By Vanessa Escarfullet
When one thinks of a leader, many things come to mind. A CEO, for instance, a director or even a professor you admire. The person I had the pleasure of interviewing is all of these things and more! Attorney Angela Minor, the new CEO and co-founder of Law Offices of Minor & Willcox, LLC, is whom my leadership profile is dedicated to.
It all started in Little Rock Arkansas on a college campus, her parents met and eventually became one, later adding her to their unit. By three years old she was living in the state of Virginia in the home she was raised in with both her parents. Eventually moving to Richmond, Virginia, it was there she attended Mills E. Godwin High School. During her high school years Attorney Minor was a Q94 Rockers, a sponsored professional cheerleading squad. There, she began her first leadership role as the squad’s captain. After high school, she attended Hampton University for an under-graduate degree and later attended North Carolina Central University with plans to complete her Master’s Degree in Library Science with a concentration in Law Librarianship. She eventually left North Carolina before the completion of her post graduate degree and ended up in the Nations Capital at the David A. Clarke School of law at the University of District of Columbia. After being accepted into the David A. Clarke School of Law, she was fortunate enough that her new Graduate Degree Program accepted her first year law courses as electives from NCCU and she graduated with her Master’s while completing her first year of law school.
My favorite interview question to Attorney Minor was if she had always desired to be an attorney? Her response to that question was that she gave herself opportunities to venture into multiple careers paths before finally deciding to become an attorney. First, she researched Pre-Med. She discovered that the field was not for her when she took notice of her dis interest in blood and the smells of hospitals. Then, she began to research the psychology field and decided that it wasn’t for her either. She finally decided that she simply wanted to help people. Which ironically is the commonality of all three of these career paths, to help (Pre-Med, Psychologist and Attorney). Thus, she wanted to help people just in a different way, her own way and this is exactly what she has set out do since the day she became a member of the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, Maryland Bar Association and the District of Columbia Bar Association. In doing so, she found out she had an affinity to lead and speak on behalf of people and that it came naturally. On top of that, Attorney Minor has previously taught law at the University of District of Columbia School of Law as well as Georgetown University. Moreover, she is a Certified Mediator in Civil Litigation in the state of Maryland.
My favorite fact about Attorney Minor is that she was always rewarded and adhered to leadership positions. Whether it was in the church where she led the youth association that was statewide or her position at Howard University as a professor or even being the captain of her cheerleading squad, she found her self always teaching and serving as a figure to others. Most importantly, her parents respected any decision she made when it came to choosing a leadership position. So, though her mother was an attorney she did not force her into becoming one, and I quote her “it came naturally, she let me figure it out”.
Before concluding the interview I asked her a few other questions in regards to her future goals, first if she would ever consider doing something else in the future, she immediately answered, “I would get into, broadcasting, I also want to write a book and broadcasting in terms of being a legal analyst”. In other words, anything else she would get involved with in regards with her career she would always relate back to law “this is my life I am dedicated to it, I’m happy about it”.
Currently, she is her own boss as a solo practitioner. The motivation came from her mother who was also an attorney. In her firm, she has an assistant and works exclusively with a private processing company. Her schedule does vary due to court dates. Attorney Minor is very hands on and makes all of the decisions pertaining to the firm. Her mother was the founder of the firm that she now runs. Her father, also a leader, is a Supervisor Technology Specialist for the state of Virginia as a supervisor technologist where he governs both high school and elementary schools throughout the state in that aspect.
In brief, after interviewing Attorney Minor I am now familiar with why so many people look up to her as a leader, both on and off the Howard University Campus. Through her many degrees and versatile leadership positions she has proved herself beyond credible. I asked her what she did to have gotten this far and she first gave credit to God and of-course her parents whom she describes have served as great examples to her every step of the way. She mentioned that coming from a good household, made a great impact on her. She titled her parents “educators and leaders” because whether it was at work, in the church or in the community they were in leadership positions. Just like her. I concluded the interview by asking her what advice she had for someone trying to be in a leadership position much like the one’s she’s been fortunate to embrace. Her answer was “believe in yourself and no matter what leadership position, research your respective jurisdiction, know the law and be honest to all people!