisco-based brand of men’s & women’s slip-on leather shoes inspired by and handmade ethically in the region of India where that style was born. Founded by a former corporate lawyer who fell in love with the shoes on vacation in India. Shoes & sandals from $125
Michael Paratore is the founder of Mohinders. On the brand’s website, he is described: “Michael’s been running Mohinders since 2012, all while trying to convince his wife and two daughters to join him on as many spontaneous adventures as possible.”
He told his founder story on the brand’s Kickstarter launch page: “I used to be a corporate lawyer. About a year and half into corporate law life, I started daydreaming about doing something more creative. I wasn’t sure exactly what I had in mind, but everything became clear a few months after I purchased a pair of hand-woven leather slip-ons from a street-side shop on a trip in Mumbai, India.”
He explained his journey further to weREWILD in 2020: “Some friends from India told me that my souvenir pair of shoes were entirely handmade in people’s homes, not factory made. Realizing that starting this business would include traveling to find my way to the people who craft these shoes got me excited. Second, my wife had just finished business school, and was starting back at her job with a regular paycheck (good timing). Lastly, I had been working as a corporate lawyer for about two years and was ready to do my own thing. The combination of these reasons led me to quit my job and buy that first ticket to India.”
Originally published at https://www.mytus.co.
