Hi Laura, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
When I was younger, I worked many odd jobs, mostly in restaurants and nannying, which can be very fun and fulfilling, but I wanted an intellectually-stimulating career. My father, who passed away recently, was a lawyer. He grew up extremely poor in the Bronx in a very traumatic environment and he completely changed his class and his life and uplifted his entire family through sheer willpower, a heart of gold, and education. He did his homework every night in the bathroom of a one bedroom apartment that he shared with five other people and had no heat or hot water. My grandmother got a job at Fordham University so he could attend there. I followed my dad’s career path and went to the same law school as him, Fordham University School of Law. I absolutely loved law school. I found the exams to be very fun, adrenaline-pumping challenges, and I annoyed all my classmates by wanting to talk through each question on every exam after we finished it. Education is a lifelong endeavor for me. I’m constantly learning by taking classes, attending workshops, reading books or listening to audiobooks or podcasts on subjects that I’m interested in. Learning is incredibly fun, exciting, enriching, and fulfilling. It can help people improve, transcend, evolve, and heal. I’ve kind of had this eureka moment realizing that I can just learn about whatever I want for the rest of my life.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I was not a great lawyer when I first started. I didn’t have the strong attention to detail that I have now. There was a steep learning curve and no one was holding my hand through it. Being a lawyer takes great dedication and courage. I have now passed on my first try what are considered the two hardest bar exams that were unbelievably difficult. Mindset is huge: I now have confidence and believe that if I try hard I can handle any assignment given to me, even if I have no experience on the topic. My father, whose support and love I attribute my success to, used to always say: “90% of life is just showing up”, quoting Woody Allen. Just show up to the interview. Show up to the test even if you think you might fail – roll the dice. Show up to the conference, shake a few hands, say hello, and show your face. Do the speaking opportunity even if you don’t know much about the subject – you can learn it. When you are given a complicated assignment that you have no experience with, just give it your best. Obviously, you should prepare as best you can as well, but the takeaway is “just don’t bail”. I think that advice translates to personal relational success as well.
I remind myself in times of struggle of what my dad used to tell me: “there is nothing that you can’t handle”.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a lawyer at a large global law firm and I specialize in environmental and climate change law. Among other things, I help companies with the environmental aspects of transactions (buying or selling businesses) and I help companies become more sustainable. I also work on ocean conservation matters and I volunteer with Oceanic Global helping to create events in LA. I absolutely love what I do and I have palpable enthusiasm for conservation and to help companies become more sustainable, whether it’s a company just starting out on their sustainability journey or a multinational leader in sustainability that wants to improve even more. I also have a bizarre love of drafting and negotiating contracts: I see them as fun puzzles and I am extremely persnickety about every single word, comma, etc.
I’m grateful that my work is positive in nature. While I advocate fiercely for my clients in negotiations, my work is not antagonistic. It involves parties coming together making a deal or improving their environmental performance. I strongly believe that we need less blaming, shaming, division, dehumanization, polarization, and tribalism in our politics, society, and media – and therefore in our everyday thoughts, relationships, and rhetoric. Hating and shaming the “other”, “us vs. them” doesn’t lend itself to progress; it’s a delusional, false story of separation and a waste of time – and we don’t have any time to spare.
We need to work together to address environmental issues and climate change. Sustainable progress is made through solidarity, unity, and understanding the interconnectedness of all people to each other and to the earth. You look at symbiosis in nature and you see things like the mycorrhizal network where trees, fungi, and soil are all working together helping each other. Plants can’t pollinate without the help of pollinators like bees and hummingbirds who in turn gain nectar or pollen from the plants. Their success is dependent on working together in harmony and reciprocity – as is ours. The inherent design of nature, which, for me, is also divinity, teaches us that helping each other reaps immense rewards. A maxim that I hold to be true is that our purpose on this planet is to help one another, be of service to others, and uplift others – and can we do that by giving love and compassion to all beings, not just those who hold the same beliefs and opinions as us.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
My mom and I are thick as thieves. She is my biggest support and inspiration and my best friend who always makes me laugh. I’m unbelievably grateful for both of my parents. I’m a deeply spiritual person. Being in nature alone is how I reconnect with myself and connect with spirit, source, God, Gaia, whatever you want to call it. The trees are my greatest friends, teachers, and protectors. The community of Topanga holds me very well and has taught me what it means to be kind and inclusive: it’s an enchanting community of healers and helpers. I find refuge at the beautiful Tara Sanctuary, where my mentor and friend, Azita Moallef, provides psychospiritual guidance, movement classes, acupuncture, and other healing arts.
I’m very lucky that I’m incredibly personally interested in the subject of my work. “Kiss the Ground” is a great documentary about regenerative agriculture; soil is a really exciting carbon sink and it’s a method that people can get involved with easily through gardening and composting. I love nature documentaries and I think they help us think differently and outside of our human-centered bubble. It is utterly mesmerizing to see animals in the wild. Camera technology has vastly improved in the last few years so the footage is truly awe-inspiring and some of them like “Dancing with the Birds” are hilarious.
I’m enraptured by and always learning about the intersection of science, nature, spirituality, and psychology, and all of its tributaries – so I often consume books and podcasts on such. The teachings and books of Dr. David R. Hawkins have been powerful for me. I’m currently fascinated reading a book about the chakra system and Jungian psychology. I often relax by making herbal infusions that support me through the work week and I love massage, music, and dancing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://oceanic.global/
- Email: [email protected]
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-mulry-39a46932/
Image Credits
Elyaou Bialobos for the three current photos.
Second to last photo: Jessie Mulry, Laura Mulry, and John Mulry, Fordham University School of Law Graduation, May 2010
Last photo: Laura Mulry and John Mulry, 1984
