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In this week’s episode of the ‘Happy Lawyer Happy Life Podcast’ I had the pleasure of interviewing the wonderful Juanita Maiden.  Now Juanita is a lawyer but I have come to know her as a Goal Shooter extraordinaire on my netball team!  Juanita spends her days working in succession law- an area of the law she has come to really love.  But like so many of my guests, Juanita has had a unique and interesting path in her career- starting in a larger practice in commercial law before leaping out of law to work in her family business with her parents in beautiful Cairns.  But something drew her back and now she can safely say that she has come to find her place in ‘lawland’.

I loved this chat- Juanita had many pearls of wisdom on law, life and happiness along the way and it is her kind and fun nature that really shines through.  She also has a deep love of sport and a ‘side hustle’ through her sports blog and soon to be podcast, Sports Maiden that led us to talking about how happiness sometimes means doing the things you love ‘just because’.  Not because there is any tangible outcome or result you are seeking but instead ‘just because’ it brings you joy.

In this interview, Juanita and I also chatted about-

• If Juanita was not a lawyer she would be an athlete or or perhaps even a rock star!
• Juanita shares why sports are such an important part of her life.
• Juanita was born in Cairns and lived there until she moved Brisbane to start University.
• Why Juanita chose law.
• Juanita loved university and shares some of her highlights of studying at the University of Queensland.
• After graduating, Juanita started her Articles of Clerkship in the late 1990s at Clarke Kann here in Brisbane, before packing her suitcase for what was then an Australian tradition of a ‘gap year’ in the UK.
• After her gap year, Juanita came back to Cairns to work in the family business in Cairns and shares why she decided not to return to law right away.
• Working in the family business gave Juanita a great amount of experience which she has applied to the law.
• Juanita came to a crossroads between the family business and the law, she returned to the law in Cairns and has never looked back.
• After a colleague took maternity leave, Juanita found herself reluctantly practicing succession law but fell in love with the area and has stayed in that space ever since.
• Moving to Brisbane, Juanita still loves succession law, but now also juggles family, the law and stepchildren!
• Juanita’s reflections on her career in the law so far.
• Juanita’s ‘side hustle’- her sports blog, Sports Maiden, and shares what is coming up for her in this passion project.
• The advantages of following your passion ‘just because’.
• Juanita loves what team sports teach us and the way that these learnings can transfer into life.
• The biggest shifts and changes Juanita has seen in law land.
• How email and pace have affected the legal world and how we communicate.
• Juanita loves a schedule and ensures she plans ‘nothing’ times and encourages us all to do the same.
• Unlikely mentors and some of Juanita’s influences in her career in and outside of the law.
• Juanita is soon starting her own ‘Sports Maiden’ Podcast in around June.
• Juanita’s Happiness Tip.

Sit back and enjoy this interview with Juanita Maiden

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Learn more here about upcoming events and courses and connect with Clarissa Rayward at the ‘Happy Lawyer Happy Life’ knowledge centre-  A community for lawyers who want to make the best out of their life in and outside of the law.   

Listen to last week’s episode here