I wore a cow mask in front of lawyers, because that’s just me.

YESTERDAY, I WORE A COW MASK AND I OWNED IT. LIKE A BOSS.

Yep.

Well, I held it up to my face in public (it was a mask on a stick kind of thing).

And at the office.

In front of clients.

Who were in the middle of an arguably serious meeting discussing details that would impact lives.

And I walked in holding a cow face mask in my hand, hovering it in front of me.

You see, yesterday Chick-fil-A was giving free entrees to people “dressed up” as cows. So Melissa turned us into cows, of course!

We needed a break in the afternoon, and as we were heading out of the office with our cow heads-on-a-stick, we poked our real heads into the conference room to let them know we were leaving the office for a minute, since there was nobody else there.

As I was saying BRB, I realized that people were looking at my cow head-on-a-stick like WTF. So I explained. Oh yeah, Chick-fil-A is giving free entrees to cows so here I am *lifting cow head-on-a-stick to my face and kind of bouncing in place*.

Giggles and chuckles ensued.

And I thought, of COURSE I am the person who, cow head-on-a-stick in hand, is going to show up in front of a bunch of lawyers and do a jig with a cow head mask. Because that’s just me.

I didn’t do it on purpose. But I owned my cow head-on-a-stick. I figured an explanation was needed when people looked at it, but it didn’t occur to me before I walked that I had this cow mask in hand and that I should put it down or hide it or something, because sometimes doing silly things is just a part of who I am.

Holding my cow head-on-a-stick humanized me. It showed that I have a personality and I don’t take myself too seriously, and maybe most importantly that I will sometimes do weird things for food (office rules, of course).

In that moment, I was just another person, doing my thing. In that moment, I was someone to share a laugh with. In that moment, I was STILL my legal brand because…

MY BRAND IS ME.

And I am my brand.

Even sometimes when I am a cow head.

And that is why my clients hug me, even if we don’t win. That is why the journey with me is sometimes almost more important than the outcome. That is why my goal is to be a team with my clients, not their preacher (even though I am not afraid of tough loving my clients if that is what is needed).

Being yourself will always connect with people. What kind of “self” you are is up to you. If you are an assholes, you will probably connect with asshole.

But even as myself acting as a cow head-on-a-stick, I still connected with people.

And I connected with another fellow cow head-on-a-stick.

Remember:

think legal. be. human.