Lawyers! Stop. Playing. Small. feat. Wani Iris Manly

10 minutes ago

3 min read

Wani Iris Manly, Esq. is an IP attorney, entrepreneur, author, and speaker who has spent nearly two decades creating a legal career that looks like her. In this episode, Wani shares how moving to Paris changed the trajectory of her career, why she built an IP practice serving online entrepreneurs, and how embracing creativity and self-expression helped her expand beyond the traditional expectations of being a lawyer.

About This Episode

Background

Wani Iris Manly, Esq. is an American-Liberian attorney, entrepreneur, author, and speaker whose career has continually evolved alongside her life. She has operated her own law practice since 2008, with experience spanning securities, corporate, and intellectual property law. Her work has included publicly traded companies, in-house counsel responsibilities, trademarks, and legal support for entrepreneurs. Today, she also works as a speaker and consultant while dividing her time internationally.

“I have taken a very conventional, stuffy, you know, profession and made it like me," shares Wani Iris Manly on You Are A Lawyer.

That philosophy extends far beyond Wani’s work. Her mornings begin with meditation, prayer, hypnosis, journaling, and creative reflection before she moves into legal work, speaking, or content creation. Rather than separating those parts of herself from her identity as a lawyer, Wani sees them as preparation for the work she does. Her career reflects her belief that lawyers can bring their full personalities, interests, creativity, and values into their professional lives.

Why Law School

Wani says becoming a lawyer was less a sudden career decision than a path she had been prepared for throughout her childhood. Born in the United States and raised partly in Liberia, she grew up around government officials, ambassadors, and heads of state while her father served as Liberia’s Minister of Finance. In her family and cultural environment, professional success tended to mean pursuing careers such as medicine, law, accounting, engineering, or government service.

“I was actually groomed to be a lawyer," explains Wani Iris Manly on Episode 266 of You Are a Lawyer.

With her mother working as a nurse and Wani knowing that medicine was not for her, law became the natural direction. She says she had essentially been preparing for the profession since childhood and ultimately became licensed in 2003. What she could not have anticipated was how many different versions of being a lawyer she would eventually experience, or how far that original path would expand once she began defining success for herself.

What Can You Do with a Law Degree

Wani’s law degree has taken her from securities and corporate work to intellectual property, entrepreneurship, public speaking, writing, consulting, and international living. Moving to Paris became a major turning point. Legal restrictions affected some of the securities work she had been doing, clients fell away, and the life she was building in France began pushing her toward something different. An article about her unconventional move to Paris eventually led to speaking invitations, which helped Wani discover another career she never expected to have.

“Don't box yourself in, you know," shares Wani Iris Manly on Episode 266 of You Are a Lawyer.

That is also Wani’s advice to newer lawyers. She believes lawyers should learn the fundamentals, pay their dues, and develop attention to detail without allowing the profession to suppress everything else about them. Her own career demonstrates that legal knowledge can become a foundation rather than a boundary. She has used it to run businesses, support entrepreneurs, build an international speaking career, write, consult, and continually reinvent what her professional life looks like.

Lawyer Side Hustles

Wani’s ventures outside traditional legal practice eventually became substantial businesses of their own. After moving to Paris, she began writing and sharing her story, which unexpectedly opened the door to public speaking. During the COVID lockdown, when in-person speaking stopped and online entrepreneurship accelerated, she responded by creating Where Inspiration Meets Law®, offering legal education and templates to online coaches and entrepreneurs. That business also helped reshape her law firm’s clientele.

“I always thought I was gonna be only a lawyer for my entire life,” Wani Iris Manly expresses in Episode 266 of You Are a Lawyer.

Instead, Wani became a speaker, author, consultant, and multi-business entrepreneur alongside her legal work. She now speaks about change and entrepreneurship, while continuing to serve clients through her IP practice and exploring emerging issues involving AI, intellectual property, governance, and ethics. What began as opportunities outside the expected lawyer path became an important part of both her income and her identity.