Hosted by Attorney Louis Goodman
March 30, 2022

Kelly Bagla - University of Wales

Kelly Bagla - University of Wales

Love Thy Lawyer – Kelly Bagla - Show Notes

lovethylawyer.com

A transcript of this podcast is available at lovethylawyer.com.

Kelly Bagla is a British lawyer who runs her own practice, Bagla Law Firm, focused on business and corporate law. She’s had notorious appearances in television and media and her four books help people develop entrepreneurship skills, become more successful and do business in the United States. Kelly is the host of the Go Legal Yourself Podcast and she’s an avid dog lover who believes in giving back to the community. Listen to the interview to hear about her unique view about the legal system and the hardships and benefits of running your own practice as a business.

Kelly Bagla
Bagla Law Firm
https://baglalaw.com
admin@baglalaw.com
760-579-6789

Kelly’s books:
Go Legal Yourself!: Know Your Business Legal Lifecycle, 2nd Edition
https://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1119745543,descCd-buy.html

Go Own Yourself: Unleash your Greatness so you can Own Your World
https://www.amazon.com/Go-Own-Yourself-Unleash-Greatness/dp/0998946710/


Louis Goodman
www.louisgoodman.com
louisgoodman2010@gmail.com
510.582.9090

Musical theme by Joel Katz, Seaside Recording, Maui
Technical support: Bryan Matheson, Skyline Studios, Oakland

We'd love to hear from you. Send us an email at louisgoodman2010@gmail.com.

Please subscribe and listen. Then tell us who you want to hear and what areas of interest you’d like us to cover.

Please rate us and review us on Apple Podcasts.

lovethylawyer.com

A transcript of this podcast is available at lovethylawyer.com.

KELLY BAGLA, ESQ.

Kelly Bagla, Esq. is an international award-winning corporate attorney who practices in San Diego, California. Kelly is a bestselling Author, an Inventor, selected Top Woman Entrepreneur by LA Dreams Magazine, nominated as one of the Business Women of the Year by San Diego Business Journal, selected Top Lawyer by Marquis Who’s Who, selected Attorney of the Month by San Diego Attorney Journal, winner of 2020 and 2021 Lawyers of Distinction, won Best of 2020 Oceanside Business Services award, winner of 2020 Legal Awards for Best International M&A Law Firm USA and Corporate Attorney of the Year, California, by Acquisition International. 

Kelly has successfully founded Bagla Law Firm, APC and is currently celebrating its 11th

anniversary. Kelly is also the founder and CEO of GoLegalYourself.com an online company

that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their business with the right legal documents.

Kelly has authored four books: Go Legal Yourself, First Edition, Go Own Yourself, Doing

Business In the United States, and Go Legal Yourself, Second Edition. All books support and

promote entrepreneurship.

Kelly has been interviewed by prestigious publications such as Business View, Business Fame,

Investors Digest, California Business Journal, SDVoyager, LAVoyager, and StarCentral to name

a few, for her achievement, innovation and determination in helping entrepreneurs start

successful businesses. 

Reece, How Industry Leaders Overcome Fear, Debt & Financial Challenges.

Kelly’s passion is to help entrepreneurs achieve their dreams and she lives by her own moto:

“Grab the world by the pearls, it’s yours for the taking!” – by Kelly Bagla, Esq.

Kelly and her husband, Brent, live in San Diego with their three beautiful dogs.

Kelly’s books:

Go Legal Yourself!: Know Your Business Legal Lifecycle, 2nd Edition
 https://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1119745543,descCd-buy.html

Go Own Yourself: Unleash your Greatness so you can Own Your World

https://www.amazon.com/Go-Own-Yourself-Unleash-Greatness/dp/0998946710/

 

www.BaglaLaw.com

www.GoLegalYourself.com

Kelly@BaglaLaw.com

5857 Owens Ave, Ste 300

Carlsbad, CA 92008

Phone: 760-579-6789

 Louis Goodman
 www.louisgoodman.com
louisgoodman2010@gmail.com
510.582.9090

Musical theme by Joel Katz, Seaside Recording, Maui
Technical support: Bryan Matheson, Skyline Studios, Oakland

Audiograms & Transcripts: Paul Roberts 


 We'd love to hear from you.  Send me an email at louis@lovethylawyer.com

Please subscribe and listen. Then tell us who you want to hear and what areas of interest you’d like us to cover.
 
 Please rate us and review us on Apple Podcasts.  

 

Louis Goodman

Attorney at Law

www.lovethylawyer.com

louisgoodman2010@gmail.com

 

Transcript

Kelly Bagla / Louis Goodman - Podcast Transcript

Louis Goodman 00:05 

Hello and welcome to Love Thy Lawyer, where we talk to real lawyers about their lives in and out of the practice of law, how they got to be lawyers and what their experience has been. I'm Louis Goodman, the host of the show, and yes, I'm a lawyer. Nobody's perfect!

Louis Goodman 00:26 

Kelly Bagla is an award winning corporate attorney, best-selling author and host of the Go Legal Yourself podcast. She was named Top Transformational Woman Leader by Industry Wired Magazine in 2020. She routinely speaks and appears on television. She has multiple degrees and began her career as an attorney at Baker & McKenzie advising domestic and international clients on all corporate matters. Her passion is to help entrepreneurs achieve their dreams. She lives by her motto, "Grab the world by the pearls, it's yours for the taking." but what impresses me more than anything is that Kelly Bagla attended Cal State East Bay when it was Cal State Hayward, Harvard on the hill. Kelly Bagla, welcome to Love Thy Lawyer.

Kelly Bagla 01:30 

Thank you, Louis. What a pleasure!

Louis Goodman 01:33 

I really appreciate you coming on the podcast. I know that you have a podcast, I've listened to your podcast many times, I've been on your podcast and it's a real honor to have someone as accomplished as you on my podcast. So thank you so much for being here.

Kelly Bagla 01:52 

Absolutely. I always, always enjoy talking to other fellow attorneys that are actually hosts of their own podcast shows.

Louis Goodman 02:02 

Where is your office located now? Where do you practice out of?

Kelly Bagla 02:06 

Carlsbad, San Diego.

Louis Goodman 02:08 

And can you tell us a little bit about your practice?

Kelly Bagla 02:11 

Absolutely. We are very laser focused on helping entrepreneurs. It's a business formation and asset protection law firm. Louis, as we get into my background, I am a immigrant from England, born and raised there, but I've been in the States for about 23 years now.

And I'm living the American dream. I'm an example of it, you know, the American dream is alive and well. And so I want to bring that to as many people that want to start their own businesses and want to become entrepreneurs and want to become independent. I bring that to them through my law practice.

Louis Goodman 02:54 

So did you go to school in England?

Kelly Bagla 02:58 

I did. So I, again, born and raised in England. After I finished high school there, I came out to the States and that's when I went to Cal State Hayward. At the time, it was yes, Harvard on the hill. It was a really, really pretty campus. And it's amazing to actually see another fellow attorney from there.

Louis Goodman 03:19 

You came from England to Hayward. Now, that's a huge difference in terms of culture and it's a huge difference in terms of climate. What was that transition like for you and how old were you when you did that?

Kelly Bagla 03:35 

I was 17 years old. The change was exciting. I came out to visit my sister and brother, and they resided there at the time and I absolutely just fell in love with the place, applied for student visas and what have you. And that's when I started attending Cal State Hayward. And my undergrad is in business administration and I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer ever since I was five years old. So seeing my father migrate from India, he worked in a factory in Birmingham. At the time Birmingham was such an industrial city and they were inviting people to come work. So my father worked in a factory on the line, Louis, on the line. And before you know it, he ended up buying the business out. So he became a business owner. And so seeing my father go through all that hard work and thrive as a business owner, I was always attracted to the business side, but I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer.

Louis Goodman 04:45 

After you graduated from Cal State Hayward, you ultimately went to law school. Did you take some time off between graduating and then going to law school?

Kelly Bagla 04:54 

I actually have the best of both worlds. I did a bit of back and forth. So I did my undergrad at Cal State Hayward and then since I am the baby of seven, we're seven altogether, Louis, mom wanted me home for a bit. So I took advantage of that time and I went to law school in England, and that was a three-year process.

Louis Goodman 05:17 

Where did you go?

Kelly Bagla 05:19 

It was the University of Wales, Swansea.

Louis Goodman 05:23 

You went to law school actually in Wales?

Kelly Bagla 05:25 

Yes.

Louis Goodman 05:26 

Well, that's a fair distance from Birmingham, isn't it?

Kelly Bagla 05:30 

It is. Yes, it is. It was only a coach ride away, but yes it is.

Louis Goodman 05:36 

So what was that experience like for you having lived in California and then now going back to England, actually Wales, which is a pretty rural area?

Kelly Bagla 05:49 

It was different in a respect where it was a bit of a culture shock because when I went back, people were saying, "Oh, you're the girl from America." And I said, "No, I'm the girl from England. I was, I was born and raised here." To get used to the, the education system again, it was a teeny tiny bit of a setback, but I caught up very quickly.

Louis Goodman 06:13 

What differences are there in the law school system in England as compared to how they do it here in the United States?

Kelly Bagla 06:23 

There are a couple of differences because I actually got the privilege of going to the law school in England, Wales, if you will, and also here in America, cause I did a master's in law at Whittier law school, but that was only one year. So my three years in England, it's very structured, Louis. You go to school full-time. you don't have a part-time job, you don't have time for that. It's constant learning and then you do get some time off to study for your exams. And if you don't pass your exams or any class, you have the option to either retake it for the summer or you cannot advance and you have to do your first year over again. So it's very different as opposed to here.

Louis Goodman 07:19 

After you completed your law studies in Wales, did you take the bar exam in England?

Kelly Bagla 07:26 

So in England you have two options. One is you can become a solicitor, which is a transactional attorney. And then the other option is you can become a barrister, which is a litigator. At the time I actually did take my one year course to become a solicitor. I'm a transactional attorney. And I completed that one year. After the one year, you actually have to apply and work with a law firm. You cannot go out and hang your own shingle after you're done with law school, you have to go and work for a law firm and you have to work for a law firm for three years, Louis. And it's not as if I am a business, transactional attorney, I'm going to look for a law firm that does business transactional. No, you're admitted, because there's so much competition there in England and you really have to apply way before you graduate. And once you actually get your foot in the door with a law firm, every six months, they rotate you to different practice areas. So you become an overall well rounded attorney, if you will. And I did not want to stay in England for another three years and go through that grind. Cause I knew right from the beginning it's business transactional law. That's what I want to do, that's where my passion is. So at the time when I had finished my legal practice course, I said, "Okay, I'm going to go back to the States and I'm going to, cause this is really where my heart belongs." And that's when I went to Whittier law school and I did a master's in law and that was one year.

Louis Goodman 09:16 

And then you took the California bar?

Kelly Bagla 09:18 

I did, yes. Interesting fact though, Louis, because some of my colleagues that I went to Whittier law school with, they were from a civil law background, civil law jurisdictions, such as France, that's based on civil law. England obviously is common law and here in the States is common law. So I actually could sit for the bar right after I graduated with my masters, my other counterparts, they had to actually go to either assist a state, to go sit for the bar there, then they could apply to sit for the California bar.

Louis Goodman 09:57 

After you passed the bar, what was your first legal job? Was that Baker & McKenzie? It was at Baker & McKenzie in San Diego. That's what brought me to San Diego. And this is home. I refuse to go anywhere else after San Diego. And it was an honor and it was a privilege to work for Baker & McKenzie. At the time, Louis, it was the largest international law firm in the world. I would highly recommend anyone that's graduating from law school to try to work for a large law firm because that's really where you get your footing as an attorney and how to practice law.

Louis Goodman 10:37 

As a very good friend of mine in law school used to say, "And it gives you an opportunity to make some mistakes on somebody else's letterhead."

Kelly Bagla 10:45 

Always, right? There you go.

Louis Goodman 10:52 

So how did you transition into the very specialized business entrepreneurial support work that you do now?

Kelly Bagla 11:02 

When I started with Baker & McKenzie, I was hired in their corporate and securities department. So my official title there was, you know, I'm a corporate and securities attorney. I had no idea what corporate and securities attorneys did, and we really focused a lot on working with businesses, working with entrepreneurs that either had brilliant ideas that they had, they wanted to patent those ideas, either they wanted to expand nationwide their businesses, or they wanted to go international as well. It felt like on a daily basis, I was working with entrepreneurs that were making a difference in the world that was, you know, not just nationally, but internationally as well. And that's when I realized, I started thinking, I know I have an entrepreneurial spirit to myself. If this is something that they can do and they're free to do this. This is their business, they're a hundred percent in control of their business. I'm sure I could do the same and so that's when I decided, I said, "I'm done here and I'm going to open my own practice." And that was 12 years ago.

Louis Goodman 12:15 

And presumably that's gone pretty well for you.

Kelly Bagla 12:17 

It's been wonderful, Louis. Wonderful. I'm not going to say that it was a, you know, a walk in the park because it never is for an entrepreneur or someone that's going out on their own and starting their own business. Yes, there were challenges. Yes, those were overcome and yes, you don't have a guaranteed paycheck anymore. I left the security of a big, massive law firm to go out on my own and I didn't have any guaranteed money coming in. It was basically I went out and what I could kill was what I could eat. And to have the mindset, to have the confidence in yourself to take that step, it's possible, it's really possible for anyone that wants that lifestyle.

Louis Goodman 13:05 

Yeah. I started out in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, which, it's not a big law firm, but it's a big organization with an enormous amount of security. You know, they pay every two weeks, they take care of your health insurance and it's a very collegial environment. And leaving to move into more entrepreneurial endeavors is a scary thing. And I've talked about that a little bit before on this podcast and I'll probably talk about it again, but it's something that, I don't know, it was a scary move. And I'm still scared by the move, you know, because like you say, you don't have a paycheck, you know, you do only get to eat what you kill and, and that that's it. And you're the one who, as, you know, Arnold Schwartzenegger used to say, "Signs the front of the check".

Kelly Bagla 13:59 

Exactly. Until you sign the front of the check you'll never really going to understand business. You're not going to understand the value that you as an individual can bring to someone else. I've always said, Louis, that we're all, doesn't matter what we're selling, it could be widgets, it could be, you know, services. We're all in someone's service, right? We're all here to serve others. And going out on your own, it is scary. Absolutely. But if I had to do it all over again, I would do it exactly the same in a heartbeat. At least once or twice a month, I'm solicited by head hunters to say 'so-and-so law firm, you know, is looking for a partner. You'd be perfect for them.' I couldn't do it, Louis. I just couldn't do it. I've I've really put in a lot of hard work into Bagla law firm and it's thriving and it's growing and, you know, I get to work with people, you know, I don't have to, but I get to work with people that I want to, I can pick and choose clients. And it's just an incredible place to be.

Louis Goodman 15:08 

So if a young person was coming out of college and thinking about a career choice, would you recommend going into law? And sort of second of all, would you recommend going into a small private practice after having some kind of a big organization experience?

Kelly Bagla 15:29 

Absolutely not. No, just joking. So, so yes, if someone's coming out of college and they are looking for a profession, absolutely. Being a lawyer opens doors for you to a magnitude of opportunities. I think each and every politician that we have, and I'm not comparing lawyers to politicians, but they all hold a law degree and they're not practicing. So having a law degree can really open a lot of doors to wherever you really want to go. I would absolutely suggest that because being a lawyer, you can be a lawyer from anywhere. If you enjoy helping people, if you enjoy solving problems and bringing solutions to the table. Yes, absolutely. Even though California is full of lawyers, I think we're going to continue having more lawyers here. But going into private practice, I would absolutely advise work for a firm first. Don't go out and hang your shingle cause you don't know anything. Law school does not teach you about the real world. It doesn't teach you about being your own boss. It doesn't teach you any of that. So absolutely, go get some experience from a firm and then yes, go out and open your own firm. Because like I said, there's just absolutely nothing like it.

Louis Goodman 16:58 

How has actually practicing law on your own met or differed from your expectations about it?

Kelly Bagla 17:06 

That's a great question. I don't think I had any expectations, Louis, when I opened my own firm. The only expectation was: okay, I have my own firm now, but I need clients, right? Because when you have bills to pay, they don't take IOUs. And you really learn the skill of being a business owner. That's what you learn, having your own firm. So it wasn't always "Kelly, the attorney" went out to do business. I had to put on my "Kelly, the entrepreneur" hat and go out and do business. I had to learn, Louis, how to network, how to talk to people, how to ask for business. I had no idea how to ask for business. At the big firm you never, you hardly ever meet with clients, right? You're always sitting behind the desk and billing and billing and billing, but really being your own, stepping into your own business, you have to wear all hats. So I learned as I went along. I didn't have a mentor, I didn't have someone that I could ask questions from. I think watching my father become a business owner, I sort of picked tips up from there, but it is different. You have to be able to talk to people at their level, at any level and not talk legalese to people. They don't understand it and it's going to put them off. So if they see you coming towards them at another function, they're going to say, "Oh no, I'm busy." you know, and walk away.

But yeah, I didn't have any expectations. I think I just learned as I went along and you are gonna stumble, we all do. And it's okay because the experience just makes you a better business owner.

Louis Goodman 18:56 

Yeah. I think to perhaps paraphrase Neil Tyra, who has that law entrepreneurs podcast, which you may be familiar with, he says it's just malpractice for law schools to release people out into the world with no understanding whatsoever about how to run a law practice, you know. And it's not that most lawyers come out of law school and immediately hang a shingle. and as you're advising strongly against that, as would I. But I think law school's ought to teach us something about business because after all practicing law is a business.

Kelly Bagla 19:35 

Yes, Louis, I would have to agree with you that lawyers that are coming out of law school and passing the bar, they don't know anything. Cause I was there. I was one of them and you were there and you were one of them too. And it is, it's absolute malpractice because the bar world is not realistic. In the bar world a 78 year old woman can have a baby. And you know, it's not real life. And when you actually talk to people that have issues and problems and they come to you for solutions, well, you've never really dealt with the real world. And it is malpractice if you start advising someone with zero experience.

Louis Goodman 20:18 

What's the best advice that you've ever received?

Kelly Bagla 20:21 

It would be from my father. He said to me, "If you want something, want it with your heart and the rest of you will follow."

Louis Goodman 20:31 

And is that the advice that you would give to young attorneys?

Kelly Bagla 20:37 

Absolutely, absolutely. The life of an attorney, it can go in two directions and I've experienced this as well at the big firm. So, the big firm life isn't for everyone, it's just not. It's for attorneys that are ambitious, it's for attorneys that want to climb that corporate ladder to become partner. But these attorneys at the big firms, they don't have a life, Louis, they don't. They miss their children's lives half of the time, they're not able to just sort of take off when they want to. They can't go to networking events. It's just very structured at the firm, the big firm. And it's only the partners that are out there making rain, they're the ones that obviously wine and dine the clients so they can bring in the work. But going out on your own, you do have to wear all different hats, right? You have to be the janitor, you have to be the dog walker. You have to be the marketing person. When was the last time, Louis, that you found an attorney that was brilliant at marketing?

You know, all of this has to be learned. And so if you're going to stay at the big firm, at least make sure that you are enjoying life at some point, because life will pass you by very, very quickly. Ever since I've had my own firm, Louis, I've had an incredible life. I get to, you know, walk my dogs during my lunch break or in the morning time, or whenever I want to exercise. I get to visit and go meet with clients and have lunch with them and I'm not structured to just that one hour and I've got to get back to the office. If I want to go on vacation, I can do, I can take phone calls on vacation. It's the lifestyle is so different from the attorney at the big firm or in a practice, as opposed to having your own practice as well. And like I said, before you know it, life is going to pass you by.

If you are going to the big firm, try to at least have a balanced life. You know, you've heard about, oh yeah, we offer a balanced life. You're able to bring your kids into work and leave them at daycare, what have you. But it's not the same at all, where you're tied. I feel like you're tied to someone else. And if that someone else went down or if that someone else that closed up shop tomorrow, what's going to happen to you?

Louis Goodman 23:22 

You've seen the legal system from a number of different vantage points. Do you think that it's fair?

Kelly Bagla 23:28 

I think that the law, the way the law is written, that is fair. I think that the way it's interpreted is not fair at all.

Louis Goodman 23:42 

What do you mean?

Kelly Bagla 23:43 

For example, there's a difference between what I do as a transactional attorney drafting contracts, according to what the law will allow, according to what the wishes are of the parties entering into a contract, then you have the other side of the law, which is litigation. Litigation is there's a dispute, you go to court and you argue your case in front of either a jury or a judge. And it's really based on their assumption of how well you have argued your case. It's not really based on well, this is the law and this is what we're going to apply. So I don't believe it's fair. It should be fair. I don't believe that the lady, the legal lady that has blindfolds on it should really represent the legal system because the laws, some of them apply to some people and then they don't apply to other people. So, no, I don't think it's fair.

Louis Goodman 24:45 

I'm going to shift gears here a little bit, Kelly. You touched on this, but I'm wondering if you could tell us a little bit about your family life and how practicing law has fit into your family life, how it's affected your family life, how your family life has affected your law practice?

Kelly Bagla 25:02 

So, Louis, I believe, I truly believe I was born to be a lawyer. And your podcast, Love Thy Lawyer is perfect for me because all of my clients absolutely love me and it's because what we bring to the table. Now, born to be a lawyer, I step into those shoes and I own it because again, I love helping people. I love what I do. My personal life, I'm very, very, extremely blessed to be married to the love of my life. And he also used to have a business so he understands running your own business isn't like a nine to five job. So when my husband comes home, it's not as if I need to close up shop and say, you know, now we can play house. He understands if a client calls at 7:00 PM or if a client calls at 6:00 AM, I'm going to take the call. And my life has just improved so much, Louis, because I have the ability to, yes, close up shop when my husband comes home, right? Or on weekends, if we want to take an extra day and make it a three-day weekend, we have the ability to do that.

I think the praise that my husband also hears about the service that I'm in and the way I've treated my clients and the feedback that we get from the clients, he's extremely proud of me. I'm very proud of me too, and I think being a lawyer, I'm just, I'm living my best life at the moment.

There's a joke around the house and I have to share this with you, Louis. When I met my husband, he had three dachshunds, and dachshunds are also called wiener dogs. And the joke around the house was, well I fell in love with my husband's wieners.

So, I've always loved dogs, always. And the fact that the husband came with the dogs was a massive plus. And since we've been married for 11 years now, and throughout the 11 years, we have adopted dogs, and some dogs have passed away and, and, and then we get more dogs, you know, it's just part of our life. So life is fantastic, every day it gets even better.

Louis Goodman 27:30 

What sort of recreational pursuits, things do you enjoy doing in order to clear your head a little bit when you want to step away from the practice of law and step away from the business of being a lawyer?

Kelly Bagla 27:45 

I've always, always been a gym rat. Always. I love working out. In fact, in 2010, wow, 12 years ago now. I competed in the bodybuilding competition here in Southern California. And it was probably the first competition that I entered. I won my category, but I didn't win the overall category. And I have a bit of a competitive bone in me as we all do as lawyers. So I had to do it again, so I entered into another bodybuilding competition and I won my category. And also when the overalls and now I have my professional bodybuilding card and my official title, Louis, is Miss Southern California.

Louis Goodman 28:36 

Wow. That's exciting!

Kelly Bagla 28:39 

Yes, yes. So if it's not working out, you know, I'm usually, I'm engaged with the dogs. And then I love listening to, love reading biographies, actually, biographies of great leaders that we've had. And then anytime I'm out and about working out or walking the dogs, I listen to Audible all the time. So I'm always, and it's not always, it's not legal at all because you have to sometimes, you know, take a breath and, and refresh again. And so it's always about great leaders that I'm listening to and I love history as well. And the other thing that I do enjoy a lot is traveling to historical places.

Louis Goodman 29:18 

What sort of travel have you done and what sort of historical places have you gone to that you've enjoyed?

Kelly Bagla 29:25 

I would have to say we've been to Italy, the Vatican: incredible. Been to Japan, been to Russia. We are going to Greece in September and I've traveled domestically as well. But the funny thing is, so England itself is just full of history. It's so rich with history. You can go and stay at a castle that was from the 12th century. And in fact, my husband and I actually got married in a castle from the 12th century in Scotland. And I highly, highly recommend going to Scotland if someone hasn't been. It definitely, you have to go to Scotland before it's all over and done with. But just historical places and it's amazing when you think about these great people that have come before us have actually walked those same roads and lived in those same places. But yes, it's a great getaway.

Louis Goodman 30:31 

You have done some writing and some publishing. What have you published?

Kelly Bagla 30:36 

Writing, I am an author of four books. I'm actually in the middle of writing my fifth book and everything that I've done so far is to promote entrepreneurism. It's to help entrepreneurs. The first book was called Go Legal Yourself!, that was in 2017 I believe. Then I wrote a second book in 2018 called Go Own Yourself!. So Go Legal Yourself! I talk about the legal life cycle of a business. There's a startup phase, the growth phase, the established phase, and then obviously the exit phase as well. And then now that you understand a business, how do you actually become a business owner? And that's why I wrote Go Own Yourself!. I also during the pandemic or prior to the pandemic, I've written an ebook, which is downloadable from my website. And that is for my international clients and it's basically exactly called Doing Business in the United States. Then I wrote my fourth book, which is actually the second edition of the first book, which is Go Legal Yourself!.

I wrote that during the pandemic. I engaged one of the largest business-related publishers here in the U.S so that was an experience too. And now I'm writing my fifth book. Again, everything to do with entrepreneurs, how to support them. And the podcast itself as well, Louis, Go Legal Yourself, it's in 26 countries and I interview experts in the field and it was fantastic having you on the show. And we share, you know, pearls of wisdom, if you will, for entrepreneurs at every level.

Louis Goodman 32:23 

How do you define success?

Kelly Bagla 32:25 

Success to me is when you put your head down at night time to go to sleep, you can look back on the day and say, "I did everything to the best of my ability that day. I owned that day." And success is being surrounded by people that you love, people that you care about and they care about you. And again, having a dog or having three dogs in your life, that to me is just the ultimate success because now you're caring for someone that absolutely loves you unconditionally. And what a great cause that is as well.

All of our dogs we've rescued and it's really true when they say well, who rescued who? But I wake up very grateful, Louis. That's the first things that come out of my mouth, you know, thank you, thank you, God, for this life that you have given me. And if you start your day off being grateful, great things happen during the day.

But that's how I would define success. It's not about, you know, your bank account. It's not about what you drive, it's not about where you live. Those people are pretty miserable most of the time. They'll have all these issues and problems, but it's really about living your best life, living the life that you want to and not what somebody else is dictating to you.

Louis Goodman 33:54 

I get up every morning and I take the dog for a walk and I consciously every morning am grateful that I am walking up that street on my own two legs and looking at the world through my own two eyes and that I am healthy enough to be able to do that simple task.

And I think you're right. I think that having that gratitude and being conscious of that gratitude at the beginning of the day is really helpful. And I don't want to sound too woo woo or anything, cause I'm not that kind of person at all. And you know, people who know me know that. But I think you're right. I mean, I think that being consciously grateful for the incredible life that we get to live here in California is just a way to be successful in life. You know? So I agree with you, Kelly.

Kelly Bagla 35:03 

And I think I just brought the best side out of you today and you're welcome, Louis.

Louis Goodman 35:08 

I knew we were going to have a good talk. I wasn't worried about that. Let's say you and your husband came into some real money, let's say 3 or 4 billion dollars. What, if anything, would you do differently in your life?

Kelly Bagla 35:24 

I would help as many dogs, homeless dogs as I could. That's the only thing that I would change in my life. And I truly mean this, Louis, when life is done and you know, it's your time to go meet your maker, who can really say, "I have zero regrets" right? Who can say, "I've lived a full life. I've lived a happy life, I've lived an incredibly loved life." I can say that. So the only thing that would change is I would save as many homeless dogs as I could. And my husband would do the same.

Louis Goodman 36:02 

Let's say you had a magic wand, what was one thing in the world that you could change in the legal world or the business world, or just the world in general? What would you do? How would you wave that magic wand?

Kelly Bagla 36:17 

I have never thought that far ahead. This is what I would do: if I had a magic wand, I would make legal accessible to all. I wouldn't make it expensive, I wouldn't make it different amounts of money for certain people. I would make it accessible. We actually help individuals that don't have the funding to start a business, they don't have the legal funding to start it, but we'll help them because it's, it's the passion that they bring, it's the life that they believe they should live. And it's, they are so desperate to start a business, but they don't have the legal funds to start the business. So I would make legal accessible to all, that's what I would do.

Louis Goodman 37:08 

Let's say you had 60 seconds on the Super Bowl. You know, you had a 60 second ad to say whatever you wanted to the country, to the world, to an enormous number of people. What would you want to say on your ad in the Superbowl?

Kelly Bagla 37:28 

I would say there's one thing that I'm selling, and that is independence. This country was founded upon independence. The backbone of this country is on the backs of business owners. If you truly want to leave a legacy, if you truly want to make a difference in this world, not just for yourself, but for your family, for your kids, for your grandkids, now is the time to step into that independence. Own your own business, be in service of someone else. Enough with the five to nine, nine to five, enough with the nine to five, right? Start your own business. It's liberating, it's an incredible service you're providing and you're actually living the American dream.

Louis Goodman 38:20 

Kelly, is there anything that you want to talk about that we have not discussed?

Kelly Bagla 38:23 

I think the only thing that I would like to mention is that your audience really, really should listen to the podcast that you were on with Go Legal Yourself. It was very informative and it was fun, it was fun interviewing another fellow attorney and I really look forward to having you back on the show, Louis.

Louis Goodman 38:48 

Well, thank you. Kelly, if somebody listening to this wants to get in touch with you, they want to buy your book, they want to use your service. How can they get in touch with you? They can simply just Google Kelly Bagla, that's K E L L Y B as in boy, A G L A. They'll see that I've done quite a bit in my life and I am actually in the media quite a bit and they can absolutely go to the website Baglalaw.com and we'll be happy to talk to anyone at any time, and also highly recommend that they listen to the podcast, Go Legal Yourself because it's got some great information.

Louis Goodman 39:35 

Kelly Bagla, thank you so much for joining me today on the Loved Thy Lawyer podcast. It's been a pleasure to talk to you.

Kelly Bagla 39:43 

It's been a pleasure, likewise. Thank you, Louis.

Louis Goodman 39:47 

That's it for today's episode of Love Thy Lawyer. If you enjoyed listening, please share it with a friend and subscribe to the podcast. If you have comments or suggestions, send me an email. I promise I'll respond. Take a look at our website at lovethylawyer.com, where you can find all of our episodes, transcripts, photographs and information.

Thanks as always to my guests who share their wisdom and Joel Katz for music, Bryan Matheson for technical support and Tracy Harvey. I'm Louis Goodman.

Kelly Bagla 40:30 

You'll have to excuse the barking, Louis, because I do have dogs, we're dog lovers here and they are my law firm associates as well. So if you do hear them in the background, they're just saying hello.

Louis Goodman 40:43 

Well, I'm glad they're working.