A few years ago, I drove across the U.S. on a seven-week tour. One amazing woman I met on my journey was Monica Reyes. Former ATL columnist and fellow ABA author Brian Tannebaum was kind enough to introduce us when I stopped in Miami, Florida.
When I met Monica, she was running a successful law practice and teaching Kundalini yoga. We instantly liked each other because of our shared love of mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and a commitment to living a meaningful, authentic life. What I admire about Monica is her deep commitment to spirituality — something lawyers rarely ever talk about.
I sat down to chat with her about her journey from corporate lawyer to spiritual success coach.
JC: Tell me a bit about your background.
MR: I was born in New York City, to a Peruvian mother and Dominican father. I started college at 16. I was smart enough to keep up, but socially, I was not even close. Being involved and excelling in sports gave me confidence and introduced me to my first experience of passion. I know it sounds weird — I was pre-med the first three years of college and decided to change when I realized I didn’t want to dedicate that many years to becoming a doctor. During college, I swam on the swim team, won first place in the Blue Mountain Championships in the 50 Freestyle, and worked for RadioShack as a salesperson. I owe the Shack all of my knowledge on how to wire a home theater system and for my ability to absorb tech quickly. After graduation, I took two years off, completely lost. My college guidance counselor told me to try pharmaceutical sales, and so I went into medical supply sales as a start and hated it. I became depressed due to the lack of direction and clarity in my life. My mom walked in one day with a used book for me to read — an LSAT book. She told me she had signed me up for this test and that, “I should just try it.” So I did.
JC: How did you start practicing yoga?
MR: I was pregnant with my daughter when I started looking for a prenatal yoga class and came across Kundalini yoga. I wasn’t sure if I could do it pregnant, so I waited until I had my daughter to try it. My first class was a special class that was held at 4 a.m. called sadhana. It was a beautiful, traditional, 2.5-hour practice with lots of meditation and a workout. I instantly fell in love with Kundalini.
At the time I was running my law firm, starting a new business with my business partner in the legal field, and co-producing a 200-attendee conference for women, so I was BUSY. I used the trip to reflect on what was causing my stress, and I realized my law firm and being an attorney were on the top of the list. So when I got back, my business partner and I made the decision to be done with the law firm.
JC: Tell me about your journey to leaving law. How did you overcome your fears about leaving?
MR: It was hard leaving law because I was really good at it and I had invested so much time and money into my license. I also had a super successful law firm (like multimillion-dollar successful), that was really hard to just give up. I remember thinking of starting a spiritual coaching practice and knew it was going to be a BIG leap. What will people think of me? I chose something completely “out there,” so it was a huge risk. I also had a business partner who I had to think about, so I waited. And then my passion for law became unhappiness. I tried changing practice areas (from bankruptcy tocorporate) which led me to my passion of entrepreneurship, but that wasn’t enough. The straw that broke the camel’s back was being on my honeymoon on an island and not being able to relax. When I arrived on the island, I was sick with a cold, I had anxiety attacks while I was there, and I had hundreds of emails coming through each day I was there.
In November 2015, I announced my decision on stage at my women’s conference and used the platform to sign women up for my group program which launched in January 2016. I was terrified, of course, but the pain of being so unhappy was worse than the fear. I thought, my husband, my best friend, my business coach, and my family support me, who else do I need? Who cares what people think of me? So it came down to one choice – the choice of happiness.
JC: Now that you are a coach and not a lawyer, do you feel as though your law degree has been wasted?
MR: Not at all. I had a business coach once, and she told me that the things I learned in law school were called critical thinking skills. I use those skills every single day I speak to a client or run my business. My law license also brings me credibility and shows who I am — intelligent, competent, focused, and I get entrepreneurs. A client signed up with me because I was an attorney. It brings a different perspective to the table that the majority of coaches don’t have. Something to remember is that everything that has happened in our lives has prepared us for this very moment. There are no accidents because the universe is intentional. So if we remember that, then the fact that I was an attorney was on purpose and was not an accident – so there is a purpose for it in my life. Whether the thinking skills or access to the industry, it all has a purpose.
This article previously appeared on Above the Law.