Dorothy
“[Being a woman] means I can do it all – I can be a mom, a wife, a business owner, a musician, a friend, an all-around bad ass.”
Dorothy is a lawyer, an entrepreneur, and a resilient leader. She is a self-defined workaholic, or in other words, a dedicated problem-solver. Dorothy started her own law firm from scratch, in her kitchen as a single mum with a 9 month old baby. After an unsuccessful pursuit for work, she realised work wasn’t coming, and she’d have to find it her own way. Now at Dorothy Butler Law Firm, she runs a team of women attorneys whose practice areas range from Family & Divorce, Criminal Defence, Business & Employment Law, Bankruptcy and more. Dorothy is determined to help families undergoing hardship. She someone with remarkable drive, who never gives up. Meet Dorothy. This is her story.
P: Please introduce yourself!
D: I’m Dorothy, owner of an all women attorney law firm, mother to two boys, wife to my loving husband, and part time professional Broadway orchestral musician.
P: Describe or define yourself in your own words.
D: Workaholic. I don’t ever come up against a challenge I can’t take on – I may not sleep much, but I’ll eventually figure out a solution.
P: What is your favourite thing about yourself?
D: My drive – before books like “Lean In” came out, my drive was perceived as being arrogant or bitchy – after that book came out, and I was able to read it, my world made so much more sense.
P: Tell us a story. Have you had an experience that’s defined you or made you stronger?
D: A little over ten years ago, I was a single mother to one 9 month old boy. I hadn’t gone to school in Texas and seemingly couldn’t find a job as an attorney anywhere. I must have called 125 law firms begging for any work. Most never even returned the calls. I decided if I could just open up my own law firm, gain some experience, and live here a bit longer, someone would eventually hire me.
That firm opened in May 2011 – at my kitchen table, with a baby boy in a bouncer watching Barney most days. I didn’t know if I’d ever get past a handful of cases at a time and working that way, but I was determined to make something work.
About 15 months later, I was so busy, I had to hire my first attorney to work with me at the firm. Ten years later, we are an all women power house team – families always come first at my office. Without my family, I probably wouldn’t have ever opened up my business. I never tried to find another job after gaining that experience – I realized that I had the best of all worlds, that came out of one of the hardest times in my life.
P: What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?
D: Splurge on your skin care. It’s worth every penny. Be happy with who you are, every single day. Some of the best things and best experiences come out of the worst of times.
P: What does being a woman mean to you?
D: It means I can do it all – I can be a mom, a wife, a business owner, a musician, a friend, an all-around bad ass.
P: Who is one woman that inspires you? What would you say to her if she were here now?
D: My mother – no amount of driving me around the country for music events was too much. She never complained bringing me from this lesson, to this practice, to this camp. I wouldn’t be the woman, mother, musician, lawyer, that I am today without her bringing me up the way she did. And as I’ve always said, she’s the Sofia to my Dorothy – but I promise not to ever put her in Shady Pines :D