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Introduction:
Welcome to trials and tribulations at work, the podcast where we talk about everything related to the workplace. Join us as we interview leading experts to discuss a variety of workplace related issues to help you learn about your rights as well as how to succeed professionally, personally and financially in the workplace. And here’s your host, Jay Stafford, founder of the law firm of JW. Stafford
Jamaal Stafford:
Kelly Leonard is an author award winning TV show and podcast host and former fortune 100 Executive through Kelly Leonard consulting, she has successfully helped 1000s of clients launch new businesses, increase revenue, build profitable strategic partnerships, land dream jobs, and more using her signature boost methodology for LinkedIn. Currently, Kelly is director of Client Services at cook Ross, a nationally recognized training and strategy consultancy that partners with the world’s most influential organizations to create inclusive leadership and cultures and commitment to our local community. Kelly is a member of leadership, montgomery serves on the board of the Council for advocacy and policy solutions, and recently co founded rise and run a candidate training program with a mission to support black individuals to secure elected positions in Montgomery County, Maryland. Kelly, thank you so much for joining me today, it is an absolute pleasure and honor to have you on the show. Today, I wanted to talk with you about what people need to do, or what people need to know, to transition to their dream career. And one of the things that really motivated me to have you on the show today is because you’ve actually done this in in your career. First tell our listeners about the career shift you made from being an accountant to a corporate trainer.
Kelly Leonard:
Well, Jay, first and foremost, thank you so much for having me, I’m excited to have this conversation because I truly believe it is a journey Life is a journey, right? And so even when I look and reflect on the 20 Plus, or maybe nearly three decades of being in the work. And I’ve been it’s funny, because when I think of where I started out, you know, my professional career really started as a function of being a really obedient child. And you’re probably like, Okay, what does that have to do with anything? And it really comes down to even when I thought about professionally, what would I want to be when I grew up? You know, my parents always encouraged me to look at those professions where you have stability, and sustainability, where are those areas where there’s always going to be a need for those people. And so initially, they encouraged me, okay, think of, you know, the medical profession. So you got doctors, you’ve got attorneys, and then you have accountants. And so you know, these are all these professionals where it’s like, okay, those professions will never go away. And they certainly can’t be replaced by robots or other things. And so, you know, opting for the path of least resistance, I was like, okay, the shortest amount of education, let’s, let’s go the accounting route. And so I studied to be an accountant. And of course, when you’re in the field of accounting, to really separate the players from the pretenders, you have to look at Okay, what certification so of course, becoming a CPA was the way to really sort of set myself apart from just the larger field of accounting. And so went on to take the CPA exam. And so invested a lot of time and energy there spent quite a few years in business there, including a stint in public accounting, where I quickly learned who I don’t really like this profession that much. And so, you know, of course, back then a part of and I think even to this day, a part of you’re acquiring your CPA certification required you to have a certain number of professional hours in public accounting. And so once I checked that box of saying, okay, check, I’m officially a certified public accountant, I realized, okay, this is not the place for me, either. And so where could I then take my accounting degree and use it still in a practical way, and then found myself in a more traditional corporate environment where I was practicing accounting, and then what dawned on me was the monotony of the work and to the fact that you know, when you look at year end, Okay, wow, while everyone’s celebrating the new year and party, doing financial statements, and then it’s like, Memorial Day weekend, well, that’s month in and so everybody’s had barbecues, and I’m like, well, dang, I gotta do so it. So then I didn’t like the cadence that was required inside of accounting. And quite frankly, I found through those years, I also found that I really love people. I really like being around people. I love the mentorship aspect and because of just the different mentors that I had through the years, and the sponsorship that I had through the years that then put me in the spaces where I was able to then become a mentor, and support coaching and mentorship to my peers and or other younger professionals, it really helped me to open my eyes into Wow, okay, I really like being around people. And I love seeing how the mind evolves. And and I like in myself, I’d like to think that I’m a lifelong learner. And so I started thinking, Okay, well, how can I make this pivot into more of a training role. And so I really found, it wasn’t until I was at General Electric, where, because it’s such a massive organization, the opportunities were abundant. And so to then pivot from the world of sort of accounting, finance, risk management into the world of training. And so it was really me the different opportunities that I had along the way through the field of accounting that introduced me to training coaching mentorship, that really helped me to understand that I really love supporting and engaging people and helping them to see those light bulb moments, which then, you know, sort of pivoted me into the world of training. That’s awesome. And Kelly, let
Jamaal Stafford:
me ask you this, because one of the things I hear a lot of times in people, as you know, they want to go into a different career, but they’re afraid to make the jump, you know, what guidance or advice do you have for people? Who were sort of who are sort of in your position in that CPA role and want to get into something else? What advice do you have for people who are sort of afraid to make that jump? But what sort of, you know, guidance? do you have? Yeah,
Kelly Leonard:
that’s a great question. And so, you know, a couple of things come to mind. First and foremost, I would say, you know, if you know, kind of where your interests lie, your personal interest is seek out people who perhaps are in that world and have really just transparent, authentic conversations with them to find out, okay, what was your path? How did you get into that field? What do you love about the field? What do you hate about the field, because there may be things that those through those conversations that you might hear, that then caused you to think, oh, maybe that’s not as glamorous as I thought it was. And so I don’t, you know, know that that’s the path that I want to take. So that’s one thing. Another thing that that struck me is that, again, looking for opportunities, what I did is, even though I was in the field of accounting, I sought out opportunities to kind of dip my toe into the world of training and coaching. So it was even making yourself available to be used in the way in which you’re seeking to grow so that at least you’re cutting your teeth in that particular field. And then I would also say, because there is certainly no shortage of learning opportunity is to really seek out ways to learn about that field. So I think, you know, like LinkedIn learning is a great place. Like if I knew that I wanted to switch industries entirely, maybe I might do some LinkedIn learning look for like, like, if I wanted to go into the field of real estate, for example, well, maybe I’ll go on and search on LinkedIn learning and see, you know, are there some real estate classes that I could be taking, where it’s sort of a lower barrier barrier of me getting the information that I need to make a really thoughtful decision as to whether or not that industry is one in which I have interest in and then you know, just good old fashioned Google because, you know, the other thing to be mindful of is, there’s no shortage of things to do in the world, right. There’s no shortage of ways to make money. But you also, you know, when you reach a particular age, you you have a personal responsibility to make sure that the shifts and the moves that you’re making are aligned with your personal responsibilities. And so it’s like, yeah, I mean, I mean, I may want to be a rock star, but I got a family to feed. Now may not be the time for me to pursue that. And or how can I pursue it in a really thoughtful way, where it’s still gonna help me to afford myself to live the type of lifestyle that I’ve grown accustomed to or that I would like to grow accustomed to?
Jamaal Stafford:
You’d be a successful rock star tell you that. Well, look, Kelly, let’s talk about one of the powerful tools that you created to help others sort of execute on getting an opportunity in there during dream career field, and it’s called boost Teluk. tell our listeners what boost stands for.
Kelly Leonard:
Great question. So boost and I love acronyms. And so because I think they’re like truly a great way for you to commit to memory, some of the things that you have swirling around in your mind and so, boost was really an idea that came well for Okay, let me tell you what it is. Boost is an acronym. So it’s build your brand, optimize relationships, obtain more leads, secure thought leadership space, and then tap into new markets. And this was a methodology that we developed internally in our company when during the time where I was transitioning away from traditional corporate america and starting to join my husband in Sort of the relaunch or the rebranding of Taylor Leonard Corporation. And so part of what Taylor Lennar Corporation specializes in is what we call CRM, customer relationship management. Well, and an extension of CRM is social CRM. So essentially looking at very thoughtfully what tools are out there, primarily social media, what tools are out there that folks should be using in order to increase their professional success. And so because so many of our customers at that time were coming to us, and we’re like, Okay, this whole social media thing is confusing to us, we don’t know what to do, we don’t know how to use it. And because so many of them were in the government space or private industry, many of them had a desire or had a high an increased amount of trust in the LinkedIn platform. Because when you pound for pound, when you look at LinkedIn, and relative to the other social media platforms, you know, your Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat all, you know, whatever, just name them all. LinkedIn was the one in which they found to be where most of their customer base and or their peers prospects, prospective employees hung out. And so the notion was, okay, how do we really thoughtfully use a platform like LinkedIn to connect with and build a relationship with our ideal client base, or ideal network. And so we created this methodology in order to help them navigate those relationships and build relationships in a really thoughtful way. So essentially, the boost curriculum was built exclusively to help our clients to navigate their use of LinkedIn specifically, but it applies really, essentially to anything.
Jamaal Stafford:
Okay. Okay. And look, Tom, listeners who are looking to get into an entirely new career field. You know, they’re looking to make that transition from CPA to, you know, you named a different career, how they can use that boost methodology to help do that?
Unknown:
Yeah,
Kelly Leonard:
that’s a great question. So you know, it start, there’s a reason there’s a method to the madness as to why it’s even called boost. It’s not called USVI. It’s like build your brand. So first, you want to start with building your brand, right? with anything that you’re doing, because people need in order for a person to get to know like, and trust you. Because we all know that people do business and hire people they know like and trust. It’s all about initially really thoughtfully building your brand. So what do you want to be known for? Like answering that question for yourself? What do I want to be known for? And so really thoughtfully thinking about? Okay, so how do I make sure that I, I build my brand in such a way? Where if someone were to Google me, because let’s face it, all employers, I mean, people in general, I don’t care what kind of relationship if it’s a working relationship, a dating relationship, people are going to Google you. And so when they Google you, what’s the first thing that they’re going to see? Oftentimes, it’s going to be your LinkedIn profile. So how have you thoughtfully constructed your brand in such a way so that when someone sees your, your digital footprint that they come to quickly be able to understand what is your area of expertise?
Unknown:
Is it your, you
Kelly Leonard:
know, you’re an attorney? Well, okay, the field of law is very broad, is there a specific way? You know, what is that niche, that audience that you’re looking to connect with? Or what is your area of specialty, your core capabilities, and so really thoughtfully, taking time to build your brand is super important. The challenges, I think, is that oftentimes, we as individuals, we always think, Oh, well, I’m not Coca Cola, I don’t have a brand. But we all have a bit right now, think of ourselves as a mini LLC, or, you know, Kelly Leonard Inc. And that’s regardless whether you’re an entrepreneur, or you’re an intrapreneur, meaning an employee that’s doing great things inside of an organization, you should always be thinking about what brand what message Am I putting out through my digital footprint?
Jamaal Stafford:
That’s powerful, that’s powerful. And look, one of the, you know, optimize relationships is one of the pieces to this. And, you know, as I was looking at this, I’m, you know, building your brand and the other acronyms, very important, but this optimize relationships piece, because, as I’ve started behind, you know, my firm and you know, that is such a critical piece to this and it was spent a few moments right there. What can people do, who are looking to transition to another career field or to move up in organization? How can they go about optimizing relationships, relationships, because, you know, so much of what folks do now is It’s very, I call it very transactional, in and out. And it’s like, you know, but that optimize relationships is really something that stood out for me speak a little bit about that.
Kelly Leonard:
If you don’t, yeah, that’s great. That’s great, Jay. And it’s so true, like, we are a highly transactional society, because it seems like everything is moving at the speed of light, right. And so people feel like, I don’t have time to really dig deep and grow a relationship. The one thing that I will preface before I say anything, the the, the error that I see so many people making when it comes to optimizing relationships is they wait until they need the relationship to try to build the relationship. And if you do that you’ve started too late. Because, again, think back to one of the things that I said earlier, people do business and people hire the people they know, like and trust. And so you want to get ahead of that by really thoughtfully thinking about, okay, how do I build a thoughtful, authentic relationship with people. And so if you think about how you can build a relationship with a person ahead of you needing to actually cash in, and I’m throwing up air quotes, I know people can’t see, I’m throwing up air quotes, to say, you know, to really thoughtfully, authentically build a genuine relationship with people, it takes time. Yeah, it’s an investment. And so and a lot of people just, quite frankly, don’t want to make that investment. And those are the people who, sadly, are not going to have as much success in their life as those people who say, you know what, I’m going to make a personal commitment to spend time just getting to know people. Yeah. And the other thing is, you know, when you think about, you know, people are, you know, if you’re lonely, the West, the best way to make friends is to be a friend. It amazes me sometimes when you meet some people, and they are so rotten, prickly j that you’re like,
Introduction:
what are you like,
Kelly Leonard:
are in the situation that you’re in, you’re always in a bad mood. So, so much of optimizing relationships, I think starts with having almost that emotional intelligence and awareness of yourself to say, okay,
Unknown:
am I even worthy of being upfront? Like,
Kelly Leonard:
am I lighting up a room when I come into the room? And mind you, we’re in COVID, right now is conversation. And so we’re not finding ourselves in rooms, traditional rooms, as much as we typically our work, we find ourselves in these virtual rooms. But even in the virtual rooms, am I paying attention? am I acting like, I’m actually interested in what a person is sharing with me? Or am I just kind of, you know, this, this, this figure that really only I’m interested in getting my own needs met? And so again, it’s putting yourself in a position such that you’re asking people, how can I be of service to you? Because then inevitably, people are going to then feel compelled to be of service to to, you know, the reverse. So if I’m asking you, Jay, okay, I may have a need, I may be a job seeker, or I may be someone who’s pivoting careers, and maybe I want to go into the field of law. And so practically, what this might look like, is me reaching out to you to say, hey, Jay, I see you have this established practice. I’ve done a little bit of research on you online, you know, this particular thing, or I’ve been listening to your podcast, and Wow, man, you’re really doing some great things. I love the vibe that you have. I would love to just spend a few minutes with you just learning more about your experience as an attorney, because I really don’t know, I don’t even know if this is an industry that I want to I could be successful in it. You know, would you be open to just having an authentic conversation with me? Five minutes, would you be willing to take five minutes of your time just to share more with me about what it is, you know, the good, the bad, the ugly in the industry. And most people, their first their favorite subject to cut to talk about is is what what do you think of themselves?
Jamaal Stafford:
themselves?
Unknown:
As opposed to if I’m like, hey, Jay,
Kelly Leonard:
I need a job. I want to talk to you can can we schedule a conference call already? You’re like, okay, Kelly, you sound like a project. Like, I have time to do projects. Right, right. I’ve got family, I’ve got COVID. I’ve got clients, I’ve got all these different things that are going on right now. So for as much as I would love to help you, in the grand scheme of my priorities right now, sadly, you’re not one of them. And, and that’s real talk, right? Like, right. And so how do we turn that conversation around in such a way where, you know, hey, it’s an opportunity for me to get to know, Jay. And yeah, at some point, hopefully, maybe in that conversation, I have an opportunity to sprinkle a little special sauce and share a little bit about myself in conversation. But it’s if we if you do it right, it’s the first of many conversations to come. You want to get all of our needs met in that first initial conversation in that first email, in that first text. message. And that’s a turnoff. Like, we have to continuously ask ourselves, how do we want to be treated? And if we don’t want to be firehose, or if we don’t want to be spammed, or if we don’t want to be to be sold to why do we think that we have the secret sauce that when we do that to a person that suddenly the person is going to be attracted to us? Right? to work that way? Right? Yeah,
Jamaal Stafford:
yeah. I love that. I mean, because that’s, I think that’s so powerful for a lot of people. The understanding that relationship building takes time. Yeah, it takes investment. I mean, that’s, that’s, I think that’s powerful. Will Kelly, one of the things I’ve definitely want to talk with you about, you are the busiest woman on the face of the planet. I mean, I’m telling you, you know, you’ve opened, you know, you’ve got your own business. And one of the things I want to have you talk about is, you know, making the jump to being your own boss, you know, and a lot of people that I speak to, especially now, you know, people are thinking about doing this going from employee to, to owner. And I want just to stay here for a few minutes and tell us, you know, what’s been the good and the bad that you’ve experienced, sir, becoming your own boss?
Kelly Leonard:
Yeah. And I’ll preface that that’s a great question. I’ll preface that by saying also, at the time of this recording, I’m not only my own boss, but I’m also an employee inside of an organization called cook Ross. And so I wear multiple hats. So to to your earlier point, yes, I am quite busy. Yes, you figure out a way to make it happen. But that is a great preface and a great sort of segue to Okay, what does being your own boss look like? What does what does it require? What’s the good and the bad, the ugly, I mean, the good of it is that, yes, you are your own boss. And so a lot of obedience and discipline is required in order to successfully navigate that though, and a lot of people they love to say certain things, you know, a lot of you and I always laugh, because I categorize being on boss with this, you know, I’m on my grind, you know, how you here.
Unknown:
And it’s like, and, and you look, but
Kelly Leonard:
many people the vast majority of people are not, I’m just going to use the word design, because that’s the word that is coming up in my mind right now are really not designed to only be their own boss, being their own boss may work well, if it’s a side hustle, because you’re not solely Reliant financially upon your ability, your discipline, your obedience, to be on your grind, because being your own boss is a, you know, I’ve heard the terminology ain’t too faint, meaning like, it’s like all by any means necessary, you get it done, there’s no excuses, you’ve got to like, just keep working, because it’s up to you to make the donuts package the donut, sell the doughnuts clean up the kitchen. So you know, in a pinch, and while the ultimate is being in a position where you’re not only your own boss, but you’ve also empowered and equipped enough people to be on your team, whereby you’re not having to do all the work, those things don’t just magically happen. At most people, the vast majority of entrepreneurs start off where they are the only person they are doing every aspect of their business. So the good part about that is it forces you to understand every aspect of your business so that when you are in a position to then start onboarding and hiring more people, you are have greater visibility as to when someone is doing something correctly, or incorrectly. Exactly. You know. So that’s the great thing about But yeah, I would say the good is, you know, it comes with some freedom, it comes with some flexibility, but it also comes with a tremendous price as well, because you know, you’ve got the ebbs and flows of cash flow. Yeah, in payroll, and paying bills and all these other very real consequences of being your own boss that a lot of people just don’t don’t think about the sad majority, unfortunately, many people who are entrepreneurs, they haven’t really, they haven’t grown their business to a point where it’s scalable to the place where all they’ve essentially done is bought themselves a job. So while they may be a boss, it’s they can’t afford to take their foot off of the accelerator at any point in time. Because if they do, they’re going to feel the pinch of what happens. I think COVID has taught a lot of people that they thought they owned was maybe just a hobby, or it was it was not sustainable because or because they lacked really the skill set to know. Okay, how do I structurally what are the financial statements that I need because oh, by the way, in order for you to qualify for that PPP money, yes, but you need to have like you can have some financials you need to be able to quit the bank. Yeah. And, and oh, PS you need to have a banking relationship. Because if you don’t have a relationship, you’re just in a pot of a whole bunch of other people, oh
Jamaal Stafford:
my lord
Kelly Leonard:
or are going to aren’t going to qualify for that money. And so, you know, so back to optimizing relationships. If you don’t be your own boss, you better best believe that you need an attorney, an accountant, a CPA, a tax, a bookkeeper,
Unknown:
HR person, you know, all spiritual
Jamaal Stafford:
advisor,
Kelly Leonard:
a spouse who has a full time job, you I mean, you need you need a lot and we’re laughing about it. Because sometimes being your own boss means you’re gonna laugh at about stuff in order to keep you from crying. You’re gonna need a laugh your way through Yeah, order to survive the peaks and valleys. Yeah,
Jamaal Stafford:
amen. to that. It looks Kelly, you know, one of the things that really stands out, you know, I’ve known you for years. One of the things that really stands out to me about you is this sort of purpose, I mean, you everything you do, seems to be sort of purpose driven. I mean, I just, you know, you, you’re deeply involved in the community there, Montgomery County, Maryland, you know, you host a TV show, you’ve got your own podcast, you, you started rise and run Academy to help people of color run for office in Montgomery County, and maybe even in other jurisdictions as well. Tell us about how the purpose that you have sort of drives it from, from what I see is your drives everything you do, let me tell me about that.
Kelly Leonard:
Yeah, and thanks for noticing. And then acknowledging that that really means a lot to me makes my heart sing. Because Yeah, because to that very point, I am very focused, and that I believe that I’ve been placed on this earth for a purpose. And I want to as best I can, and everything and anything that I do, remain true to that purpose, which so much of it boils down to just loving God and loving people. And because of the certain way that I believe that I’ve been uniquely gifted and created to be a catalyst compass and connector in the communities that I’ve been placed in and really so much of what I say yes to it has to be very closely wedded to me being able to stay true to that purpose of Okay, how is this going to help me to be a catalyst, a compass and or connector? Yeah, to people such that I can then show them, the love of God and the love of people and how all of us are, I think uniquely created for a specific purpose and how we walk out that purpose is looks different for different people. And I think that because I do everything in my power to stay true to that purpose. In it somehow, magically, my time gets multiplied. Oh, wow. Because it’s certainly by the grace of God that I’m able to do as much as I am able to do. But it also I think, puts me in a very special purpose where when things are presented to me, because I’m one of those people that I recognize, I humbled myself to know that while there are certain like, I can do a lot of stuff, but there’s stuff that I have no business doing, and that there are other people who I believe in their the way that they’ve been created, they’re much better, much better equipped to do those things. And so, for me, it’s even recognizing Who am I connected to who could serve or fill a void? Best. And that’s very helpful for me in that it helps me to say no, to a lot of things as well, because there’s that old adage, you want something done, give it to a busy person, right? Right. A person has oodles of time you guys scratch your head and wonder why why are you not busy? Like what’s going on with you that you have so much time, but and so because of that j oftentimes people will come to me to say, Oh, can you serve on this board? And then I have to put it through my little filter to say, okay, checks these two boxes, but it’s not checking this third box. And so because of that, I’ve got to say no, but and in and in all of this is it’s also the alignment of knowing that first and foremost, my most important and my most precious responsibility and ministry, if you will, is my family. And so I’ve always got to put things through the filter to say okay, if something compromises my ability to be a really dynamic wife, and a mother, and then community leader, then I you know, if MC min says those things or puts them out of order or jeopardize is my responsibility in one of those areas, that it empowers me to be able to say no, because otherwise you start saying yes to a million different things. At the end of the day, you’re like, Okay, I’m so busy, I can’t even focus on the things that really bring me joy. And so much of the things that I do while they keep me busy, they also are very uniquely interrelated. And they bring me a tremendous amount of joy.
Jamaal Stafford:
That’s awesome. That’s awesome. Hey, Kelly, thank you so much for coming. In speaking with me today, tell our listeners how they can contact you.
Kelly Leonard:
So the best place to find me is typically gonna be on LinkedIn. And if you do that, please make sure that you send me a personal note and say, Hey, I heard you on Jays podcast, because I do not accept all connections to LinkedIn. Because going back to what you mentioned earlier about optimizing relationships, I pride myself in being a person that at least knows something about my network. So I’m really specific in who are strategic rather than who I will accept connection requests from. So if you send me a LinkedIn connection request, please make sure that you mentioned that you heard me on Jays podcast or you can visit my website, either Kelly T. leonard.com. Or if you go to boost my linkedin.com You can find me there as well. So those are probably the best places to find. Awesome.
Jamaal Stafford:
Can they find your podcast there as well? Kelly, where can they find your podcast?
Kelly Leonard:
You go to either my if you go to my LinkedIn page, one of my contact links on my LinkedIn page is the podcast but then also on the Kelly t Leonard Comm. website. You can also find the link to the podcast. Awesome. Or you can also find it on Apple podcast, Google pocket, I made a bunch of different places.
Jamaal Stafford:
You’re everywhere. Kelly, look, thank you so much. Thank you. This has been an absolute honor. And a pleasure definitely have to have you back on again. But thank you so much, Kelly. Jay,
Kelly Leonard:
thank you and thank you for just the the content that you’re bringing to your listening community you are that I have had had so many aha moments listening to your podcast, so continue doing what you are doing my friend.
Jamaal Stafford:
Thank you. And now it’s time for Jays take. Today we talked a lot about transitioning to your dream job. Unfortunately, not all employees in the United States are truly free to transition to another employer because of what are often referred to as non compete agreements or restrictive covenants. Non compete agreements are generally presented to new employees at a company when they are hired and it restricts those employees for a period of time after their eventual departure from the company from working for a competitor. Generally speaking, there are geographic limitations to the reach of these non compete agreements. But let’s be clear, these agreements can be extremely onerous on employees looking for greener pastures. If you violate a non compete agreement that you’ve executed, you could face costly litigation and significant financial consequences all because you want to provide your services to another competing company. In many respects, these non compete agreements are antithetical to the free market economy that this country purports to believe in. According to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, somewhere between 36 and 60 million workers in the United States are subject to non compete agreements for our listeners that are looking to transition to new careers. A few words of caution before you sign that non compete agreement that a prospective employer might put in front of you. First, understand that, eventually, you will leave the company that is presenting you with this non compete agreement. So don’t be so quick to just sign it, try to negotiate it and hire legal counsel to assist you with negotiating that agreement. Depending on how badly the company wants you. They may be willing to entertain some modifications to the non compete agreement. Second, get legal counsel to evaluate the enforceability of the non compete agreement as Maryland does have a law in place that limits the enforceability of non compete agreements, depending on one salary. Finally, don’t be afraid to walk away. Sometimes no deal is better than a bad deal. Just ask those employees who have been sued by their former employer. Ultimately, our state and federal legislators need to take another look at the enforceability of non compete agreements. Every employee should be able to take their services to another company that may be willing to pay them more or give them extra benefits. If we as a country believe in free markets, then why shouldn’t an employer be able to prohibit an employee from taking their talents to greener pastures? Thank you all for listening. Until next time, this is the trials and tribulations at work podcast. Thank you for listening to today’s podcast. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on your favorite podcast platform and be sure to share this podcast with your friends and family. If you have questions, you can always email us at info at Stafford trial team.com. Again, that’s info at Stafford trial team.com We look forward to catching up with you next time. Until then, take care