Arivee Vargas is a first-generation Latina lawyer who went from Big Law litigation to in-house corporate leadership, all before pivoting to become an author, executive coach, and speaker. She shares the raw story of her identity crisis after having her first child and how that led her to develop the framework for her book, Your Time to Rise, focusing on aligning your career with your deepest values. This conversation is essential for any high-achieving lawyer ready to stop checking boxes and start building a life of true purpose.
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Arivee Vargas's successful journey is deeply rooted in her heritage as a first-generation Latina, with her parents hailing from the Dominican Republic. This background instilled in her a profound sense of drive, ambition, and a relentless work ethic, fueled by seeing her parents' sacrifices. This ambition propelled her through school and into the elite world of Big Law litigation, where she navigated a completely new environment. She candidly shares that navigating the law firm environment required her to learn an entirely new corporate culture in addition to American culture, recognizing her achievement as a significant milestone for her background.
“I am first generation Latina. So my parents are from the Dominican Republic. I was born here. That's important because so much of my drive, my hunger, my ambition comes from my culture and my upbringing," shares Arivee Vargas on You Are A Lawyer.
However, her cultural upbringing also instilled beliefs that became challenging, such as the idea that sacrifice is the norm and the need for deference to authority. This internalizing of beliefs that prize constant achievement and hustle eventually set the stage for a major identity crisis. Arivee has since embraced the journey of deliberately choosing which beliefs to keep and which to let go of, recognizing that some deeply held beliefs that served her earlier in life no longer served her on her path to alignment and true fulfillment.
Arivee's decision to attend law school was not driven by a long-held childhood dream; rather, it was initially about pursuing an opportunity that was presented to her, without a full understanding of the profession. She knew she needed to make money and viewed law school as a necessary box to check on her path to success. She began her career in primary litigation, aspiring to be a trial lawyer. Even as she went through the motions of law school and her first firm job, she had a strong instinct that the legal career itself would not be her final professional stop.
“I knew I was going to be a lawyer, but I also knew that wasn't going to be the last stop," reflects Arivee Vargas on Episode 214 of You Are a Lawyer.
The most significant turning point came after the birth of her first child, which triggered an identity crisis and a profound questioning of her career path. After returning from maternity leave, she realized she no longer wanted to be a trial lawyer, but instead desired a more collaborative environment where she could create and develop programs. This powerful realization prompted her shift to in-house roles with the pure curiosity of asking, "What else can I do?", ultimately moving her career toward compliance, Human Resources, and leadership development.
A law degree is a versatile tool that allows for significant professional pivots, enabling Arivee Vargas to transition from Big Law litigation to high-level corporate roles in areas far beyond traditional legal practice. Her path from litigation to leading compliance, employee relations, and global leadership development programs demonstrates how the analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills learned in law school are highly transferable and valuable across the corporate landscape. Moreover, a law degree offers a strong foundation for a non-traditional career by providing the framework for self-leadership, which Arivee defines as the core of her current coaching work.
“You cannot lead other people at work if you don't know yourself and if you lead in your own life," shared Arivee Vargas on Episode 214 of You Are a Lawyer.
However, Arivee also points out the subtle but significant impact of legal training on personal life, noting that lawyers are taught to compartmentalize and be extremely objective and devoid of any feeling or emotion in the legal context. This training often leads attorneys to apply the same emotional separation and objective reasoning to their own lives, causing a misalignment where they prioritize work at the forefront over their personal desires and true calling. Therefore, leveraging a law degree in a fulfilling way requires actively unlearning this tendency to over-compartmentalize and instead using that same legal grit for internal transformation.
Arivee Vargas has successfully layered multiple non-traditional ventures alongside her demanding corporate career, demonstrating how a side hustle can evolve into a full-time business. While working full-time in high-level corporate roles, she became a certified coach and simultaneously cultivated her writing and speaking business. Her specific "hustle" involved writing her book, Your Time to Rise, which was written while she was still fully employed. She also established The Humble Rising podcast in 2021 as a platform to test and experiment with her ideas and voice before making the full-time jump.
“I started to realize, oh, I love coaching. I love, you know, doing this type of work,” Arivee Vargas shares in Episode 214 of You Are a Lawyer.
Her current full-time business is built around executive coaching, speaking, and authoring, all centered on the theme of alignment, the process of ensuring what clients truly believe inside matches what they pursue on the outside. Arivee's focus with her clients is on "transformation from the inside out," working primarily with high-achieving lawyers and leaders who are looking for executive-level life coaching to navigate a career pivot and better align their professional achievements with their personal happiness.
Arivee is licensed to practice in the state of Massachusetts.
This episode is produced by Skip The Boring Stuff, a podcast strategy company for business owners and creatives.
