Introduction: 0:00
- Introducing Sarah Feingold, playwright of Dirty Legal Secrets: Based on True Startups, media law professor at New York University, board member and startup advisor at Chloe Capital, and former General Counsel at Etsy and Vroom.
- Why she considers herself a creative first and a legal professional later
- What got Sarah into law
Becoming Etsy’s first lawyer (and 17th hire): 2:48
- Reaching out to Etsy, offering guidance on policy.
- Talking with the founder, then calling back to pitch herself as their lawyer
- Building a business case for herself
- Believing Etsy will succeed & taking the leap
Transitioning to General Counsel at Vroom: 6:57
- Building a large, specialized team for an automotive sales company
- Speaking with a recruiter about expanding her career portfolio
- Taking steps to expand her career by exploring different roles
Writing a play: 9:18
- Being inspired by the #MeToo movement
- Creating a platform for lawyers to share their stories
- Staging her first performance in 2019, then adapting it to a play during the pandemic
Getting started on her first draft: 13:59
- Learning to ignore her perfectionist tendencies
- Giving herself grace to write, practice, continually change, and improve
Finding actors and producing her own play: 16:52
- Exploring ways to fund her projects
- Submitting her script to a competition and winning
- Working with production companies
Learning to promote herself after a career in law: 19:54
- Balancing a career in arts with running a business
- Getting comfortable with rejection
Staging Dirty Legal Secrets: 21:37
- Putting on back-to-back performances
- Visiting Dirtylegal.com for tickets and mailing list
- How she imagines the future of Dirty Legal Secrets.
Keeping her creative spirit alive: 25:28
- Balancing a difficult job with raising a family and writing a play
- Scheduling time to work on her passion projects
Leaning into a “portfolio” career: 28:20
- How she found joy in public speaking and teaching
- Learning to take risks and making peace with career ambiguity
Favorite parts of her day and pet peeves: 30:13
- Enjoying her daily route while taking her kid to school
- Disliking when people say they will do something and don’t
Book recommendations: 31:24
- Encouraging people to see and read more plays
What she wish she knew as a young lawyer: 33:21
- Realizing that she didn’t have to do everything herself
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