209: Understanding the Impact of the FTC Noncompete Rule and Corporate Transparency Act on Business w/ Merlyne Jean-Louis

Monique:
Welcome to the Black to Business podcast. I’m excited to have you on the show because I recently attended one of your workshops, and I was like, we gotta have her on the show. So welcome to the show.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Thank you, Monique, for having me. I appreciate it.

Monique:
Yes. So before we get into all this nitty gritty, because we have a lot to cover today, I would love for you to tell the people a little bit about your background, your business journey, and how you got where you are today.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
That’s a good question. I am a business entertainment lawyer. I say that I help all kinds of businesses and creatives and entrepreneurs protect their abcs, their assets, brand and content via contracts, trademarks, copyright, and business structure. So my journey to start my own business was not something I foresaw. I didn’t think that’s going to happen for me. I started law school at the tail end of the great recession. And if you don’t know how law school works, basically you’re hired for your full time job after law school, after your first year of law school. And it was a rough time, firms not hiring as much as they were.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
And so I was not able to get into the law firm, big law funnel. And so I started my law firm three years after graduating from law school because I can get a job. I couldn’t get, like, a job at a law firm or a job in house. And so I taught myself how to basically practice the law and run a law firm business. And so that is what I my business journey. And that was, I started my law firm about nine years ago.

Monique:
Talk about forging your own path.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Yes.

Monique:
How was that?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
It was interesting. Like, you know, you said, you know, your audience is like, first generation. I’m first generation as well. My parents come from Haiti. Like, it was interesting because I didn’t really know how to navigate. I had to figure it out sometimes. But I also had to rely on some peers of mine who are going through the same things as well.

Monique:
I’m pretty. Yeah, I know a lot of people can relate to that. All the things. And I’m so glad that you struck out on your own, because as I mentioned before, where I first heard your presentation, it was all about what we’re talking about today. So really, the topic is understanding the impact of the FTC non compete rule and Corporate Transformation act. So when I first saw the workshop come up, I’m like, what is this all about? Is something that I need to know. Then I attended the workshop. I’m like, okay, this is something the black to business family needs to know.

Monique:
So I’m so excited to dive in. So we’re first, somebody might be listening. Like, what is this all about? Monique? I’m like, you were. So we’re going to get into and start with the basics. So, understanding the FTC non compete rule. So what is the FTC non compete rule and why was it introduced?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Right, right. Good question. So the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, it’s an agency that basically enforces, there’s a law called the Federal Trade Commission act, and it battles, prevents anti competition. So the FTC is charged to create rules, regulations to prevent anti competition. And so this rule breaking process for this particular rule, the non compete rule, started last year. Started beginning of last year. And they put out a preliminary rule or proposed rule, and then anyone in the nation can comment on the rule, provide their commentary, provide their insights, and then the FTC creates a final rule. So April of this year, 2024, is when the FTC promulgated their final rule.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
And it’s called the non compete rule, not complete cause clause rule, essentially.

Monique:
And so how does this aim to protect businesses and employees?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
So the purpose, this sort of a fourfold purpose of this rule, number one, it’s to promote competition by banning non competes nationwide. Two, to protect workers freedom to change their jobs. Three, to increase innovation, and lastly, to foster new business formations.

Monique:
So what is the non complete clause under this new rule?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Yeah, so I think it makes sense for me to talk about what this ban does, right. So essentially, after the rules effective date, which is going to be September 4, 2024, I’m a Beyonce fan, so I know 9481 is her birthday. So if you’re like that, on December 4 of this year is when it goes to effect. And when that that particular rule goes into effect, there’s going to be a complete ban on new non competes with all workers, including senior execs. Don’t worry, I’m going to define this. So we’re going to break it down. So you’re going to be, one, a complete ban on new non competes with all workers, including senior executives. Two, existing non competes with workers who are not senior executives will be unenforceable, and three, existing non competes with senior executives can remain enforced.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
So that requires me to sort of break down what those things mean. Right. What is a non compete, what’s a worker and what’s a senior exec cause? It makes sense for me for you to know that. So the rule defines a non compete, non compete clause as a term or condition that either prohibits a worker from penalizes a worker for, or functions to prevent a worker from one seeking or accepting work in the United States with a different person. Where that work would begin after the conclusion of the employment, that includes a term of conditions or two. Operating a business in the United States after the conclusion of the employment, that includes a term of condition. Like, what does that mean? So basically, it’s preventing someone from, preventing you from working for someone else after you have worked for that person. And, you know, the definitions are defined very broadly.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
That it includes, the term worker includes someone who is an employee, an independent contractor, extern, intern, volunteer, anyone who works with someone else. Right. Employment doesn’t mean employment in the traditional sense. It just means you’re working. You’re working for a person, and a person is anyone. It’s a person. It’s a corporation, entities, anything. So it’s a very broad of how this is done.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Right. And it can also be verbal.

Monique:
Right.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
It doesn’t have to be a written contract as well. And so this rule is defining these things very broadly to provide the most broad protection regarding this.

Monique:
That is really broken down. Yeah.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
And one more thing. Senior executives, right? Because there is, there is some exceptions for them. Senior executives. There are workers who earn more than 100, about 151k who are in a policy making position. So they have to earn more than one hundred fifty one k, and they’re in a policy making a position. So, for example, great example of this is a CEO corporation. They’re making a certain amount of money, but they’re also in a position to make policy for that company as well. Yeah.

Monique:
Wow. Okay, that was great. And that was a lot. And you really broke it down, because I know people are thinking, okay, I work with freelancers, contractors, like, all of these things, especially if they’re just starting out. So how do you think, like, looking at the grand scheme of things, how do these agreements impact employees and businesses differently?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
That’s a good question. So a very common type of non compete clause that I’ve heard about relates to traditional sense, employment sense doctors. A lot of doctors are halotenakopee clauses where they can’t work for a nearby hospital within, let’s say, a 50 miles radius for a matter of time for five years or so. And so that’s something I’ve seen a lot of. And when it comes to, like, I guess, you know, service businesses or, you know, if you’re, let’s say you work for a company but you want to start your own business that’s in a similar space, like, it’s like you work for a big company like Facebook or TikTok, and you’re an engineer, and perhaps in their employment agreement, there’s a clause that prevents you from working for a competitor for a certain amount of time after you have left that particular company, those types of clauses now are going to be unenforceable. If you have that clause in your particular agreement, it’s going to be unenforceable as of September 4. So if you’re working for a nonprofit, the rules are a little different, right? Because the FTC act, the one I mentioned in the beginning, does not apply to actual nonprofits. And I know that some corporations have a nonprofit and tax exempt status, but it doesn’t mean that necessarily they’re going to fall outside the jurisdiction of the FTC.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
So it’s a very fact intensive analysis. If you want a nonprofit business, you have to basically assess this particular application of the FTC rule in your case. And number two, let me just give a summary. Let me just get a quick summary again, because I said a lot. Right? So to summarize this, as of September 4 of 2024 existed. Non compete agreements with seniors executives like CEO’s can still be enforced. Existing non compete agreements with pretty much all the workers. They cannot be enforced.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
And no new non compete agreements can be created for all workers. And that includes senior execs. And if a non compete is unenforceable, no individual who has worked for another party in any capacity, again, whether they’re a paid or unpaid employee, contractor, intern, they cannot be prevented. They can be prevented from working for someone else or start their own business. Also important to note that this ban does not apply to franchisees like owners of chain restaurants for certain nonprofits. And so that’s a summary. That’s a quick summary of what I just said.

Monique:
That’s so good. We are getting to work. So we are going to be ready and prepared by September 4.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Yes. Yes.

Monique:
So getting into, we want to make sure that we stay compliant. The blacks and business family stays compliant. So let’s get into the steps for compliance. So what should small business owners do to ensure that they comply with these rules?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Right? Because if you are a small business owner and your agreements with your workers have not compete clauses in them, you’re going to have to actually provide notice to the workers who are affected by them, by the non compete clauses, by the date of the effective date. And so it makes sense for you to engage an employment attorney or a business attorney to determine whether your agreements contain that, and then they’ll provide the next steps of notice. Like, they’ll probably give you a notice of what you can say to those particular workers who are affected. And if you’re on the other end, right. Let’s say you are working for someone, but you’re working on your business on the side. You know, you want to start your business on the side, then you want to maybe engage an attorney to determine whether your agreement, now that you’re engaged in, has not compete clause. Right. Cause I don’t know if all businesses are actually gonna comply and provide notice to workers.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
And so whether you’re a worker or you’re a business, it’s probably a good idea for you to work with an attorney to help determine whether the agreements you have entered into contain non competes.

Monique:
And that was a little bit around my next question. Are there any resources available to help entrepreneurs understand and implement these changes?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
I mean, the FTC rule, it’s there. It’s available online, is 570 pages, though it’s really long. And I read it. I read the entire thing. I actually used to work at the FTC law school. And so this is the insight I’m giving you as well, from my perspective of that place. Like, it’s a long rule, a long rule. So I think the summary I gave you is really good.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
You can go ahead and free to look up the rule itself. I’d say also, too, resources, you may want to actually set a Google alert about the FTC not compete ban to see if there are any changes, any enforcement, or any updates on the rule itself.

Monique:
Great advice. And so, knowing this.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Yeah, not advice. It’s just information. I got to say that I provide information, not advice.

Monique:
All right. That’s a great point.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Yes.

Monique:
Yes. We got to put a disclaimer all through this. Yes, we do. I have to leave that in there because that is funny. What, knowing this, knowing what we know, what are some, like, moving forward, what are some considerations that now business owners should keep in mind when they’re drafting contracts, especially with independent contractors and freelancers?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Yeah, I mean, I don’t know if many businesses prevent other people from working with other people. I don’t know if that’s the case. And again, this rule applies after the term has ended. Services have been provided. So, I mean, essentially, you cannot do that anymore. You cannot prevent other people from working for other competitors after they work for you. It’s just something that just cannot be done.

Monique:
All right, so we’ve gotten a lot covered so far. So let’s move into corporate Transparency act.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Yes.

Monique:
So what is the corporate transparency act? And why is it important for businesses?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Okay. This is a new law that was enacted. The effective date was this year, January 1, 2024. It’s actually a rule, an act that is enforced by Department of Treasury. So the IR’s like all that people like that’s same department. It’s specifically the financial crimes Enforcement network, otherwise known as FinCEN, that’s going to be enforcing this rule. So it’s a law that requires businesses, whether you’re an LLC, corporation, trust, if you are, your business has been registered or formed in the United States. You need to provide information to the Department of Treasury.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
And it’s essence, it’s going to affect the 30 million businesses that already exist and the only 4 million businesses that are formed every year. I think it also makes sense to know about the purpose, like why was this enacted? The CTA was enacted, number one, to prevent the misuse of us entities for criminal purposes and to help law enforcement identify and prevent the criminal activity, like, for example, money laundering or terrorist activities. This is the reason that they enacted this rule.

Monique:
Got it. Okay. We know the background. We know why things are the way they are. I love this. And now knowing. So what are the key requirements businesses need to know about?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Sure. Okay. So I have to provide more definitions. More definitions. All right. There are basically three things you need to know. Three definitions you need to know about. You need to know what reporting companies are, what beneficial owners are, and what company applicants are.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Reporting companies, beneficial owners, and company applicants. Okay, so let’s go report companies first. So under the CTA, our foreign companies are defined as domestic entities like llcs and corporations that they are created by filing paperwork with a us secretary of state or similar office. I know some states call their office department of State. So I know different states are called differently, and entities that are formed in countries outside the United States that are registered in the United States by filing paperwork with the secretary of state or similar office. You know, for example, like, what’s a very famous international company? That’s from Louis Vuitton. Louis Vuitton. Right.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
In France. Right. Dolce Gabbana, Italy. You know, they have businesses that registered in United States. So this will also apply to them as well. Okay. And so that’s what a report company is. Beneficial owner is an individual who either one owns or controls at least 25% of the reporting company.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Or two exercises substantial control over reporting company. So first example of someone who’s a beneficial owner, like if you are a shareholder in a corporation and you own more than 25, 25% of the corporation, yes, but also, if you’re a CEO of a corporation, you exercise genetic control over the reporting companies as well. Important to note that some exemptions may apply, but basically, in essence, you have to provide information about beneficial owners. Okay. And company applicants. So a company applicant is, according to the CTA, it includes individuals who follow the paperwork, the paperwork to register or create entity like for example, like lawyers, accountants and those who direct the filing. Right. Let’s say you have your hire lawyer and you tell them to file paperwork.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
You’re considered to be a company applicant as well. So what is the requirement? The requirement requires you to file a report with FincEn that’s called beneficial ownership report. And in or a BOI report. In this report, you have to provide information about the reporting company, information about beneficial owners, and information about company advocates. To some extent. There are some caveats that I’m going to discuss later, but that’s generally what it’s about.

Monique:
Okay. All right. So speaking of that, and so would you say those are the steps that businesses should take to comply with these requirements?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
I wouldn’t say those are the steps. I would say that’s the requirement itself. Like what exactly is the trucks of the requirement? The steps to comply? You can go to the Fincen website. They have faqs to actually help guide you if you want to take your time. You would have some time to read the requirements, to read the faqs. You could do that yourself. I would have to say this. The deadline to comply depends on when your entity was formed or registered.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
That’s a very important thing. So the deadline, so if your entity existed before. So for existing entities, these are entities that existed or formed or registered in the United States before January 1, 2024. They have to submit their BRI reports by January 1, 2025. So next up, we have 2024 entities. 2024 entities. These are entities that are formed or registered in the US between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024. They have to submit their reports within 90 days of forming or registering the entity.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
So, for example, let’s say you form an entity in a new LLC in New York on January 15, 2024. That means you have until April 14, 2024 to file a report. And let’s say you form an entity next year, let’s say 2020, let’s say next year, 2025. So let’s say you entity is formed or registered in the US after January 1, 2025. They’re going to have 30 days to submit a report. So you see the amount of time sort of changes after, after this year. Also important to note, there are changes within, there are changes are made within information about the company or about the beneficial owners or the company applicants. You’ll have to actually go ahead and submit information.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Let’s say you update information. Like when does information changes? You have 30 days from the change to report those changes. And if you have an inaccurate report, you have 30 days from the date you become aware of the inaccuracy to correct information. And another important caveat. If you’re existing entity, again, you were formed before this year, January 1, 2024. You don’t have to report information about company advocates. So give me a copy. Yes.

Monique:
All the things I’m like, I tell you, Merlin, this has been a long time since I wrote this many notes and I’m all in. I’m loving it. Okay. And so what happens if you don’t comply? So what are the. Let’s talk about the potential penalties.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Yeah. Okay. So this is important to say that this is a new law. They have, the Department of Treasury has listed out potential penalties. They were saying that, you know, if you provide false information or you fail to report complete information willingly or willfully, that it can result in fines up to ten k, end up to two years in jail. So in essence, you basically want to make sure you comply because the penalties are severe.

Monique:
I’m too cute for jail.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
I can’t. You don’t want to go there.

Monique:
So speaking of legal and some of the practical implications, one of the things you mentioned that was good for people to set some reminders, and I want to talk about any other practical strategies that business owners can implement to ensure I that they’re compliant with both the FTC non compete rule and the Corporate Transparency act.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Good question. I mean, I think the best thing you can do, particularly for the non compete rule, is to engage the council.

Monique:
Right.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
This stuff is complex. It’s super complex. And the amount of time it may take a business owner to understand what’s happening and try to comply with it. It may take too much of their time because they could spend their time marketing, doing other things. I think for that is something that they want to engage attorney for, for the CTA, the website, the Fincen website has done a good job of compiling faqs. And if you want to go through the website yourself and do the requirement, that’s something you told we could do.

Monique:
Yeah, love that. So one of the things you mentioned, like the websites and where can business owners go to access education resources to really stay up to date on regulatory changes?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
That’s tough, because there are different agencies that control different things. That’s a good question. I think that if a business wants to be kept abreast of these rules, I think setting a Google alert, like setting a Google alert, is a great way to be kept abreast of what’s happening in general. I don’t know if you could put FTC or just business or law. That’s something you probably do.

Monique:
Yes. So, yeah, because this is very, as you said, it’s very complex. And one of the things that you mentioned, of course, we know it’s to seek legal counsel. So you are the expert here, you are the legal advisor, and I want to talk about the ways that your firm can assist businesses in understanding and complying with these regulations.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Yes. And so when my clients engage me, an important part of what I do is business structure. Business structure means forming entities, but it also means complying with the rules and regulations related to their entity. Because just because you have an LLC or corporation, if you’re not following the rules, regulations related to that, you can still lose protection. People can still go after you personally, your personal assets. And so I remember in law school, one of the classes I took was called business associations. And you learn about these principles, like, hey, if you’re creating these entities, you’re getting a huge bargain with the states in which they’re formed. Right? They’re giving you limited liability.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
People can’t go after you personally, your personal assets, in exchange for you doing certain things right, like you having a corporation, you have to have your bylaws, you have to have at least one annual meeting. You have to have officers, you have to do those things, even if it’s only you, even if it’s only one person. These are things you had to do because you run the risk of being sued personally since something go awry. And so that’s like a huge part of my practice of educating business owners on these types of principles, making sure that they comply. And my job too, is to be kept abreast of what’s happening with the laws and regulations to make sure that their people can’t go after them personally. People can’t do what’s called pierce to corporate veil protection. And so this particular CTA for the new law, regarding that, that’s one of those new things. Is that okay? Like, hey, you have to comply with this because you run the risk of being sued personally if you don’t comply.

Monique:
Yeah, I love that you said that. That was just so much perspective. I just had an aha moment when you said how it’s basically like you’re creating these businesses and you’re in partnership. If you do these things in exchange for this, that’s your responsibility as a business owner. And I think that puts things into so much perspective. We have top tier on the black to business podcast. So let’s talk about the future. Like, how can businesses stay proactive and adaptable in the face of regulatory changes?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Engaging a cloud council, perhaps, or like it’s, it’s being following the newspapers like fortune or New York Times. We kept the breath, what’s happening in the laws.

Monique:
Yeah.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Unless you become a lawyer. You could become a lawyer as well. You can only a business lawyer as well. Totally up to you.

Monique:
You are hilarious.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
It can be boring stuff. I mean, like, I don’t know if I’m a business owner myself, right? Like, I know my zone of genius, right? My zone of genius is the law. Right? Marketing is counting. I hire someone out. I like farming out to someone else because it’s not worth my time to learn those things. And my zone genius is providing services.

Monique:
Yeah.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
That being said, that being said, I think for me, a point, reason that I do what I do is like, I find that educating people is something that I really love to do. So to answer your question, I have a blog, I actually have a blog on my website where I provide information about things like this. I actually have a breakdown of this, the FTC, I have a breakdown of the corporate Transparency act. So if you want to just have a summary of their what I just said, you go there and just basically look at what I just said in writing. I’m a huge proponent that with knowledge that business owners become, number one, they become less risky. Right. My job as a lawyer is to assess risk and to hedge it and ultimately reduce it. That’s my goal.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
But I feel that with knowledge, it makes your business less risky, which in turn makes your business more valuable. Right? You think about, you know, your end strategy of, let’s say you want to merge your company down the line, right? You want to actually sell your company. It is. If your company is risky and you’re the person who’s trying to purchase your company, engages in due diligence and finds out that there is no contract for this, you have, you claim you have ownership of these IP rights, but you don’t, you know, like, it’s going to be much more costly to you because you may lose the value of your company, they may try to offer you a lower price because your company is nothing sort of operating in a way to make it less risky.

Monique:
But that is so good. And we just, so we just had an accountant on the podcast, and one of the things we talked about is a lot of times knowing when to seek out these things, or of course, like, our entrepreneurs that are listening maybe in their early stages, and also the importance of this, but then also budgeting for these things. So what would you say to someone who’s thinking, you know, what people think? If they’re thinking accounting, they’re thinking expensive. If they think of an attorney, that’s expensive. So could you kind of, like, share? How could people tackle that? Or what would you say to them?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
I’d say this. Cause I’m also a business owner as well. Right. I made a mistake of not engaging an accountant when I needed to, like, pretty much when I started, and it cost me money. So that’s the perspective I come from. Like, in terms of hiring an attorney. It’s up to you. Your risk tolerance.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Are you okay with paying money now or paying money later? I don’t. I would say that my job is not to, is to think about the worst case scenario and to prepare people. It doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, but I’ve seen the case where it does happen, and the cost that a client expends after the proverbial blankets hit the fan, it is much more expensive. Had they engaged attorney earlier. So, I mean, I think there are lots of resources out there. If you are creative person, if you make a certain amount of income, you are able to engage in volunteer organizations that can help you. There are many organizations that provide work pro Bono, depending on what type of business you have. I know I work in New York and that there are volunteer organizations for the arts, and there are also freelancer organizations that provide access, legal access, to many types of businesses.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
So I’d say look for your. If cause a concern, you may want to look into that. The caveat that is you’re gonna have to spend more time. Right. They can’t fix your entire problem as fast as someone you hired indirectly. And, yeah, and I say it’s the things I’ve seen in my twelve years of practice thought about, all right, it was possible. And in law school, law school, how they teach you cases, what does that mean? That means things went wrong. Right.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
If it gets a case law right, that means they didn’t settle. There’s no family judgment. Like, it went far, you know? So you see, you’re taught as a lawyer by seeing, look at the worst case scenario from the jump from the beginning. And so I don’t. I don’t want to say that that’s the way I think, but that’s literally what you’re paying a lawyer to do. You’re paying them to think about the worst case scenario, because it’s your job to be positive. It’s your job to think about, you know, marketing and, like, how you gonna do all these positive things. And it’s my job say, hey, here’s what could happen.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Here’s what we could do to prevent it from happening or reducing or hedging the risk if it does happen. So it depends. It depends on your risk, at your risk appetite.

Monique:
Got it. Yep. And so for you, somebody is listening, and they’re like, okay, I want to work with Marilyn. HOWDY. What are some of the ways that I can start to begin to work with you, or what is your process when working with clients?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Yeah, you can contact me, contact the Firm@infolaw.net so jllaw.net and send us an email, and we’ll take it from there. You also CALL US. Our website is jllaw.net. the process is we have a call, right? Cause it’s like, I feel in general, it’s like dating. We have to make sure we’re a good fit. We have to make sure we’re a good fit. You may hear me now in, like, during this podcast episode was like, yeah, she’s awesome. I want to hire her.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Let’s go. I still have to vet you. No shade. No shade. For the most part. For the most part, everyone’s fine, you know? But, like, it’s also a cost, right? You know, I am experienced, experienced lawyer. I went to good schools. I went to Duke for law school, NYU for undergrad.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
I’m licensed in two states, New York and California. California being one of the most difficult states to get licensed into. So, you know, I know that about the value I could provide. We just have to make sure that we are a good fit for one another. But I am always down to help people. This is my passion. I’m here for it.

Monique:
And speaking of more about you and your passion. So one of the things you mentioned in the beginning is how you force your own path. Looking back, what’s been the best risk that you’ve taken in your journey?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Hmm. That’s a good question. I would say it is starting because, full disclosure, I went to law school with the intention. I used to be a dancer. I was semi professional dancer when I worked as a paralegal full time before going to law school. So my goal was to ultimately go in house to work for Alvin Ailey. That was the reason I went to law school. I was like, I’m gonna go study ip, work for a big firm, pay down my debt, and then go work in house for Alvin Ailey.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
That was the reason I went to law school, and that was the goal. And I think it was going outside my comfort zone because it doesn’t make any sense why a lawyer would start their business the way I did. Right. Lawyers were risk averse. We are very risk averse. And starting a business is risky. So I think the riskiest thing I did was starting my business without having any, really experience in the areas of law that I practiced or any business experience I figured out along the way. I think I had to have faith in myself and think that, hey, I’m smart, I’ll figure it out or engage people to who can help me.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
So I would say the riskiest thing I did was starting a business.

Monique:
That’s good. And so many people could probably relate to that. And speaking of that, just for somebody who’s listening, that might be in their first year of business, what advice would you give them?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Oh, that’s a good question. You’re asking some amazing questions, Monique.

Monique:
Thank you.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
I say talk to an accountant, talk to an attorney, business attorney. If you don’t hire them, they can give you knowledge. Just talk to those people. Don’t worry so much about your logo, your branding. Always rebrand.

Monique:
Right.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Keep your upper head as low as possible when you’re first starting out.

Monique:
That’s good stuff.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Can I say? Yeah. I mean, if you start your business on the side, I’d be amazing. I did. I saw my business on the side, my law firm on the side.

Monique:
Mm hmm.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
I recommend doing that because you still have the security while you’re entering your entrepreneurial journey.

Monique:
That is good. Can I say, that’s solid advice. That’s solid advice.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Thank you. Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

Monique:
Yes. And then for you, as you are managing, are there any tools or resources that have helped you maybe stay organized?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Oh, that’s a good question. Because I was a paralegal at a big law firm in New York prior to law school, and I say that was the best thing I could have done for running a business because it made me be aware that systems and organization are very, very important for operation of any business. And so the principles I learned during that particular job I use in law school, I use to this day in terms of organization, but in terms of the tools that I use that I love. I’m a huge fan of Google workspace. I love Google. I’d say Dropbox is another thing that I like as well. What else did I use that I love? I have a virtual receptionist that I do love now that I didn’t have one when I first started, but I have that. That I love.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Oh, having a newsletter, having a way to contact potential clients and get emails. Paramount, paramount in terms of my marketing and strategy, is my favorite way to market myself. So I’d say that those are probably some of my favorite things.

Monique:
Good stuff. And I’m definitely going to write those down and put them in the show notes. And my final question is, what does it mean to you to be black in business?

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
What’s it mean to be black in business? To me as a black attorney? Right. I think there are. I just read a stat recently that there are only, of the lawyers in the United States, only 5% of them are black. This is despite the fact that there are 13% or African Americans represent 30% of the us population. To know that you are a minority, but to use that as superpower and not worry about it, I don’t know if that makes any sense. Like, you’re unique, you might as well just leave it living your uniqueness and make it your superpower.

Monique:
Love that. Marilyn, you have been on fire today. We got through a lot in such a short amount of time.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
I tell you, I talk really fast. That’s why I talked about a minute. That’s why people listen now to probably slow me down or 0.75 to hear me out.

Monique:
No, it was perfect. It was really great. And this is like a true masterclass in a podcast. Thank you so much for doing the work that you are doing better than yourself and pouring into the black to business community. Thank you so much for being on the show.

Merlyne Jean-Louis:
Thank you again, Monique, for having me. I really appreciate it.