Your book is your freedom. So where’s your plan for 2026?
Look, in private practice, the reality is simple:
Your book is your ticket to controlling your destiny.
Without it, you don’t get autonomy.
You get tasks.
You get “opportunities” based on someone else’s needs, not your leadership.
You get stuck waiting for someone senior to remember you.
And so many women keep hearing the same tired advice:
“Go to more events.”
“Just do good work.”
“Put yourself out there.”
That’s the slow lane.
The scattershot lane.
The “maybe 2026 is different” lane.
Then there’s the other path:
You build a real plan, whether it’s with me or someone else, and your career advances.
This week, a client showed me the shift in real time.
Banking litigator.
No clear niche.
Half-joking that she was “not that interesting.”
(But braced for me to agree.)
As a woman of color, she also carries a truth many of my clients name:
that feeling of being on the outside of conversations that everyone else seems to have been born into.
So we dug.
We followed the threads:
her love of constitutional law, and
a lifelong commitment to volunteering in community-based nonprofits.
“How does that relate to banking litigation?” she asked.
Here’s how:
Nonprofits have rules, oversight, governance issues.
Boards need someone who understands principles and fiduciary responsibility, which are the exact instincts she uses in fraud-prevention and defense.
Her decades of service establishes her passion for this sector, and her network already has several doors she can open.
I watched her sit up.
Everything clicked.
Then we built her reconnaissance plan:
• which conferences nonprofit leaders attend
• which internal partners already serve these clients
• 2026 hot topics to study now
• BD questions
• intel that shapes her Q1 plan
No more generic mixers.
No more hoping to bump into a partner at the “right time.”
Her lane narrowed.
Her signal sharpened.
Her plan stopped being theoretical.
At our next session, we’ll lock in the seven milestones every rainmaker hits:
1️⃣ One-line clarity: I help ___ solve ___ through ___
2️⃣ Showing up where her clients already are
3️⃣ A network of internal + external allies
4️⃣ Clean ownership of her contributions
5️⃣ A real quarterly plan
6️⃣ Visible moves that stretch her
7️⃣ A niche that makes her unforgettable, and narrows the field for her.
So let me ask you…
What’s your plan?
In three days, on Wednesday, December 3, I’m hosting The Shift, a private salon for BigLaw women who want 2026 to look altogether different.
The Shift is complimentary, and in it we’ll begin the tailored strategic work that goes far beyond what BD departments have the time or proximity to offer.
Because networking without a custom plan in place?
That’s the expensive path.
If you’re done hoping your career moves…
come build the plan that will. Reserve your seat here.
xo,
Rachel
P.S. If you already know you want 2026 to feel different, book a 1:1 call with me. You can still lock in 2025 pricing, and start building a BD plan that puts you in a completely different position by spring.
