Dolly’s First Legacy

My journey into the notion of legacy was an evolution, which I suspect is true for most people. It started in the late 1990s, when I was running a full time health care law practice in Austin, Texas. I’d been a fish out of water there for some time.  Even though we were doing good legal work, I found the daily practice was often a dissatisfying struggle.

I was in the midst of making a career transition out of that conflict-laden, problem-solving orientation, to use my skills for the more creative and developmental work of helping clients with business development, systems design, human resources management, and strategic marketing to grow and maintain successful (problem free) operations that avoid legal trouble. I just knew I wanted to make more of a positive difference.

So I added professional coach training on top of running a busy law firm, formed my current consulting business Thrive!! and transitioned out of active law practice. Then, on top of all that change, two other significant things happened that set me on another course: my mother was diagnosed with cancer with a prognosis of only months left on this earth.  And my father’s Parkinson’s disease began to worsen.

As the attorney in the family, it was up to me to help navigate the associated legal scene.  I had to make sure health care treatment decisions were properly made and documented, and deal with estate planning issues.  My parents had a lawyer who helped them set up an estate plan including wills and trusts, but who never helped them implement that plan. Their financial planner was of even less help.

I experienced a lot of chaos during this time with the traditional form of ‘legacy planning’ and assistance.  The professionals my parents had hired dealt mainly with money and assets … and preparing paperwork.  Addressing real life issues was left up to us to figure out. 

Particularly, there was “the matter of the farm.”

My parents, immigrant physicians from Eastern Europe, arrived in the U.S. having escaped both Communist and Nazi occupations during WWII. Surviving that adversity, they set out to create a better life, and through diligent work and savings the family acquired some 300+ acres of farmland over a 30 year period. It represented a refuge from the possibility of another war. It was also the expression of a love of nature, the outdoors and self-sufficiency, and something tangible to pass along to future generations. On paper, though, it was just another asset to be distributed …

Figuring out what to do was left to my sister and me. She was as busy as I was — a full time OB/Gyn with three children.  We wondered how we’d manage the farm.  Even if arrangements for paying the estate taxes on this inheritance of property were in place, traditional estate planning could not address what we would need to do. 

Navigating all that, after a lot of research and exploration, (blood, sweat and tears, not to mention expenses), what finally emerged was the possibility of using the land to create the county’s first park. Through many meetings, discussions, finding the right people, negotiation, financial calculations, consideration of tax matters, and thoughtfully crafted agreements, the Garlo Heritage Nature Preserve was born. It’s a place where school groups, scout troops, volunteers and the general public can go to enjoy wildlife and the beauty of nature … and participate in making the place even better — better than we could have ever done on our own.

I said at the time, how helpful it would have been to have just one adviser or set of resources to help navigate the myriad family, property, financial and tax, health care, legal and personal life decisions, not to mention emotional and other issues … in getting to this great result.

It’s a result many people never get to because of how overwhelming all those issues can be — not to mention deciding what’s the right thing to do and how to do it.

So … I did two things. I reconnected with my true calling — my long held environmental conservation and preservation values.  Beyond development of the nature preserve, I began to work with other nature-based organizations and programs.  And I shifted my professional focus to help clients have a similar experience of designing and building their own unique contributions — at whatever level your circumstances and resources allow. 

I’ve met a lot of other successful mid-to-late career professionals who have worked hard, saved and invested and accomplished a lot, who still have an urge to make a bigger difference — on a very personal level with the people and things that mean the most to them.  If you're one of them, something in you is saying "yeah, I get that."

You likewise have similar family, work, financial, and practical life issues to deal with and wonder how it might be possible for you to get beyond where you are now, to something that feels greater and more significant.  It doesn’t have to be a scary jump off a cliff from where you are now.  But it does take taking the first steps to explore what and how, and putting a plan in place …

Developing my Creating Legacy program was to help you take those steps. It starts with you, your life, your work, the business development and financial mastery you may need to put in place now and/or for your personal legacy project. I know know the territory and can help you navigate it.  But best of all, I can help you take what might just be the most amazing journey of your life. Beyond parenting, and including family members (or not as individual circumstances dictate), the process of truly seeing the world become a better place because of your efforts, is one of the most fulfilling and joyful creative acts there is. And the forms that can take, are endless …

I would love to accompany and support you on your own Creating Legacy journey …