Carolyn Grogan knows that some early inklings in life never go away.
Before becoming a UAlberta Law student, she worked as a book publisher for 15 years, and later managed corporate communications for almost a decade at Smart Technologies, the Calgary-based company best known for inventing the interactive whiteboard.
Despite her career steadily moving forward, in 2011, she decided to move to Edmonton to be closer to family and to re-evaluate her career path.
"I knew I didn't want to do corporate communications-Smart Technologies was a special experience that I didn't feel could be duplicated. So after some deliberation, I decided to go to law school," she said.
The decision was not completely surprising. Grogan had contemplated a career in law about 15 years earlier and even took the LSAT, however for financial and personal reasons, ultimately decided to pass.
But in 2012, with her family back in Edmonton, the right time had come.
Upon returning to the classroom, Grogan said she was pleasantly surprised by the level of support she received from students and faculty members.
"I went to law school thinking, 'no one is going to want to hang out with someone the same age as their mother,' " she said with a laugh.
Grogan, who also holds an MA in Communications and Technology from UAlberta, articled at Round Table Law LLP after graduation, a virtual law firm operated by Jason Morris. According to some, it's possible she's the first law student, anywhere in Canada, to complete her articles virtually.
"Carolyn came to the practice of law with the benefit of knowing who she was and what she wanted from her career," said Morris.
"She approached me as an articling student before I had seriously considered acting as a principal. Together, we created a new, out-of-the-box kind of articling experience-one that worked for the life she wanted to live - completely from scratch. She makes things happen for her clients with the same tenacity."
The pair began working together somewhat unexpectedly.
"We found each other almost by accident," said Grogan. "I was just sending out emails and making cold calls, wondering what I was going to find. This turned into a pretty amazing experience."
"Some people might think that working virtually would leave you on your own too much, but that wasn't the case," she said, adding that her and Morris regularly utilized technology to hold virtual meetings.
Morris echoed that sentiment.
"We were constantly in touch electronically, far more than would be possible, probably, in a bricks-and-mortar office," he said.
Grogan's positive experience at Round Table Law helped prepare her for what came after articling: co-founding her own law firm.
With Kathy Drouin-Carey (who Grogan met through Morris), Grogan founded Insight Law LLP, a cloud-based firm that specializes in family law, collaborative divorce, wills and estates, immigration and civil litigation. And they have just taken on another lawyer, Brian K. Horak, who adds real estate and corporate/commercial law to their list of practice areas. Though the firm just opened in January, Grogan is already putting the knowledge she obtained during articling to good use.
"We are absolutely using a lot of what Jason taught me at Round Table Law. I love the freedom and autonomy to do law differently - it benefits clients and those who work at the firm," she said.
While Grogan is happy for the opportunity to have built her career on her own terms, she knows her path is not for everyone. "You have to be willing to take on a certain degree of risk. If risk is not for you, then choosing a more traditional path is probably a better idea. But if you don't mind risk, then, by all means, doing it your own way is a very rewarding option," she said.