Leaving the Biglaw for Nonprofit Consulting with Tai Dixon

In Episode 035 of The Former Lawyer Podcast, I’m sharing my conversation with Tai Dixon. Tai left legal practice for the the world of non-profit leadership, and last year, opened her own consulting practice where she specializes in workplace culture and liberatory leadership.  In this conversation, Tai shares about: How growing up with a parent who was a lawyer affected her decision to go to law school; Believing that becoming a doctor or a lawyer was the best way to contribute to society; Detouring from her path to law school to teach with Teach For America because she wanted to make a difference; Loving teaching, but being afraid to love it because she thought she would regret not going to law school; Climbing the rungs of the ladder to a legal career without asking herself whether she actually wanted to be there; Well-meaning family and friends reacting much more positively to her decision to be a lawyer than her choice to teach for two years with TFA; Going to law school and getting a biglaw job because she thought that’s what she should do to achieve her goals; Quickly realizing that firm life was not for her, but not being willing to make a move right away; How the downturn in 2008 made her feel like she should just be happy to have a legal job; Knowing that legal practice wasn’t for her because her firm job was about as good as it could be, and she still wasn’t happy; Realizing that it took a lot of work to get to a place where she felt stuck; Getting a great review, being asked at the end if she was happy, and bursting into tears; Realizing that no amount of good work and checking the boxes was going to make her happy doing what she was doing; Taking a huge pay cut to move into a field she was more passionate about; The three types of reactions from lawyers at her firm when she announced she was leaving; Why her fears about money came from the narrative of law practice; How she measures success now; and much more!  Show Notes: Free First Steps to Leaving the Law guide—> formerlawyer.com/guide Connect with Tai on Instagram or I'm closing enrollment for my self-paced group program, the Former Lawyer Collaborative, permanently on August 31st, 2026. If you've been thinking about joining now is the time. Head to formerlawyer.com/collab to join before doors close on August 31st.