Edition #15 | Sarah Irwin’s branding advice, setting goals with Kerry Jones, and the 3 in 30 challenge for small habits that deliver big wins

Welcome to the first Trifecta edition of 2025! 🎉

We’re kicking off the new year with expert insights, practical advice, and fresh challenges to help you make this year your most successful.

From building a personal brand with Sarah Irwin to small habits that lead to big BD wins, this edition is all about starting strong and staying consistent.

As always, we love hearing from you so let us know what you’re tackling this year or if there’s a topic or guest you’d like us to feature. Let’s make 2025 a year of growth, connection, and achievement. Enjoy!

Interview with Sarah Irwin - Personal brand & view from the other side

Sarah Irwin is a former General Counsel turned entrepreneur and community builder for in-house legal teams. At Tines, she built a fast, lean, and modern legal function from scratch across the US and Europe. Now, as the founder of ITGC, she connects legal professionals with the tools, strategies, and support they need to succeed.

A LinkedIn influencer with 13,000 followers and a knack for simplifying legal operations, Sarah helps GCs and legal tech vendors boost efficiency, build their brand, and stay ahead in a fast-changing world.

Here's what she had to say on building a brand and here advice as a former client:

Sarah’s take on personal branding

1. What is a personal brand anyway?

For lawyers who aren’t sure where to start, can you explain what personal brand means and why it matters?

Sarah: It’s the art of intentionally shaping how others perceive you. This is hugely important in modern business because finding clients has become very personalised in terms of marketing strategy. Everyone has automation/AI fatigue so they want to know the face behind the company more than ever.

For lawyers, it’s really important to take control of your personal brand internally at work too, rather than allowing others to believe negative, lazy biases that we get tarred with.

2. Steps to stand out

From your own experience building your personal brand as a GC and now as an entrepreneur, what practical steps can lawyers take to create a brand that feels authentic and builds credibility?

Sarah: Being active on LinkedIn helped me shape my personal brand, and also helped me refine it as I transitioned from GC to entrepreneur. I always say, “be your authentic self so your tribe can find you”.

Figure out what you’re an expert in, who you want to help with your expertise and what you stand for. Share educational content generously and consistently.

[Instead of sending an essay] lead with the solution and outcome and ideally attach the advice as a memo, which we can file away!

3. Balancing brand and billable hours

For junior lawyers juggling a heavy workload, how can they focus on personal branding without it feeling like an extra burden?

Sarah: Turn it into an outlet that nobody but you can own, but that complements your day job as a junior lawyer. That way it doesn’t feel like work!

When I was a GC and closed my work laptop, I got really excited about creating content for LinkedIn, or speaking at an event, or organising an ITGC event. The energy hits differently when you’re working on your outlet on a Saturday morning!!

It enhanced who I was and what I did as a GC because it boosted my confidence and expertise. Junior lawyers could get involved with projects run by their regulatory body for instance (from pure academic ones to sociable to sport – if something doesn’t exist that you’re passionate about, offer to set it up and organise it, like a running club or book club!).

What GCs really think

1. What catches a GC’s eye?

In your experience as a GC, what made external lawyers or firms stand out when you were choosing who to work with?

Sarah: (1) How commercial they were in understanding scaling tech companies (I was GC at a rapid scale Irish tech scale-up), and (2) the fact that they were able to make their deep subject-matter expertise relevant and relatable to our business.

2. Understanding the in-house perspective

What do external lawyers often misunderstand about the pressures and priorities of in-house teams, and how can they bridge that gap?

Sarah: Certainly when you’re scaling, some think we care about the letter of the law and hypotheticals more than we do. And that we have time to read essays.

Therefore they email a legal essay including worst case scenario, risk, etc, when they should lead with the solution and outcome (and ideally attach the advice as a memo which we can file away!). I actually think, in many cases, they should try writing to us as though we were a lay client (the CEO or COO or whoever they see their “real” client as).

I also think a lot don’t realise how much emotional support we are prepared to pay for – try asking and building it into your pricing.

3. The trust factor

How can external lawyers build genuine trust with GCs and become their go-to advisers?

Sarah: Showing you care about the individual, not just the wider business. Consistently showing a deep understanding of the GC’s business, industry and day-to-day challenges.

Set up a regular cadence to check in (e.g. once per quarter) to run through what’s on the GC’s mind and any issues. Transparency around costs and timelines (and any limitations) goes a long way too.

Sarah Irwin

Sarah Irwin is a former SaaS GC and founder of ITGC, a peer forum for in-house legal professionals. Drawing on her experience building legal functions at scale-ups, Sarah now helps GCs create modern, efficient legal teams and advises legal tech vendors on strategy and growth.

Find Sarah on LinkedIn here.

Top 5 tips for starting your year right

Kick off your BD year with purpose - whether you’re setting ambitious targets or simply looking to improve on last year’s efforts. We spoke to Kerry Jones, Executive Coach for Lawyers and Founder of Kerry Jones Coaching, who has helped countless lawyers set and achieve meaningful goals. Here are Kerry’s top five tips to set yourself up for BD success in 2025:

1. Start with honest self-reflection

“The first exercise I do with my lawyer clients is to help them 'take stock'.”

Before setting new goals, take stock of the past year. Ask yourself:

What went well?
What did I enjoy?
What didn’t go as planned?

By understanding your wins and lessons learned, you’ll be better placed to set meaningful, achievable goals.

2. Set goals you’re excited about

“Ask yourself: ‘Do these goals excite me? Do I REALLY want to achieve them this year?’”

Choose goals that genuinely excite you. Think about what you want to achieve, why it matters, and how it will positively impact your career or life. Popular goals for lawyers often include:

Income targets
Expanding your client base
Increasing your visibility (internally and externally)

3. Build accountability into your plan

“Accountability is a game-changer in both personal and professional life, so it makes sense that if we really want something, we build it in.”

Regular check-ins with yourself, a trusted colleague, or a coach can significantly improve your chances of success.

Set quarterly reviews to assess progress.
Consider using an accountability partner to stay on track.
Reward yourself when you hit key milestones.

Small Habits, Big Wins: The 3 in 30 Challenge

As we kick off the year, we’re challenging you to make 2025 the year of consistent, small wins that build momentum for the rest of the year. Introducing our “3 in 30 Challenge”.

Why 3? Trifecta represents three things that we believe will increase your knowledge and make you better at BD, so we’ve set a challenge of three small actions that you can commit to for the next 30 days. By focusing on just three things, you’ll keep it manageable, and these small wins will stack up over time.

So, here’s your challenge: Choose 3 things to do every day, or 3 things you’ll commit to over the course of 30 days. These should be small, achievable actions that will help you make steady progress in your business development and build great habits for the year ahead.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Connect with one person a day

Reach out to someone in your network each day - whether it’s a colleague, client, or new contact. A quick message to check in, wish them a happy new year, or share a helpful article helps strengthen relationships and keeps you top of mind.

2. Set aside time for reflection or planning

Take just 15-30 minutes weekly to review your BD goals. Check progress, adjust focus if needed, and stay on track with your plan.

3. Share one insight or resource a week

Once a week, share an article, report, or valuable insight with your network or team. This positions you as a helpful resource and builds your profile as a trusted advisor.

These small, everyday actions may seem minor, but when done consistently, they can yield significant results over time. The key is to stay consistent, even when life gets busy. As we’ve seen from other successful professionals, it’s the small habits that eventually lead to big wins.

So, what will your 3 in 30 be? Share your challenge with us and let’s hold each other accountable! We’re excited to see how these small habits will help you make 2025 a year of big wins.

P.s. Want to give your BD a boost?

Mastering BD is the foundation of any successful legal career, and developing strong habits early makes your journey smoother - whether your goal is promotion, building a thriving practice, or eventually making partner.

That’s why we’ve created two online courses to help you master the essentials and stand out from the crowd.

1. Creating a Business Development Plan

This course is your starting point if you’re:

Feeling a little lost about how to approach BD.
Looking to develop habits and routines that make BD second nature.
Ready to understand what effective BD looks like and how it leads to sustainable growth.

With short, practical lessons, this course helps you build a solid BD strategy that fits your goals - whether you’re an associate looking to grow or laying the groundwork for future partnership aspirations. You can read more here.

2. Building a Business Case

If you’ve already nailed the BD basics but need guidance on taking the next step, this course will help you:

Craft a compelling business case that highlights your unique value.
Align your pitch with your firm’s goals and vision.
Confidently position yourself for promotion and partnership.

Click here to read more about this course.

Use code GEMMA for 10% off either course.

Wherever you are on your journey, these courses will set you up for success.

Not sure what to do next?

You have some options:

View previous editions of Trifecta by clicking here.

Want even more content? Check out the insights page on our website here.

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BD, branding & beyond: top tips for a winning 2025