Transcript
When I got out of law school, I had a lot of credit card debt, because that’s a big part of how I went to law school. My credit card bills were huge every month. I was borrowing from one credit card to pay off another credit card. I could only barely pay all the bills, the credit card debt, and the student loan debt that I went through law school on.
I only had a dollar a day to live on. I only had one shirt that I could wear to work, and I could never take my jacket off, because it had a hole in the elbow. It was kind of embarrassing, but I basically was living very hand to mouth.
The worst thing though was that I was afraid, every day. I was afraid of embarrassment, of everybody laughing at me. I was afraid of letting people down in my firm, letting my family down...you know, being a failure with my family...That was a hard one. I was really scared that I would have to take bankruptcy, that I would be so embarrassed in front of all these attorneys in this really prestigious firm. It was just a really really hard time.
So I worked at this firm for about a year. For that whole year, what I did was pray every day. I didn’t pray, you know, for God to help me win the lottery, but I did pray for God to take away the fear of money.
So I went and saw someone, and said, “What should I do?” And they said, “Take bankruptcy.” And I felt so much better knowing what the law provided and that congress, you know, was there to help.
I know what it’s like to live with that fear. I know what it’s like to go to sleep at night worrying about it. And I just want to offer the fact that that is a very real part of my life, and I have always enjoyed being able to help people. I understand what it’s like. I always feel compassion for our clients who come in here, afraid. And one of the biggest things I’ve always wanted to offer when people come to talk to me is prayer as a way to avoid that fear, and the knowledge that congress doesn’t want to leave people stuck, and there are real opportunities to get a fresh start, and to make a new life.