My One-Year Chamber Anniversary

On March 15, 2010 I opened the doors of my very own law practice.  I wasn’t completely green having cut my teeth for the previous six years at larger law firms in Los Angeles and St. Louis.  While I understood the practice of law, I had no idea about the business of law.  There is no want for people who need legal advice but finding those who can and will pay is another story. 

Within the first few weeks of opening my doors I had learned several valuable lessons.  The most important being that people have a natural suspicion of you when you walk into their store, introduce yourself as an attorney and just want to talk.  The other was joining the Kirkwood - Des Peres Area Chamber of Commerce had already turned into a valuable learning experience.  My first event was a Business After Hours at Manor Grove.  My first contact with another Chamber member was in the parking lot and took the form of David Collin.  Though he was in the parking lot of Manor Grove, I had a feeling David was not a resident of the facility as he was (and still is) significantly younger than the average patron.  David introduced himself with his radio-quality voice and spoke highly of the benefits of joining the Chamber.  He then walked me inside and provided me my first series of introductions. 

Having always been bad with names, there were only a few names I could associate with faces - but by the end of the evening David’s was one of them.  The next day I joined the Chamber and threw myself into as many events as I could attend.  Several weeks later Brian Schraut commented about how he secured business while playing poker due to the conversation that arose after another player saw Brian’s embroidered shirt.  The shirt had been made by Busy Bees Embroidery.  Thinking there was something to David’s regular catch-phrase of ‘so your logo is seen when you are and sometimes when you’re not’, I quickly ordered two shirts of my own leaving the color scheme to Beverly’s more experienced palate.  David continued to fill my ear with words of advice during my several trips for test fittings and ultimate purchase.  Those words have served me well not only in the Chamber but in the various other networking activities in which I participate. 

In a few months I’ll have been a Chamber member for a year.  During this last year, I’ve had many good experiences from becoming an Ambassador to helping Jim Wright put together the inaugural program (Mini-Law School) for the business boot-camp series.  I look forward to the next year with the Chamber under David’s guidance.

Law Office of Brian F. Reinhold
Brian Reinhold
111 Prospect Avenue, Suite 201B
St. Louis, Missouri 63122
(314) 909-4701
(314) 594-2056 (FAX)
breinhold@reinholdlawoffice.com
www.reinholdlawoffice.com