Starting the Conversation

When Allison Stewart invites attorneys onto her podcast, Women in Law on the Record, some demur, saying, “My story’s not very interesting,” or “I haven’t done anything spectacular,” or “I’m not as far along as I thought I’d be.”

Afterward, “They always end up feeling proud of themselves,” says Stewart, who practices civil litigation in the Dallas office of Greenberg Traurig. “That’s one of my favorite things about the whole process: seeing women take pride in their work and where they’ve been and where they’re going.” 

When Stewart launched her show seven years ago, she was a second-year associate who wanted to support and inspire other female attorneys. A fan of podcasts, she didn’t know of any aimed at women in the law. There were many unknowns, including: Would anyone be willing to talk to her? Would anyone want to listen? 

Yes to both, as it turns out. Women in Law on the Record recently released its 100th episode early this year. It included a sit-down with the podcast’s debut guest, who was the first person out of more than 100 to respond to Stewart’s initial LinkedIn connection request. 

Listenership has grown to 1,000 downloads for recent episodes. New listeners often explore the archives.

“I get comments all the time about how valuable this has been, how it helped with their careers and thinking in the long term instead of just seeing what’s going on in front of them,” Stewart says. “They say it’s really nice to be able to listen to someone they admire in such an easy, convenient way.” 

These stories of success—and struggle—are especially important because of demographics: While more women than men graduate from law school, says Stewart, “you get several years into the career … and women are either leaving the practice altogether, or they’re going in-house, or they’re making some kind of change to where they didn’t end up staying on the track that they set out to follow. While some of that is personal choice and preference, I think a lot of it is the nature of the industry and the lifestyle that it brings.

“We really need to see women who are leading by example, and there are a lot of examples out there.” 

Stewart litigates in the areas of business and health care, but the podcast features attorneys from various practice areas. Guests talk about how they got their positions, share stories of work-life balance, and reveal the best advice ever given to them. Guests have included the general counsels of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tyson Foods, and Toyota Motor North America; partners at large law firms and boutique practitioners; judges, academics and nonprofit leaders. 

“I want the conversations to be as relatable as possible,” Stewart says. “An immigration lawyer can be listening to a compliance officer at an in-house company and relate to it. Or a fifth-year associate can listen to a senior partner at a big law firm.”

Stewart says she gains something from every conversation. One guest said her episode was a sort of time capsule of her career that she could share with her daughters when they’re older. Another talked about her family as “the wind pushing her forward,” an image that resonated with Stewart. An attorney with stand-up comedy in her bones had Stewart laughing throughout the interview. Yet another was open about her health struggles and the decisions she and her husband have made as they balance careers and child care.

One message that resonated with Stewart came from Rebecca Hurley, a Plano health care attorney with Ardent Health Services interviewed for Episode 21. Hurley talked about life having changing “seasons” with different priorities—be they work, children, aging parents or other challenges—and encouraged refocusing one’s energy as needed.

“I needed to know that there are times when you can press the gas and times when you can pump the brakes, and it’s all going to work out just fine,” Stewart says. “It doesn’t mean you have to give up on it forever.” 

She took that advice when she put the podcast on a yearlong pause—from March 2023 to March 2024—to focus on becoming a shareholder at her firm and building a home with her partner and his two daughters. 

“I decided to pump the brakes. It didn’t foreclose me from picking it up and going full speed the following year,” she says. “That’s a valuable lesson for a young lawyer. This is a marathon, and I’ve got a long way to go.”