Someone Pinch Me: Opening of New Pittsburgh Office with Colleague Amy Kerr Parker

      Almost five years ago exactly, as I was about to quit my secure corporate job and embark upon my own solo practice, I met with esteemed business attorney Amy Bentz in Mount Lebanon at the Orbis Caffe (was called something else then) at 675 Washington Road.   A mom, former large firm lawyer, and the founder and managing partner of Mount-Lebanon-based The Bentz Law firm, Amy indulged me with her time and planted the seed in my head regarding what my future might hold.Fast forward five years.  Building out this new office space in the last few weeks has been surreal.  Our new office is located at 603 Washington Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15228, in Uptown Mount Lebanon, a location through Pittsburgh’s Liberty Tunnel and exactly 5.7 miles and 14 minutes from Downtown Pittsburgh.For me, one of the most enjoyable experiences in owning my own business has been to design and furnish our offices.  There is so much heart that goes into it.  From picking out the paint and furniture to designing layout to literally painting the walls (I employed some funky Pinterest techniques in both locations).  As I have previously written, your office decor speaks volumes about how you work and what makes you tick.   See article here (Business Décor and Brand Image: What Does Your Office Art Say about Your Business?).We are not able to keep our current Weirton location.  The lease expires at the end of March but we will be looking for another smaller space.  We are sad to let the current WV office go.  So much hope and joy and love went into building that location in one of my favorite places on earth (my hometown).  I really enjoy practicing in Weirton.  From the tightly knit legal community to our prime location to the supportive business community to the free parking to the fact that I could catch a coffee with my family members any time of the week.  (far cry from when I practiced 350 miles away in Philly).    I was so attached to my Weirton office that it took me 17 months to pull the trigger to open up a location here in Pittsburgh.I put a 50 second video together that memorializes the work we have been doing (via Smartphone App Flipagram).  The Making of a New Pittsburgh Office Location. The office is certainly not finished yet but it is the beginning of a new chapter for us and we wanted to write about it.The second major shift with our firm is having the privilege of opening up this office with my colleague and long-time friend Amy Kerr Parker.  She is one of my favorite people around, on both a professional and personal level.  She brings to my practice decades of litigation expertise and experience on sophisticated, multi-million dollars matters.  More on that later.  Here is one blog post I wrote about her years ago (Attorney Amy Kerr Parker: My Nomination for Pittsburgh's 40 under 40).  Since the time that I wrote that post, she has served as the Executive Director for Strong Women Strong Girls and as a Leadership Development Manager for a large, national company.OPEN INVITATION: We want to invite friends, colleagues, and clients to come visit us.   What’s the point in having an office if no one comes to it?  SO PLEASE- EMAIL US to set up lunch or a coffee. salene@mazurkraemer.com or amy@mazurkraemer.com.