#FollowFriday Feature: Toni Wells

Whenever I meet a legal marketer, I ask them how they got sucked into it. Most people don’t know that there is such a thing as #LegalMarketing, let alone an entire population of us who have devoted our careers to it. Like many of us, today’s #FollowFriday feature is a person who — whether by intention or happenstance — got into this field and has grown to love and appreciate the opportunities, friendships, and growth it can bring. Friends, meet Toni Wells. Toni was introduced to me by our mutual friend, Tahisha Fugate (another #FollowFriday friend!…the power of this network is real!) Toni is a marketing and business development consultant with twenty-four years of professional experience. Her primary focus is business development coaching for lawyers. I am especially fascinated by her work at the intersection of business development and diversity, where she partners with clients to design business development strategies that address common obstacles faced by lawyers of color. She also serves as an affiliate consultant to Diversity Lab, an incubator for innovative ideas and solutions that boost diversity and inclusion in the legal industry. My chat with Toni was incredible and affirming. I learned about her amazing career, which ultimately led her to relocate to South Carolina in 2017 and start her consulting business. Moving from DC, where you could throw a rock and hit a law firm, to SC was an adjustment for sure. And trying to start and grow a consulting business in a new city, even harder! As Toni said, “Entrepreneurship isn’t sexy. It’s HARD.” But she has grown her business into an incredibly successful one, and has done so with integrity and authenticity. One other pretty awesome thing Toni has done was bring together black women legal marketers during the pandemic. Starting with one person, and adding each woman one at a time, Toni amassed one of the single most inspiring affinity groups of legal marketing talent. I remember seeing a picture of the women from this group that attended the Legal Marketing Association conference in Las Vegas in March. I was a bit awe struck if I can be honest. I felt the impact of seeing this group of women together and I was excited. I could go on and on, but here’s the point. Toni is a woman who leads by example. Who connects authentically. And who inspires me to expand my horizons. Meet Toni! She’s an incredible woman! #AddisAdvice #WomenSupportingWomen