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2.15_Entrepreneurial Fire with Precious L. Williams RLAW '07
23 Plays4 years ago
Co-Dean David Lopez interviews 13-time national elevator pitch champion, Precious L. Williams, RLAW ‘07. Ms. Williams has been featured on "Shark Tank," CNN, WSJ, Forbes Magazine, Black Enterprise Magazine, Essence Magazine, and in the movie "LEAP."
Learn more about Precious L. Williams.
The Power of Attorney is produced by Rutgers Law School. With two locations minutes from Philadelphia and New York City, Rutgers Law offers the prestige and reputation of a large, nationally-known university combined with a personal, small campus experience. Learn more by visiting law.rutgers.edu.
Series Producer and Editor: Kate Bianco
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rutgerslaw/messageRecommended
Transcript
Introduction of Precious Williams
00:00:10
Speaker
Hi, my name is David Lopez, co-dean of Rutgers Law School in Newark, New Jersey, and this is The Power of Attorney.
00:00:21
Speaker
Today, it is my tremendous honor to welcome Precious Williams, a 2007 Rutgers Law graduate.
Career Highlights and Achievements
00:00:33
Speaker
And today we're going to be talking about careers outside of the law. And as you'll hear from Precious, she's had quite an extraordinary path, both to Rutgers Law School
00:00:45
Speaker
and following Rutgers Law School. But what you need to know is that she is a 13 time national elevator pitch champion. She's been featured on Shark Tank, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Black Enterprise, Essence Magazine, and it goes on and on and on. And she's worked with clients such as Microsoft, LinkedIn, Google, and has just had a real tremendous career after Rutgers Law School. Precious, thank you so much for being with us. How are you this morning?
00:01:15
Speaker
I'm excited. I'm delighted. You know how we get down. Come on. I'm so excited. I was really happy to have you join us. And I know that we had been in communication. And I know you asked, it's like, I know you're like, well, do you ever profile graduates who did stuff outside of the law? And I'm like, that's something that we definitely love to talk about. So why don't you tell us what you're doing now? Who is Precious Williams? What do you do?
00:01:42
Speaker
Who is Precious Williams? Well, I am, I am, I am, I am, I am a world-class master communicator. I am a 13-time national elevator pitch champion and I'm affectionately known as the hashtag killer pitch master. And I am hired by Fortune 500, the top of the Fortune 500 corporate executives, successful speakers and entrepreneurs to help them what slay all competition?
00:02:08
Speaker
And the reason why I am as good as I am as international professional speaker, a serial entrepreneur is because I come from the trenches. I'm from the inner city of St. Louis, Missouri. First person in my family to graduate from high school, then went on to a full scholarship to college, had a full scholarship to Georgetown University Law Center, came eruptors on a full scholarship in 2003 and finished in late 2006 and graduated in 2007.
00:02:35
Speaker
And, you know, listen, I've worked for some of the best firms. I worked at Sullivan and Cromwell. I clerked for a federal judge in the Southern District, the Honorable Judge Harold Bayer Jr., who's now deceased. I worked at Hydel for Tony Murphy and Bach, which is a medical malpractice product liability and toxic tort firm. I had my own firm, which handled real estate matters in low level criminal cases. What I learned in all of these things is, you know, I really am, I know I'm a litigator. And if I ever had to go back, I would be a litigator again.
00:03:06
Speaker
But I did not want to have to go to court every day for the next 40 years. That to me was like, okay, these cases are getting roped to me. And, you know, doing a lot of landlord tent and mortgage foreclosure defense and stuff like that. I just thought that there had to be something better for me. Not saying there's anything wrong with being an attorney, but for me, I like variety. I like change.
00:03:28
Speaker
And so I challenged myself to start a lingerie company when I was 327 pounds and I was dating a very famous Hollywood
Curvy Girls Lingerie and National Success
00:03:34
Speaker
actor. And so I had to pitch my way onto national television, did that, and my second elevator pitch ever, I got a $500,000 check. And then they told me, keep going into pitch competitions because you're good. And the more that I did it, the better I got. And that's how I became a 13 time champion.
00:03:51
Speaker
And then that led to Shark Tank, the producers of Shark Tank, looking for me because I'd already prepped people to be on Shark Tank. And that's how I got on season eight in 2016. I got into movies, documentaries. I've been with Sir Richard Branson. I was working with Jack Canfield, Chicken Soup for the Soul. All of this happened because of what Rutgers had instilled in me. You have to take advantage of every opportunity.
00:04:16
Speaker
And I remember walking into Rutgers and they'll say this and you never believe it until you have to do it yourself. There's so much you can do with a law degree. People say that, but you never see them doing anything other than that. So now I know what's true. When I was on Shark Tank, I remember Damon John saying to me, he said, where did you get this from? I said, well, I've been a speaker since I was 16 years old.
00:04:37
Speaker
I said, but I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a litigator, I'm a former attorney. And he was like, you were the law school? I said, yes. He said, where? I said, I went to Rutgers School of Law Newark. That's when it was, that was what it was called back then. And he was like, oh my goodness, you're really, and the attorney said, yes, I'm an attorney. I passed the bar on my first try. It gave me credibility because had I just said, no, I hadn't gone to any graduate school. I had just, you know, popped up on the scene. That's great. But as a woman of color, a woman who stands in her power, all 230 pounds of men,
00:05:07
Speaker
It means something. And so when I say that I have a law degree from a prestigious institution like Rutgers that has blessed me and so many who came before me and so many who came after me, it means a lot. Well, thank you for the shout out. That's great.
The Art of Elevator Pitch Competitions
00:05:21
Speaker
Well, okay. So there's a lot to unpack there. So let's start with what does it mean to be a 13 time elevator pitch champion? It means you are the best of the best.
00:05:32
Speaker
So elevator pitch competitions, especially in the business setting, are all about businesses being able to pitch themselves for investor dollars or to get connections into media and to entertainment and to things like that. And so you have a finite amount of time to speak. Like when I won black enterprise, I only had one minute. Some pitch competitions I've been in, I've had as much as three minutes, but you have a time limit and you have to give the best of the best in that time.
00:06:02
Speaker
Of course, you have to talk about your financials. You have to dress it up in a story. Why is it needed? Who is the target market that you're serving? Why is this the market? Are you thinking too big or too small? How much money have you made so far? Is it an idea? Is it a prototype stage? Is it an MVP stage? Is it already? Is it pre-revenue? Have you made some revenue? What are your future plans for your company?
00:06:26
Speaker
And because when I started, I already made money for my company, I was past ID, which meant that I literally had people who were paying for my services as the killer pitch master or for my service, for my products as curvy girls, lingerie. One of the things that I encountered is a whole lot of people kept telling me that I was too fat, too black, and didn't go to an Ivy league institution. And that's why I would never win.
00:06:51
Speaker
I took that as a challenge. So that meant I walked in to show them that when I say I'm the best in the world, I don't have to just say it.
00:06:59
Speaker
my record speaks for itself. So when I walked in, I was ready to do damage and show why Rutgers had prepared me to answer questions on the spot. Why the Socratic method actually did work, even though I hated it when I was in law school. But it definitely prepared me for when sharks asked me questions or when investors asked me questions. These are investors who are prepared to say no, who never said no to me 13 times out of 14 times. Yeah. So, so you know, one of the things I tell our students is, is,
00:07:27
Speaker
that our alumni have done so many outstanding things internationally in all different areas. And Rutgers Law has a reputation as a school that is really based on just a tremendous amount of hard work. Definitely. And so I think the students that we recruit, I think the curriculum really kind of instills a strong
00:07:54
Speaker
work ethic. Um, but I tell them sometimes it's like, you know, that we probably don't have as much swagger as we've earned. Um, and you know, because I think you talk to people and they're like, Oh, the Rutgers law grads, you know, they, they tend to be hardworking and relatively humble. Um, and that we don't always have, I think the swagger that, you know, that matches what we've done. Tell, tell us about your very first national elevator pitch. What was your pitch for the very, the very first time?
00:08:21
Speaker
So my first national pitch competition was the perfect pitch competition. And, you know, no one's ever taught me how to pitch. I just instinctively knew this is before Shark Tank, this is before any of that. And so you had to go in and you had two minutes to describe your company, watch someone want to invest in you, what makes my company stand out above all others.
00:08:41
Speaker
What's so special about it? What's our secret sauce? Why should they bet on me as the jackpot? What do I bring to the table that no one else brings to the table? Things like that. And so, of course, it was my first competition. Did I think I was going to win it? No. But I met a woman at the New York Public Library who won $50,000 for her company in pitch competitions. She gave me her pitch and I was like,
00:09:04
Speaker
I knew I could. I knew I could, even though no one had ever taught me. So when I went on that stage, and of course, no one looked like me in the competition.
00:09:13
Speaker
And everyone assumed because I was 327 pounds at that point that I was going to talk about cupcakes and brownies. And I was like, no, I'm talking about a red, hot, love affair that inspired me to start Curvy Girls' lingerie. The ultimate shopping experience for poor figure Davis and plus size, fashionistas. And I showed them why you can call me the female MacGyver of business. You give me two toothpicks and I go through any door and I will show you why this is needed. There are over 40 million women.
00:09:38
Speaker
So that's 14 and a large in the United States, just like me. And we all want pretty underwear. That is a huge market that is untapped. Why is it untapped? Because people don't think these particular women matter. And I'm here to tell you that we do. And if you don't pay attention to this market, if you don't pay attention to this particular market, no one else will. And these women will have no other place to go. So because I was the first to come out and really show them that,
00:10:06
Speaker
it made all the difference. And that's how we were able to cross six figures in less than six months. That's fantastic. Bravo. Bravo. Um, you, you, you sold, you sold me. So that's, that's wonderful. Do you have a favorite pitch? What is your like, you know, I think like trial lawyers, it's like, tell me your three best trial moments for, you know, for athletes. It's like, you know, tell me your three best moments on the, on the, I do have, I have two, I actually have two. Okay.
00:10:36
Speaker
So here's the first one. This is the curvy girl. This is part of my curvy girl's pitch. Ladies, ladies, it's Valentine's Day and you finally met the man in your dreams. You know what time it is. It's time to find some sexy, sexy, sexy lingerie to set the mood off nicely. But you weigh over 200 pounds. What's a big girl in a city supposed to do?
00:11:03
Speaker
Well, if you're anything like me, then you went to Victoria's Secret, and you found out that they don't even make a bra in your socks. So then, you went to Ashley Stewart and Elaine Bryant, and you didn't really like the selection. Finally, as a last resort, you went to Macy's, where your choices are black, beige, and white. Again, what's a big girl supposed to do? Well, that's why I created Curf a Girl's Lonesome Ray. A Curf a Girl's Lonesome Ray with the ultimate shopping experience for full big divas and plus size fashionistas.
00:11:33
Speaker
And I know what you're thinking. And just so we're clear.
00:11:36
Speaker
There are over 40 million women size fortunate and larger in the United States, just like me. And we all want pretty underwear. It's just too bad the most mainstream lingerie companies don't create any products for women my size. And again, that's why we created Curvy Girls Loans Red. And so, yeah, I know another question that may be on your mind. Let's talk dollars and cents. Well, because we have an innovative website, we also created our own, our very own direct sales program, where we literally have stylists around the country
00:12:06
Speaker
who are presenting our products at their very own parties. And then we also do our own nationwide tour with our launch rate to introduce new markets and to introduce new states, new communities to what it is that we're doing. And because of all of that, that's how we were able to cross six figures in less than six months.
00:12:28
Speaker
Not bad for a woman from the inner city of St. Louis, Missouri, who's always told, I was never quite good enough, tall enough, skinny enough, any of those sort of things. So I want to share with you why Curvy Girls lingerie is where it is today. We're not an idea company. We're not pre-revenue. We show that despite me being 327 pounds, why we are successful when everyone said it couldn't be done. And again, my name is Precious Williams. The name of my company.
00:12:56
Speaker
It's Curvy Girls Long With You Right. Thank you. Right on. There you go. That's really good. And then do you want my second one? My second one is based on the name of my book. And I know you know the
Poetry's Influence on Pitching
00:13:08
Speaker
name of my book. Your book is called Bad Bitches and Power Pitches for Women Entrepreneurs and Speakers Only. So this is a book. So is it a short one? Give me the pitch. It's short. Ladies.
00:13:23
Speaker
Ladies, raise your hands if you want to be a bad bitch with a power pitch. I know I see those hands. Fellas, raise your hands if you want to be a bad man with a master pitching plan.
00:13:33
Speaker
you've come to the right place. My name is Precious Williams and I am the proud founder and CEO of Perfect Pictures by Precious. And at Perfect Pictures by Precious we create the most killer killer killer elevator pitches, media pitches, investor pitches, speaker pitches, and interview pitches. So if you are ready to be a hashtag booked and busy and paid speaker check us out at Perfect Pictures by Precious.
00:13:58
Speaker
If you are looking for investor dollars and cents, if you are looking for media attention or to get the job that you, the position you've always wanted, please come check us out at www.perfectpitchesbyprecious.com and see why Precious, the killer pitch master is a 13 time national elevator pitch champion who's been on everything from Shark Tank, CNN, Wall Street Journal, and the like along with my clients.
00:14:24
Speaker
Come check while we're the best in the world at what we do. My name is Precious Williams, the name of my company. It's perfect pitches by Precious. Thank you. Bravo. How long does it take to put something like that together? Do you write it out or is it- No, no, I definitely write them out. I definitely write, remember I'm a poet and maybe I didn't say that before, but I'm a poet. So when people usually hear me speak, they're like, I have a certain cadence and it's because I've been a poet for a long time.
00:14:48
Speaker
So when I write, at first you think the first thing you wrote is great and then you come back to it and come back to it and you strengthen it and you cut out excess words and you look for the things that set your pitch on fire. So if you notice there were certain times I took dramatic pauses. There were certain times that I focused on a particular word. That's because I come from the poetry background.
00:15:09
Speaker
And the reason why I want certain things to stand out to you, there are certain taglines I say in certain things you'll never forget. That's why my book is called Bad Bitches and Power Pitches. It's not crass, it's meant to draw your attention and say, hey, I really want to know more about that, or ooh, I don't even know where to go with that. Why was my company called Curvy Girls Longer Ray?
00:15:27
Speaker
It said everything it needed to say in the title. So it attracted a particular type. So some of my pitches I can literally do in a day. Some take weeks. Some take some I've looked at over the years and just improve as the years have gone by. So it really depends. So tell us about your poetry background. So actually, you know, I'm someone who's been through a lot in my life. I was very much abused as a child and I escaped to the land of make believe in my mind.
00:15:56
Speaker
And so I've been writing poetry since I was a little girl. I just started writing my dreams and I started being able to write it in rhyme form probably about four years ago. Before I was just writing out thoughts and they were beautiful, but they didn't rhyme. And I wanted to get to a place where I could rhyme them and it would make sense.
00:16:19
Speaker
And now that I can do that, you hear something totally different. Like I have, I have different poems. Like I have poems on fighting, fighting against people telling me what I can and cannot do or fighting or telling or showing women what's possible. And it's all about really embracing who you are and being authentic. I have, I have poetry poems that are about love, relationships, going the distance, having no limits. And that's what, that's really what I write about.
00:16:47
Speaker
But my being able to rhyme them only came about four years ago. Do you have any inspirations as a poet? Are there other poets? Are there other public figures that have sort of inspired you in terms of your writing? No, not really. Not when it comes to my poetry is really, I listen to a lot of hip hop, right? I listen to a lot of rap music, like, and I love all genres of music from adult contemporary to pop.
00:17:12
Speaker
But when it comes to being a pitch master, I needed a certain genre where braggadocio, is that what the word is? Being braggadocio was big. And I wanted, and I needed that as a pitch master because I don't walk into a competition if I don't think I'm gonna win it. And that takes a certain level. Every rapper thinks they're the best with their first run. The first, other pop stars say, oh, you know, I need 10 songs. No, no, they think they're the greatest from the beginning. And I thought I was great from the very beginning. And so that's why I love M&Ms, lose yourself.
00:17:42
Speaker
Nicki Minaj's. I love that song. Mama, I cannot grow old and see a little spot. So here I go. It's my shot, feet, fail me. Now, this may be the only opportunity. That as a trial lawyer was always my fight song. Yes, that I'm telling you. That's my song. Because I think the lyrics are just really so inspiring.
Music as a Confidence Booster
00:18:00
Speaker
They're just about owning your own narrative and really pushing yourself and not getting knocked on the ground. So that was always
00:18:07
Speaker
When I was heading to trial, that was always one of the three songs that I was playing. So that's how come I love that. So tell me Nicki Minaj, what was it? A Nicki Minaj moment for life. Yeah. And then, yes. And then, cause when she says in this very moment, I'm King in this very moment, I slay Goliath with the sling. Yes.
00:18:29
Speaker
And then she said, shout out to my haters, sorry, that you couldn't faze me. And that's how I feel. You can't faze me right now. You really can't. And then I love Beyonce's diva, because, you know, you have to walk in there like you own it. And then, and then, you know, we got to have Michael Jackson's bad. We got to have Michael Jackson's bad, because you have to, the whole world has to answer right now to tell you once again, Precious is bad. And that's how I go in. I'm ready to fight. When I go into competition or when I'm on stage or whenever I was pitching, I played the win.
00:18:58
Speaker
And that's just, and that's part of what Rutgers, Rutgers didn't have me up there like, Oh, you know, just be, be grateful that you're there. No, no, no. It was like, slay all competition, slay. So let's talk about your time at Rutgers. You, you, you left and you clerked for a district court judge. And then you went, then you went to Sullivan and Cromwell. No, no, no. I was at Sullivan and Cromwell. And then I went to the honorable judge Harold Bear in the Southern district.
00:19:21
Speaker
So Thelma and Cromwell is one of the elite firms in the country. So that must have been quite an experience. You know what?
Rutgers Law's Role in Career Preparation
00:19:30
Speaker
One of the things I think is very important that we all must acknowledge is when someone has a soft skill, my soft skill is speaking and the gift of speech. So I was always blessed to be in the right rooms and in the right circles. And so that's all I'll say on that. There are people that you can network with who will open doors in ways you never thought possible.
00:19:51
Speaker
We had great professors at Rutgers who instilled in me excellence. And so when I step into any role, I step in excellence, not black excellence, no excellence. And so when I speak and when I pitch, you know the difference. And so being able to speak the language of wherever I needed to be is how I got to where I got to.
00:20:17
Speaker
And I'm very, very thankful that having the gift of speech has allowed me to be in circles that I normally would never be in. And that's why I wanted to make sure everyone knows you can sit and believe what everybody tells you that's not possible, or you can make the impossible look easy. And that's what I did. Who were some of your favorite professors here?
00:20:37
Speaker
Oh, I loved Professor Marcia Cronovich. She was my legal research and writing professor. When I was in a clinic, I truly, truly loved Professor Offant. When I was in an urban legal clinic, I loved Professor Dubin. Professor Laura, I'm blanking on her last name.
00:20:56
Speaker
Professor Laura Cohen. When I tell you I had so many great ones, like Professor Bell, he is a black man. He teaches business towards intellectual property. I think his name is Professor David something. David Trout was my first guest on the podcast. Oh yeah, he is bad. He's bad.
00:21:19
Speaker
He takes pride in scaring the students. Yes, he does. And you know what? I had to be adding, I had to give it up to him. I was so thankful that he was like that because let me tell you something. Judges are scary. Yeah. And you have to be able to stand and stand and deliver. Like I had the audacity to go to court in hot pink and hot purple suits. It takes a lot of courage and audacity to be able to do that. And to stand before everyone with the Mohawk and Mohawk black woman style was getting twisted. You had a Mohawk.
00:21:46
Speaker
I did. I had them all. Yeah, I did. I did. I had, yeah, I really, I was really different. And I, and I understand that people who are going to listen to this be like, that couldn't have happened. Okay. It did. Trust me. It did. My wife and I were sitting in, uh, in Selho this weekend with her mask on social distance, but we were, we were having a nice brunch outside and we were just kind of people watching.
00:22:07
Speaker
One of the things that we realized is that in a way it doesn't really matter what you wear, it's just how you wear it. Yes. Because we saw people that were committing what I think would ordinarily be considered violations of good fashion, but they carried it well, carried it with a certain confidence. And maybe it's where we were, but there was a little bit of a, you know, it doesn't really matter. It's like the people will do something and if they carry it like it
00:22:35
Speaker
like they own it and they carry it with a little bit of swagger then it actually looks good on them even though ordinarily you would tell your kids not to do it.
00:22:45
Speaker
Right, right, right. And one of the things that I- Don't do the horizontal with the vertical. Oh, no, no, no. Definitely, definitely not. But also we have to be comfortable with embracing difference too. And that's one of the things that Rutgers does so beautifully is embracing people from different backgrounds. And I don't mean just socioeconomic. I mean, all different types of diversity. It's not just diversity and just diversity. See?
00:23:08
Speaker
It really is. So many of us came from so many different backgrounds, so many different schools, so many different communities and being able to see the best of the best from all of them. That is something that I will always treasure. There is no who's the best in law school. No, it's you all, we all are doing big things and we celebrate that. And now let's get down to who are you as a person? And that's why I want everyone to know who you are so much more important than what you do.
00:23:35
Speaker
It's great to have great grades in law school. It's great. It's wonderful. It's fantastic. I can't say that was me. I can tell you that I've gotten into some of the same places because I had the gift of speech and that soft skills and soft skills can take you far even as a curvy black woman in 2020.
00:23:51
Speaker
Yeah. Let me. Okay. Let's play. Let's play a little game. Okay. So, you know, I, I know that some prospective students listen. I know that some of our students listen. So here's the first thing you have a big interview. You want it. You want to be let's use intellectual property. You're about to interview with the biggest firm and.
00:24:10
Speaker
New York City, New Jersey that does intellectual property, this is your dream job. What advice would you have for the student going into that interview? I would imagine the elevator pitch can be generalized, you know, to the interview context. So they're quick, you're going to give, I'm that student, give me advice. What am I going to do? I'm really nervous. I can't blow this. Well, I'm glad, I'm actually glad that you're really, really nervous. First thing, first things first, you know, everybody's going to tell you to do your background, you do diligence on the particular firm. You know, what's, what trends are happening. You're going to get that, that same standard thing.
00:24:38
Speaker
here's what I want you to do when they ask you the question of tell us more about yourself or they give you these open-ended questions that allow you to really fully express who you are and want you to have a pitch ready so in that pitch think about the question they really ask me when they say hey tell us more about yourself I want you to dig into your past and look for not just transferable skills but unique things that have happened in your background that somehow translate
00:25:06
Speaker
into you being the perfect person for that particular position what things have you overcome and i don't mean just childhood trauma no no no what things have you overcome that most people cannot
00:25:19
Speaker
that allow you to be able, not just to handle the rigors of the particular position, but also being able to be a culture fit and to totally mesh into what they're trying to do as a firm. How have you paid attention to the trends that are happening in intellectual property? Draw that into the conversation too. And finally,
00:25:39
Speaker
What are unique things about you that they can't see on their resume? That they can't read on a resume? Bring it out. For example, so most people wouldn't think that a black woman from the inner city of St. Louis, Missouri would love old school country music. But the reason why I do is because I grew up in front of the television. You know, I was a television latchkey kid.
00:25:59
Speaker
And instead of watching cartoons and stuff like that, which did not do anything for me, I used to sit and watch intimate portrait, biography, 20th century American justice. Like I would watch the sort of things that kids my age wouldn't watch because it fascinated me. Like I would watch things on Aristotle of NASA. That's why I know about the Greek isle of Scorpios, because those things informed me of what was possible for me, even though I was in the hood. And I kept those things in my mind. When I, when I saw, when I saw Patsy Clines or
00:26:29
Speaker
Hank Williams or any of those old school country people from the Grand Ole Operate, everything like that, that taught me that not just because I was a black girl growing up in the inner city, there are people who were growing up in your truck stops or growing up in trailer parks. They were going through the exact same thing and yet look at what they did. So that expanded my mind.
00:26:48
Speaker
And you see how you can take a question that sounds so simple and really relate it to the things that you can do. So now what you know about me is that I paid attention to things that most people would never pay attention to and how that informed how I operate in life. I have a can-do attitude. There's nothing I can't do. Nothing.
00:27:07
Speaker
Nothing is impossible and nothing is out of reach. What I can bring to this particular position is such and such and such and such and such and having the gift of vision is that when people can't see things I can and I'm already two steps ahead or maybe even five steps ahead. Here's what I notice on your website and here's what I here's here's some of the things that I think that I can bring to the table. So that's how I would approach it.
00:27:28
Speaker
Always look for ways to differentiate yourself. Most people go into interviews sounding like everybody else. Oh, they can do the job. That's a given. What's specific about you that would make you ideal for this one? What do you bring? What's so special about your character? What's so special about your background? Think about that. Think about the question behind the question.
00:27:47
Speaker
Yeah, that's great. And I really like your comments about Patsy Cline and Hank Williams. The music is so heartfelt. A song like Crazy or You're Cheating Heart really connects us as humans. And it sounds like a big part of your advice is to find the universal human connection. And music, I think, is an outstanding way to do that. So that's great. OK, so now you've got the job, and they end up sticking you in litigation instead of intellectual property.
00:28:19
Speaker
You know, you kind of like litigation. You got a little bit of an adversarial character and you got a really big case and the partner's like, today's your day. I want you to argue this motion. It's going to be your first argument and you're going to argue it in front of Judge McScarry. What's your advice? Well, first of all, my first advice is get your theme music together. As you already heard me say, I have four songs that I listened to.
00:28:42
Speaker
because you're going into a fight and you're going into a battle. You did not go to law school to do this, do it the cute way. You went in because it's a battle. So get your theme songs together. Secondly, you've been prepared by school and you've been prepared by life to go in and handle this situation. I need you to do your due diligence and make sure that you're on point. You have looked at Eric, you have CYA cover your butt and you have done the work that it takes to be able to argue that.
00:29:13
Speaker
Are you going to be scared? Yes. In fact, if you weren't, I'd be like, Oh my gosh, I don't know who I'm speaking to. Third, you can't do this. They wouldn't put you out there if they didn't think you could. And even if they think you're going to blow it, make it look good. Give them a show, give them a show. Cause that's what I do each and every day. And that's what I teach my clients to do. Give them a show and forth, reach out to your network, reach out.
00:29:38
Speaker
whether it's the Rutgers network, whether it's maybe old professors or some of your classmates, they've been there, talk to them, get some advice from people in the trenches. I'm not in the trenches anymore as far as litigating, but I do think that it's very important to get your arsenal together so that when you put on that armor to go into court, and that's what you're putting on is your armor, is that you have your support network behind you
00:30:06
Speaker
giving you love, kicking your butt, challenging you, and telling you.
00:30:09
Speaker
It's showtime, like Broadway, it's showtime. And never let them see you sweat and kick butt. Very, very nice. One of the things a friend of mine from law school told me when I first started here as dean is she was a classmate and she just did outstanding work on television. She was a television commentator in Mexico City and her face was plastered on the buses all over Mexico City. She'd written several books on national security and worked in the Clinton administration.
00:30:39
Speaker
And she said at law school, she goes, I never spoke up because I was felt every single day like I didn't belong. Like I didn't belong there. And like everyone was smarter than me. And like I was a fraud. She goes, let me send you a link. So she sent me a TED talk.
00:30:54
Speaker
on the imposter syndrome. And I've talked to a lot of students about that because, you know, usually starting about this time, maybe a little bit later, I remember my first year I ran into, you know, a first year student at Starbucks and he's like, I'm just not getting it. I feel like everyone's smarter than me and everyone's getting it. And so, you know, so I, I, I invented my own hashtag, no imposters here.
00:31:19
Speaker
Nope, not at all. Not at all. But what would you say, are you familiar with the whole, I'm sure you're familiar with the concept of the impostor system, but what would you, what would you tell, you know, one of our first year students as they're starting to get closer to exams, what would you tell them? I remember that. So the thing I would tell first year students are getting closer to exams is that you belong here.
00:31:44
Speaker
And I will also quote them this quote that I can never get the words right, but it's not your darkness. It's not your insecurities that define you. It's really not. You're so much greater than you give yourself credit for. So it's not your darkness. It's your light that scares you more than anything that you're more powerful than you've ever given yourself credit for. So step into the light, step into your purpose. You were brought here for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
00:32:12
Speaker
And so as you prepare, know that everyone else is scared. Don't let these people front on you and make you think that they got it going on. They don't know what's going to be on that. They don't, on an exam, nobody does. So you go in there and you show them what you're made up. Make sure that you've done your work, make sure that you've studied and leave it in God's hands. Trust me, leave it in God's hands. If, if, if I, and take it from me, someone who didn't have the greatest of grades, remember there's a higher power that has a purpose for your life.
00:32:42
Speaker
And because that higher power has a purpose for your life, there is nothing that is impossible and nothing that's out of reach. So go in there with your head held high, have that little butterflies in your stomach and go do what you're supposed to do. Very good, very nice. And I hope our students are thinking that way. We're remote, so I don't get to run into the students
00:33:10
Speaker
in the same way, like I used to, and I really miss that, because I know this is where you're... You know, it's a crucial time. Yeah, where I think they're starting to get a little bit nervous, and they're grappling with this new material, they're grappling with the new way of thinking, and I know that they can do it, because I think that the way our admissions process works here, it's a pretty strong process, and they look at everything
00:33:39
Speaker
signs of resilience, they look at what you've done in the past. And, and so I have a lot of competence, you know, in, in our students, but I know that sometimes they need to hear it. So that's definitely no, no imposter, no imposters here. No imposters here. So let me, let me ask you about mental health and wellness. You talked a little bit about your own journey and that's something that we've really.
00:34:02
Speaker
try to focus on here at Rutgers Law School and in the whole profession. I remember, you know, the president of the American Bar Association a couple years back came to Rutgers and really made that sort of the centerpiece of his discussion because, you know, mental health is often a challenge and, you know, it's something that we don't talk about, but we need to talk about. It's often a challenge.
00:34:25
Speaker
for people in the legal profession. And I certainly have that queued up as a topic for this podcast in coming weeks. But talk about the importance of mental health and the importance of taking care of yourself, both as a lawyer and as a person.
Mental Health and Law School Challenges
00:34:41
Speaker
Well, I think that it's very important to truly take care of your mental health, especially right now. I had a nervous breakdown when I was at Rutgers on April 12, 2004. I had to give up my entire semester because of that. That's why I graduated.
00:34:55
Speaker
semester behind the semester that I normally would have. That's why I'm class of 2007 and not 2006. The thing is about mental health is when you find yourself slipping or if your people around you find you slipping, listen to them. Trust me, they're seeing something that's different because I've been on medication since 2004. Not the same medication, but on medication because I am
00:35:21
Speaker
I, I've been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and severe PTSD and I have flashbacks. And so, and if I didn't have proper therapy, if I didn't have proper psychiatry, I wouldn't be able to stand before you all today. And yes, even though those things have happened, they have not stopped me from my, from where I'm supposed to be. And so I think that right now, if you know, you need some therapy, you know, you need some help. There are some free resources here in New York, New Jersey.
00:35:47
Speaker
There are some places that you can go where you can go for community, whether it's Zoom or small gatherings. Take advantage of this now. This pandemic has been a blessing in some ways and a curse in some, but in a lot of ways it's allowed people to slow down and see what's really important. I was in a psych ward for three months. That's how bad I was when I was in law school. And when I came out, I literally had to take it moment by moment, not day by day, not hour by hour, moment by moment.
00:36:16
Speaker
And because of that, I finally finished law school. When I finished on December 15th, 2006, winning in special remand court for the final time, all I could do was cry because I never thought I'd get to the end. People look at everything that came afterwards as success. No, I went to law school twice and to finish was one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. And when I graduated on May 25th, 2007, I had already passed the bar and I walked across that stage.
00:36:45
Speaker
with my family and friends, 17 from around the country. That is something I'm getting teary-eyed about now. It can happen and it did happen. So don't give up, don't give in, never look back and never think twice. Thank you so much for that. I know that when people graduate, they have so many people behind them and to recognize them and to celebrate with them is really one of the joys of
00:37:10
Speaker
of any, I think, commencement ceremony. So what comes next, Precious? What are you looking at? What's your next big
Future Aspirations and Global Impact
00:37:18
Speaker
thing? Well, your girl's going to be a talk show host. I can't say with whom just yet, but your girl's going to be a talk show host. I plan to take perfect pictures by Precious, truly global in the next three to five years, and really work with more international companies, more tech companies.
00:37:35
Speaker
from around the world, starting the Perfect Pitch Academy where I'm teaching Pitch Masters to truly do what I do and to go out and do that for themselves and their clients and to give back in a major way and to be a major philanthropist for education so that, you know, when Rutgers goes through their greats, it's not just because we did it in business or in law, but also we came to give back to those
00:38:02
Speaker
who needed a helping hand to get to where they know they should be. And also to help other entrepreneurs who started out with, I started out with negative $400 and turned that into $500,000 in one television appearance. I want to make sure that others have similar opportunities and to not let money stand in the way. That's great. Now, do you want to give your website?
00:38:25
Speaker
Yes.
Contact Information and Closing Remarks
00:38:26
Speaker
Okay. So my website is www.perfectpitchesbyprecious.com. If you want to find me on LinkedIn, I am Precious L. Williams, Killer Pitch Master. On Facebook, I am at Perfect Pitch P. On Twitter, I am at Perfect Pitch P.
00:38:47
Speaker
And on Instagram, I'm at perfect pitches P on YouTube. I am precious L Williams and all of those will give you great insight into the killer pitcher master and how I am hired to help others. And that is how you can get in contact with me and my email address is precious at perfect pitches by precious.com. Lovely. Thank you so much. Any final thoughts or final shout outs to your Rutgers community? Yes.
00:39:15
Speaker
I want to give a shout out to Rutgers School of Law, Rutgers Law School. Thank you so much for being a beacon light and for showing the world what we're capable of. Thank you for the opportunity, Dean Lopez, to be here on The Power of Attorney with you. I'm going to get a shout out to all of my professors, all of them who just blessed me in ways that I can never repay back.
00:39:41
Speaker
from the Urban Legal Clinic, to the Community Law Clinic, to Legal Research and Writing, to my professors from Business Choice and Intellectual Property, to Evidence, to all of that. Thank you all so much. Thank Dean Garbatio. Thank Dean Kenneth Padilla, way back from MSP.
00:39:59
Speaker
Just thank you all for loving me. Thank Dean Boushous. Just thank you everyone in the Rutgers community, because I would not be where I am today without all of you. And that's why I push hard. You can do a lot with your law degree. It doesn't have to just be in law. It could be in business. It could be in creating your own paycheck, which is what I do today and show others how to do. I thank you all. And this is the one thing I want to leave you all with. Fortune favors the bold, the bold. So go boldly into whatever you may have
00:40:29
Speaker
butterflies in your stomach, but go kick boot. Fortune favors the boat. And that was beautifully said and I can't say it as well. All I can say is lose yourself in the moment and own it and never let it go. Thank you so much. Thank you.
00:40:47
Speaker
The Power of Attorney is produced by Rutgers Law School. With two locations, minutes from Philadelphia and New York City, Rutgers Law offers the prestige and reputation of a large, nationally known university with a personal, small campus experience. Learn more about Rutgers Law by visiting law.ruckers.edu.