About Gina
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I am a professional woman who struggled to find my place in the professional world. I went to law school because I didn’t know what else to do, and I hated just about every single second of the experience. My first years as a lawyer were hopelessly, embarrassingly miserable, and I was pretty convinced I was a professional failure – with a career that could never satisfy me. Even worse, I was pretty certain I was a completely incompetent lawyer.
It took work, but I managed to turn my career around. What I never managed to do was shake off the feeling that I was a fraud.
In my small way, I want to provide a place where I can help women ditch those internal messages and find their career sweet spot.
When one of the leaders of an organization I was affiliated with plopped down in my office and asked me to find a way to give a young male attorney a significant raise that would bring his salary close to what I was making because “his wife is having a baby and he’ll need the extra money,” I was nearly overcome with feelings of frustration which quickly turned to anger.
At that moment, I realized that my feelings of inadequacy were as much a part of a system that continued to reward and elevate men with unearned messages about their value.
Maybe I’m just an incurable optimist, but I think together we can all improve our professional careers and ditch those negative thoughts. When life hands you lemons, lemonade is always an option.
I’m an attorney, author, educator and — soon — a career and leadership coach.
My undergraduate and law degrees are from the University of Illinois, and these degrees feed my stomach. My MFA from Hamline University feeds my soul.
I’m currently the General Counsel and Vice-President of Human Resources at a non-profit association.
I had a lot of jobs, including being an administrator of a paralegal program, an investigator, an ethics advisor, and a political appointee overseeing a large department. Through much of this time, I also taught at Loyola University Chicago’s College of Law.
I’m the co-author of several texts on professional ethics.
I’m pursuing a certification in coaching through coursework at iPEC.
Fun facts
I have a pandemic puppy named “Hemingway.” He is as high-maintenance as his namesake!
My favorite job of all time was acting as a “Student Orientation Leader” over two summers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. My specialty was walking tours of the campus for incoming students and their parents. I walked the campus backward – and never tripped or fell! However, I was not allowed to drive the bus which was reserved for special tours. I tended to misjudge distances and drove over too many curbs!
My professional heroes are Ruth Bader Ginsburg (of course!) and Julia Child – even though I’m not a huge fan of French food, Julia broke so many professional barriers and she did it all while whipping up a mean mousse aux chocolate.
Weirdest babysitting gig: When my nephew was 8 years old, we stayed overnight in Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History. Coolest part was exploring the darkened mummy room by flashlight!
