LMA Ohio Member Spotlight:
Kamela Barrier
Title: Director, Client Services & Marketing Communications
Firm: Cors & Bassett LLC
Education: Defense Information School of Broadcast & Print Journalism, USAF — Associates, Broadcast Journalism
Where did you grow up? Anderson, Indiana
What was your first job? Detasseling corn — by far the hardest job I’ve ever had!
What would you be doing if you weren't in your current job? I love to cook. I think it would be fun to own a nice little family restaurant where the food is healthy, well prepared, affordable and where you lose track of time eating! The kind of place that you go back to because it “feels like home.”
What is currently on your iPod? LOTS of country! The old and the new.
Where is your favorite place to go to relax? A cabin, next to the pond with my husband and kids.
What is your favorite TV show? Favorite movie? The Mentalist, Justified and The Walking Dead. Pretty Woman, The Sound of Music and It’s a Wonderful Life.
What is your favorite cuisine? Organic and home cooked. Not too many things I don’t like.
If you were stranded on a desert island, who or what would you want to have with you? Definitely my husband and kids. We manage to have fun regardless of where we are or what we’re doing!
Who are the most important people in your life? My husband, Ricky, my son, A.J., and my daughters, Emma and Sophie. They challenge me and make me a better person.
What is the first thing you read in the morning? My email
How did you get into legal marketing? Most of my career has been within the professional services industry with 12 years on the accounting side of things. I’ve always had a tremendous interest in the law (I worked for an attorney in high school and considered, albeit briefly, becoming a lawyer) and an entrepreneurial spirit, so the opportunity to create a marketing strategy from the ground up, as well as some business development efforts here was an absolutely perfect fit!!
What is the best thing about your job? Definitely the people. I’m extremely blessed. This group of folks are some of the most down-to-earth, genuinely nice people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. Marketing is a relatively new concept here. They are very supportive of my efforts and initiatives in growing the business and that makes coming to work every day a lot more enjoyable — for me and them!
What advice would you offer a new entrant to the world of legal marketing? Seize every opportunity to learn everything you can about the business. Ask questions. Attend group meetings. Read. You can’t sell what you don’t truly know about. Spend the company’s money like its your own. You’ll make better decisions with it. Listen. Spend far more time listening than you ever do talking. You’ll be amazed at how much people will actually learn from themselves and about their issues if you give them the means to hear themselves out loud. Do. Roll-up your sleeves and do whatever needs to be done in order to move the business forward, regardless of whether it’s within your “job description.” Those little things are what build character and will serve you well throughout your career.