Day 165: Michelle Lee Flores

March 14, 2010 at 12:01 am, Category: Inspiration

“I try and make a commitment to myself that I will do something … each week, each month, each year, but that I can look back on and say “I’m happy I did that.”  It may have been time consuming … although it seems a little more hectic in your life, it really ends up paying off.”

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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Michelle, for agreeing to be part of the Project today, and before we go into the questions, can you please introduce yourself?

Michelle Flores: Yes.  My name is Michelle Lee Flores, and I am an attorney practicing employment law in Los Angeles, California.  And at an early age, I saw practicing law as a way to be independent and feel like there would be … either I would know the answer or know who to go to if there were any troubles in my life, and it’s turned out that, in fact, I quite enjoy what I do, so it’s turned out really nicely for me.

Toni: Well, fantastic!  When you think about the word inspiration, Michelle, who do you think you inspire and how do you think you might be doing that?

Michelle: Well, I would say at the outset throughout my life, my nieces, who are now 21 and 19 years old, they both at various points in time have either said to me or perhaps … well, one of them did a report in school early on in her life, and she had to write about who inspired her, and I was one of them.  And she indicated that kind of what … you know, that a lot of times people say that you need to have either a man in your life, as a woman, that you have to have a man in your life or that you know, perhaps you, you know, should keep things in perspective of what you can do with your life, what you want to do when you grow up.  And basically she said that through — not even by me saying anything, but by what I do — she knows that she can do anything she puts her mind to, and quite inspired her through me of, you know … that to be successful in life and to be happy it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be with somebody else.

So I thought that was very touching.  She got an A- on it, so I think I have through … I try to, not in a hardnosed way, but in just kind of an “I’m out there” way, I try and inspire them that they, you know, can do anything that they set their mind to, that they were capable of anything.

Toni: And it certainly sounds as though what a great role model that you have become for your nieces.  Let me ask you then, even the work that you do and being an attorney, do you find yourself inspiring others as well in doing the work that you’re doing?

Michelle: I think so.  There’s been, for example, high school students of either clients of mine or other individuals that I come in contact with in my profession, and I have been asked, you know, they’d ask me “Can we take you to lunch?  My daughter would like to talk to you,” or “my son would like to talk to you about, you know, how you did it, how you went to school,” because I put myself through school through scholarships and work.  And so with that in mind, it’s always something that I think they see that, you know, it’s a long road.  Lawyering is a long road, but that perhaps I could have insight, which I’m quite touched to think that they think that I could have something to contribute.

So it’s very, very rewarding to be simply out there.  And then also through being a lawyer in the community, I donate a lot of my time and I mentor law students through the UCLA Law School program, the 1L Program.  They pair you up, and I keep and maintain a relationship.  Each year you get a new student, but I’ve maintained relationships through the years with each student going on.  So I’m out there and just, you know, available to them to ask questions, to take them to lunch or take them to breakfast or what have you, because it’s a tough … it’s a tough three years, law school, and so I’m there to help guide them today since I can.

Toni: So how do you think that with how you come about these relationships, whether it’s the mentoring relationship or leading by example, how do you then believe that helps others to explore their own potential?

Michelle: Well, I think that when they get to know kind of the background from … you know, coming from relatively humble beginnings and not really having anyone else in my family having gone to college let alone law school that still seemed that in fact it’s possible.  I think it helps individuals, again either through example or truly just saying “Hey, you know, anything’s possible and you can do it.  I did it.”

Again, not necessarily the easiest road to go down, but quite a rewarding road in the end, because I do truly enjoy what I do.  I do enjoy my job.  I enjoy the clients I work with, and I enjoy being able to have the luxury of talking to other people and saying “Hey, you know, if you really want to do this, you know, here are some … here are some, you know, myself or anyone else that could possibly be of assistance in that process.”

Toni: So what a great role model that you really, truly are, because it’s not only “Here’s what I went through, here’s what was possible, I’ve gotten there, and guess what?  I really like it.”

Michelle: Yeah.  Which I think it’s a rare thing, unfortunately, you know?  I think it doesn’t matter what profession you’re in, a lot of people, you know, don’t … particularly lawyers, I think, aren’t necessarily enjoying what they do, but I truly do enjoy to come to work every day, and I do like what I do.  Sometimes it’s stressful, believe me, but nothing worth anything is not stressful on some occasion.  But I do … I do truly enjoy it, and I think that is a part of the component that is refreshing to other people.

Toni: I can hear that.

Michelle: When I speak with them, or, you know, just through, you know, just being there.

Toni: So Michelle, what inspires you?  What inspires you, and what do you need to be inspired?

Michelle: I would say … I would say two things.  One, someone’s genuineness.  That inspires me, when somebody either through their actions or their words are truly genuine.  I think that that’s a trait that isn’t around as much as I would hope it would be, and then also, you know, and that kind of keeps me on the straight and narrow when I see people that are genuine.  But also I would say that when I see other people who do various things within the community, little things that can turn into big things, but that can make a difference.  I’ve actually … a woman in my office recently cut her hair and donated it to individuals with cancer, and I thought “Wow, that is really inspiring.  What could I do to make a difference, even in one person’s life?”

One of the charities that I work with, it’s a nonprofit foundation, we put on every year a prom for teenagers who are facing a life-threatening disease.  That originally started through kids with cancer, but now it’s, you know, we keep it open to everybody and that happens every June.  And there’s a lot of work that goes into it, but it’s incredibly rewarding … incredibly rewarding.  And so that is something that, you know, I’ve seen through other people what they do, and really inspired me to do something more.

Recently I’ve been hearing a lot on the radio these ads for the bone marrow … be a bone marrow … be on the bonemarrow.org or something like that, and I’ve been thinking about that. and I’ve been hearing it so much that I’m sitting here thinking “Okay, well if she can cut her hair and other people can do other things, and I know I do some stuff, but maybe there’s a reason I keep hearing this on the radio.  Maybe I should do this.”

So I’m thinking very long and hard about it because I need to get a little more information on it, but it seems like it would be a wonderful thing to be on that list, because it certainly could save someone’s life, and I can’t imagine the rewarding feelings of being able to do that regardless of my understanding of the … it’s not a pleasant experience to donate your bone marrow.

Toni: No, I don’t believe it is.

Michelle: No.

Toni: So what I’m hearing from you is what you need to be inspired and what inspires you is really seeing other people set an example like that of giving, of paying it forward, of the selflessness that others experience as well as yourself, and then also the genuineness.  If you’ve ever experienced days, Michelle, where you might be a little down and need to fill the inspiration bucket up, where do you tend to go?  What tools do you tend to consistently reach for?

Michelle: Oh, you know, a couple things.  One is the concept of “well it certainly could be worse, so stop complaining,” you know, that one I go to a lot.  Another one is the, you know, “God’s never going to give you anything that you can’t deal with,” and you know … or make you stronger.  And sometimes I say “Hey, I’m strong enough,” but you know, I would say that those two things.

And then it always seems that there’s … if I’m down in the dumps or what have you, there’s going to be something that comes my pathway that ends up being … somehow says “You know what?  Some people are in worse circumstances, and they still are getting up every day and they’re happy and they’re doing things.”  And there seems to be, when that happens, you know, not having the great day, somehow, some way, somebody is going to cross my path that’s in that situation and, again I say, you know, “Geez, it definitely could be worse.  What are you complaining about,” you know?

Toni: So it’s really … it’s being aware of, you know, people like that may cross your path all the time or other people’s paths all the time, but they may not even be aware and see that that person may have troubles that are way larger than theirs; so that awareness is, I believe, is the key there to what you’ve said.

Michelle: Yeah.

Toni: And the final question is, what do you do, Michelle, to continuously explore your own potential so that you can continue to do the great work that you do?

Michelle: You know, I try and make a commitment to myself that I will do something … it will be either, you know, each week, each month, each year, but that I can look back on and say “I’m happy I did that.”  It may have been time consuming, I may not have been able to do x-y-z in place of that, and that x-y-z can be as something as simple as watching a movie or just, you know, relaxing and reading a magazine or something, but that although it seems a little more hectic in your life, it really ends up paying off.

I think that there are so many amazing people out there that I just admire so much that, you know, anything I do would pale in comparison.  But if I can do a little bit, just even a little bit, or touch one person’s life or do something, you know, that says “Hey, I’ve done something” whether it be, you know, work on the prom that we put on in one particular week or something, I think that that is really what I endeavor to do to explore my potential and kind of keep striving for more.

Toni: Wow, that’s a really incredible thing to strive towards as well, and to not only seek it out but then to really do it, you know, and that’s pretty awesome.  Well thank you so much, Michelle, for agreeing to be part of the Project today.  We really appreciate everything that you’ve had to say, and we will put a link on how to find you at the bottom of the interview, and thank you.  Thank you for everything.

Michelle: Well thank you.  Thank you very much.

Toni: You’re quite welcome.  Take care.

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For more information about Michelle Flores:  www.gtlaw.com

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